I have learned that if the class is truly interested in something, they will use reading, writing, and math skills as they explore their interests naturally. I observe and listen closely to discover what they are interested in. Sometimes a book or story will spark an interest. Sometimes an interest is sparked by something a friend shared with the class. Sometimes I notice interests by listening to their stories and their play. Our last large group interest was sparked when one of our friends found an almost dead praying mantis. The kids were fascinated with it and wanted to look closer, observe, and find out more. Every time we went outside they wanted to look for insects! I set out some invitations for them to explore insects further. They quickly started looking through books and models of insects to see what they could find out. I started encouraging them to record what they noticed using different materials. One of their favorites was the book Microsculpture:Portraits of Insects by Levon Biss. It truly took a closer look at insects including closeups of legs, wings, eyes feet, etc. it was such a beautiful book. I set it out with materials for them to create their own beautiful portraits of insects showing what they noticed. They are starting to figure out how to try to spell unfamiliar words by writing the sounds they hear in words. They practiced labeling their insects here also. But the insects they got the most excited about were the ones completely covering our milkweed plants! They wanted to know all about them! We looked at a picture of one and made our thinking visible by recording what we saw, thought and wondered. Then we got our Entomologist tools, took them outside and found out everything we could about them! They were amazing and thorough Entomologists! We recorded everything we noticed and then put some of our information in the computer and found out they are called Milkweed bugs! We then did an observational drawing as Entomologists and used our writing skills to label what it is and some body parts. Here is the display outside our room showing everything we learned about them! The other insects all took a backseat to the milkweed bug! I could have done a traditional insect unit, but these kids noticed something in their environment where they could truly experience it, so I followed the direction they took our insect study. I often let the kids direct our curriculum! They show me what they want to learn and I follow their lead and learn along side them. They were much more involved, interested and excited about learning as we followed their interest. Also, this fell naturally into our science standards of living things and what they need! I can’t wait to see what other interests this group will have that we can dig deeper into! They are definitely bringing in leaves by the bucketful... Here are some other things going on in our classroom: We are still working on those fine motor skills! Our finger muscles need a lot of work! Stories are being created in all of the areas of our room as we learn about story making! Here they are encouraged to show math in an open ended way. At the moment they are working on the numbers 1-10, shapes, writing numbers to 10, counting objects and matching to the correct number, counting to 25, subitizing and patterns. They are also learning to notice math all around us and how we use it in our every day lives. Some Fall art inspiration with sunflowers. They drew pictures of Mrs. Coberly wearing Michigan State colors and wrote “Mrs. Coberly loves Sparty!” Then we decorated her door! They loved this! Unfortunately, the Buckeye/Spartan game did not end well for me! It has been a busy place filled with all kinds of learning!

The Ultimate List of Inquiry-Based Learning Questions Hey, y'all! Let me start by saying this post is a work in progress. My goal is compile as many inquiry-based learning and phenomenon-based learning questions as I can. But my mind never stops thinking. So as new questions are posed, I will be adding them here. So don't be afraid to revisit this post later. So, let's jump in. General Inquiry and Social Skills What is inquiry? What is curiosity? How can we use curiosity to find things out? What is happiness? What is gratitude? Why is it important to show gratitude? What is kindness? How can I show kindness? Why is it important to be kind? What does it mean to be a "good student"? Why is it important to be a good student? What is generosity? How can I be generous to the people I care about? How powerful are our words? What does it mean to be humble? What are character traits of successful people? What is success? What is success for me? What would a successful life look like for me? What is mindfulness? How can mindfulness help me focus/be calm? What is inclusion/inclusivity? Why is it important to be inclusive? What is equity? Reading/Language Arts What are the important parts of fiction books? What are the important parts of nonfiction books? What similarities and differences do they have? Why? How do illustrations give meaning and move stories along? How do wordless books tell stories? How does learning different meanings of word parts help me become a better reader? What does good writing look like? What makes "good" writing? Science How does weather affect humans, plants, and animals? How can people predict and prepare for different weather conditions? How do people and animals use plants in their daily lives? How do plant life cycles differ from each other? How is climate change affecting the oceans? How are humans dependent on the oceans? What changes are occurring to our climate? What is causing these changes? Can the changes be prevented/reversed? How? Why do we have seasons? What makes different seasons unique? What makes fall/winter/spring unique? Why is fall/winter/spring important? How are some life cycles similar? How are some life cycles unique? What is conservation of the Earth? Why is conservation important? What makes each forest (or our forest) unique? Why are forests important? (Or why is our forest important?) What makes our lake unique? Why is the lake important? What is energy? Why is water important? What are some ways we use water? How does aerodynamics work? How does pollution affect plants, animals, and people? How can be decrease or eliminate our carbon footprint? What are the benefits/drawbacks of electric vehicles? How are buildings constructed centuries ago still standing? (engineering and design) Why and how are insects important? How are ______ and _______ interdependent? How are auroras formed? What significance do auroras have--in culture, literature, science, etc.? Social Studies/History What makes a community great? How are communities the same or different from each other? What makes different winter holidays unique? (thinking customs and traditions) What are some similarities between different winter holidays? (thinking customs and traditions) Who else celebrates Thanksgiving besides our country? How are these (Thanksgiving) celebrations the same and different from ours? How do other cultures and countries celebrate the new year? How are these celebrations the same and different from ours? What is advocacy? What are up-standers? Why do we have money? Why is money important? Is money important? Math Where can we find patterns? (multi-disciplinary) How does recognizing patterns help us make predictions? (multi-disciplinary) Other topics/Seasonal things What makes pumpkins unique? (primary grades) What makes apples unique? (primary grades) What do school lunches look like in other countries? How can we improve the lunches in our country/community? As you can see, there are a TON of questions you can pose to your students to being the inquiry or phenomenon-based learning process. This list is not all inclusive but is a work in progress. I hope this helped you get some new ideas for your next unit. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week. I'll talk to you soon. Stay cozy,

