Why Are School Buses Always Yellow?
(2007)

This book illustrates how to use the inquiry process to teach mandated content while making learning relevant and lasting for young students. The author uses real classroom examples from schools across the country, provides prompts for framing good questions, offers recommendations for Internet resources, and provides techniques to: introduce inquiry incrementally and systematically; use objects, literature, and students' experiences to stimulate inquiry; help children turn their playful wonderings into deeper questions, think critically about content and help teachers develop inquiry-based units that incorporate students' queries.

Reviews | Contents
Read Chapter Four | Links for Purchase

Reviews

The book covers an important topic, one needed to develop thinkers for the jobs of the twenty-first century. Readers will find excellent vignettes, stories, and examples.

• Arlene Sandberg , ESL Resource Teacher Anchorage School District, AK

A valuable tool for teachers who are willing to step outside the conventional ways of teaching. The vignettes help the reader make real-life connections to the author’s purpose and ideas.

• Denise Metiva Hernandez , Teacher Pontchartrain Elementary School, Mandeville.
  

Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Inquiry Overview
2. "This Is Better Than Recess!": Why Inquiry Is Important
3. "How Do We Start the Inquiry Process?"
4. "How Do We Plan for Students' Questions?"
5. Developing Units of Instruction: "When Is It Chaos?"
6. "Why Are Mountains Necessary?": The Nature of Good Questions
7. "How Do We Know They Understand?"
8. Art, Music, and Physical Education
9. "How Do We Involve Parents in Our Inquiries?"
10. Inquiry and Our Students With Special Needs
11. Professional Developments Beyond Our Classrooms
Conclusions: Journeys of Wonder and Discovery
Reference List
Index

Excerpt

Read Chapter Four: How do we plan for students' questions?" A description of how to create problematic-scenarios to foster and structure inquiry toward summative assessments.
Click here for PDF.

Links for Purchase

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