There are a number of ways to use Genius Hour in the classroom. There are many web resources to view and access to help guide you along your Genius Hour path as well. I accessed Facebook as well and joined several groups that discussed ways to implement Genius Hour. As this was my first time trying this out with the students, there are a few things that I would adjust for next time, but here is my version!
In this project, students were allowed to choose a topic that interested them to create a large scale project on. Students were able to choose to do these projects on their own or in partners/groups. They filled out a proposal and then we met and discussed what they would be working on and what their products would look like.
Every day 4, I gave students one period (56 minutes) to work on their Genius Hour creations. Students were asked to create outlines of their projects and journal entries stating their progress. The final product could be their choice but they would be presented to the class in some way.
When beginning the project, we went over the Creativity Process and discussed the way that student would follow and use this process. We followed each step of the process as we went through the journey and discussed.
Students would receive marks on their overall project as well as their presentation. As well, they completed a self-assessment afterwards.

This lesson covers the following outcomes:
Outcome 7.1 – I can explore how movement and forces in the Earth’s crust, including earthquakes, volcanoes and mountainbuilding,
has added to the development of the theory of plate tectonics.
7.1 d. I can compare and contrast some of the catastrophic events (earthquakes, volcanic eruptions) of the past by on my
own.
7.1 h. I can describe how scientists measure the effects of earthquakes and volcanoes (e.g. seismology, Richter scale).
7.1 i. I can give examples of ways that science and technology can help reduce the effects of catastrophic events on people
and communities (e.g. building codes in earthquake zones, earthquake readiness training, reducing the effect of a volcanic
eruption).

Summary of Plan for Communication and Computer and Digital Technologies:

I wanted the students to have a realistic scenario in which they would have to display and use data to persuade an audience of a particular point of view. I thought of a sales pitch by a travel agent. I created 13 different scenarios for my 13 students. Each scenario detailed the names of each individual travelling, the reason for the trip, the group’s budget, the duration of the trip, and preferred location of travel. Student blindly selected a scenario. The student would assume the role of the travel agent and their sales pitch to the class using a Power Point presentation. They would use the rubric to guide the development of their presentations.

Using a teacher made wikispace; each student was given a God to
first research and become an expert in order to take on that God’s
role on Mount Olympus. After the research was completed,
students were given a scenario where all of their God’s have been
kicked off of Mount Olympus by Zeus and they must now defeat
him by use of the wiki. They will need to complete twelve
“labours” in order to reach the top, and Zeus. Students completed
a variety of assignments in order to learn about Greece and
Mythology in an interactive style; allowing for student discovery,
utilization of all learning styles, and giving students the
opportunity to take learning into their own hands.

This is part of the Heritage Saskatchewan Heritage Fairs initiative. “The Heritage Fairs program is an opportunity for students in grades 4-8 all over Saskatchewan to research, present, and explore Living Heritage topics of their choice.” https://heritagesask.ca/ We had local judges assess the projects. 3 Went on to the Regional fair and 1 is going on to the Provincial Fair.
Connection to critical thinking: Historical Thinking is a competency which is designed around 6 concepts that “help students explore the forest of historical data.” Ken Osborne. Better put, it is a way to critically think about and engage in history rather than have students simply address history at the knowledge and comprehension level of thinking. This is all based on the book The Big Six Historical Thinking Concepts by Peter Sexias and Tom Morton.

This artifact encompasses creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking as it
presents the process of creating heritage fair projects with grades 4 and 5 students.
The heritage fair project was completed through a co-teaching and focused on
student-centered learning and project-based learning.

Option 1: RESEARCH Top 3 flight contributions

CRITERIA:

Create a magazine entry or a digital story telling creations, which includes 3 paragraphs (& pictures) on what you consider to be the top 3 biggest contributions to flight. Make sure to list your references. If you are doing a digital story telling creation you will only need a rough copy and not a good copy.
Make sure you are including how it impacts humans and your daily life.
Option 2: Create an online timeline

Create a timeline using an online tool from one of the tools suggestion from the article below (or any other ones you may find!):

The students would work in groups to prepare an entrée and a dessert. They would receive five mystery ingredients that they would have to incorporate into their dishes on the spot without a recipe to follow. They had to use their cooking knowledge and skills to come up with a meal and a desert that showcased the mystery ingredients, without looking for or using recipes (critical thinking). They worked in groups and, because they were restricted in time, had to be able to communicate quickly and work together well (collaboration). They made videos similar to the ones at the beginning of the show where the competitors introduce themselves. (Technology - new cameras/cellphones to video).

The purpose of the assignment was for students to demonstrate their understanding of the responsibilities of a municipal government and illustrate how citizens can be involved in making decisions that affect their local community.
In partners, the students choose a cause or idea that they thought could be implemented in our municipality to improve the lives of the citizens. A presentation was created to explain the proposal, its importance and how it could be implemented. We invited our local mayor to our class to hear the proposals.

