What I'm thinking in February...

My thinking around curricular inquiries, essential questions, and how to research is constantly evolving. Just when I think I know what I believe,  I read or see something else that pushes my thinking. Then, I feel like I'm back at square one. Although this journey is exhausting, at least I'm creating a definition of inquiry that works for me. It's all about trial and error.

A few weeks ago, when I was planning our study of our nation and state's government systems I felt pressured by time, tests, etc., and I knew I couldn't commit to a large inquiry unit. Even my last mini inquiry study didn't seem so mini. But in the back of my head, I also had a quote that many of our students refer to often by Benjamin Franklin. "Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn." So, I decided that students could investigate one of the branches of the government, become an expert, and teach others about it. I figured it was at least better than direct instruction from me. Therefore, with the big question of how does Colorado's government impact life in Colorado, students are divided into three groups and have been scouring articles and the internet in order to add to their schema about one branch of government. 

With that being said, I wish I could go back in time and start again. Just this week, I went back and reviewed the chapter around curricular inquiries, and I was struck by the section titled What Content is Best Suited to Small Group Inquiries on page 166 & 167. As I read the bulleted list, I realized that the current work I'm doing didn't match any of the criteria. Now, I wasn't calling our investigating an inquiry unit, but it still didn't sit well with me. After thinking about it for quite a while I realized I could have posed this work in a different way that might have engaged students more, helped strengthen the relationship to the outside world, and allowed for interpretation and debate.

So, now I'm thinking when I am planning I want to create questions that students will relate to. In attempting to answer these bigger questions students will naturally build their schema around the content in the standards.  This doesn't come naturally to me, and it takes me a long time to wrap my mind around them, but I know the payoff will be worth it. In creating bigger questions to ponder I know my our content will immediately meet more of the criteria that makes content good for inquiry. I realize questions are critical in inquiry, and I always have at least one essential question. Although, that question isn't guiding our thinking. They usually aren't intriguing or motivating, so I just want to spend some time revising those questions. There is definitely room for improvement.

What questions have you used to guide your curricular inquiries?

Letting Go

My group, The Weavers, has been nothing but inspirational.  Our monthly meetings provide me with a much needed place to work through ideas and thoughts that seem somewhat muddled in my own brain.  One thing I realized is that I have been scaffolding my student's ability to be capable of inquiry since day one.  Our belief in the explicit teaching of the thinking strategies has provided our student's with the cognitive abilities to blossom when given an inquiry situation.  So I began my dive into math inquiry by reminding them of the knowledge they already possess!

 I used to think that math inquiry was going to lead me on this great, amazing, inspiring teaching journey!  Then I realized how HARD it was going to be.  With all the pressure of testing etc., it was terrifying to think of letting my students come to understanding through their own inquiry process.  Through the support of my amazing friends and colleagues, now I think that this inquiry journey is exactly what I need as a teacher and specifically what my students need as learners.  Each time I provide them with a "mini" inquiry into a math topic, I am in awe of what they come away with learning.  And not because I told them it is true, or the right way to do it, because they came to that conclusion on their own.  This is the type of learning they will remember!

February Thinking

     I came to a realization during my group's meeting, The All Inclusives. Our inquiry is around how to engage all types of learners. Our group is compiled mainly of first and second grade teachers with intervention teachers of various levels. We decided to break our topic into sub categories of learners and each take one to research; over confidence, perfectionists, low self esteem, struggling learners and learned helplessness to name a few. We each began sharing out a synopsis of what we had read and learned and how one related to another when having our students work an inquiry project. Many elements of this discussion came back to finding what interests each individual student. Well aha, that's just what we were doing. We picked a topic within our topic that ultimately interested or pertained to us and our teaching. While we are not doing the project alone, we are. We each have our own piece of the puzzle that suits us. We share out and learn from one another and will ultimately have a full picture assembled and an entire layout to refer to, but my piece may not directly fit into every one. 

     I chose the puzzle as a metaphor because a puzzle is everywhere before you finally get all the pieces in place. This fits our group and our additional discussion, because the inquiry process for little learners is so messy and everywhere. We are all struggling with how it will come together in our room. We see this wonderful images and videos of upper learners who can read and write and have social skills to work with one another. The littles are still living in a world that revolves around "me". We strive to build their social skills within a realm of learning. We decided that at 5, 6, 7 and 8 years old, inquiry is very messy because they are cutting out, coloring and trying all the pieces of the puzzle . . . and that's okay. 

     As a group we are at various stages of the inquiry process. I am currently trying it out. I began by trying a see, think, wonder for our weather unit. I learned a lot by starting here and could see, think and wonder about what my students are capable of. We developed questions and selected a few to pursue as a class. I allowed the kids to pursue further on their own. By doing both, I understand better where my class can go with inquiry next.  And so we completed our first 10 piece puzzle. I know now we can go bigger. 

