Ideas are made up of information and the related inquiry skills necessary for using and interpreting information meaningfully. Students perceive and interpret information from their experiences and use their prior knowledge to construct new knowledge.
How can we use inquiry skills to develop students' social studies ideas?
respond and comment on two of your colleagues work.
We can use inquiry skills to develop student’s social studies ideas by giving students work or project that will allow them to ask question and use their five senses. We can also take the students to new historical environment those students would have to investigate and search and ask question that they can answer. Student’s knowledge develops through experience and using their inquiry skills. If we allow students to use their inquiry skills like curiosity and let them be open minded and not afraid to ask questions students will be able to develop social studies ideas.
ReplyDeleteI agree, students must be given that opportunity to develop their skills of inquiry by placing them in the right environment or by posing questions that will allow them to think or at least wonder about the answer.
DeleteThis is true, all these ideas can be applied to a social studies classroom and can help students to use their inquiry skills to create a great social studies learning experience.
DeleteI completely agree. Many students are given questions to answer that they cannot relate to because they did not thought of it themselves but given the opportunity to question their inquisitiveness they will learn to use their senses and inquiry skills to reach an answer.
Deletechildren from a very young age are curious about many different things but using the inquiry approach, us teachers should allow students to come up with their answers to some of those ideas they have in their active minds. Teachers should just guide the students but allow them to take control of their learning, it wont only help them resolve a mystery but also it will give them a feeling of being independent and feeling proud of his/ her self therefore it will make them feel excited for another Social Studies class.
DeleteI concur, with y colleagues. I view this approach as experiences we all had at some point in our lives. Our very development was based on social interaction and our ability to develop these processes, that would aid us in our daily skills development.
DeleteDefinately. it is always a good idea to take students out of the confines the monotonous classroom setting. children are receptive to the field trip idea and are anxious for it.. It not only provides a new setting but it shows them that learning takes happens everywhere. GREAT HANDS ON ACTIVITY!
DeleteIn a modern world, where accessing information is no difficult task, how is it as educators, are we to channel children in learning meaningful knowledge? Many constructivists, such as Jean Piaget and David Ausubel advocated that children are responsible for their own learning and that this could be done through an inquiry-based approach to learning. They, strongly believe that this approach allow children to take ownership of their own learning. To a large extent I would agree, but it all depends on the branch or social idea that the teacher is trying to facilitate. Social Studies, like many other subject, is a broad field. It may include aspects of history, geography, anthropology, politics etc. So, with so many broad fields and sub-topics how is it that the teacher will allow these students to construct their own knowledge? Constructivists advocate that lessons must be based on an inquiry based approach, where children will discover or construct their own knowledge. I believe that we must be very meticulous with such a theory. If students are not given the proper guidance, I can see where this theory, will create a lot of social studies misconceptions. The Inquiry lesson states that we begin with exploration and instead of teaching facts we teach inquiry skills. Inquiry skills may include observation, communication, investigation, gathering information. etc. These are skills that are not unique to Social Studies. Exactly, how we are to use these skills to develop social studies ideas is where the challenge lies. So, for example when teaching students the topic of " Cultural Groups in Belize," the teacher may present students with a video or a picture to observe, that will stimulate their senses of sight and sound. Having watched the video the children can then discuss their observations. ( physical appearances of the various ethnic groups, clothing, food, etc. ) The teacher then asks questions. Children could then be given projects where they will research more information on the groups. In addition, children can have a cultural day, where they display the various cultural groups.
ReplyDeleteFor me, the inquiry skill approach allow students to become more active in their learning. This could be done in many ways, such as field trips, projects, role plays, problem solving etc. These can all be developed over a period of time and not necessarily in one lesson. Meaningful lesson requires sufficient time on a particular lesson.
I agree that this approach would take some time to adjust to Social Studies since it deals with the constructing of knowledge, and some social studies topics deal with facts such as history topics, which might be difficult for students to construct their own knowledge since things from the past can not be observed, investigated etc... However, i liked your example for "Cultural Groups in Belize" i think this can be great to apply the inquiry based approach.
