In a PYP school inquiry is used across the curriculum to explore new ideas, build meaning and construct new knowledge. There are many ways classrooms can be set up to create inquiry, but essentially inquiry will involve many of the following activities:
· Speculating, exploring, questioning· Making connections between previous learning and current learning
· Researching
· Developing and testing theories
· Collecting data, reporting findings and constructing explanations
· Clarifying existing ideas and reappraising perceptions of events
· Identifying assumptions
· Taking and defending a position
· Solving problems in a variety of ways
· Analyzing and evaluating
· Considering alternative explanations
(taken from the IB document Towards a continuum of international education)
I made these into cards which I laminated and put a magnet on the back after seeing them used at a maths workshop I attended. I then placed them on the board and used them during and after lessons to show the students how we were inquiring. It really helped the kids and got them thinking about inquiry across subject not just the uois. I use the past tense here cos although I still have the cards I don't have a whiteboard yet and I like to use these cards strategically through lessons and leave them up.
ReplyDelete