For several weeks now, I've been working with sixth grade on their Middle Ages inquiry project. We are using the Guided Inquiry Design that was developed by Carol C. Kulthau, Leslie K. Maniotes, and Anne K. Caspari. This framework breaks down the process into eight phases: open, immerse, explore, identify, gather, create, share, and evaluate. The book, Guided Inquiry Design: a Framework for Inquiry in Your School, takes you step-by-step through the process; providing worksheets and lessons along the way.
This is my first time going through the entire process and as we embark on the gather stage, I have a better understanding of how logical and useful this approach can be for students to learn more deeply about information that they are truly interested in. Also, it's impossible to not daydream of future projects, since it can be applied to any area in any subject.
One shining moment of learning, when the stars aligned and we could tell the kids were really learning, occurred during the identify stage. We modeled how to form an essential question by having them brainstorm information on the smart board related to a map displaying the route of the silk road and the goods that were traded at various locations. The ideas poured out of the students. There came a point when there was no room left to write and we modeled how we could look for connections between this information to inform our question. We then discussed that the wording and focus could be made even better by way of feedback. Then, the students formed their own question individually using this approach and then divided into their inquiry groups to comment on each others' questions in order to refine their question. We walked around to meet with each student individually about their question as the class continued to explore resources and record them in their inquiry log. I was astounded at the quality of the questions compared to what I've seen sixth graders produce in the past.
By taking the time to have the students read and gain background knowledge and also modeling how to ask an essential question, there's no doubt that the students have learned more and I would bet (though, we'll have to wait to see) that their final products will be of a higher quality, since they have truly taken ownership of the project.
This is my first time going through the entire process and as we embark on the gather stage, I have a better understanding of how logical and useful this approach can be for students to learn more deeply about information that they are truly interested in. Also, it's impossible to not daydream of future projects, since it can be applied to any area in any subject.
One shining moment of learning, when the stars aligned and we could tell the kids were really learning, occurred during the identify stage. We modeled how to form an essential question by having them brainstorm information on the smart board related to a map displaying the route of the silk road and the goods that were traded at various locations. The ideas poured out of the students. There came a point when there was no room left to write and we modeled how we could look for connections between this information to inform our question. We then discussed that the wording and focus could be made even better by way of feedback. Then, the students formed their own question individually using this approach and then divided into their inquiry groups to comment on each others' questions in order to refine their question. We walked around to meet with each student individually about their question as the class continued to explore resources and record them in their inquiry log. I was astounded at the quality of the questions compared to what I've seen sixth graders produce in the past.
By taking the time to have the students read and gain background knowledge and also modeling how to ask an essential question, there's no doubt that the students have learned more and I would bet (though, we'll have to wait to see) that their final products will be of a higher quality, since they have truly taken ownership of the project.