DeleteI also agree that the approach will take some time to adjust but if we teach students to construct and investigate with time i do believe that it will work.
DeleteI think that inquiry skills can be applied to the Social Studies classroom if the teacher plans ways for the students to be actively engaged in the learning process using the learning cycle. Students can also be encouraged to take responsibility for their learning through various activities. Teachers can also include many questions in their lessons such as Why? How do you know? and What is the evidence? The inquiry based approach can be successful if teachers value and encourage responses from students and carefully reconstructs misconceptions that may arise.
ReplyDeleteStudents Inquiry skills can be developed in Social Studies through the use of journals, drawings and reports to reflect on their learning experiences. They can ask questions, make critical observations when on field trips or when presented with ideas. Students can also move around in the classroom and interact with other students to grasp some of the concepts.
To conclude, the Social Studies classroom should be one where students feel comfortable so that a lot of discussion can take place and students are able to brainstorm and clear up any misconceptions. I think if inquiry skills are integrated students will feel a sense of independence and confidence which will contribute to the overall level of pride in our society.
I do agree Shannelle, its all in the teachers planning. A teacher could plan a lesson that is not engaging while another could plan the same lesson in an engaging and collaborative manner. The teacher with the hands-on lesson plan will not only have the students attention but also have students who will actually be able to use inquiry skills throughout the lesson.
DeleteI totally agree with you Shanelle, we need to help students to be analytical thinkers instead of just embedding our own thoughts and knowledge in their heads. We want to divert students from being in mental bondage and allow them to comfortably speak their thoughts through inferring and hypothesizing.
DeleteI also agree. Having students interact more in discussions and putting their questions out there will allow them to have a better understanding. Also when ideas are flowing they will feel free to contribute to the class and be open.
DeleteI do agree that if students are engaged in learning activities and that if teachers plan well also you emphasized on teachers asking question that will also be useful so that children can use their inquiry skills.
DeleteI completely agree with Ms. Reneau' s view in this age, students need to be an active part of the learning process in order for them to develop critical thinking, and comprehension skills. This will in turn strongly benefit students ability to evaluate History and Society at a deeper level.
DeleteI do agree with you because as teachers we should first take into consideration of the students we have and plan to suit them. Teachers should always ask the questions why and how. It surely will correct student’s misconceptions. A very important this is the surrounding, so as teachers we should ensure our classroom is well organized for meaningful learning to take place.
DeleteI would have to agree with you Shannelle, i do believe that teachers must take what students say seriously and try to encourage independent thinking when doing so instead of leaving then blank without an answer. i also have to agree with you when you said that teachers must use the 5 w's technique of questioning. By using this it will allow students to formulate answers based on their connection from their previous knowledge. From experience i do agree that using journals, drawings and reflection also helps students to build their inquiry skills and also use their skills to get their work done.
DeleteKnowledge develops through our daily experiences. Piaget and Vygotsky also hold the view that children learn through personal interaction. All students comes which certain inquiry skill that us teachers need to help develop. Repetitive practice of using these inquiry skills can strengthen students thought process leading to higher order thinking which is all necessary to develop student’s social studies ideas. Creating open- ended activities, while guiding students to formulate their own questions is a great way for students to use inquiry skills. Collaborative learning is also important and necessary. Teachers can also help students use their inquiry skills by asking the right questions using higher order questions. Social-studies strategies and activities should be engaging with significant ideas, and to encourage students to relate their new knowledge with prior knowledge & current issues, to think critically and creatively, and to use inquiry skills such as observing, classifying, estimating, using maps, inferring, predicting, isolating & using variables and interpreting data.
ReplyDeleteYou hit the nail on the head Patricia, I couldn't agree with you more. I believe in the constructivist view of learning, and yes indeed, repetitive use of the inquiry skills 'can strengthen students thought process leading to higher order thinking which is all necessary to develop student’s social studies ideas.'
