Introducing Inquiry Stages

After we completed our first mini-inquiry, I shared the stages of inquiry with Room 408.

We named each step and reviewed what it looked like and felt like during each stage as we did our Indigenous Peoples/Columbus mini-inquiry.  We will refer to this Inquiry Stages chart throughout the year as we do mini-inquiries, as well as big curricular inquiries.

During the Immersion Stage, our brains were like sponges, soaking up new information. This was when we were studying the painting and questioning, as well as when we were watching the video.

We entered the Investigation Stage as we went out and found new information as we watched the Brainpop, Jr video. We kept our questions in the back of our minds as we soaked up new learning.

Next, we entered the Coalescing Stage as we gathered together to share our learning and then try to come up with answers to our big questions:  What mistakes did Columbus make? and Why do we now honor it as Indigenous Peoples Day?

Finally, we enter the Go Public stage whenever we share our learning with others.

We loved our first mini-inquiry!  We also enjoyed being researchers, just like the people we have been studying.

Check out the next blog post to see how we practiced our research skills by doing a mini-inquiry about Jacques Cousteau!