Inquiry Stations Student inquiry to deepen engagement and understanding

Inquiry Station Activity  The Six Shifts  Speaking and Listening  Text Complexity  Informational Text  Writing Arguments  Writing to Learn  Integration of Media Sources  This activity has students use skills from each shift and sometimes all six in one 10 minute activity.

Inquiry Stations  Students rotate to stations and complete the activities to deepen their understanding of a unit of study  Students are engaged in inquiry around a topic – the teacher has moved from presenting information to facilitating inquiry  Students build a deeper understanding of the subject as they make their own observations and interactions with content in a variety of stations  Knowledge is broadened and reinforced

Content matches the unit of study  Instructor sets up the centers (or for more advanced classes, students work in groups to set up content for the stations)  Instructor determines means to hold students accountable - notebooks, reflection, discussion, etc.  Students are broken into groups to rotate to the inquiry stations  Students spend a set amount of time at each station. Rotation can be within one time period or over several days throughout a unit of study  Can be used to introduce a unit of study, give historical context for literature, connect literature to other content areas, etc.

Film Center  Watch video clips on computer or iPad – discuss and write  Prompts:  I first noticed… because…  I am learning that…. This adds to what I already know by showing me…..  One message the film is conveying to me is…. My evidence is…..

Independent Reading Center  Browse books – write and discuss  Prompts:  ___ and ___ are similar because….  ____ and ___ are different because… Unlike the other….

Paired Text Center  Read/view two texts – write and discuss the two  Prompts:  ___ and ___ are similar because….  ____ and ___ are different because… Unlike the other….

Photography Center  Look at the photographs – write and discuss  Questions:  Is this image like anything else you’ve seen?  What did you notice first?  What can you learn from examining this image?

Poetry Center  Read poems – write and discuss responses  Prompts:  ___ and ___ are similar because….  ____ and ___ are different because… Unlike the other….

Statistics Center  Look at data – analyze and discuss  Prompts:  I was surprised that….  I never knew….

Write Around Center  Read primary source, write a response, pass around and respond to each other  Prompts:  I first noticed ___ because….  I am learning that…. I am also learning that…..  I felt a strong reaction to……