Immersion Racing Rima Weeks 1-3, Term 2


Displaying Learning Intention - this was important because children were learning the purpose of what they’re doing at this stage of our Inquiry. The children knew that there were always new questions to ask and answer.

Information was shared about Heroes from articles and books, and deeper thinking was developed when considering how the hero achieved what they did. Apart from class discussions, this was achieved by using the ‘Chain of Events’ G.O. Working in pairs, the children had to use/read the information in front of them and think about the WHO, HOW, WHERE, WHAT etc. This was important because it gave the children, the understanding, that there was often more than one event or circumstance that contributed to an outcome.

Clarifying the concept of a hero. Thinking of / discussing who are/is the hero and what did the hero do?
The children didn’t have any difficulty grasping the idea of a hero because they worked on the criteria of: Are they doing something good and worthwhile? Are they kind and helpful people? Are they doing something brave?

Teacher asked specific questions in context, pertaining to person’s actions/situation and what ‘it took’ to do what was needed. This required the children to think of all the different attributes and underlying strengths the person had, using factual knowledge and making inferences. The children got to know their hero in a more personal way and could put themselves in their shoes, in their world.

Discussion on K.Comp: Participating and Contributing-What does P.and C look like to us as a class? - ideas recorded and displayed for referring to. Eg. Tom, you agreed we would speak nicely to each other and work as team. Are you speaking nicely and working well with your group? NO. So what could you do to achieve this? Etc. This was great for encouraging this student to be responsible for his own actions because he was part of the class when this K.C. was composed by the class, he shares ownership of it and he understands and relates it .The responsibility was his.

Visitors contribute a hugely to IMMERSION, especially when children have deep thinking questions where so much more is revealed of the “HERO” – their feelings, emotions, thoughts, thinking, creativity etc. This is HOW the visitor/s impacted on the students understanding:The specific questions the children asked eg. How can you get a person out of a burning house and how do you feel? required complex answers, and feelings revealed through facial expressions, voice and body language told a story of their own. And when a demonstration ensued, the students understanding further increased. And because the Visitor had had first hand experiences and skills to share, the situation was genuine for the students and they were learning at first hand. Questions, also generated questions, so children were scaffolding each others learning.

Wondering Wall - many questions about Heroes were too broad and didn’t have any keywords. So the children had to make their questions more specific, so that information could be accessed on the Internet more easily. I had to work with some children 1-1 on their questions. Not all the children are at the stage where they can clearly see the purpose of deeper thinking questions. These questions were very important for seeking relevant information, and finding out exactly what they wanted to know, as the children were learning to be skilled, informed researchers, saving a lot of time. I now need to help the children to see where they’re at on the Question Rubric and how they can work on their question skills.


Classifying Heroes- Encouraged children to think about differences. Are they heroes by occupation, circumstance, chance, setting a goal and achieving it, displaying certain Virtues or using certain Key Competencies? The challenge for the children was to think about: Why don’t heroes have to be famous? – Round Robin Brainstorm
Discussion followed – consensus was, a hero could be someone you know who has helped someone in need, or someone working hard towards a goal. Used T chart G.O. with 4 of the above for headings.
In groups of three, children listed heroes who they felt belonged under each category. Children then to decided which category of people was the most important, because of the impact/affect they had people. It was very important to show that the children’s reasonings and decisions were valued, and when reporting back, for others to listen, and agree to disagree. Also, understanding that people are heroes for different reasons and could be the person sitting next to us.

Conclusion

I think, because I realise Immersion is so crucial to the success of Inquiry, I’ve tried to give the children a wide range of activities and experiences to learn about Heroes. I’ve used several G.O.s and encouraged the children to generate their own deeper thinking questions, which in turn give them more knowledge and understanding and control of their own learning. In other successful Inquiry Units we’ve done, I don’t think I had, as
a teacher, as much insight into what I was doing. So as a result, I hope the children have really benefited, especially in questioning. These reflections make you think about your own understanding and practice, which can only be good.