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The Inquiry Process Across the Curriculum

tarimak — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 20:44:09 +0000

Most of the time when an educator hears the word inquiry they think Science curriculum. Not an unusual assumption, since the inquiry process of asking questions and finding answers relates directly to the scientific process. Over the past seven weeks of studies I have learned that the inquiry process, with some time and thought, can be integrated into any of the curricular areas. My personal emphasis throughout the course was on Social Studies: Ancient Cultures, where I learned by changing the way I asked my questions I could guide my students to deeper understanding of topics. By asking questions that made my students research for answers, using past knowledge and searching for new knowledge, I moved them into a higher level of learning. And, as illustrated by my classmates, this process could be carried out in all areas of education.

When we first started the course I wondered what the difference was between Project-Based assignments and the Inquiry process. Through the coursework I have found that the two actually go hand-in-hand. A quality Project-Based assignment includes the Inquiry process, whether it be discovering the impact of ancient culture lifestyles on modern day ones or figuring out the real-life applications of math problems.

The implementation of Inquiry-based assignments, I feel, is essential in our 21st century classrooms. Real-life is inquiry, real-life is figuring out how to solve problems and through the process finding the solutions. Through developing lessons that follow the 5E format, I can help educate my students for the future that they face.

Applying Inquiry To Social Studies

tarimak — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 23:12:37 +0000

This week was quite interesting for me, as we were developing lessons using the 5E’s of the Inquiry method and applying them to classroom content. I chose the content area that I most enjoy teaching – Social Studies; Ancient Cultures.

At first I struggle a bit with getting my mind around the 5E’s and changing the lesson template from a Science based curriculum to one of Social Studies, but once I got on the roll, it started really coming together. Working through the 5E assignment, then moving on to the lesson plan template helped solidify the entire concept (I have to admit the lesson plan template was a tad bit daunting at first look!). Using the lesson template helped me to see how all the E’s interact with one another throughout the lesson.

Another great week of learning and sharing!

Web 2.0 and Inquiry

tarimak — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 00:49:46 +0000

This was the week I had been waiting for! So many ideas on how to incorporate Web 2.0 tools into the inquiry-based curriculum, and not all just Science based! It was great to see ideas in ELA and Math as well. I was introduces to two “new-to-me” programs, Prezi.com and Xtranormal.com. I have already done two presentations using Prezi and intend to have my students using it before the end of the school year. I can see using Xtranormal as a phenomenal Engage tool as well as Explain or Evaluate, both with teacher driven presentations as well as ones developed by my students.

A great week of sharing and learning!

Investigable vs. Non-Investigable Questions

tarimak — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 20:45:41 +0000

The topic this week proved to be quite intriguing! As I worked through the Fact/Concept cards assignment I started to realize that what would be an inquiry question for my 6^th graders could, very easily, be a factual question for someone in a different grade, or even a different 6^th grade class depending on what prior knowledge is in place. I am also thinking that, as with the Fact/Concept cards, there really isn’t a right or wrong answer as to what is investigable, more it has to do with how the question is worded to make the student dig deeper for information instead of just memorizing and repeating facts.

Through this weeks work I can also see the correlation between Project-based and Inquiry-based assignments. The two literally go hand-in-hand with an inquiry-based question being the spring board to a project-based assignment.

I am looking forward to the next several weeks as we continue to stretch our inquiry questioning skills to beyond the Science classroom and develop more and more ideas for the Reading, History, and/or Language Arts classroom!

Inquiry-Based Ideas in All Content Areas?

tarimak — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 02:18:05 +0000

Over the past week we read three classroom scenarios and watched an awesome video helping to bring inquiry-based learning strategies out of the murky fog and into a clearer understanding. Unfortunately all four of our scenarios were based on Science classes. I truly want to see how inquiry-based learning can be utilized with Social Studies, Reading, Math, etc… So for this weeks blog entry I decided to do some researching and creating on inquiry-based lessons to see if I could incorporate them into the other subject areas cited (my research and creations are based on a 6^th grade / middle school audience).

If anyone has any other ideas, or suggestions to add, PLEASE do, as I am still fumbling with this process and am not sure if these are more “project-based” than “inquiry-based” ideas!

Ancient Cultures:

After studying the cultural universals, in teams of three, students will develop a completely unique culture in a diverse environment (under a bed, underwater, etc…) the students will build artifacts from the culture, have samples of the writing, music, etc… (every universal should have an artifact representative). Students will present their culture to the class, the class will try to decipher the different artifacts and which universal they represent.

Students will develop a newspaper front page describing what happened to the Mohenjo-Daro civilization (a civilization that perished with no known cause).

