The inquiry resource that I shared with my peers was a book titled “From Tired to Inspired: Fresh Strategies to Engage Students in Literacy”. During our group facilitation, we discussed the importance of engaging students in cognitive conversations and transforming students into independent thinkers. This book includes many strategies to engage students, some of which I have tried in my practicum classroom. Even though the book is about engaging students in literacy, most of the strategies can be implemented in any subject area.

One of the strategies that we discussed in particular was small group discussions. Before posing a question to students, it is important to allow them to engage in discussion amongst their peers before sharing as a whole group. Through experience, we have noticed that allowing for this sharing time increases the number of students who participate in classroom discussions. Giving students time to share ideas with a small group of their peers also increases the quality of student responses. This does not only give students an opportunity to share their own ideas, but to also listen to the ideas, opinions, and suggestions of others.

I have shared this resource with many student teachers in primary and intermediate classrooms who are interested in learning about ways to increase student engagement . Most of the activities in this book can be adapted for any grade level.