Whole-class Inquiry


Book Description

In response to requests from science education professionals, this is the perfect vehicle for implementing and assessing this concept of whole-class inquiry in your classroom. This is a must-have package for preservice and inservice middle and high school science teachers.




Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards


Book Description

Humans, especially children, are naturally curious. Yet, people often balk at the thought of learning scienceâ€"the "eyes glazed over" syndrome. Teachers may find teaching science a major challenge in an era when science ranges from the hardly imaginable quark to the distant, blazing quasar. Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards is the book that educators have been waiting forâ€"a practical guide to teaching inquiry and teaching through inquiry, as recommended by the National Science Education Standards. This will be an important resource for educators who must help school boards, parents, and teachers understand "why we can't teach the way we used to." "Inquiry" refers to the diverse ways in which scientists study the natural world and in which students grasp science knowledge and the methods by which that knowledge is produced. This book explains and illustrates how inquiry helps students learn science content, master how to do science, and understand the nature of science. This book explores the dimensions of teaching and learning science as inquiry for K-12 students across a range of science topics. Detailed examples help clarify when teachers should use the inquiry-based approach and how much structure, guidance, and coaching they should provide. The book dispels myths that may have discouraged educators from the inquiry-based approach and illuminates the subtle interplay between concepts, processes, and science as it is experienced in the classroom. Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards shows how to bring the standards to life, with features such as classroom vignettes exploring different kinds of inquiries for elementary, middle, and high school and Frequently Asked Questions for teachers, responding to common concerns such as obtaining teaching supplies. Turning to assessment, the committee discusses why assessment is important, looks at existing schemes and formats, and addresses how to involve students in assessing their own learning achievements. In addition, this book discusses administrative assistance, communication with parents, appropriate teacher evaluation, and other avenues to promoting and supporting this new teaching paradigm.




Dive Into Inquiry


Book Description

Want to make learning more meaningful in your classroom? Looking to better prepare your students for the world of tomorrow? Keen to help learners create authentic connections to the world around them? Dive into Inquiry beautifully marries the voice and choice of inquiry with the structure and support required to optimise learning for students and get the results educators desire. With Dive into Inquiry you'll gain an understanding of how to best support your learners as they shift from a traditional learning model into the inquiry classroom where student agency is fostered and celebrated each and every day. This book strikes a perfect balance of meaningful pedagogy, touching narrative, helpful processes, original student examples, and rich how-to lesson plans all to get you going on bringing inquiry into your classroom. After reading this book educators will feel equipped to design their own inquiry units in a scaffolded manner that promote a gradual shift of control of learning from the teacher to the learner. Exploring student passions, curiosities, and interests and having these shape essential questions, units of study, and performance tasks are all covered in this powerful book. Learn to keep track of the many inquiry topics in your classroom and have students take ownership over their learning like never before! Trevor MacKenzie provides readers with a strong understanding of the Types of Student Inquiry and proposes a framework that best prepares both educators and learners for sharing the unpacking of curriculum in the classroom as they work together towards co-constructing a strong Free Inquiry unit. Helpful illustrations for in-class use, examples of essential questions from a variety of disciplines, practical goals for making progress in adopting inquiry into your practice, and powerful student learning on display throughout, Dive into Inquiry will energize, inspire, and transform your classroom!




Inquiry Mindset


Book Description

Harness the Power of Curiosity to Foster Students' Love for Learning From their youngest years, our children are innately curious. Cultivate an inquiry mindset both as a teacher and in your students! Adopt an inquiry approach that results in the most authentic and inspiring learning you've ever experienced!




Beautiful Questions in the Classroom


Book Description

"What does it mean to learn? Most of us eventually realize that genuine learning is less about delivering the right answers and more about asking the right questions. In an age of automation, questioning is a uniquely human skill, one we should foster in school and in life. This book is an essential read for educators at every level." — Daniel H. Pink, author of ‘WHEN’, ‘DRIVE’, and ‘A Whole New Mind’ "For teachers around the world there is a moral urgency to work with young learners in innovative ways that nurture agency, curiosity, agile thinking and problem solving. The role of questions in this cannot be underestimated." — Kath Murdoch. Consultant in Education and Author of ‘The Power of Inquiry.’ Why does engagement plummet as learners advance in school? Why does the stream of questions from curious toddlers slow to a trickle as they become teenagers? Most importantly, what can teachers and schools do to reverse this trend? Beautiful Questions in the Classroom has the answers. This inspirational book from Warren Berger and Elise Foster will help educators transform their classrooms into cultures of curiosity. The book explores the importance of questioning and how inquiry leads to learning, innovation, and personal growth. Readers will find: - Strategies to inspire bigger, more beautiful student questions - Techniques to help educators ask more beautiful questions - Real-world examples, case studies, practical ideas, and question stems - Videos showing strategies at work Great teachers help students to ask bigger, more beautiful questions. This book will prepare and inspire educators to develop a powerful teaching approach that creates a classroom full of student driven inquiry.




