Inquiry Based Learnng with Social Studies

The new social studies curriculum document has opened the up the inquiry-based notion of learning. I had the privilege of creating my own inquiry-based unit in social studies during my first block. Immediately I felt overwhelmed and challenged because my classroom had a substantial lack of technology. In addition to this, I felt a bit ill-equipped because the grade 6 class also did not have any relevant social studies textbook because the curriculum had changed. It was not until roughly half way through the unit that I realized that I was not teaching social studies, my students were most definitely learning, but I was not teaching. I also realized I did not need a textbook to guide my teaching instruction because the students were doing that for me through their inquiry process. The unit was structured so that each social studies class was building and allowing them to accomplish something towards their culminating activity. One class would show a brief clip on a Canadian community, a guided group discussion occurred and then students began to create questions based on what they wanted to know more of based on that community. The video clips were short in length but thought provoking. The following class, students would be given secondary sourced information to search for answers to their questions. Students who still had questions unanswered were granted the opportunity to go to the computer lab to find the answers, and then share their findings with the class. I guided the students’ thought process, and ensured they stayed on track, but the students created and directed their own learning based on inquiry. This was a huge learning experience for me, and reassured me of the importance of inquiry-based learning, and how easily it can be executed from a social studies standpoint. The students’ final culminating task was to pick a Canadian community of their choice and to do research on it, create a Q-chart full of various questions and to answer those questions,  and to “pack a suitcase” with the items they would bring and why, based on their research. Students were given free range for their culminating task, and had already prior experience with Q-charts, research, and what to look for when trying to describe a community. Overall, this was an excellent opportunity to allow me to teach outside of the box, and to not conduct myself in a similar way that I had been taught growing up.  I think inquiry-based learning is great for students, and I have seen many positive outcomes with my own students. This will be a form of learning I will attempt to incorporate in other subject areas; it can have such an empowering role on the students because they are taking ownership for their learning. Below are some of the video links I used to introduce the Canadian communities we discussed as a class:

Winnipeg, Manitoba: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_xfu7Tl3AA

Attawapiskat, Ontario: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ynaC8f5ues

Fort McMurrary, Alberta: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIFciS63s9E

Quebec City, Quebec: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSNLydguFl8

As one can see, each video clip is a clear contrast from the other, and this was another way of encouraging students to dig deeper, as well as to show them different perspectives and points of view, and how they can influence what one thinks of a particular subject matter, or in this case a place!