At Home with PZ

Welcome to "At Home with PZ!"

At this time when so many of us suddenly find ourselves teaching in unfamiliar contexts (we used to teach in classrooms—now we guide learners from a distance; we used to send our children off to school—now they’re home all day), the question “How can I support learning?” looms large.

The “At Home with PZ” toolbox was developed to help you answer that question. The activities you’ll find here provide ways to adapt Project Zero strategies and frameworks for use in different settings: for virtual classrooms and for home learning; guided by a teacher working remotely or by a parent or caregiver in person. Some can be done outdoors, some indoors, and some are appropriate for either. The activities are sorted into two types: tools for learning (the toolbox) and Thinking Routines (thinking bubbles). Each activity offers variations for different age groups as well as for the adult facilitation needed so students could work alone, or, as part of a pair, group, or virtual classroom. We hope that these activities, specially curated by PZ researchers, spark creative solutions for your context.

The "At Home with PZ" toolbox features an easy-to-use search function to help you find the activities that fit your and your learners’ needs. Simply use the filters (as many or as few as you’d like) to indicate the learner age range and the time commitment that match your context. Alternatively, you can skim the list below to get a quick overview the activities and learner age ranges. Clicking on the activity link takes you to a downloadable PDF that describes the activity in more detail, including suggestions for use and tips for getting started.

We look forward to seeing how you use these activities in your homes, online classes, schools, and anywhere else that learning happens. Tweet with #AtHomeWithPZ, tag us on Facebook, or email PZLearn@gse.harvard.edu. Soon, we will launch another toolbox focused just on PZ's Thinking Routines (more than 60 of them!). We'll provide the link for the toolbox when it's open here.

Thinking Routine

Mapping Systems Experiences

A resource from Early Childhood in the Making

A tool for looking closely at a system and exploring its complexity by directly experiencing the system and reflecting on that experience.

Thinking Routine

Think, Feel, Care

A resource from Agency by Design & Early Childhood in the Making

A routine for fostering perspective-taking within a system.

Tool

The Value Sort: Explore Individual and Group Values Using PZ’s GoodWork Tool

A resource from The Good Project

Available as an online tool as well as a printable material, this exercise asks participants to sort 30 values according to their relative importance as a method of understanding what is important in work and in life.

Tool

10 Suggestions for Getting Started with Thinking Routines in Early Childhood Classrooms

A resource from Making Learning Visible

Thinking Routine

Playing Around with Roles

A resource from Early Childhood in the Making

An activity for leveraging children’s natural desire to play to foster perspective taking and empathy.

Tool

Excellence, Ethics, and Engagement in Work: Reflections Using PZ’s GoodWork Dilemmas

A resource from The Good Project

A set of 40 short dilemmas, in an easily shareable image format, for prompting teenagers to reflect on and discuss complicated situations others have faced in their work.

Thinking Routine

Circle of Viewpoints

A resource from APPLE & Visible Thinking

A routine for exploring diverse perspectives

Tool

Good Project Lesson Plans

A resource from The Good Project

Tool

Dialogue Toolkit

A resource from Out of Eden Learn & Digital Dilemmas

A toolkit of strategies to support slow, thoughtful comments and ideas in online and in-person discussions.

Thinking Routine

My Perspectives Other Perspectives

A resource from Early Childhood in the Making

A routine for considering how objects or systems impact their lives and the lives of others.

Tool

Mini-Activities: Shareable Conversation and Reflection Prompts Using PZ’s GoodWork Tools

A resource from The Good Project

Building on our frameworks and dilemmas, engage teenagers in discussion about the meaning of “good work,” the characteristics of good workers, and personal and community values.

Thinking Routine

Parts, Perspectives, Me

A resource from Agency by Design & PZ Connect

A routine for exploring the complexity of objects and systems.

Tool

Uncovering the Everyday

A resource from Out of Eden Learn

Tool

Documenting the Everyday

A resource from Out of Eden Learn

An activity for exploring what you can learn by carefully observing a place you know or something that people in your community do as a part of their everyday lives.

Thinking Routine

Imagine if...

A resource from Agency by Design & Early Childhood in the Making

A routine for encouraging divergent thinking about an object or system.

Thinking Routine

Facts or Fiction

A resource from

Tool

Creating Neighborhood Maps

A resource from Out of Eden Learn

An activity for exploring your relationship to a place and mapping your local area.

Thinking Routine

Stop, Look, Listen

A resource from Visible Thinking

Tool

Learning from Other Generations

A resource from Out of Eden Learn

An activity for exploring what you can learn by talking to people who belong to a different generation.

Tool

Digital Dilemma: Social Media and COVID-19

A resource from Digital Dilemmas

A set of dilemmas about thorny digital topics, paired with a thinking routine - “Perspectives and Options” - designed to deepen students’ thinking, perspective taking, communication skills, and agency.