That's right....I'm in love. I'm in love with the questions, the connections, the thinking, and the completely engaged 2nd graders! My school is working towards STEM certification, and there is a huge emphasis on inquiry and integration. This book by Harvey and Daniels has been a great resource for implementing inquiry in my classroom.
This book is loaded with great information and great lessons. You seriously need to get a copy. I used the small group inquiry model to create an inquiry plan for our grade level. We wanted an inquiry that we could tie into our standards about the Georgia regions, and after reading this great post from Mrs. Wideen's Blog, I knew I wanted to model the first inquiry. You can check out the plan here. Jen over at The Go To Teacher has some amazing inquiry charts and resources that you MUST check out!
With all these great resources in hand we were ready to investigate!
We started with wondering and observing. We noticed the trees around the school had been cut down to build a new neighborhood, and we wondered how this might affect the animals that lived there. We learned how to read with a question in mind. We asked more questions and conducted research. In the end we decided to focus on frog and toad habitat loss.
We talked to experts,
collaborated and shared our findings on an interactive map,
and came up with a plan to take action by creating a toad habitat in our school garden!
Now we just need some toads to find their new home!
