What is inquiry instruction?
Inquiry
learning is based on constructivism,
therefore using this strategy will allow a teacher to activate prior knowledge
and build upon it. Inquiry is constructed with the five E’s, which is beneficial
for both the teacher and students. According to Enhancing Education (2002), “The five E's allows
students and teachers to experience common activities, to use and build on
prior knowledge and experience, to construct meaning, and to continually assess
their understanding of a concept” (p.1). The five E’s are engage, explore, explain,
elaborate, and evaluate. Using the five E’s helps the teacher get the students
on track and engaged in what they will be learning. This learning model helps
students stay focused and makes them discover what they are learning, rather than
listen to it. This method engages students and they will then become interested
and realize that learning is fun. Using inquiry in multiple subjects, also
allows students to realize that they can use the same strategy in multiple
subjects. The five E’s keeps teachers on track as well as students because they
know what order they have to teach the E’s in.
Planning
When
Lindsay and I were planning for our inquiry
lesson plan, we wanted to keep the students engaged in the activities they
were going to do. Since my major is Information Technology at Mount Saint Mary
College, I like to integrate technology into the classroom as much as possible.
Lindsay and I thought for this lesson that the students could use iPads
individually and in groups. After talking to the cooperating teacher about our
lesson plan, she told us that the fourth grade students never used iPads
before; therefore we would have to do explicit instruction on how to use an
iPad. After our direct instruction lesson, we wanted the students to explore
either the British side or colonist side of a cause leading to the American
Revolution. The students were going to be put into eight small groups and will
be assigned an event with either the British or colonists’ perspective. Lindsay
and I found resources that could help the students understand how their side
felt, therefore they could display it in their web-based project. We thought
the students would like to create a speaking avatar, which can be made through
a Voki. Voki is a great way to incorporate the use of technology in this
lesson. We believe that the fourth grade students will be excited to create
their own speaking character, based on the research they do for the event. Lindsay
and I decided that it is important to access what the students remember from
the last lesson; therefore we created a Socrative pre-assessment for the
students. After talking to the fourth grade teacher and hearing how the
students never used an iPad, Lindsay and I thought that for our introduction to
the lesson e can teach how to use an iPad and access their knowledge from the
previous lesson. Although this seems challenging with thirty-one students,
Lindsay and I were ready and motivated to teach.
Implementation
Engagement:
To get the students attention I will say, “All set” and the fourth grade students will reply saying, “You Bet!” I will hand out an iPad to each student and as I hand the out I will explain some rules that the students must keep in mind when working with the iPads. The students will be completing a Socrative Pre-assessment for two purposes. One reason is later on in the lesson the students will be working with the iPads and they need to familiarize themselves with it. Another reason is to see what they remember from the last lesson and what Lindsay and I may need to go over again. Once all the students are done with completing the Pre-Assessment, Lindsay will review and ask, “What do I mean when I say, there are two sides to every story?” When one student answers, the rest of the class should put their hands on their head if they disagree and thumbs up if they agree. The focus of this lesson will be, “Today, you will be working in groups as historians to determine how this idea might have led up to war!” The students will be introduced to a Historian Voki that will give them directions for what their assignment is today. The Historian Voki will say, “My colleagues and I are having trouble figuring out who is really responsible for the Revolutionary War, both the British and the colonists insisted that the other side was completely responsible. We need your help! Today, we will grant you clearance into our historical records. It will be your job to determine how the British and the colonists viewed the events leading up to the American Revolution and how it led to the war!”
Exploration:
The students will now think back to any science fair
projects they have done. Lindsay and I will present the six steps of the inquiry
process using a SmartBoard notebook we put together to engage the students. The
six steps are the following: ask a question,
hypothesize, collect data, analyze data, draw conclusions, and share results. Based
on the question the Historian asked the fourth grade students, they will need
to write an “if-then” hypothesis statement. I will model how to write one with
real life situations and examples. The three examples are “If a player
kicks the soccer ball, then the soccer ball will move. If you stub your toe,
then your toe will hurt. If there is very cold weather, then the Hudson River will
freeze.” The students will be given three minutes to write their hypothesis in
response to the historian’s question. Lindsay and I will circulate throughout
the room to see if any students need help writing their hypothesis statement. Once
the students are done writing their hypothesis statements, they will be told
what group they are in for this project. The students will be broken into
groups of four and one group of three. Each group will receive an investigation
folder on one of the topics such as, the Proclamation of 1763, Stamp Act,
Boston Massacre, and Boston Tea Party. For each event, one group will have the
British perspective and another group will have the colonists’ perspective. Each
group will write a script based on the information they were given and how they
think someone from that side would feel. In groups, the students will write a
script on a person’s point-of-view about the event. Once the students create a
script, they will type it into the Voki and create their group character.
Expansion:
Once every group is finished with that, the two groups that have
the same events, will share their Voki’s with each other. Together the two
groups will create a Venn Diagram comparing and contrasting the two different perspectives
on the one event. As the students are working together, Lindsay and I will be
walking around to encourage them to compare the two different viewpoints. The students
should also be explain why their side felt the way they did to the other group.