DeleteI also believe in certain aspects of the constructivist theory of learning. A theory has its pros and cons. Theories are always subjected to changes and challenges. There are certain aspects of the contsructivist theory that will lend itself to certain social studies topic or ideas. On the other hand, there are certain topics where using the constructivist theory will be ineffective. For example, history is shared knowledge. History could only be passed on, researched and analyzed.Students cannot construct past events. There are certain social studies topic that are just worth recalling. For example, " When did Belize gain its Independence?"
DeleteI must comment and say that I agree with Patricia Wech's take on both Philosopher Piaget and Vygotsky that children do learn through social interaction among themselves and their teacher, and also that there are different learners within a classroom. Some students will percieve and interpret information and making that connection and build on what they already know.
DeleteI do agree with you children do come with great potential and learning abilities and as teachers our mission should be to guide them correctly. "Ask the right questions" that phrase caught my attention, As guides we must be very cautious and careful of what is delivered this means we must be well prepared not only with our teaching aids but do extra reading and investigations not only for us but to impart the most accurate information in class
DeleteInquiry-based learning is a complex process where students attempt to convert information into useful knowledge through a structure of identifying “real” questions, finding resources to gather information in answering the “real” question, interpreting the information and reporting the findings. During this process, students constantly refine the “real” question, evaluate and verify information, reinterpret information in light of new information, and report findings, often in non-traditional ways.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with Shannelle and Patricia. Planning lessons are very important when delivery a lesson because your objectives is what you want your students to learn but in a constructivist way, let them investigate and find out rather than you as the teacher giving them the information so it should be more an inductive teaching as Jerome Bruner supports this than deductive teaching.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Randean if students are placed in the right environment or posing different levels of questioning such as divergent, convergent etc. this will developed students inquiry skills.
ReplyDeleteIn relation to Miss Cherry Harris take on Inquiry skills, In a nut shell, I must agree that Inquiry based learning is a complex process where students perceive and interpret information when they are making connection and applying that connection to their previous knowledge.
DeleteStudents are more involved in the construction of knowledge through active involvement. The more interested and engaged students are by a subject or project, the easier it will be for them to construct in-depth knowledge of it. Learning becomes almost effortless when something fascinates students and reflect their interests and goals, so I believe that in order to develop students' social studies ideas, they need to interact more with their environment by going on field trips where they will explore using their five senses to gain first-hand experiences, simultaneously associating new concepts with what they already know. In this process, the teacher should act only as a facilitator in learning.
ReplyDeleteI agree. The more students engage in activities and and gain experiences, students will more get a better understanding of what is being taught. Their experiences will help them to remember what the lesson was about and what they learned. Having students involved in activities will keep them active and they will have a thirst for more which will increase their knowledge.
DeleteI agree with Ms banks, teachers should always act as a facilitator in learning, in this way, students are more involved and teachers only ensure that the students understand what is taught and if they don't, they help them with their mis or preconceptions.
DeleteI also agree that students when taking on nature walks or field trips will always remember key information about whatever place you take them to visit. So in the Social Studies class, if you create any opportunity for the students to learn outside the classroom, instead of just telling them, they will grasp better because of their personal experience with the environment.
DeleteBy using inquiry learning, students social studies ideas will be better developed because students will be actively involved in the lessons. Students will show interest in what is being taught because they will be a part of it. They will be able to share, ask questions, participate in discussions, etc. Through inquiry learning, students will be engaged in student centered activities that will stimulate their curiosity. Students will not be passive learners. Students will learn because they will feel a sense of purpose in what they are doing. It will be a collaborative effort between the teacher and the student.
ReplyDeletei believe using the inquiry approach, students participate more in the classroom because they are curious about many things and they can also relate to different aspects of Social Studies. with the inquiry approach, students can play the role of a teacher since we all come from different backgrounds, using the inquiry approach, a child can help another child understand his/ her culture. one child will be gaining knowledge while the other will feel proud telling others about his/ her culture. it will also help the child express him/her self better. sometimes using the inquiry approach, your class may look disorganized but it is constructive learning going on and we can't help it to see how excited our students get when they figured out something, or the ooohhh's and the aahhh's. the smile and look on their face is priceless.