Project/Inquiry Based Learning has been a passion of mine ever since I discovered it about 5 years ago. Since then, I have stepped out of my comfort zone and transformed the way I teach from a typical Thematic Based style through baby steps taken each year and with the help of an amazing on-line community of teachers with the same passion (you all know who you are!). My first baby step was taking themes and science/social studies standards and making them more student lead and project based. I got rid of the two week time limit each theme had in the past and allowed more time for students to dig deeper. I found that students would take my broad theme (oceans) and desire to dig deeper into more specific parts of the theme (sharks, jellyfish, ect.). As time went on, I was able to take the biggest step and totally let go of my themes and allowed the children's interests drive my instruction, incorporating the standards through those interests. I am blessed enough to also teach in a district that does not mandate the curriculum I use. Curriculum programs are purchased to use as tools for our toolbox but not required. Us teachers are trusted and encouraged by our superintendent to write our own curriculum as long as the standards are met. My building principle also has that kind of faith in us as professionals! They know that when it comes to children learning what they need to learn, we are the experts! Project/Inquiry Based Learning is highly encouraged in all grades Pre-K through 12. Some wonder how I plan for this style of teaching and how it flows. Here are some of the tools that I use. Once I notice an interest from the students (usually found out through experiences set up for them to explore during play) , I find out what their knowledge and misconceptions are about the subject. Kind of like a KWL chart! I list all that they know about the subject we will dive into. Then I ask what they wonder. I list all of their questions. NOW I can plan! I take their wonderings and create a web map showing the different directions they want to take the inquiry and possible experiences that will help them find answers to their wonderings. I got this web map from the amazing Joanne Babalis and her amazing blog http://myclassroomtransformation.blogspot.com. On the back I have all of the Literacy and Math Standards listed so that I can highlight the ones we will focus on through the inquiry and project. I add any Science and Social Studies Standards to the bottom of the web map. Here is the link to the web map if you would like it: Web Organizer Here is the link to the Common Core Standards Sheet for Kindergarten Language and Math: Kindergarten CC Standards Once I organize my thoughts, I create my inquiry plan using a template I created based on one I found from a Texas school district. It was so long ago I have no memory of which district but if I find out I will add them to give them credit. Their form was 3 pages long. I tweaked it to fit it all on one page. I use this to show the objectives and vocabulary, plan the investigations and materials I will need, show how they will organize the data about what they have learned, possible projects that could result from the inquiry and how we will present the project to the community. Here is the link to this inquiry planner if you would like to download it: Inquiry/Project Planner The next step is to start the investigation phase. In early childhood I set out experiences for them to explore and document what they notice. We also do whole group and small group investigations through books, videos and hands-on experiences. As we answer questions, we add the answers to our wonder chart to show our new learning. We organize this data in a web map format for all to see. The start of an inquiry wall. Information is added to it as we learn. Once we have investigated we use organizational maps to show what we learn. In kindergarten it usually consists of web maps, circle maps, tree charts (can/have/are maps), and brace maps (to show part to whole). We will chose one or two to organize our data. The next step is the project. We take what we learn and create something to show it! The projects can be individual, small group, or whole group. Some examples of projects in our room have been turning an area of our room into an ocean, forest and sky to show how animals adapt in the winter. The kids signed up to be on the migration team, adaption team or hibernation team. They each became experts on their part during the investigation and worked on their part of the project. A cave, forest, sky and ocean were created to show what animals do in the winter. Animals were created, labeled and added to the habitats. A group interested in map making and migration created this map showing migration patterns of monarchs, geese and grey whales. Another project was our The Sound Exploration Area created for our school. They saw a need (an area to explore sound) investigated different ways of creating sound, organized the data and designed a Sound Exploration Area! An area for everyone in our school to explore sound which is in our science standards. They have also turned the inside of our room into a great hall and medeival kitchen and the outside of our room into a castle wall complete with moat and drawbridge after investigating castles! The outside of our castle. A map created by a group interested in maps and where different castles were found in the world. A big book created by a small group about who lived in castles. A small group project during our castle inquiry. They have created murals and big books to show their learning also. A mural planned and created by Kindergartners. The last step is the presentation to show what they had learned. The kids LOVE this part and I've never had a child refuse to present! They are so confident of what they have learned and proud of what they have done that they cannot wait to share it! I am always so impress with their speaking and listening skills during these presentations! Sometimes small groups go to other classrooms and present what they learned, sometimes we invite parents or other classes to our room to see our presentation, and sometimes we create a video to share with others. They create maps, big books, and, get to show off the projects created at this time! Showing what they have learned through these projects gives the projects an even bigger sense of purpose! They can't wait to show others what they have learned and done! Presenting different weapons used during medieval times. I have never had so much fun teaching in my 22 years as I have he past four years! I could never go back to the way I had done it I the past. The benefits of this way of teaching are not only meeting the standards (the old way did that too) but the 21st Century Skills they are forced to develope when they learn in this type of environment. When inquiring, investigating and creating within thier own interest, they are motivated to collaborate, problem solve, handle frustration, persist if things don't work the first time, and learn from their mistakes. They have to use critical thinking skills and develope research skills. When kids develop these skills, they can learn ANYTHING! My new passion that I am learning to incorporate in my classroom is Playbased Learning! I have been amazed by the learning taking place in this way also....but that's another post! SaveSave