     My next step lead us down one path with two pieces connecting to get us started. Our first piece is our new unit on Ants. I am excited to offer the kids whatever piece they are interested in. I am okay with everyone working with their own piece of the puzzle. They will be interested, it will apply to them and they will grow independently. I know now that they may pick up new pieces to connect to what they chose to start with. I know it will get messy and the pieces may be all over the room, but they will begin to connect. With the right scaffolds in place for each child, their own interest will lead them to learn something new . . . a lot. My next step is to let them be independent learners.

     The second piece is how it connects. Every child may have their own independent piece. I know now how the puzzle joins. Every piece is important as the puzzle is not complete until they all come together. I also understand that every piece is not directly connected and that too is okay. The picture still shares comment elements and no one piece is more important that the other. When the kids jump in to inquire about Ants, they will connect and make a big picture no matter what piece they carry in. I understand that the collaborate and go public piece can be at this age one in the same. The kids can collaborate to meet an end picture by each bringing a separate piece.

   I am super excited now to open the box and spread out the pieces (not the ants) so the kids can figure out how they go together. Messy pictures coming soon.

January Thinking in March

My research group is aptly name The Weavers, as we are interested in weaving  together the  standards we need to teach with an inquiry approach to teaching.  My specific interest is in finding appropriate teaching moments inside each workshop where I can do some sort of mini-inquiry.  Up to this point I have always put inquiry into the "research" part of teaching.  This inquiry group has started opening my eyes to all the little bits of inquiry that can fall throughout each day!

Unknowingly, I brought an intangible artifact to our meeting on Friday.  I had presented my kids with an unfamiliar topic (parentheses in math equations) and asked them to struggle with some  problems before I gave them any instruction.  I told them to ask questions, monitor for meaning, active schema etc. in order  to make sense of  the problems.  They could  collaborate with each other, and I went around to answer any clarifying questions.  After ten minutes, we came together for the lesson part of  our workshop which I started by letting them share their thinking on the problems.  At this point I hadn't even labeled it an "inquiry", but upon reflection with my group on Friday, I realized that it really was a super mini-inquiry.  

If I were to place this activity in the inquiry process, I was putting them in the immerse stage without really being intentional about it.  Now that  I know this, I will place these kinds of inquiries throughout my math workshop!

What I THINK I know...  that my kids have the critical thinking skills to access my curriculum through inquiry.

What QUESTIONS I have... How do I choose the standards that will set the kids up for successful inquiry in math, vs.those that might need some specific teaching of a skill previous to the inquiry?

How might  I be more  intentional in my planning so that I plan with inquiry in MIND, instead of it just ending up there?

What I want to EXPLORE next... I want to explore my questions!

February Post

During our inquiry meeting this month our group focused on what thinking strategies come easily and naturally to us.  We shared our examples in order to give each other new ideas because we each have different strategies that we do naturally/easily during different parts of our day (lit, writing, math, science, social studies).  The thinking strategies that I think come up easily for me in kindergarten are schema, creating sensory images and sometimes asking questions.   We have decided our next steps will be to focus on some ideas our teammates have and try them in our classroom.  Our next steps will be to think about the thinking strategies that were not talked about during our group time and ones we find most difficult and try to think of times during the day we can implement them.  The thinking strategies that feel unnatural to me and I really have to work hard on are determining importance, synthesizing and sometimes making inferences.  We will share our ideas at our next meeting.

I used to think that incorporating the thinking strategies into everyday lessons and "talk" was going to be so difficult for kindergarten and for myself.  I really did not think I would be able to do it. in my classroom gracefully.  I now think it is totally possible and becoming easier for me everyday.  The more I familiarize myself with the language and just do it (even when it feels uncomfortable and unnatural) the easier it becomes.  Some of the thinking strategy language is coming out of my mouth easily and naturally now............and even my kids are using it in their vocabulary......not always correct but they are attempting and that is really all that matter in Kindergarten.  The more you attempt vocabulary the more it will become party of your dialogue.

I think the pictures I posted last time are still relevant to this post.  I have my "Your Busy Brain" posters hanging in the classroom and these are visual cues for the kids to remind them what thinking strategies we have really delved into and remind them what they mean if they forget.  I don't point them out every time the vocabulary comes up any more which I think is okay because some of it just comes up naturally and easily and doesn't need a reminder (schema, creating sensory images).

February Post: Mini-Inquiries

(Pictures on their way...)

After diving in head first into my last inquiry unit and barely keeping my head above water, I thought it would be wise to take a step back and approach inquiry at a slower process. I have recently been inspired and reenergized by mini-inquires. They are concise, focused, and seem to arise authentically throughout a larger unit of study.

In class, we are reading the novel A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park. The author beautifully juxtaposes two characters, Nya and Salva. Their two stories bring to light the plight of refugees during the Sudanese civil war and water inequities in developing countries. Since students have little to no background knowledge on the latter, many questions began arising during our reading. Many were answered as we read ahead, but some continued to linger. Specifically, the author describes in detail Salva’s journey through the desert as a Lost Boy, but she glazes over the hardships he faced in the refugee camps. The main character lived in the refugee camps for nearly 11 years before resettling in the United States, but the she only dedicated two chapters to this part of the character’s life. Naturally, my students felt frustrated and needed more information about life in refugee camps.