DeleteIndeed Vercine by directly involving students in class activities they feel a sense of purpose almost a desire to want to learn. This is important not only to build curiosity and critical thinking levels, this may also aid students to socialize more making them bolder in the classroom, which in turn will allow the more timid students to voice their opinions on discussed topics without fear of victimisation
DeleteI agree with Elizabeth especially in the section where she says the students will feel a sense of purpose in what they are learning. This is important in every classroom because you want students to learn because they are interested to learn and not just for rewards and punishments; therefore, it is important to have a student centered classroom with participation in a interesting session to facilitate fun and meaningful learning.
DeleteI agree because we should always remember to plan our lesson that it involve student the most rather than teaching in a traditional manner. A child is very curious because they are touching everything around them. Students and teacher need to collaborate for a better learning.
DeleteI believe that the inquiry approach works because students are always curious to learn new things, they have some very creative imagination, they come up with some questions that sometimes us as teachers cannot answer so by using the inquiry approach we are allowing student to be responsible for their own learning instead of us being the main source of information. In Social Studies, teacher can spark up students imagination by just using a picture. with that one picture students imagination and curiosity will be active and they can come up with so many question that that they would like to know about this one picture. it can be a ruin, a sanctuary, cultures, districts, products, etc. even a small outdoor touring in their community can help them resolve some of their mysteries. the use of hands on activities and plenty of child centered lesson will allow students to be enthusiastic about Social Studies, instead of having a negative attitude towards it. by allowing students to use the inquiry based approach, we are creating future detectives/ police men, doctors, etc.
ReplyDeleteI found that you had grammatical error but I find your comment to be strong and your methods are effective. I believe that all of us as teaching using the inquiry skills we instill in students will make teaching easier and it will allow the students to learn from us, we the teacher can also learn from them. Also I believe that using the inquiry like you stated will help us to encourage student to share their experience based on the concept being taught at the time.
DeleteI totally agree with your last comment this method will develop a more pro active society and better our future. The use of pictures and also real items from our out door create a spark on the small minds we are entrusted. I was once asked by a pupil,"teacher who created God if no man or woman lived on earth before Adam and Eve?" This took me as a shock because as an adult I did not question that part of our religious studies but accept it. This is a curious child who would like to investigate for herself and not accept what is imparted in class. As you commented we are sometimes left with no response, that was me "I could not answer" but asked the child to research and I would do the same to compare what we have found.
DeleteWell the country does need more detectives and policemen- i think that we have had our share of rogue cops but on a more serious note, we do need more of the good guys. We do want our students to learn to think critically and think for themselves and the effective use of inquiry skills does just that.
DeleteAs an educator I can use inquiry skills in order to promote a better development for my student’s when teaching a Social Studies lesson and have my students expand on their ideas by having them brainstorm and think critically about the Topic in relation to Social Studies lesson. In my opinion for a child to perceive and interpret information the strategy of inquiry skills comes in to effect whereby the child or students learn based on his/her experience and build on their learning on what they already know and that child will result in making connections to real life. Through inquiry skills student learning is effective through group work, peer share ideas between the students and the teacher. As a result of applying the inquiry skill students become more curious to how and why things occurs, hence the reason why they ask questions and that’s simply how they learn by asking questions of their own and it is there where students discover and solve problems on their own applying the PBL (Problem Base Learning).
ReplyDeleteAccording to an ancient philosopher Jean Piaget his theory argues that children best through personal interaction with physical events and manipulative in their everyday life in which I totally agree. In my opinion I must say that children will perceive and interpret information faster and therefore will build on their previous knowledge.
I most also agree with Vygotsky that his theory focuses on the social interaction between the teacher and the students whereby the teacher nurture the child and support the child in finding a connection or an answer for themselves.
To my understanding when applying inquiry skill a good teacher should utilize major components such as: usage of hands on activities, having students pose their own questions, enhancing understanding in order for students to solve problems on their own and not by telling them the answer, engagement in group activities and games, nature walks and field trips, and lastly using an introduction to hook students attention when teaching your Social Studies lesson.
