Students created a community name and decided what was important in the community. We also created a community cheer. The teacher says: "Who let the dogs out?" student respond by barking. This has brought our class together as a community of learners.

The hexagon mapping was a great way to reinforce vocabulary and repeating the exercise with different sets of cards, and then combined cards, was even more powerful. Writing their connections after doing it verbally also reinforced their thinking.

We are just starting the American Revolution unit and the kids had just completed the gallery walk and reading about revolution and revolutionary meanings. We came back to center and discussed our inquiry question. They wrote their thoughts while thinking about the people/events they had just read about.

We are learning how to annotate text to deeply connect with it. I encourage their annotations to reflect their voice. They are improving as we continue to practice this skill. This is from From Territory to Golden State.

Check out our work from the 20th Century Civil Rights Inquiry!

Each student is creating their own poster using Canva. We will print and post the photos around the school once everyone is done! Students are also recording themselves reading their maker statement and a QR code will be created to listen to the recording.

Students worked in groups to generate questions using the Question Formulation Technique (QFT). They selected their favorite questions and we kept them posted throughout the inquiry. When we got to the end, we used them as a spring board for brainstorming meaningful action project that linked the past with the present and felt relevant to the students.

Inquiry Wall from Meeting Needs and Wants

Our work is from the Natural Resources Unit and each student group took charge of using the resources provided from Inquired to research and create a presentation on what they have learned to turnkey to their class. The regions project was from the same unit and how each region provided different types of natural resources.

As an IB candidate school we have been learning how to teach with an inquiry mindset. InquirED has really helped with inquiry-based learning, and giving students agency over their own learning. The students are invested in their learning and asking deep questions!

American Revolution Timeline

Students enjoyed reflecting on what makes them unique by creating self portraits that focused on their outside traits along side one of their highlighted inside strengths.