Download the full collection of teaching resources to support facilitation of Teach Starter's six-step 'Genius Hour' inquiry-based learning process.
At Teach Starter, we appreciate that there are many ways to conduct Genius Hour. We have created a streamlined, six-step process for teachers and students to follow in the classroom. This teaching resource pack provides teacher notes that explain the process, as well as all of the resources you’ll need to support students as they work through this systematic inquiry-based learning process.
Genius Hour allows students to work on a passion project, idea or new skill during class time. Genius Hour projects can be completed during a designated amount of learning time on a regular basis (such as one hour per week), or as a fast finisher activity.
How does Genius Hour work?
- During Genius Hour, students identify a topic or problem they are passionate about and form a deep, open-ended inquiry question to research, answer or solve.
- Students take a systematic approach to the formulation of their inquiry question and research.
- Towards the end of their Genius Hour project, students present or create a final product that communicates their findings and/or solution. Genius Hour presentations can take a variety of written, spoken or visual forms, such as a multi-modal presentation, a book, a script, a movie or a speech; through cooking, building or performing a community service (amongst other ideas).
- To conclude a Genius Hour project, students reflect on their experience of the Genius Hour process. They may even form new questions that could be answered in subsequent Genius Hour projects.
- Genius Hour Teacher Notes
- Six Steps to Genius Hour Posters
- Wonder Wall Display Banner
- Wonder Wall Brainstorming Display Template
- Genius Hour Parent Information Letter - Editable Template
- Introduction to Genius Hour PowerPoint Presentation
- Break It Down Poster
- Ask 3 Before Me Poster
- Genius Hour Project Half Size Notebook Template
- Genius Hour Project Full Size Notebook Template
- Identifying a Genius Hour Problem Flowchart Poster
- How to Write an Inquiry Question Poster
- Genius Hour Inquiry Proposal Template
- Genius Hour Class Progress Tracker
- Genius Hour Research Flowchart Poster
- Internet Research Skills PowerPoint
- Primary Sources Poster (Alternate Version)
- Secondary Sources Poster (Alternate Version)
- Tertiary Sources Poster (Alternate Version)
- What Makes a Credible Website Poster
- Research Notes Template
- Research Summary Template
- Genius Hour Presentation Ideas Poster
- Genius Hour Self-Reflection Template
- Genius Hour Project Assessment Rubric - Middle Years
- Genius Hour Project Assessment Rubric - Upper Years
how long after you pay does it get send to you or do you download from the site?
Hi Allie! You download it from the site once you have purchased it. We hope you and your students enjoy the fun things in this resource pack! Please let us know if we can answer any other questions for you.
Is it possible to get some more blank type pages to match the background and 'look' of the rest for barnstorming, note taking, drawing etc? A page with the marble look background with just a border and a blank middle....with perhaps a banner title like the others just saying notes/ideas or something?
Hi Kayla, Thanks for your suggestion. Please feel free to request a resource here: https://www.teachstarter.com/request-a-resource/ Requests are voted on by the Teach Starter community. We create the top request each week. Please let me know if you have any further questions, I'm more than happy to help. Kind regards, Kristian
What an amazing resource! Will there be a version for the lower years?
Hi Emma, Genius Hour can be used for all ages, you may just need to differentiate with some of the worksheets and how much you are scaffolding each step. I would suggest looking at the template worksheets we have for literacy in the lower grades and utilising some of these for the research areas of Genius Hour. If there is anything else I can assist you with, please don't hesitate to contact me.
I love the idea of Genius Hour and I really want to start in my classroom. Every Monday morning for an hour a portion of my students go to Chess lessons. I would like to implement something like this for my other students to work on during this time. Do you think Genius Hour is appropriate for Year 3. Thank you in advance :)
Hi Breanna, With a little tweaking, I think Genius Hour can be used for almost all age groups, depending on your level of scaffolding. Inquiry-based classroom tasks can be very effective in giving the students a sense of self-directed learning. Thanks for taking the time to comment on this resource. If there is anything else I can assist you with, please don't hesitate to contact me.
is it possible to get Australian curriculum links?
Hi Molly, Genius Hour allows students to work on a passion project, idea or new skill during class time. As such, curriculum links for such projects would and should encompass a wide range of learning areas. I would suggest looking at the individual projects your students are undertaking and finding the relevant curriculum links from the Australian Curriculum site here: https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/ If there is anything else I can assist you with, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Thank you. I am about to start this as a end of year wrap up for my Year 4 students. This resource pack looks amazing not only will my class be productive but as a first time Genius Hour convert I will be well resourced.
Hi Kylie, Thank you for your lovely comment. I am so glad you are enjoying our resources.
I love this! We are doing informative texts in English and studying Geography this term so I am really looking forward to incorporating this into my lessons.
Fantastic! So nice to hear from you, Melissa. We are glad you find this teaching resource pack helpful.
Amazing amount of work you have done. I have done Genius Hour several times before and this looks like a great, streamlined unit. Well done (yet again)!
Thanks, Naomi! We hope you enjoy using the pack!
Fantastic I was wanting to do something like this and now I have the perfect scaffold to start with. Thanks
You're most welcome Siobhan. We are so glad that you like our Genius Hour Teaching Resource Pack. Enjoy!
Love this. I'm getting ready to introduce for term 3
That's so great to hear. We hope you and your students enjoy the process!