Day 54 – First Grade Inquiry Impacts Families

October 31, 2014 / HSE_21

Students in Mrs. Beck’s first grade class at Geist Elementary recently completed personal inquiry projects around the topic of fire safety. With help from experts at the Fishers Fire Department, the students first learned important lessons about what to do in the event of a fire. With this base knowledge, inquiry and application of learning began! The first-graders went home to survey their own homes and develop fire escape plans with their families.

The plans shown here (graphics on the left and a short film below, are prime examples of 21st century learning at its finest, where learning is personal, connected to the real world, and internalized so that it can be transferred to new situations. Through inquiry projects like this, students (even our youngest students) can take ownership of their learning to explore real issues.

Day 42 – ‘We the [8th Grade] People’: A Portrait of Student-Driven Inquiry

October 10, 2014 / HSE_21

Fassold2 Walk into Mike Fassold’s sixth period social studies class at Fishers Junior High, and what you won’t hear is a standard lecture. What you won’t see are students silently completing worksheets. Instead, you’ll experience a student-centered learning lab, with groups of students working together as they research and evaluate key questions surrounding American history, law, and society.

This unique class is all part of We the People, a national competition sponsored by The Center for Civic Education. We the People student teams work in small groups (known as ‘units’) to prepare and present position statements on United States history questions in the areas of philosophy, law, civil liberties, and more. Following the national success of the 2014 Fishers High School We the People team*, history teacher Fassold explored what it would mean to teach eighth grade U.S. history standards through a We the People framework.

On a typical day in his pilot We the People class (pictured above), Fassold circulates among the units, coaching students as they search for reputable sources and asking timely questions to encourage deep, critical thinking. Though the learning is student-centered, Fassold is still teacher and guide. Fassold1 He worked closely with students to help them build their four-minute opening statements, which they presented today before an authentic audience of legal scholars from the community (pictured on right). HSE21 Shorts will revisit this innovative class later in the year to follow the students’ progress and get their perspective on this unique learning experience. Stay tuned!

*The 2014 FHS We the People team were state champions and finished an amazing 4th place in the national finals held in Washington, D.C.

Day 27 – Marble Moves

September 20, 2014 / HSE_21

DELIVER A MARBLE TO A TARGET.

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These were the instructions given recently to Riverside Junior High 8th grade science students. Supplies were provided, but the method…wide open!

Science teachers Stephanie King, Ashley Heckly and Teri Folta developed this inquiry project to introduce their students to the scientific method and the process of design. As they accomplish this task, the students are learning how to write procedures, and to collect and analyze data. The next step in the activity will be to synthesize their learning by composing their first lab report; class discussion will focus on the process of inquiry as well as the difference between precision and accuracy in data.

zip3 This introductory science inquiry project gives a clear example of HSE21 learning in action. In dynamic 21^st century classrooms, students think critically and creatively to find solutions to problems. In this case, teams pooled their creative ideas and scientific knowledge to design a successful marble path. Along the way, they learned the concepts of precision and accuracy, and they gained experience in collecting/analyzing data, writing lab reports, and collaboration. Heckly, Folta, and King will spend the rest of the year helping their students build on these foundational skills as classes delve deeper into chemistry and physics through the school year.

–Submitted by Shawn Humphrey, RJH media specialist

Day 9 – Fourth Graders Think About Change

August 25, 2014September 22, 2014 / HSE_21

Quality instruction requires students to think deeply and connect ideas, no matter what their age. Consider this recent example from Hoosier Road Elementary School:

My fourth grade high ability class is studying patterns of change in language arts. In class we read an excerpt of Maya Angelou’s “On the Pulse of Morning” and discussed how the language of the poem reflected our nation’s changes and the author’s challenge to inspire change in the citizens of our country. As a follow up, the next day students watched an embedded video posted to Blackboard and read the full text to gain further appreciation of the poem. Students then posted journal entries about their new reflections after seeing and reading the full text. Students also read and responded to their classmates’ entries.

Submitted by Brad Striegel, Hoosier Road Elementary, Fourth Grade