How Students Learn


Book Description

How do you get a fourth-grader excited about history? How do you even begin to persuade high school students that mathematical functions are relevant to their everyday lives? In this volume, practical questions that confront every classroom teacher are addressed using the latest exciting research on cognition, teaching, and learning. How Students Learn: History, Mathematics, and Science in the Classroom builds on the discoveries detailed in the bestselling How People Learn. Now, these findings are presented in a way that teachers can use immediately, to revitalize their work in the classroom for even greater effectiveness. Organized for utility, the book explores how the principles of learning can be applied in teaching history, science, and math topics at three levels: elementary, middle, and high school. Leading educators explain in detail how they developed successful curricula and teaching approaches, presenting strategies that serve as models for curriculum development and classroom instruction. Their recounting of personal teaching experiences lends strength and warmth to this volume. The book explores the importance of balancing students' knowledge of historical fact against their understanding of concepts, such as change and cause, and their skills in assessing historical accounts. It discusses how to build straightforward science experiments into true understanding of scientific principles. And it shows how to overcome the difficulties in teaching math to generate real insight and reasoning in math students. It also features illustrated suggestions for classroom activities. How Students Learn offers a highly useful blend of principle and practice. It will be important not only to teachers, administrators, curriculum designers, and teacher educators, but also to parents and the larger community concerned about children's education.




Choice Time


Book Description

Inquiry based play; Centers for reading; writing; mathematics and science




Inquiry and Innovation in the Classroom


Book Description

Careers in the 21st century are changing, but traditional education methods are not preparing students for these new jobs and demands. In this thought-provoking book, esteemed educator A.J. Juliani describes how we need to modify our classrooms to instill in students the drive for inquiry and innovation that they will need to succeed beyond school doors. Juliani reveals the ways that teachers can use Google’s 20% Time, Genius Hour, and Project-Based Learning to make students more creative, inquisitive, engaged in learning, and self-motivated—the kind of people we need to move society forward! He offers easy ways to implement these ideas while meeting the Common Core and still allowing plenty of time for content instruction. Special Features: Research on the benefits of inquiry-based learning Connections to the Common Core State Standards Stories and examples from the field Exciting ideas for using 20% Time, Genius Hour, and PBL at various grade levels Tips for preparing parents and administration for your new instruction Ideas for expanding your knowledge and continually learning in this area Classroom applications for each chapter, including sample projects and resources Bonus content with reproducible materials that you can use in your classroom right now, such as student checklists, questions, lessons, and unit plans As Juliani emphasizes, if we want our students to change the world, we must change our classrooms to foster inquiry and innovation.







Guided Inquiry


Book Description

This dynamic approach to an exciting form of teaching and learning will inspire students to gain insights and complex thinking skills from the school library, their community, and the wider world. Guided inquiry is a way of thinking, learning, and teaching that changes the culture of a school into a collaborative inquiry community. Global interconnectedness calls for new skills, new knowledge, and new ways of learning to prepare students with the abilities and competencies they need to meet the challenges of a changing world. The challenge for the information-age school is to educate students for living and working in this information-rich technological environment. At the core of being educated today is knowing how to learn and innovate from a variety of sources. Through guided inquiry, students see school learning and real life meshed in meaningful ways. They develop higher order thinking and strategies for seeking meaning, creating, and innovating. Today's schools are challenged to develop student talent, coupling the rich resources of the school library with those of the community and wider world. How well are you preparing your students to draw on the knowledge and wisdom of the past while using today's technology to advance new discoveries in the future? This book is the introduction to guided inquiry. It is the place to begin to consider and plan how to develop an inquiry learning program for your students.