Sarah- Jane Olszewski a wonder-ful teacher in the Upper Grand District school board and Laurie Vonk, a VT teacher, do presentations on Inquiry for ETFO. The Summer Institutes that ETFO offers are a fantastic way for teachers to network and learn from each other. Give one a try! Sarah-Jane and Laurie have created a Symbaloo of websites that they have stumbled upon during their inquiry journey. Perhaps things they have found along the way might inspire you! Just click the Symbaloo link! Look for the drop down menu to find more webmix pages.
GALILEO.ORG
IDEAS TO CREATE
WONDER
Having an inquiry stance in your classroom, helps to unleash a child's natural curiousity about the world. Instead of being a "Sage on the Stage", dispensing information and giving instructions, step back and relinquish that control to the students. The children in my classroom are called "Keachers" or Kid Teachers. What they want to know is honoured, as is how they might want to share their learning. Every year, we create a sense of wonder by watching the life cycle of a Monarch butterfly. After observing this provocation, the children are invited to ask questions they have about the butterfly. All of our learning comes from the answers they have to their inquiries. Each child will share the answer to the questions with their classmates. It is amazing how much of the curriculum can be covered and in more depth through these responses. Along the way we will have Knowledge Building Circles (See Making Thinking Visible), which is really formative assessment. The teacher can hear what the children understand, pick up on misunderstandings and then encourage new questions to foster continued inquiry. Below you will notice how the children have asked questions about different animals over the course of the year.
WONDER JOURNALS
At the end of August, Barb came back from the UGDSB's Learning Fair very excited. She had learned about something called "Thought Books" which help to sustain an inquiry. These books are used to are a response to authentic inquiries. In these books, students build upon was they have "read, heard, or learned by musing critically and creatively, in words, sketches or recordings, about emerging ideas and plans. They are to be used throughout the inquiry. "The recurring question for students for virtually every Thoughtbook is: How has what I have jus learned informed, altered, or challenged my thinking about the issue, problem, or project that I am inquiring into? ..Thoughtbooks have a dual purpose: to encourage students to think back by reviewing, critiquing, and testing what they have already proposed and thought, and also to invite them to "think forward" by imagining, hypothesizing, and extending their ideas and plans." The students deepen their understanding by focusing on the essential question and big ideas.
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Two of the children wanted to build an igloo, so we went around looking for materials and stumbled upon pizza boxes. After the igloo was created, an inquiry on the Arctic and Inuit developed naturally from the children's interest. Through their collaboration they inspired their classmates to learn more as well!
PROVOCATIONS
PROJECT BASED LEARNING
Project Based Learning is a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging and complex question, problem, or challenge.
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"PROJECTS ARE WHAT STUDENTS REMEMBER LONG AFTER THE BELL RINGS". GREAT TEACHERS KNOW THAT THEIR HIGHEST CALLING IS TO MAKE MEMORIES". Think about a time if you met a former student at the grocery story ..."The former student wants to reminisce. She enthusiastically begins a sentence, "Remember that time we..." The rest of the sentence is never "crammed for the standarized test," or " used all of our spelling words in a sentence." The student's reminiscence always concludes with a description of a project created in your classroom" INVENT TO LEARN |
"We suggest that educators plan and evaluate student projects based on a lofty set of goals. Teachers should embrace the aesthetic of an artist or critic and create opportunities for project development that strive to satisfy the following criteria.
Ask if the project is.... * Beautiful *Thoughtful *Personally Meaningful *Sophisticated *Shareable with a respect for the audience *Moving *Enduring" INVENT TO LEARN |
WHAT MAKES A GOOD PROJECT?
