As explained in one of my philosophy section (World outside the box), I believe in the power of whys and hows. For this reason, most of my lessons are constructed from a series of questions – it takes on the inquiry-based approach.

This is the flow for the majority of my lessons:

1. Introduction to the topic (e.g.: water)
2. Posing questions regarding the topic (e.g.: what is water? where can we find water? what do we use it for?)
3. individual brainstorming; Think-Pair-Share; group discussion
4. newly generated interests and curiosities that lead to another question
5. repeat the pattern

By giving students enough time to brainstorm, their engagement level with the material increases greatly. The “doing” (i.e.: pattern of thinking, sharing, and hearing) works very well with the engagement and retention of the knowledge. Knowing other people’s thoughts also triggers curiosities and wonders, which creates an opportunity for students to generate meaningful questions. Questions and answers that are generated within the lesson create the flow of the lesson on its own.

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Here is a link to one of my first inquiry- based project with my students. The student engagement was surprisingly high during this project and they were very much self-led.