Inquiry Based Learning Presented by Michele Hunter –Principal Cortney Colvin -5 th Grade Teacher Mindy Holland - Librarian

Pinewood’s cruise into inquiry based learning

Pinewood is a very big ship 10 classes in each grade level Teams of teachers per grade Some teachers make decisions as a grade Some teachers make decisions a team of 2-3 Some teachers make decisions alone

How can changes be made when not everyone even knows changes need to occur? Start with the administration? Start at the teacher level? Presentation to Assistant Superintendent of schools & the building principal Presentation at faculty meeting to teachers Brought 2 teachers to Guided Inquiry Workshops at SLS Changed my library curricular planning form But the ship was still not turning!

What else could be done? Librarian met with Assistant Superintendent of Schools & Principal to coordinate goals on info. Lit. Librarian attended grade level ELA curriculum map sessions Librarian went to one 5 th grade teacher and asked her to collaborate on a big picture research project.

We transformed a fact based projects to Inquiry based projects Former Questions What type of currency is used? What is the exchange rate with the United States? List the holidays and festivals What is the transportation? (how many miles of roads, tracks etc). What is the high & low temp? Current Questions Describe the economy of this county. (Rich, poor, mostly farmers, mostly service workers, etc) Would you want to visit this place? Why or why not? What is this country most known for? How does transportation compare to the United States What is the overall climate of this country?

A Principal says… The Library Media Specialist in a school plays an extraordinary role…. Collaboration is key!! ELA is our focus – how do we infuse our inquiry base goals into our curriculum maps? LMS collaborating with classroom teachers to restructure research projects one step at a time Communication, support, and promotion Create inquiry based projects that support curriculum Continue our work to make this building wide transition

A teacher says… The information being researched should give students an overall understanding of what they are researching. Information being researched should be fact-based. After collaborating with the librarian, I felt the need to take the concerns regarding the project to my grade level. I am fortunate to work with a group of teachers who freely collaborate with one another and share ideas. Teachers were motivated to revise the original project by myself and the librarian. The objectives of the project were reviewed and discussed. This forced us to look at our project in a new way.

But was the ship heading on the right course? After the Western Hemisphere project I sent out an electronic survey to the 5 th grade teachers. Many teachers felt that this research is more time consuming 9 out of 10 felt the learning experience was improved for their students.

Could we get everyone on board? Our next step is another 5 th grade project. A different teacher “captained” another change to inquiry. Our ocean animal unit has been transformed to a unit on how the earth is always changing. Students will research not the facts about animals but the reasons why earth change effects people and how people effect the Earth. Units are being developed with 3 rd and 4 th grade teachers who are willing to head in a new direction. Students questioning is highly encouraged- Students are a big part of the process.

More & more people are coming on board. Contact us if you have questions : Mindy Holland Michele Hunter Cortney Colvin