I agree with your understanding of the concept of inquiry skills and the usage of the inquiry skill. I believe that you elaborated quite clearly and your methods will definitely assist a child on building their inquiry skills and build on previous knowledge.
DeleteI believe that we can use inquiry skills to develop student’s social studies ideas by making activities more students centered. As teachers we need to encourage students’ to identify current or pass events, make hypothesis, formulate their own questions and present their conclusion based on facts. By doing this we allow students to become better critical thinkers.
ReplyDeleteAs teachers we should also encourage students to respect the opinion of their peers and be tolerant of different point of views that each individuals possesses. This should be done to create a classroom atmosphere where students are comfortable stating and supporting their ideas and respectfully questioning the ideas of others.
I strongly agree with Shinece, the activities need to be more student centered because if a teacher just goes to school everyday, and teaches a lesson and doesnt have the student's attention from the beginning of the lesson, that child will automatically loose focus in your class and he or she will not learn anything. As the Chinese proverb says, I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand, if you just stand up infornt of the class and talk that child will block you out eventually and he wont hear what you are saying or forget what you were talking about, if you show a child, he or she will remember what you did, and how you went about to teach the lesson and all other aspects of the content, but whenever you involve a student he or she automatically understands what you did and grasp the content. So as teachers we need to involve students and make the activities more student centered in order to develop student's Social Studies ideas. Good job Shinece.
DeleteI agree with you when you say that learning must be student centered because this method helps students to learn on their own and it will promote meaningful learning. Also, as teachers we should relate to our students pass experiences so they don’t feel left out. Hence the reason why we should use inquiry skills to develop student’s Social Studies ideas.
DeleteIn my point of use, I believe the only way we can use inquiry skills to develop student's Social Studies ideas is by having them give us their own understanding of the content being thought and also have them share hands on experiences with us the teacher. A child learns better when we involve he/she in the lesson, so by making the work more student centered and focus more on the students and their knowledge of the content being taught to them, they will better understand and help to develop their Social Studies Ideas.
ReplyDeleteSocial Studies is a subject that deals with the outside world, so by having student experience these field activities they will have a better understanding and better ideas will develop and the child's knowledge of Social Studies will be built upon. A child will more than likely always learn from peer share activities in class, so by having group discussions, this is also a way that children can develop Social Studies ideas, and also teaching respecting of others opinion along the way.
In my point of view*
DeleteI must say that I agree one hundred percent with Ms. Shinece. Our children today don't know hot to think critically, whether it'd be in socialstudies or any other subject. Knowing our history is very important. In order for children to have a better understanding of our history their inquiry skills need to be developed or must i say it plays a very important roll in the learning environment. This can be done by working with a pair or simply having children being engaged with both the teacher and their pair.
ReplyDeleteWe can develop student’s social studies ideas using inquiry skills by assigning fun individual work, or fun and realistic group work that will allow students to discover, question and be aching to find the answer or result. While teaching a lesson a teacher can teach using discovery method whereby the students using picture(s) given and do a web, listing the ideas that come to mind when they see the picture(s) and after they share with the whole class followed by the teacher probing and correcting wrong conception or encouraging correct conception. In using that method I believe it will help students will develop their critical thinking skill. The student’s learning should be student centered therefore the students should be awarded time to share their real experience and with the use of real object grasp the concept.
ReplyDeleteI agree Samantha, by assigning individual's work the teacher will know what each child has understand. Working in groups is also important, children learn from their pairs. everything that you have mentioned above can help to develop children's inquiry skills in social studies. This will let them want to know more about their history and country.
DeleteI agree with you Samantha. You made mention to something very key in your post, which is fun. Although I believe individual work is more effective in knowing the level each child is at, group work is also effective in displaying teamwork and more fun as children work together as team. But it is always important to include some fun in every lesson because students, especially younger ones, get bored easily and may not be focused as they should be.
