Showing posts with label inquiry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label inquiry. Show all posts
Tuesday, 26 February 2019
An In-depth Look into an Inquiry
Our current inquiry is centered around the question – “What is the impact of home being taken away?”Students have been immersed in reading and writing experiences dealing with the topics of homelessness, refugees and residential schools. My goal is for students to gather important information on these topics so they can write about them with knowledge and empathy. Thinking about how writers engage the hearts and minds of their readers is woven throughout this study.
Below is a sampling of these experiences:
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| Images to spark thinking. |
Here are three images related to our study. Students used the “See Think Wonder” thinking routine. They listed their observations, thoughts and questions about the photos. This allowed them to think critically about the images and try to figure out how they might be related to our inquiry.
Students then worked in small groups to sort out and arrange the words to form our central question – “What is the impact of home being taken away?”
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| Sorting our central question. |
With the topic of our inquiry at the forefront of their minds, students were able to construct three words, two questions and one metaphor or simile describing what it would be like to not have a home. Check out two videos of students sharing their thinking below.
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| 3-2-1 Bridge Thinking Routine. |
Our read aloud is Refugee by Alan Gratz. This book is a fantastic complement to our study. Students find all three stories in this text extremely engaging. Each action-packed story is told from the perspective of a child refugee fleeing their countries for a better life.
We have also read many different picture books and watched videos throughout our study and we continue to do so. Our discussions of these texts have been emotional and meaningful. Students are making deep connections between these multiple books. This helps to develop critical thinking.
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| Some of the many texts used in this study. |
Sometimes I like to have students look at parts of a story before reading the picture book in full. We did this for the story, “I am Not a Number” by Jenny Kay Dupuis. Below, students are viewing an image from the story. They are discussing and recording everything they see, think and wonder about.
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| Thinking about an image from a text prior to reading the book. |
Afterwards, I read the story to the class as a whole group. Students revisited their image and this time read the snippet of text that went along with their image. They were able to discuss the text together bringing greater understanding to the specific image in front of them. Students also worked through another thinking routine called “Sentence Phrase Word”. They had to select one sentence, phrase and word that captured the overall essence of the text. Listening to students explain their reasons for their selections is a great way to assess their critical thinking skills.
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| Adding the text to the image and sharing thinking further. |
Like I stated in the beginning, we are constantly discussing what good writers do. We will read a story as a reader by focusing on the meaning and how the writing made us feel. Then we will also look at it with the lens of a writer, noting the different craft moves that held our attention and made the writing sound so amazing that you don’t want to put the book down. See below.
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| Charting the craft moves found in the book - Feathers. |
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| Anchor chart of What Good Writers Do. |
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| Chart inside a student's writer's notebook. |
Students are very interested in these issues because they represent real life. However, this inquiry topic is also a heavy one. Therefore, I felt it was important to add “light” within this study. We discussed how fortunate we are to have a “sense of place” or that feeling of home. One of our writing projects is to write about the meaning of home and how it is an integral part of our lives. I had students create a collage board or a vision board of their special place and this supported them when drafting their writing. I even wrote about my special place in front of students. They were able to see me think out loud, craft a variety of sentences, organize my thoughts in paragraphs, re-read my work, etc.
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| A student vision board of his favourite place that feels like home. |
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| My writing about my special place. |
Students have been working on their home pieces in their writer’s notebook and we will be completing final copies soon. I have been celebrating each writer by pointing out all the great things they are doing in their writing. A public conference allows for all learners to hear great ideas that they may apply to their own pieces. I have had audience members record their thinking on post-its to capture what they have learned. This makes everyone accountable.
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| Student post-its written during a public conference. |
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| A public conference in action. |
Here are some samples of student writing below.
Currently, students are researching residential schools and refugees (see below). They will use their research to write an informative piece on one of these topics soon.
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| Student collecting research on residential schools. |
Thursday, 27 February 2014
Inquiry: "Going for Gold" Part 2
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.
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| Our Inquiry Board - "Going for the Gold" |
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:
Wednesday, 19 February 2014
Inquiry: Going for Gold
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:
- No one can make your dreams come true but you. You have to be courageous and show who you are.
- She had to focus on her dream, even though her mother passed away. That takes courage.
- It takes courage to stay fit while your friends are having fun.
- It takes courage to perform on the ice with the pressure of everyone watching.
Afterwards, students worked in small groups, going back through the article for a second time noting all of the ways Joannie made her dream come true. Students shared their ideas at the carpet and then we made a class list as a whole group. Here is a sample from a student's notebook:
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!
Wednesday, 12 February 2014
Go for the Gold
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?"
