Click to set custom HTML
What is Content?
![Picture](/uploads/1/3/7/9/13795788/3459002.jpg?521)
Maynes, Nancy & Straub, Jennifer. "Social Studies: Innovating Approaches for Teachers".
Pearson.2012. p52
Content, being the subject area being taught, is split up into conceptual knowledge, inquiry
skill development, habits of mind and awareness of the standards of the social
studies discipline.
To develop their skills, young learners start to develop the ability to ask essential questions that are open ended and full of possibilities. This questioning will initiate their investigation process of the content. The habits of the mind for young learners are the variety of perspectives they bring during the initial introduction of a topic, which can help stimulate interest to research and elicit a positive response to the topic/content being taught.
To develop their skills, young learners start to develop the ability to ask essential questions that are open ended and full of possibilities. This questioning will initiate their investigation process of the content. The habits of the mind for young learners are the variety of perspectives they bring during the initial introduction of a topic, which can help stimulate interest to research and elicit a positive response to the topic/content being taught.
The Cycle of Inquiry
![Picture](/uploads/1/3/7/9/13795788/7453404.jpg?566)
Maynes, Nancy & Straub, Jennifer. "Social Studies: Innovating Approaches for Teachers".
Pearson.2012. p50.
To begin to understand how to best teach young learners, we must first understand the inquiry model in which young students learn. Inquiry learning requires student involvement which eventually leads to their deeper understanding of the topic as they begin to take responsibility for their learning.
This diagram demonstrates how young learners get to the product of their findings. Once introduced to the content with plenty of examples and connections the student can start separating what they already know about the topic to what they do not know. With this curiosity, the students will begin the process of reflective investigation using research and experimentation. They will begin to create hypothesis, research their open ended questions and narrow down their answers to the essential questions, participate in group related activities that has the students working together using a variety of sources, have discussions that promote higher order thinking, and conduct assessments of their findings. This will lead to a deeper understanding of the material which leads to the product. The product of their findings will include all that they have found and concluded about the topic and what they have learned over the course of their investigation.
This diagram demonstrates how young learners get to the product of their findings. Once introduced to the content with plenty of examples and connections the student can start separating what they already know about the topic to what they do not know. With this curiosity, the students will begin the process of reflective investigation using research and experimentation. They will begin to create hypothesis, research their open ended questions and narrow down their answers to the essential questions, participate in group related activities that has the students working together using a variety of sources, have discussions that promote higher order thinking, and conduct assessments of their findings. This will lead to a deeper understanding of the material which leads to the product. The product of their findings will include all that they have found and concluded about the topic and what they have learned over the course of their investigation.
Personal Discovery
During my placement at an elementary school in a grade five classroom, I was teaching the different kinds of reactions in the Science strand. To get them engaged in the subject matter, I had them start asking questions to things they genuinely wanted to understand about the topic. We made a list of what we already knew as a class and what we didn't understand and wanted to investigate. During computer time, I had them research in groups the questions they had about the topics, and we took them up as a class and added them to the chart. Before starting the experiments that allowed them to see each type of reaction, I had them create a hypothesis of what they thought would happen based on their previous discoveries and research. After the experiments, we discussed as a class if their hypothesis was correct, and if anything they had questioned earlier had been answered. We again added to the chart, and with each new activity the chart was added onto. The children were engaged because they were involved in their learning, and took responsibility for what they wanted to understand. I had them be a part of the learning process and gave them the chance to be independent, make mistakes and correct them, and finally conclude their findings and share them with the class. And all I did was provoke them, give them the materials and the time to follow their curiousities about the topic, which made it much more enjoyable for the whole class.