DeleteI agree Samantha by using visuals and having incorporated fun activities outside the class room helps you to cater to all the different types of learner that are in your class room and children better understand their surroundings.
DeleteAn old adage states: “Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I understand”. Teachers play a very important role in children’s lives. Because they are the ones that impart knowledge they should try their utmost best to reach out to each and every child. Each child is being known to learn in different ways. Inquiry skills can help to develop children’s Social Studies ideas in many ways. “Inquiry is defined as seeking information through questioning”. How can we understand something if we don’t ask questions? “Structural functionalists believe the aim of key institutions, such as education, is to socialize children and teenagers”. Learning is achieved when children do hands on activities. This arouses their interest giving them the attitude to want to learn more. Also, having children working collaboratively with their pair and socializing causes more questions to arise, this will fulfill children’s curiosity tank.
ReplyDeleteAs we know, our knowledge develops from the inquiry skills that one may have, based on our everyday experiences due to curiousity. It is important that teachers use these experiences to construct new knowledge from previous knowledge through inquiry by the students; therefore, the classroom must move from a teacher centered, traditional way to a more student centered environment allowing the students to use there 5 senses in the early stages to inquire about things along with the help of questioning and visual aids. After using these inquiry skills for the first time students must practice it so that it may be transferred to a higher level of inquiry which includes observing, classifying, estimating, hypothesizing, using maps etc. These inquiry skills may be used in social studies ideas such as field trips, observations, experiments, investigations etc. This allows students to develop social studies ideas by the experiences they encounter through their 5 senses and how they make sense of what they are inquiring about through their senses.
ReplyDeleteI agree that your knowledge develop your inquiry skills so by incorporating fun activities and field trips that students can incorporate and use their senses students will be able to better understand an grasp the information that is been thought.
DeleteI agree with your response, that it is important that teacher-centered classroom no longer, works effectively as oppose to child-center classroom. In this type of classroom the students use all their faculty to learn, through the practice of the inquiry skills.
DeleteI do belief that the inquiry method can develop our students ideas especially whenever it comes to social studies. This method provides our
ReplyDeletechildren with the ability to develop and push them to above their own expectations. Creates curious individuals, read to investigate and learn on their own but with guidance from their teacher. It builds and develops their confidence based on the fact that they are taken into consideration by their teacher. Nevertheless as teacher of this modern society we must adapt to new methods of teaching to grasp all the minds in our classrooms, from the traditional teaching to the inquiry method of teaching. The inquiry method is where children share their ideas, hypothesis, experiment , investigate, teach each other, bring new ideas to class on a topic among others. This method pushes our children to be more pro-active with society and in turn grow to be assets to our communities. I truly belief that this method will one day turn our society to be more conscious driven and pro active not a lay back society where everything is provide read made. But the key for this to someday occur is to cultivate our young mind in the classroom and change our society from the time they are entrusted unto our care.
Inquiry Skills can be very beneficial in the area of Social Studies as this is where students become more aware of the environment around them. By incorporating students fully in the lesson by having the use the senses will have students understand more about the environment and most of all have appreciation for the environment around them. These are natural skill that each child is born with an with effective teaching to cater to all learning needs children will be more receptive. Teachers can make this possible by not only using the class room inside by the class room out side to have students better understand and use of there inquiry skills can be better used. Students want to be able to see, hear, feel and taste when possible by doing this all types of learner will be able to better understand the concept been thought.
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DeleteI agree with you Samantha because indeed inquiry skills can be beneficial in the area of social studies where the environment is involves because students can gain a huge amount of helpful information that can assist them with meaningful learning. Also, it is indeed true that learning does not only take place in four walls but also outside as well.
DeleteI agree with you smantha inquiry skills is very beneficial because when children learn these skills they can learn how to think critially in and around their environment they can assist other children to acquire inquire skills aswell.
