I had such grand plans for this unit. I was so excited! I had rented the ROM kit called Partners in the Wilderness. It was all about the Fur Trade. A fabulous kit! There were seven different activities for the kids to explore. And by exploring I mean reading, responding to questions or other activities, viewing pictures, and handling replica artifacts.
After completing a task in their small group, the students were to independently create as many questions as possible. After having moved through all seven tasks, the kids would have both a broad knowledge base (there's that front loading) and a lot of questions to choose from to create their inquiry.
For the sake of time, I ended up doing the activities as teacher guided. Or should I say, began to do it that way. Due to a scheduling mishap, I had to return the ROM kit after having only done two and a half activities. I didn't even have a chance to take any pictures of the cool artifacts like the beaver pelt. You can check it out yourself at the ROM website; search EduKits. Big bummer!
I felt somewhat deflated so I continued to teach from the text. I would fill in their background knowledge through reading and discussing, journaling, and using our Board's "carousel" games for this unit.
The plan is to come back to this unit via language and do a mini-inquiry about an explorer. It will be similar to the Black History bio inquiry.
As an aside, I have been collaborating with a colleague about her inquiry project for the same unit. It will be based around the Fur Trade and perspectives, using the text as an organizing tool for the foundation of the inquiry.
Laura
After completing a task in their small group, the students were to independently create as many questions as possible. After having moved through all seven tasks, the kids would have both a broad knowledge base (there's that front loading) and a lot of questions to choose from to create their inquiry.
For the sake of time, I ended up doing the activities as teacher guided. Or should I say, began to do it that way. Due to a scheduling mishap, I had to return the ROM kit after having only done two and a half activities. I didn't even have a chance to take any pictures of the cool artifacts like the beaver pelt. You can check it out yourself at the ROM website; search EduKits. Big bummer!
I felt somewhat deflated so I continued to teach from the text. I would fill in their background knowledge through reading and discussing, journaling, and using our Board's "carousel" games for this unit.
The plan is to come back to this unit via language and do a mini-inquiry about an explorer. It will be similar to the Black History bio inquiry.
As an aside, I have been collaborating with a colleague about her inquiry project for the same unit. It will be based around the Fur Trade and perspectives, using the text as an organizing tool for the foundation of the inquiry.
Laura