Students will brain storm in class a KWL chart on the ancient culture being studied. Students will then choose a question for the “Want to Know” list and research to find the answer. Students will then devise a PowerPoint presentation answering their chosen question.

Inquiry-based activities for world history: http://www.thwt.org/worldinquirysites.html

Reading – Language Arts:

As a class, students will brainstorm school issues that they question. Once the class has decided on four separate issues (e.g. School uniforms, cell phone policies, homework policies…) the students will then form teams of three and debate their argument of an assigned issue.

After reading about Amelia Earhart’s last known flight, students will use research to develop an opinion on what they feel happened to Amelia. Students will develop a PowerPoint presentation stating their argument, including maps, and research to support their opinion.

A project dealing with Propaganda: http://www.thematzats.com/propaganda/intro.htm

A project dealing with Plagiarism:http://questgarden.com/45/77/5/070127195251/index.htm

A project dealing with copy write laws and plagiarism:http://www.willard.k12.oh.us/mrwhitescomputerlab/copycat%20webquest/copycat.html

A project dealing with similes: http://fayette.k12.in.us/~dburks/simile.htm

Math:

Math Investigations:http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/inquiry/lp_math1.html

Some great math ideas:http://illuminations.nctm.org/LessonsList.aspx?grade=3&standard=1&standard=2&standard=3&standard=4&standard=5

Several different Math (as well as Science) lessons, all inquiry-based:http://www.ciblearning.org/resource.exercise.php

A great Resource site that helps explain inquiry vs. project based learning!

http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic43.htm

“Soft Skills” are Important Skills

tarimak — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 00:18:27 +0000

“It is not enough simply to know something; the learner must possess the ability to do something with that knowledge.” (Understanding University Success, pg. 9)

Through this past week’s readings on process skills I have learned that the standard-based education we are giving our students is not preparing them for their future. Our citizens of tomorrow need to have strong critical thinking, problem-solving and leadership skills that will allow them to work in a much more diverse workplace than ever before. Our students need to know how to work as a team, exchanging and respecting ideas from all on the team, no matter the gender, culture or social differences of the team members. Also stated in Understanding University Success is the need to develop the “habits of the mind” within our students. These habits include critical and analytical thinking skills, an inquisitive nature and the knowledge of how to ask questions, the willingness to accept critical feedback and then use that feedback to move forward, the openness to failure and learning from that failure, and to be able to use the technology which so much a part of their lives as a tool.

Through the need to teach information that my students can then give back on a standards-based test, I am not allowing them to develop the very skills that the universities and companies will be seeking of them. Through a standard-based education my students are learning, for the most part, isolated facts that can them be regurgitated during the state mandated test, they are not gaining leadership or creative thinking and problem solving skills, skills that will be necessary for them to be successful in their futures.

I know where I can implement inquiry-based lessons into my classroom curriculum, but for the schools in my district, and in other districts around the United States that have to teach by prescribed lessons, I can see where there will be a struggle including inquiry-based lessons into the curriculum allowing our future citizens to develop the skills which they will need.

My questions are:

How do we blend inquiry-based and standard-based education practices during this time of mandated teaching to the standardized tests?

Since students need a blending of both content knowledge and process skills, how do we make the change at the state and federal level to allow teaching practices that incorporate both models of education into our classrooms?

References:

Conley, D. (2003). Understanding University Success. Eugene, OR: Center for Educational Policy Research

Inquiry Based Education Blended with Standardized Testing?

tarimak — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 04:54:59 +0000

At the beginning of this week, and this course, I can see that I was mixing two separate, yet related theories of education. My district uses the “cycle of inquiry” model (see below), which is directly linked to our benchmark exams (four exams in English Language Arts, three exams in math and three exams in writing). We must administer these tests, gather data, and organize our lessons around the data gathered from the test results. We also have a very structured pacing guide, to which we are expected to adhere, essentially making sure we are all teaching the same concepts at the same time. Each week we attend grade level meetings to collaborate and make sure we are working toward the district target. Being a student of the Madeline Hunter theories of education, it is easy for me to follow the cycle of inquiry method, as it follows the directed instruction / guided practice model.

http://www.essentialschools.org/images/resources_pics/horace/inquiry.gif

Through the required readings as well as the class posts this past week, I have seen that there is a real difference between the cycle and the circle of inquiry. I have done circle of inquiry projects with my students, projects we all love! However, then the need to follow the district mandated schedule gets in the way.

Therefore, my question is; in this current age of standardized testing, how does one incorporate the “circle of inquiry” within such a district mandated, structured model of education?

