It isn't Easy Being Green

Our Inquiry context of environmental issues, e.g. pollution was of great interest to my children so was a very successful inquiry unit. We used the define thinking map to understand our topic of It isn't Easy Being Green. By using the define map, we could write a definition of our topic. From this process questions were developed. Children used SOLO to develop substaintial questions that they wanted to know about.
I had identified from the previous term's inquiry that the majorityof my children were struggling with the understanding of information. Children weren't skimming and scanning information and using keywords. So when asked to find information, I focussed on using book reference material rather than computer generated information. I was then able to focus and teach these skills to my children. By using books I found that once the children had skimmed and scanned information and wrote down the keywords, the books were put away and so information couldn't be copied. Children then used comic life to present their work and this can be viewed on our classroom blog. We also used podomatic again this term, so that we could consolidate what ICT skills we used last term.

Room 3

I think this has been the most successful inquiry unit that I have taught. We used the school inquiry intersection effectively. I placed the children into mixed ability groups and then set them off on their journey. We displayed where the children were working on the intersection and it was their responsibility to move their group car as they moved around it. I felt this worked well as the children were all very aware of where they were and what they needed to do next. SOLO was quite a big part of this inquiry and I felt we used it well and now have a better understanding of it. Next term I will begin to incorporate SOLO into other learning areas as I feel the children are ready to use it on a wider scale. I dont think that we used the apply stage of the intersection very effectively and so am looking forward to next term and making the apply stage happen. All in all, a fantastic inquiry with fantastic children.

Room 2

This term's inquiry really lent itself well to continuing with the emphasis on SOLO and using this as a base for questioning. The kids came up with a lot of questions that were very similar to each other, and this provided a good base for being able to rework, assess and analyse against SOLO. The majority of the class are now beginning to analyse their own questioning and answers against SOLO, with the self motivation to be reaching extended abstract. There was opportunity to also focus in on the find part of our inquiry, with information needing to be found from a range of sources. This led to looking closely at information literacy skills such as skimming and scanning and making notes in their own words.
The kids loved being able to present their work on comic life. We found that because of the amount of information found that the comic life presentations were a few pages for some groups. Next time we would work at narrowing our information down even further, but I decided that for the purpose of this inquiry it was ok to be kept as it was. Each group allocated time so that every member of the group could use the computer at some point when constructing their comic life. This inquiry fitted really well into the 6 week time frame.

By Lois

We in room 6 have very much enjoyed this Inquiry unit "It's not easy being green". The children had limited knowledge of conservation but were able to share their families practices and from those discussed and asked questions about being green. Our visit with rooms 4 and 5 to the Re-cycling Centre and the Wind Farm created great learning experiences and gave the children much to think and develop ideas about. The oral language development has been amazing and they are now using lanuage with understanding that is appropriate to the topic. They are also applying their knowledge of re-cycling both in the classroom and to a certain extent at home. I feel this unit has been successful at our level and we will continue to build on our understandings and practices.

By Louise

This has been a great inquiry for lots of hands on learning and exploring. When I was at Teachers College I did an assignment on how important it is with environmental education to each children to love the world before you burden them with trying to save it. So our learning in Room 5 was largely centered around this concept. Something I felt that I didn't do well last term with inquiry was to integrate it into othe curriculum areas, so this was something I wanted to ensure I did better this term. The children really enjoyed growing their plants which we were able to link into maths and measurement. Our trip to the recycling center and windfarm were highlights for our class, and also making recycled paper. I have found it quite teacher intensive getting the children creating their comic lifes and uploading these on to the blog, but we are getting there! We have also created photo stories and lots of artwrk around this topic so it has been well integrated to all areas of our classroom.

by Nicky

Inquiry this term was great. The children really got into the whole thing, especially good was the visit from the Green Rig and the Trip to the Recycling Centre. There was a huge amount of prior knowledge for starting and we spent alot of time in the exploring and finding.Exploring being both at the beginning and the end. Some children even found aspects in novels they were reading, like a Zac Power story at one stage was highlighted to the class because there was a recycling aspect in it. The art work around mosaic work with bits of paper and making paper with Melanie Fleet was really enjoyed. Many children also followed up the making things from old packaging in class to making things at home from bigger boxes etc.
Overall a great inquiry enjoyed by all.

nicky

This was wonderful topic but I found I cannot rely on parental input for answering personal questions. I spoke to many parents at meet the teacher but only a few came back with information. Many said they dont have family treasures thinking they were material things even though the information home said it could be a song.
I chaged tactics when Veronica arrived with a book about a Maori cloak handed down through the Ages and so we used that as the basis for an intergrated unit. This was really successful. The solo questioning got lost amongst the trying to get everything on for the ICT component.