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NEW WESTMINSTER CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION DAY for MIDDLE SCHOOLS (Grades 6-8)
Nudging Towards Inquiry:
Inquiry is a suggested approach in 47 of the 50 curriculum documents that represent K-9 English/Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, Math, and Arts Education. Using the BC Ministry of Education’s definition, it is “the mindset students use to build their own knowledge and understanding through an active, open-minded exploration into a meaningful question, problem, or issue.” Inquiry is, the MoE Glossary suggests, a process where students ask questions, conduct research, and produce an end product to demonstrate their learning; they actively engage in building knowledge and deeper understanding of key concepts, use skills that are both core and curricular, explore challenging questions that can be answered in many different ways. Inquiry can be more or less structured depending on what teachers need students to learn or to demonstrate, and it is scaffolded and/or differentiated to match the background knowledge and abilities of the students
This practical session will frame inquiry as the development of the competencies that will enable your students to become inquiring independent learners.
What is Inquiry?
Mark Chaloner's lively video on Inquiry in the Australian curriculum: Human Society and Its Environment (HSIE): 4 minutes
Why Inquiry?
Journalist Markham Nolan's TEDTalk (2012): How to Separate Fact and Fiction Online (13 minutes)
Summary of selected "Nudging" articles by Kristin Fontichiaro
Pro D Day, November 30, 2012 @JO Learning Commons:
Technology, Inquiry, and Other Fun Things
NOTES: See email from ME dated December 1, 2012, re temporary access info (trial and pilot userids and passwords) for reviewing and becoming familiar with new resource packages and learning opportunities. Also, the key here is DOWNLOAD, DOWNLOAD, DOWNLOAD and be prepared to teach colleagues how and why to download. We do not have the bandwidth for streaming or the patience for buffering!
NEW Resources to Enhance an Inquiry-based Approach to Reading and Viewing:
Access was provided to a trial for our review processes today. VSB users will have access to the CBC "file" within the Learn360 platform. Site-based access and other instructions will be provided when we are fully subscribed. Length of trial, TBD.
To avoid buffering and bandwidth exhaustion, teachers will be required to download these resources.
TLs will need to work with colleagues to ensure they are aware of the range of resources and are able to search and download.
Be sure to work with this package well in advance of using it with a class. You may need a more powerful computer or some upgrades of accessory programs to be able to download and view.
Brian Kerr at ERAC sent the following instructions and tips; these were helpful:
Once logged in, click the Advanced Search title next to the green search icon in the middle of the page. Simply type CBC in the keyword search area to bring up all the titles (at least all the English ones), and you will see on the left under Related Search Terms that there are links to specific series. The CBC content is more than News In Review for secondary schools. To broaden your view of what’s available, click Pre K-2 found under Grade and note the full length CBC videos.
French teachers may choose one or more series from the Series List or select one or both of the Radio-Canada producers in the publishers list.
I noticed they had Secret of the Nutcracker for Grades 3-5 which runs 1 hr. 27 min. Personally, as a teacher, I would probably download this and as part of my preparation, save it on my computer’s hard drive, so if there were any Internet issues it wouldn’t affect my lesson.
Review of the new VEC Annual License institutional benefits, including the online Feature Film Streaming Platform, Learn360featurefilms.ca, notice of which was sent to each TL and/or Principal recently:
Be sure that you follow the instructions sent to you. The userid and password are included in the letter you or your principal received.
Check to see if your computer has had a Silverlight installation; file a footprint to seek help from your technician if you need a Silverlight installation to one or more VSB devices. Apple products require that you use QuickTime. DeepFreeze will get in the way of sustained access.
You are best advised to download the film to avoid buffering or bandwidth exhaustion.
Teachers will have access to a searchable database that includes 600 feature films in English, 400 in French, and 100s of children's shorts in both French and English, segmented (clips) and often with teacher guides.
Learn360 provides site-related usage data, so no reporting is required.
Only summer school sites will have access to feature films for summer educational programs.
NOTE: The new Canadian Copyright Modernization Act expands what is considered "fair dealing" for feature films shown for educational purposes. No licensing is required. However, it is important that your colleagues understand that "movie nights" or charging money to show films as fund-raising projects remain violations of the terms of "fair dealing" and would be an infringement of the copyright subject to penalty.
Introduction to the new Orca Book Digital Collections PILOT:
Each school will be set up with access to either the elementary or the secondary set of collections. (Understand that not all secondary books are suited to elementary readers.)
Each school will have a unique userid and the standard VSB library password. Presently three schools have been activated for our trial and familiarization purposes. Their access information will be sent to you, upon request, for preview purposes only via email until all sites are linked. Your userid and password will be in the same format as the trial addresses, that is, using your usual two-letter site code in place of "ba" or "pw."
