Collaborating and Learning

Our school began using the Fountas & Pinnell Leveled Literacy Intervention System (LLI) in the winter of 2011. It's an early intervention system for small groups that we purchased to supplement our literacy program and to support our lowest achieving students in the early grades. It has been very successful for student learning and unexpectedly, it has been a great source of Professional Development for our teachers.

Through creative planning with a supportive principal, we were able to collaborate and learn all about the LLI system as a team. We were given time to meet twice monthly to discuss lessons, students and our own learning. We also collaborated with our sister school and started a professional book club using "When Readers Struggle - Teaching That Works" by Gay Su Pinnell & Irene Fountas to expand our knowledge and understanding of how children learn to read.

Not only has this system been successful in supporting our lowest achieving students but the material and resources provided by this program gave teachers a solid knowledge and understanding of what an effective guided reading lesson looks like in a classroom. The lessons in the program provide teachers with powerful, daily, small-group instruction that they were able to put into practice and embed into their classroom literacy instruction. This process helped to enhance effective literacy practices at our school. 

Have you found unexpected PD opportunities in your school? Please share!

Inquiry Teaching & Learning!

Building Background Knowledge

Collaborating!

As part of our PKE project, we've been visiting classrooms to provide authentic hands-on learning for teachers and their students.  Danielle Parent and I spent "A Day of Inquiry" with this grade one teacher and her students.

We  began the day by introducing the topic of "Welcome to our Community."  We showed short video clips from Learn 360, read a text about "Community Helpers," we recorded new words and new learning on a chart together.

Students were put into 4 groups of 5, and they were given post-it notes and a basket of books to do their own research. They had to record questions and new learning, then they presented their findings to the class. This strategy helps to build the background knowledge necessary when beginning an inquiry.

Why do firefighters work out?

We found out a lot about our Community Helpers!

Sharing our findings!

Next, we introduced 4 centres! Each centre was 30 minutes with a 5 minute presentation of their work.

Smart Board Centre

Storytelling using Felt Board App & Explain Everything App

Plasticine Community Helpers and Tools

Building a Community

The day went by quickly and these grade one students were asking us to come back. Their teacher was impressed with her students' level of engagement throughout the day.

Providing authentic hands-on learning to teachers and their students about the inquiry approach to teaching and learning is inspiring. We learn so much from each other!

Are you using the inquiry approach to teaching and learning? 

Please share, we would love to hear from you!

The Power of Student Voice

EXCITING learning is happening in this Grade 4/5 class! Where to begin? There is so much to share. It all started when Pete read one of our favourite books Should There Be Zoos? A Persuasive Text by Tony Stead.

Our original plan for the students was to learn about the features of persuasive writing so that we could write our own persuasive e-book. However, we were quickly sidetracked when during our brainstorming session, a student asked "Should there be an outdoor rink in town?"

After a lot of discussion and a vote, the class decided that our community needed an outdoor rink. So the inquiry began...How do we convince/persuade Town Council and the people of our community that we need an outdoor rink?

Students worked diligently on a variety of work stations that helped them to learn and build a persuasive argument.

6 Stations to Explore Outdoor Rinks

1. iMovie Commercials - Students watched commercials, worked on story boards, and created short video clips.
2. Spreadsheets - Students researched the cost of building and running an outdoor rink. They worked on building a budget for the rink, they created pie charts and summarized the information. 
3. Constructing Models - Students had to plan and organize the building of a model rink. They measured, cut, drilled, glued and painted to create amazing models.
4. Writing Letters - Students wrote persuasive letters to the editor, to Town Council and posted them on our blog - http://kidblog.org/MrDsKids
5. Researching Location - Students worked on mapping and used google earth plus photos of the town to recommend and find the best locations
6. Podcast - Students had to pick an ice skating Canadian athlete and they researched his/her career.  They each took active roles in writing and creating dialogue for a "live" interview. They recorded the interview using Garage Band.

 

The final presentation of all their work was presented to the Mayor of our town.  He was impressed with the details and specific information the students provided. The Mayor has invited the class to attend a Council meeting soon. They are  learning about Municipal Government and the role it plays in a community. 

                                                                                                                                                                                

                                                          

Students felt their voices were heard and they were proud of their work! 

Stay tuned......

Does your class have a passion?

An Inquiry into SNOW!

#Kinderchat: An Inquiry into SNOW! Check out my guest blog post!

Movie Making

In October I wrote about implementing iPads in our school. It's been a slow process but the students are loving them! One of their favourites is the iMovie app. This week, Pete's class was challenged to produce a one minute silent film. The students worked in groups of three and they were able to collaborate and create great little movie clips.  A couple of students shared their learning with me and the steps they took for making a silent movie.

Evan: Mr. Douglas showed us lessons on the Smartboard, about camera angles.

Keith: We had to plan the angles on our story board and then we had to figure out how to use close up shots and different angles with the iPad camera.

Storyboard

Evan: Tyson was the camera man. We had to edit, cut, produce and plan together.

Working together

Keith: I liked the idea that we did not have to write a script because the movie is silent.

Silent Film - "The School Cheat" produced and created by Tyson, Keith and Evan. Special guest Mr. Leblanc, the student teacher in our class.

The students enjoy using the iPad and absolutely love the idea of successfully completing an iMovie, that has a professional look. This was a week long project and at the end of the week, we had a Film Festival. One comment heard by Pete (classroom teacher) was "I LOVE SCHOOL!" And that...is what it's all about.

And So....The Learning and Sharing Continues!

We Have a New Project!

Over the 2011/2012 school year, Pete and I have worked on a "Teacher Learning and Leadership Program" (TLLP) with the Ontario Ministry of Education. Our project has focused on the inquiry approach to teaching. We developed a website www.inquiry-based.com and I started this blog. It was an amazing year of learning and teaching for us and for our students and we thought that the project had come to an end.

...That is until we learned about the "Provincial Knowledge Exchange" (PKE) project created by the Ministry of Education at the "Sharing the Learning" Summit, in November.  All TLLP participants gather at this Summit for an opportunity to share their year-long learning and accomplishments.

"Sharing the Learning" Summit in Toronto - November 2012

The Ministry wants to continue to share the growth and learning that the TLLP participants have gained throughout the year.  This program provides funding for teachers to get together to share their expertise and refine their practice! We agree...it's the missing link! Please visit the following link for information~ TLLP  and PKE ~ Maybe we can bring our learning to you by visiting your school. Check it out!

 

www.inquiry-based.com

Our PKE project has been approved and we are now able to continue working with teachers and on our own project. With the support of our board, we will be able to share our learning about inquiry-based teaching and learning with teachers and their students. We're hoping to visit classrooms for "A Day of Inquiry" and we will explore with teachers the 'Steps to Inquiry.'  Pete and I will also be available to continue to support through our website, email and perhaps more visits. We are very excited about being able to continue our learning and appreciate the professional development opportunity.

 Thanks to the TLLP team for the creative and open-minded thinking.  Their willingness to allow teachers to take their Professional Development into their own hands, deserves to be congratulated. 

It's PD that is revolutionary!

Reading in Kindergarten!

Students love to read in Kindergarten. The bean bag chair is a favourite spot!

The bat cave is another great place to read.