The following week, we engaged in a mini-inquiry about refugee camps through the eyes of Syria. Scope, a Scholastic magazine for middle schoolers, recently published a paired text about the Syrian civil war and the refugees that fled to Lebanon and Jordan. We spent a week reading, digesting, and adding to our understanding of the humanitarian crisis. Each day we watched a video or read an article from the magazine. Students worked in pairs to determine challenges the refugees faced and efforts that are being made to support them. At the end of each lesson, we regrouped to chart collected vocabulary related to our topic and to chart new wonderings. After analyzing 3 sources, there was still a long list of unanswered questions, so partners chose one question to further explore and found a fourth source to answer their question.

Since I found the first three sources, the final source was a good opportunity to do a mini-lesson on one research skill. From our previous inquiry unit, I noticed my students had a hard time narrowing their searches. So we spent some time talking about key words and tricks to narrow our searches. It was a singular mini-lesson, but it was effective with all students successfully finding a fourth source to answer their question. Students then went public by sharing their additional understanding with the class.

This lesson was an important moment for me in my understanding about inquiry, because I used to think that inquiry had to be a long, full unit. Initially, this felt overwhelming for me, and I was bogged down by all the mini-lessons that I didn’t foresee or that were unrelated to skills my students needed to understand. Now I’m understanding that less may be more…at least for now. During our mini-inquiry, we were able to explore a topic the students were naturally curious about while practicing our reading of informational texts and refining one research skill. I’m feeling confident that a series of mini-inquiries can build upon their research skills without feeling too overwhelming for them or for me.

When thinking about next steps, I would like to continue exploring and refining mini-inquiries. Our next one may be related to water issues. Although, the students are not as curious about this topic. Looking even further ahead, I’m wondering what I year of learning might look like if I started out with many mini-inquiries and then ended the year with a bigger inquiry unit after they fully understood the process and had plenty of time to develop the necessary skills to navigate their curiosities. 

Math Inquiry

In my group, the Weavers, I have committed to trying inquiry in Math.  In the last month, I have been very close to giving up that goal.  I was really not sure how I could possibly integrate inquiry into math.  There are too many foundational skills that have to be mastered before students can move forward.  This work is far too important for me to give up as much control as inquiry requires me to.  Then I had a conversation with a math teacher in the district who is finding success with presenting her students with one cognitively challenging task and allowing them time to explore the problem with an understanding that students will not necessarily complete the task with success.  Her focus is on the process that they go through as they collaborate in an attempt to find a solution to the task.
Talking to her made me realize that I don't have to approach inquiry in math as I might in science.  Math inquiry can be truly 'mini,' focusing on a very small objective that I want the students to master.  I decided to give it a shot.


My students have been learning about fractions.  They have been composing and decomposing fractions, learning about equivalence, and learning about the reasons why we add and subtract them the way we do.  I decided to try allowing my students the opportunity to "discover" how to multiply a fraction and a whole number.

We started by activating our schema around how we multiply.  Collectively, we found four strategies for multiplying: by writing out our understanding that multiplication is x, counted y times (skip counting), creating equal groups, using arrays and by adding repeatedly.  Once we made that list, I shared the objective with students: They will learn how to multiply a whole number and a fraction and apply a rule to these kinds of problems.  We brainstormed three of these types of problems.  Then I set them off to work together using any tools in the room to help them (pattern blocks, base 10 blocks, rulers, number lines, paper pencil.)  They worked for about 15 minutes individually and in small groups of their choosing.  At the end of the 15 minutes, some were still struggling with the concept of applying what they already knew to fraction multiplication while others had grasped that and had successfully created a rule.  We debriefed the process and recorded our findings. 

I was very encouraged by this process. I think it gave me hope that inquiry can be an essential element in students better understanding math.  Overall, my students were more engaged in this process than if I had done a mini lesson on the rule then given them time to practice.  I had a student, who generally struggles in math, ask me that if we use repeated addition to multiply, wouldn't we be able to use repeated subtraction to divide?  I had another student think that she had found the rule, but could only apply it to two of our three problems.  After much discussion, where I had to force myself to sit back and NOT say anything, she realized that, in fact, the rule did work, it just resulted in an improper fraction rather than the equivalent mixed number she came up with.  She came upon this by asking questions of herself and her partner, not by having it delivered to her by her teacher (not that I didn't want to.)

I used to think that inquiry had to consist of complex, backward designed lessons.  Now I know that I can approach inquiry as an innovative way to tweak my math workshop where I put the ownness of learning squarely on the shoulders of my students... AND they are totally capable of rising to that challenge.  I also used to think that inquiry didn't have a place in math.  Now I know that it fits into my beliefs about the way students best learn math.

My next step is to have students discover the process of multiplying two fractions in the same way.  I want to see if I can replicate the success I had with this lesson. Another next step, or a missed step, is to assess this process to see how well my students understand how to multiply a fraction and a whole number.