Be sure to work with this resource well in advance of using it. You may need to upgrade some accessory programs. In the case of iPads, you will need to install The Bluefire Reader App. This requires an AdobeID. We are exploring ways to facilitate the process for teachers and teacher-librarians working with students to download books.
In the case of students choosing to read a book in its entirety, downloading the book is advised. When reading online, students will lose access if someone else opens the same book!
Ideas for Tools and Resources that Support an Inquiry-based Approach to Reading:
Reading is key to learning. Beyond learning to read, students begin to read to learn. Using the Points of Inquiry approach, when reading in the inquiry mode:
Students "connect and wonder." They make meaningful connections between the text and what they already know, personal experience, or other texts; they brainstorm and ask meaningful questions about the topic or book or other reading.
They "investigate" by reading and thinking about what they are reading: they anticipate and make inferences; they consider new vocabulary; they read deeply to find information that helps them to answer the question; they may use text features in non-fiction text as keys to understanding; they identify main ideas; they interpret images as keys to understanding text, and so on. They may take notes, use graphic organizers, and record source information.
They "construct." Students construct meaning and accounts, organize their thinking, engage in group work such as think-pair-share, work with members of their groups, gather and refine ideas into a variety of products, practice presentation, write to clarify ideas, and consider the findings in relation to the product and the overarching question.
They "express." Once the meaning and/or product has been constructed, students "express" or share their new understandings: that is, they may make a presentation, show a video they have made, display an artistic rendition, enact a tableau or scene from a play, and so on.
They "reflect." At every opportunity, thoughtful students engaged in inquiry work and reflect throughout the inquiry process, alone or in a group, on the question, resources, information, process, product, and learning.
At today's workshop, we looked at the following FREE tools that support reading and inquiry:
Vimeo: a great source of high-quality educational videos and a place to store your own or your students' videos; all submissions are reviewed.
edmodo and Nearpod: Facebook-like closed (secure) learning environments that enable TLs and teachers to put up and store instructional and assessment tools and provide student collaboration and display contexts; Nearpod is described as an all-in-one solution for the synchronized use of iPads, iPods and iPhones in the classroom
"cloud" storage: MicroSoft SkyDrive, iCloud, Dropbox
bubbl.us: brainstorming tool; use post-its, zoom, export, and print features
lucidchart: check for education application; designed for business; brainstorming tool
screencast-o-matic: instructional tool; student products, like Hazel's Chemistry Inquiry project; digital storytelling
hoax sites: malepregnancy and more; useful when you teach website evaluation
Kerpoof : create original artwork, movies, and more
Library Tutorials esp Plagiarism at Vaughn Memorial Library, Acadia University; there's loads more / (ReadWriteThink)
Professor Garfield: a website for creating fun and educational interactive activities and games for kids to explore, create, play, read; great resources for teachers, parents; uses Pixton comics. Digital storytelling. Fantastic!
Shmoop: another quality site to promote the love of literature, history, poetry, etc. Loads of teacher resources. Focus on digital literacy, learning guides.
Participatory Piece: Attendees have been invited to add comments, reviews, additional information:
APPLY FOR WRITER ACCESS TO THE WIKI
Thanks to Michele Farquharson and Joey Lau for their help with this dynamic day. Happy birthday, Joey! Great lunch at Heidi's on Fraser (jjstrucketeria was elsewhere today).Thanks, also, to Brian Kerr at ERAC for prompt response to the request for the CBC trial, to Melanie Jeffs of Orca, Brian Kuhn and Peter Powell, VSB IT department, as well as Irina Knyazyeva and Johnny Lo for on-going technical support to ensure the Orca project was up and running for today, and to Helena Drury of the VSB Finance Division for her timely Accounting Tutorial. Thanks also to Starbucks.
Not just a blog about blogging, but also a blog about all things Social Media. Tips, tutorials, helpful videos, and guides on how to use the latest social media effectively and safely.
Youth are increasingly using the Internet and social media for school purposes -- gathering information for assignments, collaborating as they study and using Web 2.0 media to present their work. In this mini-conference teacher candidates and presenters will consider the following questions. Is social media changing the way we make meaning and the way we teach? What are the opportunities and challenges of teaching students how to navigate the world of online libraries and information? What teaching ideas and collaborative strategies with TLs engage new literacies, reading, libraries and learning in their school communities? Are we engaging students in critically evaluating information and digging deeper for understanding across the curriculum?
Digging Deeper for Understanding -- Using Information Smarts in a Digital World
2011 June 8, Scarfe
BEYOND TEXTBOOKS: INQUIRY-BASED TEACHING FOR MEANINGFUL LEARNING
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