INQUIRY LEARNING INQUIRY LEARNING IN THE FRENCH CLASSROOM (WHAT IS IT AND HOW DOES IT WORK?)

INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW What is Inquiry Learning? How can we teach vocabulary through inquiry? How can we teach grammar through inquiry? How can we teach cultural concepts through inquiry? What is Tarsia? Productive creation time

WHAT IS INQUIRY LEARNING? A teaching style that encourages students to be... Curious Critical thinkers Problem solvers Inquiry learning is NOT: Lazy teaching Unguided discovery Giving students free choice of what to learn or how to learn “The meaning of ‘knowing’ has shifted from being able to remember and repeat information to being able to find and use it.” (National Research Council, 2007)

WHY BOTHER WITH INQUIRY? Inquiry learning encourages students to be Curious Critical thinkers Problem solvers Allows students to make connections Prepares students for the “real world” Causes students to be active learners Builds enthusiasm

HOW CAN WE EMBED INQUIRY? Pose questions Identify problems Engage students with activities

VOCABULARY THROUGH INQUIRY - QUESTIONS - What words do we need to know to talk about family/hobbies/routines/food? Quand vous lisez les mots suivants, vous pensez à quels mots en anglais? What words do I need so I can describe what I see/hear in French?

VOCABULARY THROUGH INQUIRY - PROBLEMS - Your family is moving to New Caledonia and you will need to introduce yourself to new friends. Un de tes camarades a caché ton iPad dans une salle de classe. Laquelle? Tu t’es perdu(e) à Paris et tu dois retrouver ton chemin pour arriver à ton hôtel. Comment tu te- débrouilles?

VOCABULARY THROUGH INQUIRY - ACTIVITIES - Highlight words in the text related to food/textiles/environment/hobbies 10-minute vocab lists Tarsia puzzles

RECOGNISING UNFAMILIAR VOCABULARY

GRAMMAR THROUGH INQUIRY - QUESTIONS - How can I talk about my hobbies/my weekend/my daily routine/my holidays in a different tense? What do I notice about the verbs/adjectives in this text? How does this text seem different to others I have seen before?

GRAMMAR THROUGH INQUIRY - PROBLEMS - Most purposeful extended writing tasks can be set up as a "problem" that requires students to learn a particular new grammar concept

GRAMMAR THROUGH INQUIRY - ACTIVITIES - Highlight all adjectives/verbs in the text Dictations with added discussion Determine the rule from the text Tarsia puzzles

DICTATION WITH DISCUSSION Students completed the paragraph as a dictation then copied the correct text into their books., Students then discovered the rules for conjugating reflexive verbs in the perfect tense.

CULTURE THROUGH INQUIRY - QUESTIONS - Qu’est-ce qui se passe dans cette photo? What do you see/think/wonder? How is family different in France to Australia? Quelle est l’importance de la nourriture pour les français? Is food just food in France?

CULTURE THROUGH INQUIRY - PROBLEMS - You are a travel journalist and need to write an article about important celebrations in France. A new student has just arrived at your school from France. What important thinks will you need to tell them about school that they don’t already know from France?

CULTURE THROUGH INQUIRY - ACTIVITIES - Production items (brochure, vlog, poster) Online discussions Debates Photos and videos prompting “see, think, wonder”

TIME FOR TARSIA… Find a partner Collect a puzzle Win a prize

QUESTIONS? WHAT NOW? Create Tarsia puzzles Create discovery passages (for students to discover new vocabulary or grammar rules) Create inquiry activities Embed inquiry into a unit of work QUESTIONS?