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PictureAn infographic I designed in an early phase of my driving question. Created using easel.ly.
Choosing a driving question was easy.  Effectively implementing PBL with CCSS had been a growing problem of practice for me, for a few years.  I wasn't alone in my struggle, either; a certain dissonance was voiced by many of my colleagues as well.  The tenets of PBL sounded like everything I wanted to do with my students- but with every gain in PBL practice, I focused less on teaching my students foundational skills.  

I began my inquiry by researching academic studies about PBL.  At the same time, I executed action research in my classroom. My action research consisted of adapting a Common Core-aligned unit from a textbook into a PBL unit.  In doing so, I looked closely at the effects of technology, collaboration, time management, and literacy strategies with my students.  Both forms of research gave me a much deeper understanding of the question I was asking.  For one thing, I learned that the difficulties I experienced with PBL (classroom management, loss of time, specific skills, etc.) were not new; they'd been documented repeatedly for twenty years!  On the other hand, as my coursework continued, I began to understand why it is still so valued by so many institutions.  PBL provides a platform for the collaboration, creative thinking, technology know-how, and problem solving that are in increasing demand from employers.  The balance lies in combining those "soft" skills with Common Core Standards.
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HOW-TOs
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LESSONS
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ASSESSMENT
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REFERENCES

What's In The Learn More Section

PictureHOW-TOs
How-tos  features examples of how to plan a standards-based PBL unit, as well as some do's and don'ts for scaffolding, flipped lessons, and more.  
 PictureLESSONS
Lessons includes examples of lessons to use in a standards-based PBL unit.  You can check out some student work here as well!
 PictureASSESSMENT
Assessment contains project and lesson rubrics, along with exemplar student work.  Be warned: I love a good rubric.
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References are proof that I didn't come up with this on my own. Resources are cataloged and described in this section. 

Standards Addressed Throughout

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.7
Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.2
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.8.1
Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.1
Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.9
Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or character types from myths, traditional stories, or religious works such as the Bible, including describing how the material is rendered new.

Great Tools- A Preview of Top References

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VoiceThread
This is a valuable alternative to teacher-in-the-front-of-the-room notetaking.  With VoiceThread, a teacher can add her voice to a slide show.  Then students can "drive" the show as fast or as slowly as they need, and complete a notetaking guide.
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EdPuzzle
EdPuzzle takes the passivity out of movie watching.  Teachers can insert questions into YouTube videos, and EdPuzzle records student answers.  It's ease of use is a real benefit here; cutting video and adding questions takes only a few short minutes.
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Google Docs
Just because it been around awhile doesn't mean it's not worth mentioning.  This is the best tool I've found for collaborative writing projects.  The "suggesting" function is also a godsend for peer edits.
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Google Forms
Forms can be a valuable time-saver for teachers.  I use it to sort data (like students' quiz responses), take surveys, shape essays, and make class rosters.  This tool shines as a way to facilitate standards-based peer feedback.
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Autocrat (Sheets Add-On)
It takes some getting used to, but Autocrat can generate some flashy material with the right form questions.  Check out how I used it with both peer feedback and sentence starters in the Lessons section.