You might be wondering...what specific inquiry skills do they plan to emphasize in their teaching? Well, we are here to make that loud and clear to you.
1. Formulate Questions
One of the most important steps of the inquiry process is to formulate questions. Without questions, how will students be able to know what they want to focus on? These questions must be related to the overall expectations or the "big ideas" for the specific strand in the Social Studies curriculum document.
Example: For a Grade 3 Heritage and Identity strand, we would put out a variety of artifacts that the students can explore and interact with. From here, they can explain and describe their "wonderings" or big questions from exploring these artifacts (i.e., "I wonder what _____ used _____ for?") These can then be narrowed down into the expectations from the curriculum.
2. Gather and Organize Data
Students will be told that they can research their topic, using a variety of given resources, tools and materials. It is here that they are getting used to searching for sources that they can use to answer or support their questions/wonderings.
3. Interpret and Analyze
It is these interpretation/analysis skills that students will be using to make sense of the data and information that they have collected. They will look at potential trends/patterns, record what they find interesting and expand on it as well as read through and decipher blocks of texts or examine images. Since Grade 3 students may have difficulty with this aspect of inquiry, the teacher will be assisting them and providing prompts.
4. Evaluate and Draw Conclusions
Once students have analyzed the information that they collected, they will be even further analyzing by making their own judgements. They will also be combining the information that they have found, to pull final conclusions about their research. The teacher will also be assisting with this and providing prompts.
5. Communication
This step in the inquiry process is the most exciting part, because students finally get to share what they have been working on. Students may choose a presentation method that fits with their learning style such as a video, a slideshow, a bristol board, a skit/commercial, etc. The communication tells the teacher whether the student has met the learning goals/success criteria, what the next steps are and informs other students on the topic.
These inquiry skills can be scaffolded to children as young as Kindergarten. Children already participate in their own inquiry cycle without actively knowing it. They are constantly seeking answers to questions they have about the concepts, issues and workings of the world. Formulating questions is the easiest inquiry step for younger students to participate in. The following steps can become more advanced, but can be adapted and used for all grade levels, depending on the area of focus.
HOW are we going to emphasize these inquiry skills you ask? It's easy!
- Children learn best when learning is scaffolded for them
- The teacher can model how he/she would go about participating in the inquiry process first, so that students are able to follow
- Encouraging children to work as a classroom COMMUNITY is key
- Working as a community allows children to develop important social skills that will strengthen their questioning
- Accepting all questions and answers within reason: students need to know that there is never just one way to go about solving a problem
- We encourage creative, critical and imaginative thinking
- Including artifact tables in our classroom, so that students have that hands on and highly interactive aspect to help them learn
- Encouraging the use of resources in the school and classroom environment
- Reminding students that they have access to dictionaries, encyclopedias, other books, computers, iPads, manipulatives, etc
- Fostering a climate where freedom of expression is welcomed (i.e., children are able to choose an avenue to present their information in a way that makes sense to them)
- Using differentiated instruction in our teaching, to ensure that visual, auditory and kinethestic learners are being included, as well as every other kind of learner (including learning disabilities, behavioural/emotional/attention disorders)
How does inquiry fit into the citizenship framework?
Inquiry assists students in achieving the following:
- Active participation
- Identity
- Knowledge of Structures and Attributes in a society
We plan to use inquiry in our classrooms so that our students become involved in their community, and voice their opinions on issues that may be impacting others in the society. Students collaborate with others in order to find ways to problem solve and resolve conflict. The goal of active participation is to encourage students to build relationships with one another, so that they are able to investigate their communities.
We believe that the inquiry process also helps students develop a sense of identity and awareness of who they are and how they play a role in their community.When students develop their own identity, they come to understand their own perspective as well as the perspectives of others, to educate themselves on moral and ethical issues worldwide.
Students will also develop develop an understanding of structures and attributes through their inquiry cycle. They will take a look at a variety of rights and responsibilities that go along with personal and social issues. They will also understand the importance of laws/rules and why they are in place, and will understand the relationships that occur among systems.
