An inquiry is so much more than a research project.
The words the Trevor Bonds said still stick in my mind - it we end inquiry at a sharing or communicating stage then it is just a glorified research assignment.
The use of the task was key to our action this inquiry. Children knew right from the start, that there was going to be a consequence of their inquiry, something was going to have to happen and they had control over it.
It was great to see the children thinking carefully about how they could celebrate their local heroes - rather than a thank you afternoon tea, the children decided that it would become more of a treasure to the hero to have something concrete presented to them. As an action the children wrote a report as to why that particular person was a hero and created a certificate of appreciation or them. Not the most ideal, and they would have liked to create something further, but we simply ran out of time.
However, our heroes had no idea that this was happening, they were posted to the heroes and they recieved a nice surprise in the mail. Some heroes were quite shocked that the children held them in such high regard and we quick to minimise their actions and shine the light onto others.
Children found it quite difficult to use the information they got from their interviews, to convert it to information in a report was qute tricky for some, this will become a major teaching focus next term, not only for inquiry but also literacy.
Children received phone calls, heroes came into our last school assembly to thank them and official letters of thanks were received. This all made the action so powerful for the children, it made them realise that their learning meant something to someone, they were really chuffed. This in turn has made the children more motivated about shairng their learning and ideas.
Inquiry is simply getting more exciting as we move along our journey.
To follow is a sample of a report sent to one of our local heroes.
Our Hero – Mr Dear
This term for our inquiry we had to research what it means to be a hero and the qualities that heroes display.
I have selected you as my hero because you have shown
· Commitment
· Courage
· Bravery
· Loyalty
· Helpfulness
· Participation
· Caring
· Determination
We interviewed a few people about you and this is what they had to say…….
· You have to have determination when putting out a fire
· You have to use courage when you go into a burning building
· You have to be on call all hours of the day
· They have to do their best to save people from danger
· You have to have determination and courage to go into a burning building and save people in danger
· You have to use self management being on call and to be ready on time
· You have to sacrifice your time to save others
Thank you Mr Dear for being the best you can be and saving peoples lives and showing all of those heroic qualities.
Thank you
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1 comment:
The Hero's unit went really well. The children obviously enjoyed it and have in a lot of cases altered their image of what a hero actually is. I look forward to the results of this terms Inventors unit!
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