Process Page for Inquiry Project

Stage

Small-Group Inquiry Model For Inquiry Project

Teacher Role
Student Role

Immerse
o Invite curiosity through a
motivational approach
(activity, strategy, text,
video, etc.): Launch
o Set up an engaging
environment; gathers &
organizes curricular
materials
o Build background/activate
schema
o Modeling and/or thinkingaloud
o Strategy work (teaching)
o Create passion & curiosity
o Modeling of inquiry, thinking
aloud, demonstrating asking
questions
o Organizes small group
formation
o Confers with
groups/individuals

o Launch the project by

showing the WSBT news
story (found in the
resources) and reading
students the task.
o At each table put out books,
photos and iPads with
videos of the animals
available for students to
watch (see the resource
guide).
o After students have had
time to explore the different
texts and photos, they will
decide which animal they
would like to learn more
about. Students will be
grouped by their interest.
o Strategy Work: I see, I
wonder, I know (More
information on each
strategy can be found in the

o Explore at each station

while considering what
animal would interest them
for inquiry.
o Tell animal of interest.

o Listen to Why Living Things

Need Food.
o Share ideas with a partner
and participate in whole
group discussion.
o Record their thinking on the
graphic organizer (found in

Strategies Tab.)
-Teach students to use the
headings and pictures to
gain information using Why
Living Things Need Food.
-Work with students to
discover who needs
additional help.

the Strategies Tab).

o Brainstorm words that

relate to the topic of the
text. Discuss what is known
about the words as a whole
group and in partners.
o Decide on an animal of
interest. Consider what
theyd like to discover (in
addition to its basic needs).

Investigate
o Develop questions
o Students search for
information & discover
answers
o Modeling strategies
(teaching), thinking aloud,
questioning
o Modeling gathering
information
o Students collect information

o Explain that students will be

using their science
notebooks to record new
learning and interesting
facts about their animal.
o Strategy Work: Word
Splash
Introduce the text Why
Living Things Need Water.

o Continue to use knowledge

of text features and internet
searching to find
information about chosen
animal. Record information
gained from viewing and
reading texts from the
resources tab in science
notebooks.

from websites & texts

o Guide discussions
o Confers with
groups/individuals

Ask what words students

predict will be in the text.
Create a list of the words
and discuss their meanings
and possible connections to
the text.
-This will provide the
students with a limited
ability to read text an
effective research strategy.

o Model additional
questioning beyond the
basic needs of animals (use
an animals students did not
pick to do think alouds). For
example, I wonder if a
cheetah likes to live alone
or with lots of other
cheetahs.
-Use Post-it notes to record
thinking while on websites
to reading in text
o Provide groups with access
to texts, photos, websites
and videos (listed in the
resources tab)

o Share questions with a

partner orally, and then
record in science notebooks
using words, pictures, or
Post-its.

o Check in with groups to

determine what students
are working on and what
additional support is
needed.

Stage

Teacher Role

Coalesce
o Intensify research: websites,
texts, videos, articles, etc.
o Synthesize information,
answering questions
o Modeling organization
synthesizing information
o Identify key ideas; relate
back to standards
o Effective group discussions
o Groups organize their
findings
o Teaching strategies to pull
information together
o Confers with
groups/individuals

Student Role

o By meeting with small

groups, I will know what
additional support and
resources students will
need.

o Continue to research and

discuss information in small
groups.

o Strategy Work: Read,

Remember, Represent,
Retell
Introduce the text Why Do
Living Things Need Air.
Students will hear chunks of
the text to practice
synthesizing information
and retelling an
informational text.

o Listen to the text, draw

what is heard/learned on
sticky notes and retell each
chunk to a partner.

o Model using my research

how to build a padlet, how
to add photos, and think
aloud about what

o Build padlet: determine

photos to include and what
questions/answers to add in
addition to the required

information Ill want to

include. (Parent volunteers
and paraprofessionals will
help during this process.)

Go Public
o Share learning with others
(who is audience?)
o Demonstrate learning in a
variety of ways
o Reflect, create new
questions
o Learning to be an audience
member
o Summative Assessment
o Self-evaluation

o Review what it looks like to

be a presenter as well as an
audience member.
(Students are familiar with
this from writers workshop
throughout the year, but I
want to apply that learning
to this new situation.)
o Explain the self-evaluation
to students.

o Complete the summative

basic needs of animals.

o Finalize padlet and practice

presenting it.

o Explain the role of a

presenter and audience
member.
o Present Padlets to Miss
Ambrosens class. Collect
any questions the class may
have after presenting. This
could lead to further
research.
o Students will complete a
self-evaluation to determine
how they felt about their

assessment of students
padlets.

work and ability to complete

the task.