Developing the Inquiry Question
Students will conference with teachers to develop focused inquiry question related to their topic area of civics, working from the 10 Questions Framework: Questions for Me graphic organizer. A sample inquiry question might be “How can biking in Boston be made safer?” Criteria to discuss during conference to guide them in crafting a good inquiry question:
- Is it a topic in which the student has genuine interest? How does it connect to their real life experience?
- What are their learning goals? If they want to learn more about political power, will this project help them? If they are more of an experiential learner, is there enough hands-on activity to satisfy them?
- Is there enough information on the topic? (Here they will review their Google Drive folder. They can continue to add to that folder in Gather, but if the topic has already proved challenging, consider re-directing.)
- How much time do they have and is this project a good fit? Could it be narrower?
Inquiry groups
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At this point, students will split into organic Inquiry Circles, based on their area of interest. This is not a group projects, but in this phases, students with similar interests will meet regularly to offer support and share resources.
For example, students may split into groups based on the action they'd like to undertake, with students who want to influence public opinion or those envisioning a service project meeting on a regular basis. Or the groups could be subject-focused, with students interested in transportation alternatives or LGBTQ rights coming together. |