Inquiry-based learning essentials for engaging and equipping 21st-century learners. Learn about the different types of inquiry.
Blog post that provides activities on lesson and bias for your speech therapy sessions and for Martin Lurther King Jr. day!
Best children's picture books to teach inclusion and foster an anti-bias attidude. These books share the joy and value of living in diverse communities.
This post shares useful resources on culturally responsive teaching that are helpful to all educators + TIPS on diverse teaching strategies.
Teaching biodiversity in grade three science is a great reason to get outside and study local ecosystems! These are the best activities, resources and lessons for teaching biodiversity in third-grade science.
Use these five simple steps to support your students with the inquiry process. CLICK to download these FREE posters and begin using with your Grade 1, Grade 2, and Grade 3 students today!
You might have heard the terms provocation and invitation with regards to inquiry learning. An invitation is something that encourages students to explore a concept. A provocation is something that provokes action and stimulates thinking.
As a kid in school I loved when my teachers celebrated creativity in the classroom. In fact, when I reflect on my own education, the moments I remember the most were the creative ones. I vividly remember making salt maps of the state, book report mobiles, models, papier-mâché globes, interactive brochures, puppets, and dioramas. What about you? Are the instructional moments that you remember the most tied to creative activities? There's just something so powerful about hands-on learning with creative opportunities. Now, more than ever, in our assessment-focused world of education, it's time to infuse creativity into the classroom! Check out these fun ways to turn ancient history lessons into creative hands-on learning experiences! EARLY MAN During this project, students complete 5 different learning stations. Students complete their work on flame shapes that they can transform into a 3-D fire. Working both independently and with small groups, students learn about The Paleolithic Era, the Neolithic Era, the Great Migration, and elements of a civilization. (Learn more here.) ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA As students complete 6 learning stations about ancient Mesopotamia, they'll build a 3-D ziggurat. The stations focus on geography, religion, accomplishments, politics, economics, and society. The end result is a 3-D structure that students can display on their desks or around the classroom. (Learn more here.) ANCIENT EGYPT With this hands-on project, students learn all about ancient Egypt before turning their learning into an interactive sphinx. Students build flip-able parts of the sphinx poster while their progress through 6 different learning stations. The end result is a celebration of Egypt and their learning! (Learn more here.) ANCIENT CHINA Learning about ancient China is especially engaging with this fact hunt and doodle poster. Not only will students collect critical facts about the ancient civilization, they'll also display their learning with doodles that they create. The poster's extra-long size makes it unique and perfect to display in the classroom. (Learn more here.) ANCIENT INDIA If I have to pick a favorite hands-on World History project, this one might be it. During this project, students add information about ancient India to different layers of a lotus flower while progressing through 6 stations. When they're finished, they turn their learning into a 3-D lotus flower. The end result is a stunning collection of learning. (Learn more here.) ANCIENT GREECE This hands-on learning project includes 6 learning stations about ancient Greece. During the stations, students create an accordion-style book to showcase their learning. They'll assemble the foldable parts of the book to create a Parthenon accordion book. It's interactive and meaningful. (Learn more here.) ANCIENT ROME This ancient history project is especially fun. After completing 6 engaging learning stations about ancient Rome, students will turn their learning into a 3-D version of the Colosseum. And...to amp up the "fun factor" there are even 3 gladiator figures that students can design and display inside their Colosseum. (Learn more here.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These projects are the perfect combination of rigor and creativity. If you're looking for fun ways to mix up your Social Studies instruction, check out these hands-on units here: - Early Man - Ancient Mesopotamia - Ancient Egypt - Ancient China - Ancient India - Ancient Greece - Ancient Rome Thanks for stopping by! Mary Beth P.S. Save on the bundle for ALL of the resources HERE.
This lesson will teach historians how to detect bias within primary and secondary sources. ...
Nonviolent communication: Think before you speak: Is it true? Is it heplful? Is it inspiring? Is it necessary? Is it kind? Reacting vs. Responding: Emotional vocabulary: Mental preparation for runn…
Implicit bias, Anti, Unconscious Bias training course materials. Customizable and editable for trainers for teaching equality & diversity training.
All leaders should recognize and tackle the subtle ways that implicit bias shapes everyday interactions as well as decision-making.
What is Inquiry Based Leaning in Kindergarten? In simple form, inquiry-based learning is more of a student-directed way of learning rather than teacher-directed. In some cases, the teaching team may set the general framework for learning, but for the most part, the learning is based on the students questions, ideas and passions. This is similar to the emergent curriculum if that is a term you are more familiar with. Rather than working off set lesson plans that are theme-based and not necessarily developmentally appropriate for all children, your teaching is guided by the students interests thus making the learning more meaningful to them. We know from research that children achieve optimal learning when they are given plenty of opportunities to become fully engaged in their play. Most often while children are engaged, their natural curiosity of the world around them comes forth. They take notice of everything and have a beautiful sense of wonder about people, places, objects, and nature. Through noticing and wondering, the children come up with questions and observations about their thinking. It is important that children are given the opportunity to investigate their inquiry, gather information, make observations and share their findings with others. It is the role of the teaching team in kindergarten to act as facilitators. We use these opportunities of inquiry to help guide the children with more open-ended questions allowing them to extend and clarify their thinking and make connections, while modeling the inquiry process. We provide the children with the tools, materials and resources they need to investigate these inquiries. What is the Inquiry Process? The Full Day Early Learning Kindergarten Program clearly defines the inquiry process in the curriculum document and I have included the table for you below: There is also an article I enjoyed named "The Plan: Building on Children's Interests" by Hilary Jo Seitz through NAEYC, that you can read here, that offers a very interesting perspective on the inquiry process. It has many similarities to the one in the Full Day Kindergarten document, but I enjoyed the way Hilary explained her four step process. I also now love the term SPARKS which refers to anything that promotes deeper thinking. Open-Ended Questions to Promote Inquiry The key to open-ended questions is that they promote further thinking and explanation. Questions that begin with "what, why, how, if etc." are usually open-ended questions. Anything that can be answered with yes or no are typically closed-ended questions and a lot of the time may begin with "can, do etc." I created the sheet above to carry with me on my clipboard when I am doing observations during the day as a reminder or suggestion. Very quickly these just became natural for me and it is just part of my normal conversations throughout the day with the children. This certainly won't be my last post on inquiry, but I hope this answers some questions for those who were wondering just what inquiry-based learning is.