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| You have to visualize and actually put yourself in the moment. |
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| A supportive team gets you somewhere, but a supportive family and friends gets you anywhere. |
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| Follow your dream. You don't think about anything. You think about the moment. This moment is your life. Go play your best! |
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| Don't pretend to be someone you're not. Follow your dreams and do what you want. |
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| You have to think positively. |
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| To let your dreams run wild you have to have confidence in your performance. You have to be strong so if you fall you can get right back up. You have to practice with all your heart. |
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| Life can give you medals. Life can give you fame. But if you don't respect yourself, others, the course and your coach, life can't give you accomplishment. |
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| The maple leaf fills you with pride. It's so lifting to know that you've got a whole nation that has your back. |
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| You are what you become. You find your power in your heart. Everyone has a power. You just need to find it. |
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| You made this journey to the Olympics. Now go out there and do what you got to do. Have the confidence to play! |
Monday, 15 April 2013
An Inquiry into Citizenship
To begin our inquiry, we read a wide variety of books (picture books, chapter books and non-fiction) to get us thinking and to allow thoughtful conversations. I was very selective with the books that I found to help anchor our study. I wanted the message of the text to connect to citizenship; however, I also wanted the writing to be excellent.
I decided to read aloud the picture book, Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson. The story is about a little girl, Chloe, who misses her opportunity to be kind to a new student. In fact, she chooses to be unkind. The new student moves away and Chloe misses her chance to repair her unkind actions. As a class, we found the ending to be very powerful because it wasn't your typical "happy ending". Instead, Jacqueline Woodson forces us to realize that people can be unkind to one another. There is a part in the book where Chloe's teacher says: "Each kindness makes the world a little bit better."
This was the perfect opportunity to invite students to write about a moment of kindness they received from a family member. I didn't want students to miss their opportunity to share their appreciation for a loved one.
To support students, I wrote a piece showing my appreciation for my mom's weekly visits when she volunteers in my classroom. Students were then asked to create their own written pieces, which were given as gifts at parent conferences. They also published this writing on their individual blogs and parents were able to comment on them as well. It was wonderful to see the reactions of parents and the students loved receiving their comments.
Here are some samples from student blogs:
Sample 1
Sample 2
Sample 3
We charted our thinking about the question - "What does it mean to be a good citizen?"
This was the perfect opportunity to invite students to write about a moment of kindness they received from a family member. I didn't want students to miss their opportunity to share their appreciation for a loved one.
To support students, I wrote a piece showing my appreciation for my mom's weekly visits when she volunteers in my classroom. Students were then asked to create their own written pieces, which were given as gifts at parent conferences. They also published this writing on their individual blogs and parents were able to comment on them as well. It was wonderful to see the reactions of parents and the students loved receiving their comments.
Here are some samples from student blogs:
Sample 1
Sample 2
Sample 3
We charted our thinking about the question - "What does it mean to be a good citizen?"
Students interviewed their parents to find out who they admired and why. We thought this would add another perspective to our study.
Then I asked students the question - "What Face Do You Want to Show the World?" We created silhouette portraits and students picked a character trait or attribute to explain their thinking.
Before too long, we started to realize that a good citizen is simply someone who wants to make the world a better place. Making the world a better place is being the best person you can be at home, at school and in the community. We created a diagram called, "THE RIPPLE EFFECT". It's to resemble the waves moving outward when you drop a pebble in the water.
We connected this idea to a portion of a poem written by James W. Foley:
Drop a pebble in the water
just a splash, and it is gone;
But there's half-a-hundred ripples
circling on and on and on,
Spreading, spreading from the centre,
flowing on out to the sea.
And there is no way of telling
where the end is going to be.
After several discussions, students also wrote about what they think it means to be a good citizen. These became their most current understandings and we posted them on our "Wonder Wall".
Throughout this study we also read two important texts:
1. Wonder by R.J. Palacio. I have blogged about this text before. You can find it here.
2. Ryan and Jimmy by Herb Shoveller
Both of these texts provided rich discussions and opportunities for deep thinking. We looked at them as readers. We analyzed them as writers. See below:
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| This is a passage from Wonder with student thinking all in the margins. |
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| This is a passage from Ryan and Jimmy with student thinking in the margins. |
You can see all of the reading and writing experiences that took place during this citizenship study.
Finally, we were ready to start thinking about how we, as a class, could make the world a better place. We decided that we wanted to build a bench, to symbolize respectful conversation and friendship. This will sit by our main office in the school. When we first started discussing this idea, our plan was to find out how much it would cost. We'd also have to take a survey of our families to find out who could help us build it. That evening, I got a message from one of my students on Edmodo:
This week we are painting our bench. We have a couple of students helping us from one of the high schools in our division. Here is the "before" picture:
I will post the final product when we are finished.
Students also worked on their own plans to make the world a better place. This writing was completed in collaboration with Mrs. Routman. This continues to be a work in progress with the end result being a beautiful book. Right now, however, you can find our plans on our blogs!
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