This week, our class launched an exciting new inquiry project all about space! 🚀
Students began by choosing a personal topic of interest—anything from planets and black holes to constellations and solar systems. They are learning how to research using a variety of sources, including Epic Books, which offers both informational texts and videos. They also had the opportunity to utilize the internet, learning how to determine if a website is credible. This is a shift from our previous research tasks, where materials were pre-selected, and students are doing a great job navigating these new resources more independently. In addition, we learned about how to cite a source any why this is an important step in research as it shows where we found our information, gives credit to the author and shows that our research is trustworthy.
Our focus is on gathering information in three key areas:
- General facts
- History
- Importance, why it matters
Students are using prompting questions to guide their research and help them stay focused on key ideas.
As we move forward, students will begin crafting clear sentences using transition words (e.g., first, next, also, finally) to organize their thinking. They will then use their research to create a Google Slides presentation to share their learning.
It has been wonderful to see their curiosity and excitement as they explore topics that interest them. We look forward to sharing their final presentations soon!
