The Passion Project...

Was created from the need for our students to participate in the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) Primary Years Program (PYP) Exhibition - a culminating unit of inquiry for fifth graders in their last year of elementary school.  As with our other units of work, this had a central idea to guide our inquiry:



People's beliefs and passions provoke and sustain learning and creativity while providing an opportunity to connect with the community.



The central idea was created and refined after initial collaboration with teachers at Yokohama International School in Yokohama, Japan.  Our goal was to give our students the opportunity to explore their passions in a meaningful way, with freedom to explore and the chance to use this time to connect to themselves as learners and as members of a community.  



A period of approximately eight weeks was set to give the students plenty of time to take their inquiries to wherever they desired! Much of the initial time was somewhat tension filled for the students as they grappled with the concept of being in charge of their own learning.  As teachers, we had to remind ourselves that this was part of the learning process and to continue to support but not overtake their inquiries. As time passed, the students became more aware of how their passion impacted them as learners and how they could connect with their community through their passion. 



Along the way, students were supported by their parents, and by mentors - members of faculty at Riverstone  who worked one-on-one with students, meeting with them each week and checking in on their progress.  These people were invaluable in encouraging, leading by example and listening to the students on their journey.  Although this year each student undertook their own inquiry, The Passion Project could be equally as successful as a group project.  For more information on this, take a look at the 'Group vs Individual' tab in the Planning section of this site. 



Central to The Passion Project is the integration of learning.  Students are encouraged to explore their passion through music, drama, visual art, technology, languages...the list goes on! Goals for learning are identified through analysis of student portfolios and are agreed upon by students, parents and teachers prior to the beginning of the project.  



The 'end product' of The Passion Project was three-fold:



1. Presentation: Students spoke for 4-8 minutes about the journey they went on as they explored their passion.  They shared how they came up with their passion and their project ideas, who they learned from, what big ideas they had taken away from this project, how they had connected with the community and what they had discovered about themselves as learners.  



​2. Passion Booths: Students prepared a booth or station where they shared their Passion Project history - their binders, websites, artifacts - and were able to go into greater detail about the impact of their project and the ongoing plans they had to pursue their passion. 



​3. Dear World: Inspired by the beautiful work of Dear World, each student thought about the message that they wanted to share with the world.  The message was a result of something they had learned through The Passion Project, about themselves, or something they wanted to leave as their legacy as they departed elementary school.  The messages were written on their bodies, photographed, and revealed on the evening of The Passion Project presentations. Take a look at these remarkable messages, written by passionate, persistant citizens: