We are part of the ICWC ICT cluster. We are on a journey about creating change and developing our students to be 21st century learners through Inquiry based Learning.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Where we, as staff are at with Inquiry?
Wow, as the lead teacher I am very pleased with Taitoko School teachers and their first reflection on the blog. They have been very interesting to read. Hey,thanks heaps for making the effort and committment to blogging about inquiry.
Ok Room 7 have taken the path of Starvation this term, they are at the process of 'have a go'. Currently we are learning to wonder, ask questions and think about an action of some sort.
Inquiry being very new to me,I guess i am trying to decipher 'what inquiry is" and how to implement it successfully. I am looking forward going to u-learn later in the year.
To date - found SPARK was great. It was fun, motivational and the students really got in to it. Short and sharp - lots of interesting things. We are now up to Investigate in Room 2 and from eventually coming up with numerous questions in regards to Healthy Eating we have managed to get our 'Big Question' done - which is 'How do we know what food is healthy?'. We have now discussed how we can find out answers - who could we talk to? What could we look at? We have practiced phone calls to Sue Burton in the hope that she may visit us.
To date 'Have a Go' and 'Investigate' have been the hardest part as trying to get Year 1's and 2's to form questions and not just give statements is quite a challenge.
Enjoying the process to date - first time trying it. Keen to see how we finish off.
As an observer and not a user my understanding of Inquiry Learning is that it is designed to get children thinking and questioning about a topic and follow a common interest to the class or groups. The end outcome over time would be that children know how to access sources of information when trying to find out about something.
Room 3 has had a great SPARK start to our healthy eating inquiry unit. We sang foodie songs, found some interesting facts e.g. Did you know that teachers were given apples because they used to be paid in food and not cash??? O.K. Moving on... We've conducted surveys, read books, made fruit kebarbs and we have had a 'hot milo and marshmellow' day. The children constructed a simple food pyramid too. There have been lot's of wondering questions around the notion of 'treats'. What's healthy, what's not and how much is ok and otherwise. I found it interesting how the children associate 'treats' to emotional feelings for favoured adults. ANYWAY!!!! Our big Question is "What makes a healthy treat for children?
Inquiry learning is quite a different way of teaching a specific area, and I must admit I find it harder than when teaching the old 'unit studies' way, however I do believe that this way of learning will empower our children if it is the children who are 'driving' the questions.
I have enjoyed 'Sparking' which is the first part of our Shine inquiry model and I do enjoy providing exciting activities for children to be able to 'get them thinking and asking questions' which eventually leads them to drive the investigation. However, there have been times when I have struggled to get some of our new entrant children to ask questions and have found that often I am driving the questioning myself. (I know I am probably not supposed to be doing this,but struggle to get them to verbalise their thoughts at times.) As questioning skills are something that my young ones are still developing, this has meant that I need to teach children what a question is " what do we want to find out?", and this is a skill that needs to be taught first in before HAVE A GO can take place or the next part of the inquiry stage-INVESTIGATE. We have also been learning our 6 thinking hats to help with our knowledge and thinking skills. I have found that this has helped when asking questions and developing thinking/ questioning skills. eg: When you put on your red hat- how do you feel? Ask your partner how he/ she enjoyed lunch-time. Is an apple healthy? Yes/ no, put on your yellow hat and tell me all the good points etc... Till next time- Paula
In Room 6 the inquiry has got off to a slow start!The kids and I are still 'sparking' and trying to generate a really great set of ideas, which tie in with Health Issues. The first session, we looked at the outbreak of 'swine flu, which is sweeping the South America's etc.We used u-tube as a medium and this had a good reception and further discussion.The folling session was ok, but I need to get them 'enthused'a lot more!I'm finding that due to afternoon sessions of swimming and technicraft really 'bite' in to the Inquiry sessions.So I'm going to try some inquiry sessions in the mornings...
7 comments:
Ok Room 7 have taken the path of Starvation this term, they are at the process of 'have a go'. Currently we are learning to wonder, ask questions and think about an action of some sort.
Inquiry being very new to me,I guess i am trying to decipher 'what inquiry is" and how to implement it successfully. I am looking forward going to u-learn later in the year.
To date - found SPARK was great. It was fun, motivational and the students really got in to it. Short and sharp - lots of interesting things. We are now up to Investigate in Room 2 and from eventually coming up with numerous questions in regards to Healthy Eating we have managed to get our 'Big Question' done - which is 'How do we know what food is healthy?'. We have now discussed how we can find out answers - who could we talk to? What could we look at? We have practiced phone calls to Sue Burton in the hope that she may visit us.
To date 'Have a Go' and 'Investigate' have been the hardest part as trying to get Year 1's and 2's to form questions and not just give statements is quite a challenge.
Enjoying the process to date - first time trying it. Keen to see how we finish off.
As an observer and not a user my understanding of Inquiry Learning is that it is designed to get children thinking and questioning about a topic and follow a common interest to the class or groups. The end outcome over time would be that children know how to access sources of information when trying to find out about something.
Room 3 has had a great SPARK start to our healthy eating inquiry unit. We sang foodie songs, found some interesting facts e.g. Did you know that teachers were given apples because they used to be paid in food and not cash???
O.K. Moving on... We've conducted surveys, read books, made fruit kebarbs and we have had a 'hot milo and marshmellow' day. The children constructed a simple food pyramid too.
There have been lot's of wondering questions around the notion of 'treats'. What's healthy, what's not and how much is ok and otherwise. I found it interesting how the children associate 'treats' to emotional feelings for favoured adults.
ANYWAY!!!!
Our big Question is "What makes a healthy treat for children?
Inquiry learning is quite a different way of teaching a specific area, and I must admit I find it harder than when teaching the old 'unit studies' way, however I do believe that this way of learning will empower our children if it is the children who are 'driving' the questions.
I have enjoyed 'Sparking' which is the first part of our Shine inquiry model and I do enjoy providing exciting activities for children to be able to 'get them thinking and asking questions' which eventually leads them to drive the investigation. However, there have been times when I have struggled to get some of our new entrant children to ask questions and have found that often I am driving the questioning myself. (I know I am probably not supposed to be doing this,but struggle to get them to verbalise their thoughts at times.) As questioning skills are something that my young ones are still developing, this has meant that I need to teach children what a question is " what do we want to find out?", and this is a skill that needs to be taught first in before HAVE A GO can take place or the next part of the inquiry stage-INVESTIGATE. We have also been learning our 6 thinking hats to help with our knowledge and thinking skills. I have found that this has helped when asking questions and developing thinking/ questioning skills. eg: When you put on your red hat- how do you feel? Ask your partner how he/ she enjoyed lunch-time. Is an apple healthy? Yes/ no, put on your yellow hat and tell me all the good points etc...
Till next time- Paula
In Room 6 the inquiry has got off to a slow start!The kids and I are still 'sparking' and trying to generate a really great set of ideas, which tie in with Health Issues. The first session, we looked at the outbreak of 'swine flu, which is sweeping the South America's etc.We used u-tube as a medium and this had a good reception and further discussion.The folling session was ok, but I need to get them 'enthused'a lot more!I'm finding that due to afternoon sessions of swimming and technicraft really 'bite' in to the Inquiry sessions.So I'm going to try some inquiry sessions in the mornings...
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