1. INQUIRY LEARNING AT MANOR LAKES P-12 COLLEGE

2. As learners, we all have experiences from which we draw when facing new challenges. Inquiry is the process by which a learner uses their background knowledge to approach new situations, and asks questions to find out more.  Students can make connections by:  Bringing in objects/artifacts  Describing experiences  Reading literature that encourages their own stories  Creating works of art that reflect thoughts  Role playing situations  Writing or sketching responses  Conduct surveys... and many more! INQUIRY LEARNING IS ABOUT MAKING CONNECTIONS ‘WHY AM I LEARNING THIS?’

3. Would I be engaged? Would I see the point? Would I be building on my prior knowledge? Would I be inspired? Would I enjoy being in my classroom space? IF I WAS THE STUDENT…..

5. ‘TRADITIONAL’ TEACHING VS INQUIRY

6.  Makes the process obvious to students – Learning intentions clear Say to the children we are tuning in… we are gathering data… we are sorting out..  Talk about and display BIG UNDERSTANDINGS (related to your learning outcomes) link activities to these understandings.  Big understandings should not be answered in one session  Instead of a title for your unit why not use a question? What is the role of technology in theatre? Year 5 and 6 prop making for a school production How can we create a healthy garden? Big understandings: different types of gardens, different conditions needed to grow, different roles and responsibilities in the group… How can I be the best that I can be? Commonwealth games/Gold medal - Olympic games What, why and how do we buy? Leading up to a school market day. How could/can we create a fitness circuit at school? What makes things move? New Zealand- how has it changed and why? INQUIRY…..

7. YOU MIGHT NOTICE…  Students feel very challenged! Especially at the beginning!  Improved learning confidence  Improved ability to make links between concepts and real life (Taking Action/Going Further)  It helps children take responsibility for their learning  Provides for new learning – extends on prior – helps to find new  Students evaluate their learning and each others  Detailed approach – working through the sequence of activities  Allows students to use a variety of great thinking tools  Caters for a range of learning styles – multiple intelligences  Allows for deeper understanding – students make connections  Gives students a real purpose for learning  Allows success for all – collaborative learning  Students see teacher as a learner also  Students own it! – their work their ideas.  High engagement – ownership, authenticity, relevance  Deeper independent learning skills  Vehicle for integration of the curriculum  Fosters connected learning – a sense of journey  Taps into student’s CURIOSITY

8.  Time constraints  Not reaching the full potential of each stage of inquiry  Teacher anxiety  Student anxiety ‘MANAGING’ AN INQUIRY UNIT

9. TEACHERS TALKING ABOUT INQUIRY

10. THE INQUIRY MODEL  Jenni Wilson/ Kath Murdoch model  Tuning  Finding Out/Sorting Out  Going Further  Taking Action/Reflection

11. THE INQUIRY PROCESS

12. TUNING IN 1 week

13. MOTIVATION & ENGAGEMENT

14. 5 weeks

16. 1 week

17. Global Competence: Teaching Young Learners to Take Action http://www.edutopia.org/stw-global-competence-classroom-tips- video 3 weeks

20. STUDENTS TALKING ABOUT INQUIRY

21. Classrooms where teachers emphasize inquiry-based learning have the following characteristics (Drayton & Falk, 2001):  Inquiry is in the form of authentic (real-life) problems within the context of the curriculum and/or community.  The inquiry capitalizes on student curiosity.  Data and information are actively used, interpreted, refined, digested and discussed.  Teachers and students collaborate.  Community and society are connected with the inquiry.  The teacher models the behaviours of inquirer.  The teacher uses the language of inquiry on an ongoing basis.  Students take ownership of their learning.  The teacher facilitates the process of gathering and presenting information.  The teacher and students use technology to advance inquiry.  The teacher embraces inquiry as both content and pedagogy.  The teacher and students interact more frequently and more actively than during traditional teaching.  There is an identifiable time for inquiry-based learning. IN A NUT SHELL……

