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Good Questions For Inquiry-Based Projects

Any question that matters to students is a good question. If students are genuinely interested in the answer and learning about the topic, then the question is worthy of investigation. - Sue Jackson

 'mini-inquiries', short-term research experiences that enable students to search for and find information quickly. To determine an answer, it may be as simple as jumping on the Internet or skimming through a book. Mini-inquiries are great ways to teach students how to investigate questions, pursue answers, and demonstrate their learning (Harvey and Daniels, p. 143).

Mini Inquiries vs. Inquiry based projects:

Student and teacher need to develop essential questions with the following characteristics:

• relevance to the learner
• open-ended and higher-order (have no right or wrong answer)
• answers are not already known
• multiple possible answers
• not too personal
• cannot be answered without careful and lengthy research—answers have to be more than simple facts
• able to be researched given the available resources—must be answerable
• make learners question their basic assumptions
• promote further inquiry

Examples of Essential Questions:

Grades K to 3	Grades 4 to 6	Grades 7 to 9
What makes a good friend? What makes a bad storm? How can we eat well? Why do you suppose the rain falls down? If you could change the town we live in, how would you make it better?	What are the traits of a good leader? What makes a fair punishment? What makes one writer more powerful than another? How could you invent a better city?	How do you know if a law is just? How is a hero different from a celebrity? Which leader of the previous century relied most on propaganda and appeals to fear?
Adapted from: www.questioning.org/mar05/essential.pdf

Scholastic Canada Education—Teaching Tip of the Month • March 2013

Asking good questions - different kids of wonder

This is the question I have been asking myself:

How do I help students develop the ability to ask good questions?

My students and I read Lisa Dalrymple's book Skink on the Brink and the students created numerous questions that Heard would label Research Wonders:

Different Kinds of Wonders
Heart Wonders	Research Wonders
- questions you can answer with your heart and mind - What makes a best friend a best friend?	- questions that you can look up in books, magazines, on the computer, or by observing - What goes on under an ant pile?

Next step I want students to develop world questions that promote critical thinking:

Kinds of Questions
Factual Retrieval	Personal Preference	Critical Inquiry
Fact Questions	Imagine Questions	Interpretive questions
- have only one correct answer - provide an understanding of the details of a topic - good for 'mini-inquiries'	- ask for some kind of opinion, belief or point of view- no wrong answers - good for leading discussions - rarely make for good inquiry-based projects because internally focused	- have more than one answer but must be supported with evidence - effective for starting class discussions and for stimulating oral and written tasks - good for inquiry-based learning

Scholastic Canada Education—Teaching Tip of the Month • April 2013

Learning EdTech

A Great Website with lots of resources for technology:

http://www.learningedtech.com

Thank you Melissa for sharing your learning with others!

Introducing Read&Write for Google

Reflect on the language you use in your classroom!

My Personal Reflection after LGBTQ Awareness Workshop:

Stop and Think:

Something as simple as asking your students to separate into two groups: boys and girls can put students in your classroom in a difficult situation. 

Ask yourself: Are you being inclusive?

A student dealing with gender identity questioning may have be uncomfortable chosing which group they fit into!

The simple use of language can bring awareness and inclusion into your classroom

Consider the math problem:

Jimmy and his two mothers went to the store after school. Jimmy had $5 to spend what could he purchase?

Gumball $1.15
Ice Cream Cone $3.25 etc.

A teachable moment!

Insert Flubaroo Script to Grade a Google Form