-By Dan McWilliam and Jody Pereverzoff, Grade 7 HumanitiesWe were looking for a way for our students to make a connection with life in early Canada. After reading the Real time WWII Twitter, we realized this would be an effective way to bridge modern communication with the Canadian immigrant experiences Pre Confederation. Students would assume… Continue reading Real Time Settlement
-by Jody Pereverzoff, Grade 7 Humanities This reflection is based on the Pre-Confederation Canadian History Unit, Determining Historical Significance (reference Determining Historical Significance and Determining Historical Significance Part II) This unit required students to work individually, as well as collaboratively, to demonstrate their understanding. The discussions were thoughtful, and rating the events using the historical… Continue reading iPads in the History Classroom – A Teacher Reflection
– by Jody Pereverzoff, Grade 7 Humanities In this unit, students discussed and evaluated events in Canada by rating them using the historical significance criteria found on the website: Historical Benchmark Society. They then created timelines to demonstrate their evaluations and get a better sense, visually, of how each event was connected. This blog focuses… Continue reading Determining Historical Significance Part II
-by Lisa Nelson, Grade 7 Math/Science Teaching a group of grade 7s who have used 1:1 Macbook laptops for the past three years and are now part of a 1:1 iPad initiative has been somewhat challenging. The students were slightly discouraged by the limitations of the iPad at the beginning of the school year. It… Continue reading Geology and the iPad
-by Jody Pereverzoff, Grade 7 Humanities Students in grade 7 Humanities are currently completing an assignment called 8 Events Leading to Confederation, adapted from the website http://historicalthinking.ca/. Historical Significance Unit Inquiry Question: What event is the most significant event in Canada pre-confederation?This unit opened with a discussion on the difference between ‘the past’ and ‘history’.… Continue reading Determining Historical Significance
At the Connect Charter School we focus on inquiry-based learning, technology-intergration, Collaboration, Education Research, Authentic Learning Experiences and outdoor/environmental education . We believe these pillars come together to provide students with opportunities for authentic, meaningful and relevant learning. At the core of our program is inquiry – an approach to learning and teaching (including teacher… Continue reading Introduction to Inquiry Based Learning
At a recent PD day, our staff had a lengthy discussion about iMovies. We’ve been a 1:1 school for 5 years, and had Mac labs for years before that – so our teachers have been doing digital storytelling in various forms for quite a while now. As the examples and uses of iMovie have spread… Continue reading Creating Trailers for Short Stories
One of the key elements of inquiry-based learning at the Calgary Science School is embedding student work into authentic contexts. Our teachers spend a great deal of time designing work that bridges the program of studies and the ‘real world.’ This notion comes to us from our work with the Galileo Educational Network and their… Continue reading Authentic Contexts for Learning
Here at the Calgary Science School we build our understanding of inquiry-based learning around the Inquiry Rubric developed in conjunction with the Galileo Educational Network. To help unpack how the Galileo Inquiry Rubric is lived out in specific projects from our school, we’ve compiled the following list of projects tied to particular elements of the… Continue reading Illustrative Examples of Inquiry-Based Learning
One of our grade 7 Humanities teachers, Dan McWilliam, just finished a project with his grade 7 students. In order to understand the concept of perspective in historical accounts, Dan had his students re-write a ‘picture book’ on colonialization from an alternate perspective. Dan used the book “The Rabbits,” written by John Marsden and illustrated… Continue reading Grade 7: Remixing Historical Perspective