DeleteIn today’s society most children are curious to find out how something work and why is it created. Children are curious to know so they ask questions such as “what”, “how”, and “why?” We as student teachers and teachers can use inquiry skills to develop student’s Social Studies ideas if we teach using David Ausubel’s theory which deal with meaningful to assist students to grasp a concept. We can do so by involving field trips which will enable students to be aware of their environment and students will appreciate Social Studies more. Also, we can use discovery learning which will enable students to find out information for themselves, here these students will then see the “how”, “why” and “what” and they will be able to use their five senses to understand the world around them.
ReplyDeleteAn inquiry skill is all about students thinking for themselves in order for meaningful learning to take place. The reason why we should think is to make meaning of what we want to know about. We can use inquiry skills to develop student’s social studies idea. They are many inquiry skills such as observing and investigating. Jean Piaget believes that” children learn through the interactions with objects around them in their environment.” Piaget (1970). I believe as teachers we need to have our class room environment in a manner that will allow student to explore and want to learn more. Vygotsky believes that “children learn through social interaction as they learn from their peers.” Vygotsky (1978).
ReplyDeleteThe first step we need to take is to plan our lesson so students are actively engage and they want to learn more about the topic. We need to have interesting activities to stimulate students thinking so as to allow them to critically think. Our lesson must be engaging in order to have student’s full attention and students and teacher need to collaborate for a better learning. We can help students build inquiry skills by allowing them to do hands on work and field trip that will make them curious and intrinsically motivate them to learn.
By doing these works they will be able to build these skills through social studies activities in school and students can practice them at home. We need to teach in an inductive manner so we can teach and become a constructivist type of teacher. Practicing these skills can be fun, and can make them better able to construct new knowledge by connecting previous knowledge. Have students experiment to find their answer for themselves to enhance understanding. By using these inquiry skills it will reduce the chance of student’s misconceptions.
I believe that Inquiry teaching should be applied in the Social Studies concepts and methods. By doing this, children will be able to input their participation and ask questions from their curiosities. This will allow them to feel comfortable in giving their views and perspectives on the lesson. Moreover, it will create a better teacher-student relationship in the classroom and make them highly attentive. Teachers can get students to listen to stories or tape recorders, videos etc. followed by questions using the five W’s (who? What? When? Where? Why?). This will improve their curiosity, motivation and develop critical thinking. Also, games e.g. Pass the ball will have children participate in the lesson.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Shanell children need to be engage in the lesons so that they can learn more. theachers need to allow children to ask question and answer accurately. I strongly believe that children are curious and willing to learn once they can get involve.
ReplyDeleteThe Inquiry skills is a type of constructivist approach, where students are able to develop critical thinking and problem solve that could prove essential for the longer run. When students use this approach they are best able to discover and question things on their own and to find best results for different situations and circumstances. By using this inquiry skill students get to better understand their surroundings and environment, making sense of their own little world.
ReplyDeleteStudents play an active part in their learning in the classroom, they get opportunities to formulate and ask questions. Guiding them with the use of Bloom taxonomy, which allow the students to think at a higher level. According to Vigotsky, student, through the interactions with others and having participate in conversation, they learn to become social. So in the classroom the teachers responsibility is to nurture, support and direct the students in order that they can discover answers for themselves.
Children learn through personal interactions, with the physical world when they actively participating gaining knowledge and experience, so they can make significant connection between the two, according to Piaget teachings.
Inquiry learning is learning that facilitates students. The teacher is the least important person in the classroom and simply serves as facilitators of learning. Additionally, it is the involvement of students; making the lessons student-centered and classroom child friendly. This is essential as students develop thoughts and ideas through \interaction, whether personal or with the society; these are thoughts shared by Piaget and Vygotsky. With constructivism becoming the contemporary way to teach, many teachers usually use inquiry learning in the classroom. The question then, is “how can we use these skills to develop children’s social studies ideas”. Simple. As stated above, create a child centered learning environment and pose questions. Have students come up with answer-this encourages reading and critical thinking. Have children do various activities to interest them, to help them learn and to help them remember. Create environments where children can work as groups and teams which will encourage cooperation and respect. The use of inquiry skills in the classroom not only facilitates learning but it also promotes skills and attitudes which are necessary for their development.
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