I can see where the two models parallel one another in the beginning two steps:

*Cycle* of Inquiry (Teacher driven)	*Circle* of Inquiry (Student driven)
Develop vision for teaching and learning	Ask a meaningful question that is inspired by genuine curiosity.
Formulate researchable question.	Investigate, gather information
Design instruction.	Create significant new thoughts, ideas and theories
Teach and collect data.	Discuss new ideas with others, compare notes, discuss conclusions
Analyze data	Reflect on the experience, has a solution been found? Do new questions emerge?
Derive implications for changing practices

however, the Cycle of Inquiry deviates away from being student driven after the second step of formulating a question. It then branches into a complete teacher driven cycle of taking concrete answers to pre-selected questions and making sure the students answer them in the way the standardized test expects them to answer. This seems to be directly opposite of the student driven Circle of Inquiry.

Comparing Multiple Intelligence Testing

tarimak — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 01:56:53 +0000

I have been aware of learning personalities in my classroom since I started teaching many years ago. The research and information we have been gathering through the different Wilkes classes has piqued my interest in using MI tests and practiced in my classroom. Luckily for me, this past summer I have been tutoring a student, and used him as a guinea pig to check out some different MI inventory tests. Below are the results of those tests:

Multiple Intelligence – Assessment; Rating 4.5 http://literacyworks.org/mi/assessment/findyourstrengths.html

This is a very comprehensive test, and at first I thought my student (who is a struggling reader) would balk at the 56 questions posed for him to answer. Yet, he dug in and did the task without any complications. This test gave a very detailed report as to what type of learner this student was (extremely kinesthetic) as well as different ideas as to how I could help him control his learning environment so that he could concentrate and learn. I was also able to pass on several suggestions to his parents from this test.

As an educator, I would use this test in my classroom. The only drawback is that there are 56 questions, which might make some of my students apprehensive. But, with the proper “build up” I think it will work very well.

Pick An Alien; Rating 4 http://www.ncwiseowl.org/kscope/techknowpark/LoopCoaster/eSmartz1.html

While this site may be a little more user friendly for my students, it doesn’t give as much in-depth information as to how to address the learning style of the different profiles. I can see where my students would enjoy t he look of the alien site, but hey still have to do quite a bit of reading, and lots more self-searching to pick the alien that best represents them.

The first site seems to be a better site to get a true reading of the learning profiles of my students.

QuestGarden Vs zWebquest

tarimak — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 00:08:52 +0000

QuestGarden; Rating: 5 (http://questgarden.com/index.php)

I am always looking for a site that can help me develop ideas for my students and for quality sites for my students to use. This site does both! Through Quest Garden I can develop my own web quests using the extremely comprehensive step-by-step process they provide, or I can search for already developed web quests by grade level or subject area. This is a fee based site, but with the fee being $20.00 for a two year subscription, it almost feels like I am using it for Free!

When conducting a search for “Mesopotamia” I was rewarded with 60 hits leveled by grade and reading levels.

zWebquest; Rating: 3 (http://www.zunal.com/)

This is another site where you can design a webquests through templates, or search for and view pre-made webquests. When I searched “Mesopotamia” on this site I received 4 hits, whereas when I conducted the same search on QuestGarden I received 60 hits all leveled by grade and reading level.

The template for making the webquests was more simplistic in nature, thus leading to possibly not quite as comprehensive a final project.

Comparison of Educational Sites #2

tarimak — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 17:45:07 +0000

Ancient Mesopotamia for Kids vs Ancient Civilizations for Kids

Ancient Mesopotamia for Kids Rating: 5 http://mesopotamia.mrdonn.org/

This is a Mr. Donn website, and has been around for many years. The positive is that it has grown and changed throughout the years into a great classroom resource. The teacher section has many standards driven lessons and ideas covering all areas of Mesopotamia life (and many other ancient cultures as well). The Mesopotamia area is set up as a 14-day unit with lessons, activities (which can have technology integration), homework assignments, test reviews and unit tests.

The lessons and activities could be used as a unit by itself with some reference materials needed, or as a supplement to any textbook series.

Ancient Civilizations for Kids Rating: 4 http://www.kathimitchell.com/ancivil.html

This is primarily a resource site. When clicking to the home page, a listing of several different cultures appears with website links for the cultures. All links were up and working. I would use this as a resource guide for my students, a “jumping off place” when asking them to do research.

Earthquakes for Kids vs Understanding Earthquakes

Earthquakes for Kids Rating: 5 http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/kids//

This USGS site covers many areas of earthquake information. It is very kid-friendly with large, colorful buttons that lead to great information areas. My favorites ….. “Animations” and “Learning Links and Activities”.

An extremely useful classroom resource!

Understanding Earthquakes Rating: 3 http://projects.crustal.ucsb.edu/understanding/

The home page for this site has a simple six button list if different areas to explore concerning earthquakes. It is a very simple site with basic information, but students would enjoy it. The last button is a link to a substantial set of earthquake education websites.