22. ROLES The Role of the Teacher in an Inquiry Classroom  Listening  Participating  Coaching  Articulating children’s implied connections  Inviting children to elaborate  Scaffolding  Provoking  Recording  Guiding  Negotiating power Inquiry is NOT ALWAYS...  Expressed as a question  Clearly or perfectly articulated And another perspective on roles of the teacher... 1. Motivator 2. Diagnostician 3. Guide 4. Innovator 5. Experimenter 6. Researcher 7. Modeller 8. Mentor 9. Collaborator 10. Learner (Crawford, 2000, in Focus on Inquiry, Alberta Education, pg. 37)

23.  Have a look at the samples provided  Share what you have used with your group  Jot down at least one tool you can use in the next inquiry unit TOOLS/RESOURCES FOR ‘MANAGING’

26.  Contracts & Portfolios – Jeni Wilson ‘Little Books’  Timelines SOME IDEAS

27. How do we ensure we are covering AusVELS? How do we ensure students are developing the skils and knowledge required? Pressure to cover content? Who benefits most from the way the content is delivered? 1.Curriculum Maps-provide us with the ‘what’ 2.Key Understandings- break down the AusVELS/Curriculum Map content into ‘bite-size’ pieces 3.Decide ‘how’ this knowledge and skills will be assessed **Effective Assessment Practices-provide a range of opportunities for students to demonstrate skills and knowledge developed, they include for, as and of opportunities, may be developed in negotiation with students and allow them to demonstrate new knowledge and skills that may not be on the curriculum map 4.Taking Action- The use of rubrics ASSESSMENT

28. When planning the unit of inquiry you will plan: The content knowledge (key understandings/curriculum map) which will be assessed AND The skills which students will develop (which will also be assessed) As a team you will need to make sure you are all clear of what is EXPECTED of students You will then need to decide HOW to assess these Consider…. -The types of assessment which will suit this unit of inquiry -The types of assessment students have already completed in the past -How students can be involved in negotiating the assessment -How to ensure students can demonstrate beyond the level or knowledge/skills which they find link to the unit -How to spread assessment across the inquiry process -How to cater for a range of learners -How to allow for different progress rates ASSESSMENT

30.  Kathy chose the ocean because it was a high-interest topic for first graders and she had many appropriate books and materials to use as resources. At the beginning of the year, she made a list of the units to be studied that year and decided what would be taught. The ocean was scheduled for January because she thought it might enliven the Indiana winter. In teaching this unit, she read books to the students, pulled together thematic sets of books for browsing in the classroom, and engaged students in activities, such as science experiments with salt water and art activities with watercolor washes and a large mural of sea creatures. She arranged to show movies on the ocean, brought in her own collection of seashells and specimens, and planned learning experiences where students categorized seashells and wrote in fish shaped books. To conclude the unit, Kathy asked students each to choose one sea creature for research and then to write a short informational book with many pictures. At the end of the unit, Kathy gathered up and returned the library books and packed up her materials until the next January. SCENARIO 1

31.  Kathleen’s class inquiry, or focus, on the ocean began when several children went to San Diego over spring break and returned to the classroom with stories about a huge body of water and sea animals that seemed improbable to children who had spent their lives in the desert. The children’s questions and interest led to a class decision to study the ocean. Kathleen gathered fiction, nonfiction, and poetry on the ocean from the library as well as a collection of seashells, photographs, art prints, and music. Children who had been to the ocean added their own seashell collections, pictures and books. Over the course of a week, children had time to tell their stories, browse the materials, and gather each day to share their observations and questions, which were listed on a large sheet of paper. The class then used this list to create a web of questions that were most significant to them. The web became a sign-up sheet for the research groups on why oceans have waves, the difference between molluscs and jellyfish, the teeth and jaw structures of sharks, and how to keep the ocean water clean. Kathleen and the students pulled together resource sets for each group, and students met in their groups to pursue their research. As they worked, they realised that they needed tools for keeping track of what they were finding, so each group developed some kind of chart, web, graph, or diagram to record their data. Students shared their research through presentations that ranged from murals to written books to dramas. After the class focus ended, many of the books remained in a corner of the classroom, and some children continued their exploration of the ocean throughout the rest of the school year. As they explored the ocean, many students became interested in environmental issues. So the class decided that this topic would be their next class focus. SCENARIO 2