Genius Hour: Lesson Plan for Teachers

teacherpage_image Welcome to the Teacher Page for our Genius Hour WebQuest. You are welcome to use any and all of the resources included on these pages to help launch Genius Hour in your classes. Below you will find the overview of the project and the pedagogical rationale for inclusion as a "best practice" activity for launching your students into a world of any number of passionate pursuits while engaging them and strengthening their 21st Century Skills for life beyond high school.
  • Purpose: The Genius Hour WebQuest was designed to invite students to explore their interests one class period each week whilst creating a product which would benefit others all while documenting, reflecting, iterating, and sharing their findings along the way.
  • Rationale:The world is changing, our students are changing, and our pedagogy needs to keep up with the ever-evolving needs of students and the work place. As students engage in this Genius Hour Webquest, not only are they able to pursue their interests and create a product, but they are also building empathy, solving problems, conducting research, allowing themselves to be an apprentice to a mentor of their choosing, and essentially, creating their own learning experience. The teacher serves as a "guide on the side," allowing the students to acquire the knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) necessary to succeed in school and beyond.
  • Learner Description: This Genius Hour WebQuest is designed for high school ELA students, but may easily be adapted for any grade and discipline.
  • Prerequisites: It is understood that all students will be able to navigate web browsers, the provided links, and Google Suite to access and interact with the information within this Genius Hour WebQuest.
  • Instructional Objectives: As a result of completing this WebQuest, students will be able to:
    • Identify an area of interest which will benefit themselves and others
    • Create an essential question to focus their research on a specific problem they can address through their project which will benefit others
    • Research and access resources on the internet to inform their product creation
    • Engage in weekly public written project/process reflection using standard English and adhere to copyright regulations for image use
    • Interview a mentor with expertise in their research topic to receive feedback and insight on their progress and product
    • Acquire/grow technology skills such as blogging, vlogging, editing
    • Prepare and present a TED Talk on the outcomes of their product and the personal growth which occurred as a result
  • Standard(s) Addressed:
    • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.4 Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and task.
    • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.5 Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.
    • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.6 Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate. (See grades 9-10 Language standards 1 and 3 here for specific expectations.)
    • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
  • Subject Matter Description: This WebQuest follows the model developed by Bernie Dodge and Tom March. Students will move through the following stages of the Genius Hour WebQuest:
  1. Intro: Students will discover Genius Hour through a video introduction.
  2. Task: Next, they will be introduced to the five stages of the task: Proposal, Elevator Pitch, Blog, Vlog, and TED Talk.
  3. Process: Then, students will access various websites, articles, and Google Docs to learn how to meet expectations for each phase of the task within the WebQuest.
  4. Evaluation: Students will be invited to reference the rubrics on the Evaluation page regularly to ensure they are meeting and exceeding expectations for each stage of the WebQuest.
  5. Conclusion: Finally, students are asked to participate in a Creativity Self-Assessment to determine strengths and weaknesses that they observed throughout the project to better understand how they approach such tasks and adapt for future projects.
  • Assessment: Students will create a Proposal, Elevator Pitch, Blog, Vlog, Product, and TED Talk which will be evaluated by the rubrics found on the Evaluation page. (*Note: The Product itself is ungraded while the reflections of the process creating the product are graded.)