Last year my son was at a school that was entirely Project Based Learning. Everything he did in first grade revolved around whatever topic he was learning about at the time. He did projects on Great Danes, Tsunamis, Jacques Cousteau, Mudslides, and one other thing that isn't coming to mind...sharks? Maybe?
Anyway, every 10 weeks they did a new project and at the end of the 10 weeks there was a presentation for the entire school. They learned public speaking skills, organization skills, how to follow their passions, how to research topics alone, and on and on and on.
http://bie.org/about/what_pbl
My son was tuned in, happy, and learning like crazy!