This Learning for Justice aligned lesson is about understanding personal identity and the identities of others. It’s an important skill on its own and also a first step towards valuing diversity and standing up to injustice. It focuses on elements of identity (name, race, religion, culture, appearance, strengths, interests, family), knowing and liking who we […]
"Understanding Unconscious Bias" is designed to prompt student reflection on personal biases and stereotypes. The assignment explores key concepts such as unconscious bias, stereotypes, and preconceived notions, emphasizing their impact on society. It delves into common types of biases and their eff...
Ever wondered what the difference is between these student-centred methods of inquiry learning? Read on to find out what makes them different.
Self-directed learning builds skills and confidence. And it's just plain fun!
Challenge prejudices that young children may already be forming with these anti bias books for preschool & kindergarten age kids.
Click through to read about what we can do in our English classrooms to take a stand against hate. To teach our students about equity. To open up more dialogue, more understanding, more compassion, more empowerment. To inspire our students to use their voices to make a difference in the world.
This post shares useful resources on culturally responsive teaching that are helpful to all educators + TIPS on diverse teaching strategies.
Teach your Prep and Kindergarten students about the chemistry strand of materials and their properties with this science unit! Explore the different materials that familiar objects are made of through hands-on explorations and complimentary printables.Save 20% by grabbing this unit as part of my bun...
Like likes like: New research supports the notion that teachers favor those who favor them.
Every person has the opportunity to recognize and tackle the subtle ways that implicit bias shapes everyday interactions as well as decision-making.
Go no further! This post will show you what humanities classes. You'll get a definition of humanities, the 9 types of humanities, and employment advice.
What is Culturally Responsive Teaching? Culturally responsive teaching isn't just about racial ethnicity. It is a set of intentional teaching methods, lesson plans, activities, and attitudes that include students from diverse backgrounds equally. As schools around the world become more and more diverse, helping students to connect learning to their own backgrounds continues to be
History narratives are seldom objective, say teachers Jody & Shara. They offer strategies educators can use to help students detect bias & compare perspectives.
Implicit bias, Anti, Unconscious Bias training course materials. Customizable and editable for trainers for teaching equality & diversity training.
Teaching Tolerance anti-bias framework supports to ensure your students will learn that they are more biased than they think. They take a bias test created by Harvard, watch an unforgettable poetry slam by a student about racism, learn about the "Whiteness Project" grapple with the Trolley Problem, watch a film called "Glory", and discuss "code switching". Students will use critical thinking, reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills while enjoying the rigor and creativity of this lesson built on best teaching practices. If you enjoy this lesson click HERE for another lesson on Tolerance: diversity, justice, identity, and action. *********************************************************************************************************** For my most popular resources, check out the following list: Ghost Boys HERE Wicked HERE Hey Kiddo HERE The Hate U Give HERE Patina HERE Refugee HERE The Crossover HERE Monster HERE Fish in a Tree HERE Booked HERE The 57 Bus HERE The Complete Persepolis HERE New Kid HERE The Great Gatsby HERE Rebound HERE Anya's Ghost HERE Poetry Unit HERE Kwame Alexander Bundle HERE Hamilton Bundle HERE Edgar Allen Poe Short Story Bundle HERE A Wrinkle in Time HERE The Elevator HERE Non-fiction Titanic HERE For My Store Profile and Experience Click HERE Product keywords: Teaching tolerance lesson, lesson for teaching tolerance, lesson plan for teaching tolerance, tolerant teaching lesson, tolerant teaching lesson plan, tolerant teaching unit, tolerant teaching unit plan, teaching for tolerance, learning tolerance, learning tolerance lesson To visit my Teacher for Inclusion blog, please click HERE
Critical thinking skills are difficult to acquire because the mind is a believing machine, as this classic psychology study demonstrates.
This graphic organizer was used in my grade two class, for an Ethics and Religious Culture project on inventions. After learning about famous inventors and how their inventions impacted society, the students had to come up with their own inventions. The students were given this sheet as a tool for brainstorming. The layout includes: - The name of the invention (students were asked to be creative). - A section for sketching the invention - A written section describing the purpose of the invention - A written section describing how the invention will help others - A written section describing how the invention works
I hear from a lot of teachers that teaching rocks and minerals is booooring (I beg to differ!)I have two blog posts for you- this one with resources to help you teach minerals and a second to help you teach rocks. Side note: I want to point out that there are topics we all don’t ... Read more
Download this fantastic collection of teaching resources to help your children learn about materials! It includes a comprehensive topic guide, activity resources for your children to explore and reference materials for discussion and display!
When planning anti-bias anti-racist education, science and math are often ignored. Use these 7 ideas to teach for diversity in STEM subjects.
Free to use unconscious bias quiz for giving inclusive leadership and management workshop and classroom training for employees.
One obvious way to promote inquiry learning in your classroom is to design lessons and units that benefit from, promote, or require it.
Use these five simple steps to support your students with the inquiry process. CLICK to download these FREE posters and begin using with your Grade 1, Grade 2, and Grade 3 students today!
