March Post- Lynn Burnham

After a total flop with my first small group inquiry (around Vowel Teams) I was really left questioning whether or not I could even attempt an inquiry within my intervention groups.  That experience has left me with some really big questions that I hope I can find the answers to:

• HOW does inquiry look in a small, guided intervention group? 
• CAN it work in this setting?
• WHAT is the impact of it working in this setting?

My biggest "a-ha's" so far have been:

Inquiry in small pull-out groups has to be different.  We are under different guidelines in terms of mandated service hours, focus of instruction, progress monitoring and assessment of skills growth. All of these tight parameters actually force my instruction to look different. However, if planned thoughtfully (with the focus still upon closing skill deficits and clearly articulating instructional outcomes) I do believe that inquiry can be a part of instructional intervention learning time.

Here are my newest thoughts:

• Inquiry in this setting WILL look and sound different
• The inquiry MUST be guided (this is simply a result of  mandated time, learning goals, etc.)
• Teacher scaffolding is an ESSENTIAL instructional practice for struggling students, so there might be more teacher "help" than in a General Education classroom setting
• The inquiry process might be condensed, depending upon outcome

After I pondered these questions and this "new" vision for a bit, my next hurdle was to come up with a guided inquiry that I could potentially use across grade levels, over time and that would have an impact upon these students for years to come.  My new venture (just started this week) is around Fiction and Non-Fiction Text Features: how they differ, what purpose do they serve, what does audience and purpose have to do with it all, and why should we care?

I'll keep you posted on this one...