The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics is now over, however, our inquiry, "Going for Gold", continues! We have been reading many books and articles about achieving success, having courage and showing respect. A wall of our thinking is starting to emerge (see below). Students refer to this board as they begin thinking about the dreams they have for their own lives. It is also a way to make our thinking public.

After reading the book, Dream, by Susan Bosak, I gave small groups samples of the artwork found inside this beautiful book. They had to think about how the artwork connected to the overall idea of following one's dream. The conversations that occurred were priceless. Students had to look at the emotions, colours and objects in each illustration to help them articulate an overall message. Talk about critical thinking!

I decided to give students an "App Smash" challenge. This is when students use more than one app on their iPad to produce a final product. The first app they used was PicCollage. They had to create a collage incorporating their artwork and a quote of their own thinking. Below is an example:

The next step was for students to take what they created in PicCollage and incorporate it into the app,  Tellagami. Tellagami is an app that lets you create a short video called a Gami. I thought this would be a great way for students to share their thinking about dreams with each other. See some of our creations below:

Example One

Example Two

Example Three

Example Four

Example Five

Example Six

Example Seven

Example Eight

Example Nine

Example Ten

Example Eleven

We continue to work through our inquiry - "How do we achieve our dreams?" One of the qualities that people need is courage. The story of one of our Canadian Olympians,  Joannie Rochette, exemplifies courage. Students read the story with a partner and then marked their thinking using post-it notes.

Some of their thoughts are recorded below:

Students will continue to act like "text detectives" - sifting through information and pulling out ideas that apply to our inquiry. Although we are focusing on Canadian Olympians, it is my hope that students will be able to apply these qualities to their own lives.

 

Students will start thinking about their dreams and the qualities they will need to make them come true. I want them to be able to write about their dreams and explain how they plan to achieve them. There is so much frontloading needed before we can expect students to write with quality. Stay tuned!

We continued with our Olympic Inquiry by watching some of the "We Are Winter" videos highlighting our Canadian athletes. I used a QR code for students to scan with their iPads. I wanted them to explore the 7 pages of video clips, talk with their partner and record their thinking using a mind mapping form. Students were highly engaged viewing the videos and recording their ideas. They came up with such inspirational statements that can be applied to life. What an amazing group of critical thinkers! 

Here is a collection of our thinking. These ideas will continue to push us forward as we reflect on our guiding questions. These experiences also allow us to consider larger questions such as:

1. How do people achieve success?

2. How do we achieve our dreams? Better yet...

3. How do we "Go for the Gold?"

We are beginning a new inquiry surrounding the Winter Olympic Games. Students worked in small groups to unscramble three guiding questions that will help drive this inquiry. I really enjoyed listening to each group's conversation as they experimented with the order of various words.

We also looked at some of the symbols of the Olympics. Students created a chart to record their research and thinking.