Reasons for Sharing

Thanks to everyone for coming to support our learners during their first inquiry presentation of the school year. I was so pleased to see so many of you there, as were the children. I was very proud of the children and their performances. In preparation, the children and I discussed what a good presentation looks like. They knew that they needed to use a loud, clear voice, use expression, make eye contact with the audience , show enthusiasm, and create an attractive, informative visual aid. They practiced several times to hone their skills. For the first graders and new students, this first inquiry is really an exposure to the inquiry process. As should be expected, I’m sure you saw a wide range of ability as the children developed these skills. Besides learning presentation skills, sharing their information is important in several other ways:

• The class continues to construct knowledge or concepts as they listen and make connections during sharing.
• Sharing not only gives the children a chance to review their work, it also enables them to become teachers and to see each other as teachers.
• Sharing lets children sort information and decide what is most important or relevant to communicate to others.
• Children learn to communicate more effectively.

The children are now reflecting on the inquiry process and their learning. They are also completing rubrics to evaluate their group work and thinking about how they might do things differently next time.

Posted on November 29, 2007 2:52 PM | Permalink