Explanation:
Every
event will present their Venn Diagram to the class. Each group will explain
their side of the event and then the two groups together will explain what they
found they had in common and what was different. The students will be asked how they came up with their
conclusion for their event based on the data they collected. Lindsay and I will
ask each group how they would use the inquiry process in the future.
Evolution:
The students will be
assessed three different ways, such as diagnostic, formative, and summative.
For diagnostic assessment the students will be assessed based on their answers
to the pictures of the causes of the American Revolution in the beginning of
the lesson. The students will be graded on their Voki project based on a
rubric, which they will be aware of before they create their web-based project.
Lastly, the students will be given a summative assessment, which is also known
as independent practice. For this the students will be asked to pick an event
that they did not research in class. The students will be able to pick form the
following events the Proclamation of 1763, Boston Tea Party, Stamp Act and the
Boston Massacre. The students will have to write the colonist and the British
point of view, along with explain how they differ and how this event led to the
American Revolution.
Reflection
I started the lesson off by saying, “All set” and waiting for the
students to respond “You bet.” In the beginning I had to do it twice for the
students to quiet down and get their full attention. This signal definitely
improved to get the 4th graders attention. They got excited and
would scream, “You bet” when a teacher would say “All set.” On Monday, the
cooperating teacher was not in school and today she was, which also made a
difference in the behavior of her class. Although her presence could have made
a difference, I think this signal got the students attention more than just
clapping a rhythm. Once the students said, “You bet” the classroom was silent
and all eyes were at my partner or me. If we had to do it twice, the students
knew that they must be silent the second time and absolutely no talking. There
was one time the cooperating teacher had to step in and tell the students
to quiet down, but overall the “All set, you bet” exchange signaled students’
attention.
When
the students received an iPad, they were extremely excited and they were all
paying attention to me giving explicit instructions on how to use an iPad. The
students used the iPads for their Socrative Pre-Assessment. There were only about
22 iPads that were in use; therefore about 9 students had to wait until one of
their classmates were done. The majority of the class received a 5 out of 6
points for the Pre-Assessment. I think using this app engaged the students for
our next lesson. They were very excited that they got to use an iPad and when
they found out they were going to use it again, all the fourth graders had the
biggest smile on their faces. Socrative was effective and allowed Lindsay and I
to see what every students responded for each question. This also gave us
feedback to see what they still need to work on. This Pre-Assessment motivated
students because they wanted to use the iPad and learn more on the American
Revolution. This Pre-Assessment allowed students to think back to what they
learned on Monday about the causes of the American Revolution, which was a
great review for them. By quickly assessing student’s knowledge, this also
prepared them to what they were going to learn today. When introducing the Historian Voki,
there were some technological difficulties with the sound. Therefore Lindsay
played the role and read the script that the Historian Voki was going to say. As
she was doing that, I was trying to fix the sound and connect it to the
projector. Once I found the correct cord
we played the Historian Voki for the class. The students were laughing and
excited. The students were paying more attention when the Voki worked, rather
than when Lindsay read the script aloud. The fourth graders loved the effects
Voki had and it grabbed their attention for their assignment today. The
students were actively participating in the inquiry process. By the students
discovering this Historian in the beginning of the lesson, I mentioned to them that
today they were going to create their own Voki character; however they had to
go over the inquiry process first.
The students gave us their full attention and many students were participating throughout the presentation of the steps of the inquiry process and directions for the assignment today. First the students reviewed the six steps of the inquiry process using the SmartBoard. Using the SmartBoard allowed Lindsay and I to have many useful tools, such as a magnify glass that we used for the six steps of the inquiry process. To see the steps, I took the magnifying glass and hovered over the steps. This allowed the students to focus on one step at a time and it also kept their attention because the step would appear out of nowhere. This tool was also used so the students could predict what they thought would be next in the inquiry process. Once the overview of the six steps were reviewed, I explained to the students what a “if…then” hypothesis statement is and how to create one. I provided real life examples of a hypothesis that the students could relate to as a reference. Once we reviewed some examples, the students were given three minutes to write their own in response to the Historian’s question.
Each group received an
investigation folder on a specific topic, such as the Proclamation of 1763,
Stamp Act, Boston Massacre, and the Boston Tea Party for their assignment. Each
group had one event and one side, either the British or the colonists’
perspective. The groups has to look at the material that was given to them and
create a script for what they thought a person would say from the assigned
perspective about that event. Once the students completed that, they had to
complete a Web Inquiry Project in the form of a Voki, which is when they were
given the iPads again. I believe having the directions written in each folder
helped the students understand what to do and allowed them to follow the order
of steps. I also think it was very helpful for the students to be aware of how
much more time they had to complete this, since it was up on the SmartBoard.
