Type 3s

Last school year, one of my students came running up to me at his fifth-grade Open House and said, “I know what I want to do my project on this year. I want to start a Lego Robotics Team.”

Wow, I said that’s an ambitious goal.

As part of his gifted program service, the student began researching what it took to start the team.  We quickly learned it would take about $800 to pay for the equipment and registration as well as require finding a coach, place to practice, and team members.

With my guidance, the student secured a matching education grant and was half way towards his fundraising goal. Fired up, he worked daily to raise the rest of the funds.  He partnered with the local Parent Teacher Association to sell T-shirts at school.  In fact, I learned later he had set up a desk outside his classroom one day when parents had been invited to take a walkthrough to see some science projects. He raised over $90 dollars in about 20 minutes, and when I told him there was more money that there should have been for the T-shirts, he said people began giving donations. What a businessman!

In the end, the student raised over $800, recruited a coach and 13 team members, and made his goal a reality.  The team has been practicing through the summer and is gearing up for competition this fall.

The project is a testament to the power of Type 3s, the focus of  this blog. The skills this student learned -creativity, leadership, persistence, initiative -may not be easily assessed on a test, but will last with him through life, and I believe contribute to his success.

Type 3s are individual or small group investigation of real problems. The concept comes from Dr. Joseph Renzulli’s Enrichment Triad Model, which involves three types of activities.  Type 3 activities are the most demanding of the three, requiring students to use what they know, and act as creative producers as opposed to merely consumers of knowledge.

To be considered a Type 3 projects, certain elements must be in place.

First, the topic is chosen by the student according to his or her interest. (Important:  Type 3 projects are voluntary—Students must have a strong idea and really want to complete one!)

Recall how my student approached me with the idea for the project.

Second, the projects must involve solving an authentic problem.

They also involve the creation of a product or service that is presented to an authentic audience, which in my student’s case, involved establishing a Lego competition team.

Type 3 projects require lots of time, sometimes taking an entire school year.

Type 3 projects satisfy a number of Common Core ELA standards, including ones calling for students to conduct research.

At this point, I’m sure you have many questions, such as “where do I find the time to offer Type 3s” or “How do I manage these projects for all my students.”  Well, those issues will be addressed in upcoming blogs dealing with the subject of Type 3s.  Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more Type 3 lessons.