Write your initial post about Project-based learning. What do you already know about it?

Project-based learning is when students take inspiration from what they have been learning. Students are exposed to various kinds of sources such as pictures, documents, books, and audio this allows students to get a feel of what it was like to be alive during this time. Also, students have a say in the project they complete for example in Hughes the students got to choose the topic of the civil rights movement they covered. When doing the writings, they are able to think and feel what someone at that time might have gone through. They got to relate to content more instead of it just being a lecture and answering questions. The other example was more of a class project that grew with every lesson as the students learned. Overtime they got to watch their city develop through a hands-on process.

What do you think makes it a powerful way to plan for SS inquiry?

Students will naturally have questions and be engaged when they are a part of an activity such as the paper bag city. They are able to take part in their learning and learn through doing. As the project keeps going, they learn new skills as they going along like reading compasses. Students get to think about their thinking and question why things are the way they are.

 

 

Link to activities: https://teachingwithamountainview.com/titanic-lessons-experiments-activities/

 

  

Here is one of the projects from the blog I liked how this included science elements and students were able to create their own boat. This experiment was to show how much weight a boat can hold before it sinks. They also included an experiment with weak rivets made out of clay. Students are able to see why the Titanic sank.

 

Washington State

History ( DCTS Framework)

D2.His.2.3-5. Compare life in specific historical time periods to life today.

Theme #2: Time, Continuity, and Change (NCSS)

Knowledge: Key people, events, and places associated with the history of the community, nation, and world.

Compelling Question:

What would the Pacific Northwest be like if Lewis and Clark never went on their expedition?

Supporting Questions:

• ·        What specimen and plant life did they discover?
• ·        How did Lewis and Clark describe the land they surveyed (journals)?
• ·        How did the tribes they encountered live?
•      Why did they explore the Northwest?
  

Compelling Question Answer:

Although Lewis and Clark did not find the northwest passage (a waterway to the pacific) they did make numerous discoveries especially in the Northwest. Through their journals we are able to create an image of what life and land would have been like at the time. They were able to build relationships with natives and gain trust with many. Not much was known about the Northwest at this time, but this was the starting point of exploring the area due to the Louisiana Purchase.

 

When looking back on 4^th grade history me and my partner both remembered Lewis and Clark. The expedition was always related to Northwest history because it is where the journey ended. Not much was known about this area at the time because the US was divided and owned, by other countries still. For the most part we owned much of the east side, then gained much land from France with the Louisiana Purchase. For deciding our compelling question, we looked at the DCTS guidelines picked one of the four categories and chose a standard. Then chose a them for the NCSS we felt that could expand and explore ideas on. We then thought of our supporting questions thinking about how they saw the Northwest during that time. Through the journals Lewis and Clark kept we can get an idea of the specimens, plants, land, and their experiences with tribes during the expedition. Our supporting questions were meant to show different discoveries Lewis and Clark made. 

 

 

Inquiry isn’t just about asking questions, but having evidence to back up those questions and having a deeper understanding of the subject. Also, the benefits of using inquiry in the classroom. Students use text-based evidence from primary, secondary, and articles this also helps with their reading skills. Most reading tests have students answer essay questions using evidence from the text this helps them get practice with that format. Students get exposure to primary and secondary sources at a young age. Personally, I didn’t know the difference or use them until I was Junior High. By using inquiry student’s knowledge of different sources develops, they are able to understand it, use it to help them answer questions, and to help them create a timeline or chart. Inquiry teaching is a great way to have students not just read from the textbook or listening to lectures, but gives them the opportunity to do the digging and put the pieces together. Instead of the teacher just telling them the information the students get to do some of explaining to the teacher. As the teacher it is important to keep the sources concise and make sure they prove a clear point from the supporting question. Sometimes the teacher might have to combine articles to make it short and provide only the information the students need.

               

The importance of the supporting questions is that it provides an outline and ideas for your compelling questions. For each supporting question it can take a day or longer to do a lesson on. Each supporting question provides evidence for the compelling question. An example of a compelling question might be How does production, distribution, and consumption of goods impact our Earth’s environment? On each day we would cover one topic and their impact on the Earth’s environment. By the end of the week a student would be able to say how production, distribution, and consumption of goods impacts the Earth with strong evidence.

 

What are the best ways to find primary sources?

 

I would see what kind of services my district has resources. See if any online archive centers have any sources or if Google potentially has any.