1. Formulate Questions
One of the most important steps of the inquiry process is to formulate questions. Without questions, how will students be able to know what they want to focus on? These questions must be related to the overall expectations or the "big ideas" for the specific strand in the Social Studies curriculum document.
Example: For a Grade 3 Heritage and Identity strand, we would put out a variety of artifacts that the students can explore and interact with. From here, they can explain and describe their "wonderings" or big questions from exploring these artifacts (i.e., "I wonder what _____ used _____ for?") These can then be narrowed down into the expectations from the curriculum.
2. Gather and Organize Data
Students will be told that they can research their topic, using a variety of given resources, tools and materials. It is here that they are getting used to searching for sources that they can use to answer or support their questions/wonderings.
3. Interpret and Analyze
It is these interpretation/analysis skills that students will be using to make sense of the data and information that they have collected. They will look at potential trends/patterns, record what they find interesting and expand on it as well as read through and decipher blocks of texts or examine images. Since Grade 3 students may have difficulty with this aspect of inquiry, the teacher will be assisting them and providing prompts.
4. Evaluate and Draw Conclusions
Once students have analyzed the information that they collected, they will be even further analyzing by making their own judgements. They will also be combining the information that they have found, to pull final conclusions about their research. The teacher will also be assisting with this and providing prompts.
5. Communication
This step in the inquiry process is the most exciting part, because students finally get to share what they have been working on. Students may choose a presentation method that fits with their learning style such as a video, a slideshow, a bristol board, a skit/commercial, etc. The communication tells the teacher whether the student has met the learning goals/success criteria, what the next steps are and informs other students on the topic.
These inquiry skills can be scaffolded to children as young as Kindergarten. Children already participate in their own inquiry cycle without actively knowing it. They are constantly seeking answers to questions they have about the concepts, issues and workings of the world. Formulating questions is the easiest inquiry step for younger students to participate in. The following steps can become more advanced, but can be adapted and used for all grade levels, depending on the area of focus.
HOW are we going to emphasize these inquiry skills you ask? It's easy!
- Children learn best when learning is scaffolded for them
- The teacher can model how he/she would go about participating in the inquiry process first, so that students are able to follow
- Encouraging children to work as a classroom COMMUNITY is key
- Working as a community allows children to develop important social skills that will strengthen their questioning
- Accepting all questions and answers within reason: students need to know that there is never just one way to go about solving a problem
- We encourage creative, critical and imaginative thinking
- Including artifact tables in our classroom, so that students have that hands on and highly interactive aspect to help them learn
- Encouraging the use of resources in the school and classroom environment
- Reminding students that they have access to dictionaries, encyclopedias, other books, computers, iPads, manipulatives, etc
- Fostering a climate where freedom of expression is welcomed (i.e., children are able to choose an avenue to present their information in a way that makes sense to them)
- Using differentiated instruction in our teaching, to ensure that visual, auditory and kinethestic learners are being included, as well as every other kind of learner (including learning disabilities, behavioural/emotional/attention disorders)
How does inquiry fit into the citizenship framework?
Inquiry assists students in achieving the following:
- Active participation
- Identity
- Knowledge of Structures and Attributes in a society
We plan to use inquiry in our classrooms so that our students become involved in their community, and voice their opinions on issues that may be impacting others in the society. Students collaborate with others in order to find ways to problem solve and resolve conflict. The goal of active participation is to encourage students to build relationships with one another, so that they are able to investigate their communities.
We believe that the inquiry process also helps students develop a sense of identity and awareness of who they are and how they play a role in their community.When students develop their own identity, they come to understand their own perspective as well as the perspectives of others, to educate themselves on moral and ethical issues worldwide.
Students will also develop develop an understanding of structures and attributes through their inquiry cycle. They will take a look at a variety of rights and responsibilities that go along with personal and social issues. They will also understand the importance of laws/rules and why they are in place, and will understand the relationships that occur among systems.
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