Construction themed activities and centers inspiration is HERE! Get out your planner, and let’s plan a ton of fun and engaging construction-themed activities your little learners (Preschool, Pre-k, and kindergarten)...

As an interest based learning teacher, I usually start out with something most children have some experience and interest in until I get to know them better. Color is something they always enjoy exploring! I set out paint at the easel and asked, what can you wonder and discover about color here? As they explore, I constantly model for them the growth mindset, language and vocabulary often used in an inquiry based classroom: What do you see? What do you think? What do you wonder? What do you notice? What did you discover? Did you learn something new? Did this change your thinking? These are questions I want them to ask themselves as they explore new things this year! I set up experiences for them to explore colors. They quickly on their own started focusing mostly on different shades of colors. Here are some pictures showing the invitations to explore and the children exploring and discovering things about color. They were also noticing shades of colors of objects in our room! When they discovered them, they would share what they noticed with the class. They noticed we could mix colors to make different shades of colors and that adding white made lighter shades and black or darker colors mixed in made darker shades. I wondered out loud if it was possible to create 100 different shades of colors? We looked at a book called Pantone Coors that you see in many of these pictures that showed there were lots of shades! The kids took it as a challenge and a project was born! We wanted to see if we could create 100 different shades! We did one color each day. We did it! Not only did we make 100 different shades, we made 120 different shades of colors! They were so excited to beat their goal and create that many colors! They also discovered that black was black but we could make different whites! I told them that I wanted to display their colors to show people what what they learned. We debated how to display them. Group them by colors separately? Group them by light or dark? Like a rainbow? I thought they would prefer that one but they surprised me. They agreed on a circle with all of the color together. I couldn’t fit the browns and grays/white/black in so those were separate. The kids helped label and write out some of the things we did and noticed for our display to document our learning. Here is the finished display! This was a fun way to get started with how we will learn in our classroom! As they learn more about letters/sounds and writing they will be recording their own observations of what they see, think, wonder and discover! As the year goes on, you will notice them using their writing and reading skills more and more in natural, authentic ways! This is one of our big goals! Now that we have finished, I have started to notice some common interests to start our next inquiry and take all of our learning further! Stay tuned! Here are some other things that have been going on in our classroom! Learning to identify letters and sounds. We start the year learning one letter a day through our Journeys curriculum and how to write the capital letter properly using our Handwriting without tears curriculum. Here are some of the experiences set out for them during this time. The kids have learned how to partner read with letter books contains predictable text. They are learning letters, letter sounds, and the first three reading strategies: 1) Use your pointer finger to touch each word. 2) Look at the picture. It is a clue to figure out harder words. 3) Look at the first letter and say it’s sound when trying to figure out a word you don’t know. They are also learning to help each other and encourage each other as they read together. Here they try to create the letter by putting the lines down in the order they should make them when writing. Here, if they can name the letter and/sound, they are allowed to use it to build a castle. Of course they can ask friends for help if they don’t know it! More ways to practice proper formation of letters and develop fine motor skills to help with writing. Pebble crayons to encourage their pincher grip, texture to feel themselves making the letter on both the the grid and the chalkboard (both provide resistance. A whiteboard does not so does not work as well. We learned about Mat Man to help us with drawing people. We draw his parts and then add details to turn him into somebody. We keep writing at a minimum for now so that we don’t continue the bad writing habits they have developed. We focus on creating stories through pictures and telling oral stories. We read these books to help us. It helped us realize if we don’t know how to draw something, we can draw it “ish!” Dog-ish, violin-ish, etc. it gives them the freedom to try and helps those perfectionists not throw away every drawing they don't feel is perfect. We also read Beautiful Oops and Oomph! These taught us to work through mistakes and to add the destabilization a picture needs to tell a story in itself! These books really helped them learn to tell stories through pictures. Good Dog Carl is a good example of a story told through pictures. A lot of literacy learning has been happening and it’s only just beginning!

