Today’s class was an interesting day full of inquiry! It was so nice to finally see the magic that inquiry brings to a class. After I took the students through morning meeting, they moved into math lesson, where Mrs. S was teaching them about concrete graphs and pictographs. Mrs. S wanted them to discover the difference between the 2 types, so she asked the students to take off their shoes and place them into categories (black, white, or coloured). This gave the students the ability to determine what a pictograph was (using uniform, representative pictures to depict quantities of objects or people). The students really enjoyed taking their shoes off and putting them into specific categories that related to its color. I thought this was a great approach to take, as students were more engaged with understanding the concepts. This was a lot more meaningful than simply giving out a worksheet on the different types of graphs. The students also broke up into groups in order to discuss differences with the rest of their classmates.

During the latter part of the day, the students engaged in a wonderful activity of learning how to build an igloo! This is part of the matter unit, where students will eventually build an igloo out of empty milk cartons. It will take over 150 cartons to make, so we are starting to collect as many as possible for the class. This is so exciting for the students to participate in, and even thrilling for the teachers! However, before the class igloo is made, the students were to work in partners and create their own igloo out of sugar cubes. Mrs. S wanted them to explore, and gave minimal directions on how to build the igloo (other than a photo of one posted at the front of the class). I thought this was such a great experience for all the students, and encompassed the “big idea” concept. Mrs. S and I had a clipboard and walked around making observations of how the students were interacting with each other- it was truly amazing to see what was constructed. The ability to let the class go and explore enabled little need for class management (they fit naturally into the environment of which they were working in). This activity was also cross curricular- exploring math (counting sugar cubes), science (the study of matter), as well as relationship/community building (creating a safe environment to work in). It was a great experience to sit with the students and listen to their ideas and to watch their creativity. I am really looking forward to helping the students create their igloo made of milk cartons!

After class, I helped Mrs. S with some marking, and we chatted more about the first unit that I will be teaching. I will be taking on Science as the first unit- focusing on the “Environment”. I am looking forward to this, as I am very passionate about Geography. It will give me a great starting place to develop an inquiry-based approach for long practicum.