1. Value - Based
1.1. realizes social diversity
1.1.1. Many of the students in the classroom did not have English as their first language. The teacher acknowledged that and allowed them to do their projects and interact with each other in Spanish.
1.2. engages students in making decisions
1.2.1. The project was very student-centered and students were expected to make decisions about who will do what part of the project and how they will represent their portion.
2. Challenging
2.1. works productively with others
2.1.1. All of the tables had to work together to complete their project. Each member of the group had a task and they had to work together to present the assignment.
2.2. uses variety of sources of information with different perspectives
2.2.1. Students were using resources from textbooks and other books, Internet sites, and photographs.
3. Active
3.1. "hands on" and "minds on"
3.1.1. The students were incredibly engaged in the activities they were doing. Students were thinking about how their mission projects were related to other projects in the classroom and were actively involved in creating their presentation.
4. Meaningful
4.1. useful in and out of school
4.1.1. Students learn how to use technology like computers and video cameras in their projects and these are skills that can be used in other assignments and in their future endeavours outside of the classroom.
5. Integrative
5.1. crosses disciplinary boundaries
5.1.1. The California Missions project combined some subjects like language arts (writing and doing research), math (latitude and longitude), and art (dioramas and posters).
5.2. connected with life and social issues
5.2.1. Students were making connections between the missions and their own lives. For example the boy at the end who was Spanish and Native American and understood how the missions impacted his own life.