As part of our Math and Science Investigations (M.S.I) time in Kindergarten, our students explored a tower inquiry (In a previous post I wrote about Math and Science Investigations (M.S.I.) and how…

This post is part 1 in my inquiry series. To learn more about inquiry click through to see my many other posts about inquiry. If you are new to my blog,

Here are a few photos of the documentation showing others of our journey as we inquired about color and shades.

As part of our Math and Science Investigations (M.S.I) time in Kindergarten, our students explored a tower inquiry (In a previous post I wrote about Math and Science Investigations (M.S.I.) and how…

Here you can find song, download free skeleton printable, get ideas for activities and crafts to learn about bones and skeleton with your kindergarten class.

HIBERNATION Worksheets Activities Pre-K, Kindergarten 1st Grade ANIMALS IN WINTERDiscover the wonders of winter with our Hibernation Worksheets Activity for Preschool, Pre-K, Kindergarten, and 1st Grade. This fun and educational set includes 3 simple cut and paste worksheets that allow young learner...

These all about me activities for preschoolers are engaging, hands-on centers to work on essential literacy skills in the classroom!

FREE printable ant farm mazes for preschoolers to practice pre-writing and fine motor skills. Great activity for a bug theme or Spring/Summer learning.

Explore different materials and their properties with this engaging unit. Activities and printables for the Foundation and Prep Year chemistry strand.

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A blog with teacher tips for the primary classroom. Includes Canadian content!

Teaching science in second or third grade? These force and motion activities, experiments, and lessons are easy to plan, NGSS aligned, and SO much fun! Your students will love the STEM challenges and the Science worksheets are so engaging.

Hi there, parents! Have an exciting treat in store for your young ones: free worksheets that make learning about day and night exciting! Dra...

STEM in Kindergarten? Absolutely! In this post, I share four easy activities that your kinders will thoroughly love.

We are currently doing a short study of the human body. We recently finished up our unit on the Brain and Nerves, and here are some of the activities we did and resources we used.

My Body themed activities and centers (FREEBIES too)! Preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten kiddos will love these centers.

A Kindergarten blog about effective teaching and making learning fun.

This product contains a beautiful bulletin board display for your IB classroom! Banner: "Unit of Inquiry" Headings: "Theme" "Central Idea" "Title" "Key Concepts" "Lines of Inquiry" "Teacher Questions" "Guiding Questions" "Related Concepts" "Approaches to Learning" Key Concepts with Questions: Function Responsibility Change Form Connection Causation Reflection Perspective Interactive KWL Chart Headings: "What I Want to Learn" "What I Already Know" "New Learning" Transdisciplinary Skills Poster Set Transdisciplinary Themes Poster Set Action Cycle Globe Arrows Titles- Choose, Act, Reflect Approaches to Learning Flow Chart Display- Including Descriptions for Each of the Skills! The only things you need to add are sentence strips and post-its! Thank YOU!

PRIMARY SCIENCE UNIT 2 - MAMMALS The second unit in my primary science series is finally here! We are so excited to learn all about mammals. We had so much fun in Unit 1 - learning all about the human body and our five senses , and now we are moving on to our next science unit. My stud