Reflecting on Inquiry Learning

 Paet 1: 

    

The past three years I have taught 8th grade social studies. The inquiry process in my classroom is centered around unit DBQ's (Document Based Questions). This expands on the content and helps students use questioning as a way to sharpen their understanding and dive deeper. This has proven useful to drive students to learn more and my role in this process is to facilitate their learning. I will be switching over to teaching science next year and that means endless possibilities for inquiry based learning assignments!! I grew up loving science through the lens of inquiry and I cannot wait to spread this insight and discovery to my students. 

Part 2: Mini-Lesson: Manifest Destiny

In this lesson I will display the classic painting American Progress by John Gast on the board. I have students spend 3 minutes silently analyzing the picture to themselves. I then get a clipboard and put a blank sheet of white paper on it and have the students point out features of the picture to their classmates. The blank sheet of paper acts like a spotlight on the features giving the room a clearer picture of what each student points out. Next, students will brainstorm questions they have about Manifest Destiny/American expansion while we are still looking at the painting.  I think I’ll have 1-2 students record questions on the board, then I’ll break students up into small groups to identify one compelling question and supporting questions. Once they have identified the questions the students will scour the internet to find creditable to help answer their questions. They will present their findings using Googles Slides, Prezi, PowerPoint, or another digital tool to present to the class. This includes a reference page at the end of the project. 

Authenticity-  This lesson is apart of our history unit as we talk about the growth of the United States and its population. It explores different factors that causes the population to shift from the east coast to the west coast. This lesson also helps introduce many different events that shape our nations growth during the expansion. 

Deep Understanding-  Students will gain a deeper understanding of why Americans wanted to move west. They will look at some of the main causes, but through the process of inquiry students will explore more questions and examine documents to help answer these. 

Assessment- I will be grading two items in this task:

1. Project Presentation though a digital platform

Did they answer the question? Presentation skills. Did they work equally on the project/Peer Review.

2. Research and Citations

Did they have at least 4 Scholarly sources and did they have a resources page at the end with correct APA formatting?

Appropriate Use of Technology-  This project allows students the opportunity to practice their search strategies for finding creditable resources. Students will have to locate information to answer their questions from the painting and apply that skill to their presentation. Sites like Google Scholar and Galileo. The tools inside their preferred medium will aid in spelling checks, grammar, and sentence structure. 

Student Success-  Students will have clear instructions for this activity. I like to start the lesson as a whole group so students can hear and interact with one another to get the brainstorming juices flowing. I get better results from the students if I haver the whole class involved. Using search strategies taught at the begging of the year students will have the skills to find creditable recourses to use on their project. The use of the digital tools also allows students to self edit as they type up their presentations. Also, the flexibility offered to the student on how they present allows them to express in their own way. 

Connecting with Experts-  I will post a few resources on my blog: a excerpt from John O’Sullivans article “Manifest Destiny,”  an excerpt from a letter written by Hezekiah Packingham about his move to Oregon and an excerpt from Chief Seattle about the influence of westward expansion on Native Americans. 

Performances of Understanding-

• Engage multiple learning styles and forms of expression- Students can pick from a variety digital tools to express their findings to the questions. 

• Publicly demonstrate understanding- Students will work with their group to communicate effectively and will also share their findings to the whole class. 

• Promote reflective engagement in challenging, approachable tasks- Students will search the web during their research process to find creditable sources. 

Ethical Citizenship- Students will identify credible scholarly sources/articles to use on their project.