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Slice of Life: Student Inquiry

Posted in Gifted Education, Slice of Life, Teaching, tagged , , , on September 10, 2024| 4 Comments »

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share.

I teach gifted elementary students. I think of my classroom door as a revolving one because students from grades 2-6 come in and go out all day long. Two weeks ago I brought in some Gulf fritillary caterpillars in a butterfly net. I placed them on the table and invited my students to ask questions.

This is Marifaye’s sketchbook neatly written with her 5 questions and the answers. (Not all notebooks looked this neat.)

Students gathered around the table and drew what they saw, asking question after question. They became enthusiastic yet frustrated that I would not give them a straight answer. They practiced using Google to research and answer their questions.

This week the caterpillars eclosed (hatched) and once again we observed and drew pictures then released the butterfly.

Danielle, 2nd grade, wrote a sentence. “This is my drawing of a Gulf fritillary. I drew a vine with a flower.”
James wrote a fib poem about the butterfly. (We talked about using more specific vocabulary than words like nice and cool.)
Gulf
vine
flowers
butterfly
a fritillary
flying through the beautiful sky

I don’t always have nature at my fingertips to lead inquiry with my classes. This was a wonderful way to introduce the idea that asking questions and wondering are all part of the process of learning. And releasing was just pure Joy!

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