Inquiry Fridays

With only a few weeks left of school and with so many opportunities for students to develop their inquiries, Mrs. Butterick (Omega) and I decided to join forces and give students choices of social studies classes on Fridays until the end of the year.

Mrs. Butterick will have her social studies classroom set up so that students who wish to work on community or global inquiry projects may have class time to develop and work on them. For example, in our class, we are reading LONG WALK TO WATER, and students may wish to find ways to conserve water or help with wells around the world. They aren't limited to this type of inquiry -- some have expressed interest, especially after developing their videos for World of 7 Billion, to find ways to help with other global issues (deforestation, water scarcity, climate change, public health, etc.). There are so many great ideas students have, we needed to find a way to give class time for these amazing inquiries.

In addition, we wanted to join up with Global Read-aloud to partner with the school we've been communicating with in New Zealand. They are reading a book called the Phantom of Terawiti, and several students expressed interest in doing the read-aloud with them and communicating online through a private Edmodo group about the book. So, while Mrs. Butterick will have students working on inquiries one day a week, I will have students who want to work on this global book collaboration that same day.

Depending on the students' choice, they will have tasks and check-ins with both teachers and may be given grades. So, if you see an "assignment" in PowerSchool that doesn't seem to match what your child is doing, please don't worry! PowerSchool is limited in that we have to put a task in for everyone in a class, whether or not they are doing that task. We will go through and mark those assignments excused for those who are not completing them. If you aren't sure, please ask your child first which group they are in as we will mark the group title in PowerSchool. That is the easiest way to keep track of the entries.

Tomorrow, we will introduce both choices to students and after tomorrow, they will know which group they will be in on those days.  Generally, we will have these days scheduled on Fridays, but in some cases, they will be moved (field trip, access to computer lab, etc.). We will give students at least a one day notice so that they will know to bring a device, etc. We will also send out notice on PowerSchool.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions. I'm looking forward to these exciting global collaborations and inquiries!

Miss K