Inquiry-based learning in French Immersion: Part 2

For the 2017-2018 school year, our school was awarded a grant for The Teacher Learning and Leadership Program (TLLP).

TLLP Goal #1

To gain a solid understanding of the inquiry-based learning process and ensure that French Immersion curriculum expectations are being met in speaking, listening, reading and writing.

    A few years ago, I wanted to implement Genius Hour in my room but things kept falling flat. I found it difficult for students to research because they lacked the research skills, there were very few books and websites in French, and my student’s reading levels did not match the ones that did exist. Kids were having fun through play, but I felt something was lacking. Late primary students are a unique group, who are able to work independently and are easily engaged, but still require constant (and very direct!) teacher guidance to keep them on track. I realized that I was throwing them into the “deep end” without the scaffolding they needed to succeed.

    For honing in on a more precise inquiry model in my room, I have been using the inquiry cycle model as laid out in Trevor McKenzie’s “Inquiry Mindset”. This a process where students are involved in their learning, create essential questions, investigate widely and then build new understandings to answer their question, to develop a solution, or to support a point of view. The new learning is usually presented to others publicly and may result in action. - Alberta Focus on Inquiry, 2004.

    Reading Inquiry Mindset gave me a clearer definition of what “inquiry” actually is. I also discovered that I was already doing plenty of inquiry without actually calling it inquiry. Here some examples of the inquiries my class did this year based on the “new” titles:

STRUCTURED INQUIRY: Les Olympiques: a Social Studies + Current Events Inquiry - 

• I chose the topic (Olympics)
• I used a "hook" video
• Students generated related questions (whole class)
• Each day we answered a new question. I did the research on the SMARTboard using a kid-friendly Olympic webpage (Chrome extension to translate the pages into French)
• I answered the questions and modelled how to pull out information
• We did Interactive Writing to answer the questions
• We looked for photos, did medal counts, watched live feed, researched continent locations, larned about Team Canada ("Je me présente" cards), played gym-adapted Olympic sports, made a display.

      This Structured Inquiry went over well with the kids. They were hooked from the mascot video. They easily generated questions that were important to them (and ones that I anticipated!). It was great walking students through a research method (reading a French website for important information) using appropriate fluency and for keeping students engaged and on task. It generated great discussion and perfect short texts for Interactive Writing pieces. Students were inspired to learn more outside of the classroom at home and reported back new findings for our class display. Next steps: I did not assess students with a culminating task, only observations and conversations throughout. Next time I might add a task for students to “show what they know” independently.

CONTROLLED INQUIRY: La Croissance des plantes: A Science Inquiry

• I chose the topic (plants)
• Students generated related questions
• In pairs, students chose one of the related questions to research further
• I created research "info sheets" and posted them around the classroom
• Partners walked around room and "researched" their question from from the posted information
• I decided how they would present their findings (a poster presented orally to the class). We put the posters up in the hall for others
• Students self- and peer-assessed

After many hands-on science experiments with plants and soil, this Plant Controlled inquiry went well, students were able to complete the project quickly and successfully. They also researched by themselves and created a representation of their learning. Next time, I will add a QR code with an audio link that will help make the text accessible to all students.

GUIDED INQUIRY: With my basic training from Future Design School, we asked some “How Might We?” questions. Inquiries ranged from basic to more complex design-thinking tasks. These are like a Guided Inquiry. This process has students learning to empathize, define, ideate, prototype and test designs. Some questions worked on include: How might we design a stable structures that uphold a force? How might we learn from early Canadians to improve our own community today? How might we teach younger students how to add big numbers in their head? How might we celebrate our school secretary? How might we convince Mr. Walsh to let us have a party? How might we design a product that honours St. Joseph? How might we teach others about Residential Schools?

FREE INQUIRY: We are not quite there yet (See my notes on Genius Hour here).

Although these are new terms introduced to me this year, they all very closely relate to other things our board has been implementing in other avenues for many years. 

• Open-Ended Questions in Math: Open-Ended Questions are a very important part of my numeracy block derived from key learning in my years of Math CILMs & PLNs. Although carefully worded and somewhat directed, Open-ended questions, generally don't have a single right answer. Instead, they're meant to encourage students to start a discussion or think creatively. They allow them to think more deeply and critically about their response and to use extended vocabulary to express their ideas. Deeper thinking can be scaffolded by inviting children to “show” what they mean and “tell you more” about what they are doing.

• Action-Oriented Tasks in FSL: Although this approach does not primarily revolve around questioning, by embracing an action-oriented approach, I draw upon student interests and make connections to the curriculum to develop purposeful tasks. I often use open-ended questions to guide these meaningful authentic situations and encourage students to develop questioning strategies as they participate as social actors.

I really like the set-up of a defined inquiry circle. Even if I am usually the one developing the driving question, students still have the opportunity to ask many of their own questions to drive the inquiries.