Put the word inferring on the board, have they ever heard of it? Explain it is something we do
all the time, it just has a special name. – figuring out what something is when it isn’t totally
explained in the story
- Using clues to make good guesses
How do we do this? - look at the pictures, what do you see
- How do the characters act
- What do the characters say
- What other information can you get from the text
Have students practice with facial expressions – what does the audience infer? What evidence
leads them to this?

Identity is a major focus of the grade 6 curriculum both in ELA and in Arts Ed. therefore I wanted to create a project that could be incorporated into both subjects.

Project: The students were given the task to create an infographic that would represent themselves – a bio that includes their personal values and opinions. I invited Arlene Low into the class to introduce the project and explain what infographics are.

Summary: Students will create an interactive portfolio, using Adobe InDesign.
Demonstration of Creativity: Photography, by nature, is creative. Throughout
this course, students have demonstrated the use of the photographic triangle,
used different lenses, critiqued images, explored photojournalism and product
photography, manipulated and adjusted photographs, and much more. Although
the main focuses of Photography 20 is to acquire knowledge and develop skills in
photography, it’s the creativity that can make a photo stand out. This project
allows students to showcase their creative talent in a practical and relevant
manner.

Students will be utilizing the program Musescore (a program available to download for free) to
create a composition for their instrument. They will utilize the instant feedback given by the computer program to make adjustments to their piece until they are satisfied with how it sounds. It will allow them to create music in a structured environment that will force them to have an understanding of rhythm as well as the limits of both their playing and their instrument in a risk free environment. Students, upon completing their assignments will then need to perform their short song for the class. After a students has completed the solo assignment, they will have an understanding of how to use them Musescore and will allow them to move onto a more collaborative activity.

The rubric provided above is a universal rubric that can be used for evaluating journal reflections. I have specifically used this rubric in English Language Arts 8

For my artifact, I incorporated literature circles into the reading of the novel, Lord
of the Flies. The first step in this process was to introduce the roles to the students and
to explain what was expected of them. Then, I split the students into their groups of four
using a random group generator (groups can be adjusted based on numbers, but four
worked best in my class). Once students knew what was expected of them, they talked
with their group members to determine who was doing what role for the first two
chapters. From there, we would read two chapters and I would allow the students time
to complete their role sheet (I also encouraged them to do this as they were reading
along, especially for quotes and vocab) and then they would meet with their group to
share their role with the other members. As the teacher, I would circulate between the
groups while they were sharing to listen to them and to provide any input/clarifications.
We would then repeat this process after each two chapters (there are 12 chapters in
total in the novel).

If your heart is healthy it will be able to work for a very long time.
It is up to you to keep your heart healthy.
Your heart will like it if you:
1. Exercise every day
You need to exercise your heart by making it work harder for at least 30
minutes a day. Our topics on 'Fitness' and 'Exercise' will show you how
2. Eat a healthy diet
Too much fatty food will block up the arteries with fat and your heart will
have to work harder and harder just to do its regular job of pumping
blood round your body. See our topics in the 'Your food' category to learn
about the foods your body needs and what your heart likes
3. Drink lots of water every day rather than fizzy drinks
4. Make good choices as you grow older. You can choose not to smoke, not
to take illegal drugs and not to drink too much alcohol

Action Plan: To add an active, fun component for Arts Ed. Grade One that would be motivating
and engaging for the students.
Summary: To achieve this I have adapted the Makey Makey invention kit for use in the shop
and created a water piano. I taught basic music theory and the basic scale first before allowing
the students to play and make their own music.

My goal for this year was to add math games to my repertoire of teaching strategies as part of my regular classroom routine. I looked at this as the first step to moving towards a guided math program. Also our PLT group was working on ways to increase the level of math fact knowledge in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. The Saskatchewan Curriculum recognizes that “mental mathematics is a combination of cognitive strategies that enhance flexible thinking and number sense. It is calculating mentally and reasoning about the relative size of quantities without the use of external memory aids. Mental mathematics enables students to determine answers and propose strategies without paper and pencil. It improves computational fluency and problem solving by developing efficiency, accuracy, and flexibility.” I also wanted to increase opportunities for communication and collaboration. Some of my math games involved building, creating and problem solving. Others involved competition and cooperation. I created a brochure that highlighted the favorite games of the students and it also provides links where teachers can find these games.

This fall the grade K-4 teachers at our school decided to introduce mindfulness and the zones of regulation into our classrooms. We went to a workshop on the topic and were able to learn a lot. We thought that there were some specific students who would benefit from having tools to help them to cope with their day to day stresses, but also, that the student population as a whole could benefit from this.

Moon Journals are a project that I begin in September with the students. We use a variety of
activities in conjunction with our journals (poetry, short stories, Apollo Mission research, etc).
Students begin by creating a journal which they will take home with them and record their
observations on a nightly basis. The purpose of the journals is to increase/improve writing skills,
especially in the area of descriptive writing.