"There are several names for this kind of classroom experience...problem based learning, inquiry learning and others. ...We believe that they all describe similar processes for the teacher and result in similar habits of mind (See 21st Century Learners) and successful learning for students. We do not believe it is critical to superficially separate problem solving, inquiry and creating artifacts into different typed of learning. When we talk about a "project", what we mean is work that is substantial, shareable, and personally meaningful. Some projects may take a class period or two to complete, while others may require an entire term. When a teacher creates a well-designed prompt that capitalizes on student curiosity, kinds can embark on complex, long-term adventures. Inquiry begins with what students want to know and the things they wonder about. Allowing students to explore these questions drives their desire to learn" Invent to Learn
"There are several names for this kind of classroom experience...problem based learning, inquiry learning and others. ...We believe that they all describe similar processes for the teacher and result in similar habits of mind (See 21st Century Learners) and successful learning for students. We do not believe it is critical to superficially separate problem solving, inquiry and creating artifacts into different typed of learning. When we talk about a "project", what we mean is work that is substantial, shareable, and personally meaningful. Some projects may take a class period or two to complete, while others may require an entire term. When a teacher creates a well-designed prompt that capitalizes on student curiosity, kinds can embark on complex, long-term adventures. Inquiry begins with what students want to know and the things they wonder about. Allowing students to explore these questions drives their desire to learn" Invent to Learn
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WONDER-FULL SITES TO EXPLORE WITH YOUR STUDENTS
"Mystery Science offers open-and-go lessons that inspire kids to love science. The hook, visuals, and activity have all been prepared for you."
"Mystery Doug is a weekly video series for elementary teachers based entirely on questions of real students." (This is part of Mystery Science!
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"Spark children's imaginations by sharing a "Wonder of the Day" and exploring a "Wonder Playground."
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"PowerKnowledge Life Science is an online resource specifically designed for learners in grades 3 to 6. Comprised of curriculum correlated content, PK Life Science promotes digital literacy and 21st century learning skills, while offering research, report, and homework help. Instant Article Translation into over 100 languages supports English Language Learners and family literacy programs." THIS SITE READS INFORMATION TO STUDENTS!! SO AWESOME!
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"Each data base features expertly levelled text and navigation specifically designed for early researchers. Enriched with spoken-word audio text highlighting and audio/video media, Pebble Go builds a foundation of research skills for every learner"..SO WONDERFUL FOR YOUNG LEARNERS TO LISTEN TO INFORMATION THAT INSPIRES THEM!
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"Animated Educational Site for Kids - Science, Social Studies, English, Math, Arts & Music, Health, and Technology."
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"Frontiers for Young Minds is a scientific open access journal edited by and for kids."
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"Gale's Kids InfoBits provides authoritative, curriculum-aligned, age-appropriate digital content that covers a broad range of educational topics."
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"Find answers to popular science questions, watch fun fact videos, and test out a new experiment or two."
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"Play games, watch videos, learn about animals, and places, and get fun facts on the National Geographic Kids website."
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How big? How far? Explore the universe by starting in your own backyard!
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JOIN IN THE ADVENTURE!
"Bringing Science, Exploration, Adventure, Conservation into classrooms across North America. Guest speakers and virtual field trips with leading experts from around the world. Using technology to broadcast live from the most remote regions of the planet." |
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"Find high resolution 360° panoramic images and videos for VR usage and more from the leading source of VR content." 360cities.net is the web's largest collection of stunning, geo-referenced, interactive panoramic photos, created by a network of thousands of the finest photographers.
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"TakingITGlobal empowers youth to understand and act on the world's greatest challenges ... The Global Gallery is a platform for artistic expressions which raise awareness and engagement."
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DOGO News has fun articles for kids on current events, science, sports, and more! There are also lots of stories, pictures, videos, games
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"Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject. It starts with interesting articles about tons of topics—each available at 5 reading levels."
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"Curio.ca. gives teachers and students streaming access to the best in educational content from CBC and Radio-Canada. You'll find documentaries from television and radio, news reports, archival material, stock shots and more."
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"Ensure student and educator success with EBSCO’s interface for schools and public libraries. Designed to meet the unique needs of its users, Explora supports both student research and classroom instruction with rich, reliable content and easy-to-use functionality."
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"Online encyclopedia resource for kids in grades K-12 with safe, fact-checked, age-appropriate content for homework help and learning."
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"Delivering authentic experiential learning opportunities across Canada. Find an Expert: Search. Explore."
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