The timer in the front of the room, kept most groups on track with their own
progress. At some points, I had to remind a couple of groups to keep track of
the time. By the students keeping track of their progress, they can go the pace
they want to go, as long as the end of the timer completes the work. By
modeling the steps of the inquiry process, I think it allowed the students to
see what was expected from them and how they could go about it. This allowed the
fourth graders to ask questions about what they had to do if they did not
understand. The students understood each step and kept participating when they
were asked a question. Going in order helps students develop new thoughts and
it is a guide for them to make sure they are on the right track during this
assignment. For example, providing them an example of how to write a hypothesis
statement allowed them to have a better understanding of what I was looking for
and how to go about it. The examples I gave were very relevant for the fourth graders
and this was one example of how modeling helped them. Modeling when teaching is
beneficial because the students see how they should think or what to do next
and it is a good example for them to see how they will be able to complete
their assignment later in the lesson. Walking around to each group during the
lesson, made me realize that they are working hard and staying on task. When it
got closer to the five minute mark I realized that the students may need more
time to complete their Voki’s since it was taking them a while to use the Voki
website. I think doing twenty minutes would have allowed the students more time
to complete their assignment and I believe they could have written more of a
script for the assignment. By providing only fifteen minutes made them do a
short script of their assigned point of view for an event. The students in
groups were discussing important key points that they believed should be
included in their Voki. The students truly enjoyed this assignment and were always
engaged in the inquiry process steps. By providing five more minutes of extra
time, I believe the students would have been able to write more and also
express clearer feelings and points from their given assigned point and event.
There was not enough time for the students to complete the Venn
Diagram, however if this lesson was broken into a two-day lesson, I think the
students would have loved meeting with their opponent side of their assigned
event. The tasks that were given to the students in their investor folders were
motivating for them because the students seemed to like how they were being
detectives and had to figure out their own case. During the Voki web-based
project, all the fourth graders were actively participating and engaged in
their event. There was some arguing in a group about who can type and use the
iPad for the Voki, however I announced to the class that everyone must take a
turn using the iPad for creating their Voki character. The students were then all
sharing the use of the iPad and adding their own creative ideas to their groups
Voki. This assignment motivated the students to investigate there given events
and explain their point of view on the side given to them. The students were
getting into how their side left and many students were acting it out before
writing their scripts to show their group members how they picture the
colonists’ or British side.
The students did not have enough time to complete the Venn
Diagrams, however I think if there was more time for this lesson, the fourth
graders could have compared and contrasted the different point of views with
another group. I think both sides would have found it interesting to see their
points and how this was a problem during the event since the colonist and
British had two different viewpoints. Instead, the students were asked to
present their side of the event they were assigned to the class. This allowed
the class to see the two different viewpoints on the same event, which made
them think of which side they agree with. All the groups got to come to the
front of the classroom and share their ideas and then I would play their Voki’s
for the class. As I
mentioned before, there was not enough time for the Venn Diagram; however
having two groups present the same event with two different viewpoints allowed
the class to see each side’s perceptions. I do believe the students would have
liked comparing and contrasting the two different viewpoints, however the
discussions during each group's presentation gave the class the main idea of
both sides to every event that was assigned.
I believe if they students completed the Venn Diagram, it would
have encouraged them to have a higher level of thinking. Having the students
listen to the other groups present, helped them have a better understanding on
how each side felt of the same event. I believe the students got a deeper
understanding of both sides of the events when each group was presenting.
When the groups were presenting, my partner and I would ask them
questions regarding their event and side, along with how they decided to create
the Voki. Every group had a different vision on how they created their Voki;
one group picked a character that looked angry because the colonist were angry,
which was very creative. When the students were presenting, they had to express why
and how they created their Voki’s the way they did. The fourth graders had to
think among each other how they decided to create this, which lead them to
reflect on their metacognitive skills. Every student had a different viewpoint,
however overall the students based it on the aside and event they had. They had
to be creative to think of how they were going to create their Voki and present
the material that needed to be covered for their event in the web-based
assignment. Every group tried to make their Voki unique, but some groups tried
to make it funny, which got the students off task a little. There was one group
that just wanted to make the class laugh, which made the conversation and
presentation get off task. When my partner and I would ask specific question
regarding their event, they would just focus on what they learned.
Many students received a two out of three for the independent
practice in response to the objective. The students had to write about
the event they focused on in class, along with the view points from the
Colonist and British. The last question asked the students if there was a
difference between the two points and how it leads to the American Revolution.
This allowed the students to start to think about how a specific event could
have affected the American Revolution. The students understood the two
different points of views and made comments how they know which side was angry
at the other, which showed me they know the main idea of the event and why it
happened. This independent practice allowed them to reflect on their work in
class and allowed my partner and I to see if they were paying attention during
the presentations, since they had to write about the opposite side of their
event. I think this was a great exercise for them to reflect on and allow us to
see what may be confusing still. This helped the students meet the objective
for today!
Works Cited
The
5 E's. (2002). Retrieved March 11, 2015, from
http://enhancinged.wgbh.org/research/eeeee.html
No comments:
Post a Comment