Mrs. Taebpour and I have been observing the students since we have come back from the Winter Holiday to find that "spark" we look for to start a new class inquiry! This week, we began putting different pictures up on our SmartBoard to evoke their interests! After looking at this picture, the students noticed many things about it and had lots of questions!
By asking the students "What do you see?" "What do you think about?" and "What do you wonder?" helps each student make their thinking visable as Ritchhard and Perkins describe in Making Thinking Visible (2008). After reading about the success my fellow FDK colleagues had with this method in their class, I decided to try it out. Sure enough, these questions stirred up students curiosity!
We have set up our next stage for an inquiry on Dinosaurs!
What do you see?
I see
footprints. – A.L. (SK female)
I see
a person and some sand. – L.U.
I see
a rock. – A.K.
I see
mud. – J.Lds (JK)
I see
some rocks. – D.M.
I see
mud. – L.S.
I see
stripes. – S.S.
I see
sand waves. – E.W.
I see
sand. – J.M.X.
What do you think about?
I
think the footprints are big. – E.Z.
I
think he was digging because I see holes. – E.R.
I
think the man is on the beach.
– L.U.
I
think elephants were stomping there.
– E.Z.
What do you wonder?
I wonder
if a dinosaur stepped on the sand. - M.I.
I
wonder if the man is at the zoo. –
G.F.F.
I
wonder if a T-Rex came. – A.G.
I
wonder why there are big rocks around. – A.M.
I
wonder what the man is doing there.
- N.W.
I
wonder why the person is sitting there.
– E.R.
I
wonder what the man is doing at the beach. – S.Z.
What do you see?
I see a big square. –
A.G.
I see a broken broom.
– A.M.
I see some sticks. – A.K.
I see water bottles and paper. – M.O.
I see a paint brush. –
E.W.
I see a map. – D.M.
I see another paintbrush.
– S.S.
What do you think about this?
I think the square is covering the rocks. – S.Z.
I think if you get lost you can look at a map. – E.R.
What do you wonder?
I wonder why are the bones just lying down there? – L.U.
I wonder why paintbrushes and a broom are there? – A.M.
I wonder where this is.
– S.C.
What do you see?
I see long nails. –
E.Z.
I see a leg. – E.W.
I see 3 toes. – A. G.
I see a big foot. – S.Z.
What do you think about this?
I think there is a dino body attached. – A.L. (SK male)
I think that it is a dino that flies, because they always
have 3 toes. – L.U.
What do you wonder?
I wonder if the dino is going somewhere. – N.W.
I wonder why are dino’s so big? – A.M.
