The Third Grade Inquisition Curiosi - TREE!

 

Have you heard about a new addition to our classroom?  I hope so!  We now have what we call "The Third Grade Inquisition Curiosi-Tree!"

As intelligent, inquisitive learners we raise questions during lessons and discussions each day.  Luckily we are blessed with an interactive board and an Encyclopedia Brittancia and Discovery Education account so sometimes I can pull up the Internet and we can research an answer.  On the down side we often do not have unlimited time to drop a lesson and research each curiosity as a class.  So I came up with a solution, our Curiosi-Tree. 

When the students have free time (when finished up a test or other work) they can write down their "big idea" questions on a leaf and tape it to our tree.  Or during free time they can grab a leaf off of the tree and utilize the books in our library or our netbooks to research these questions.  They can also take the leaf home to research the question or take a visit to the library to do so.  This is for them to research and answer though - not for them to ask you and write down your answer :)

In just 3 days we already have 26 questions on our tree - and others that have been picked and answered!  We will set aside some time every couple weeks or once a month to present our answers to these questions.

I admire how the kids are always thinking and asking thoughtful questions so I hope this encourages this and even increases the inquisitive nature in our classroom and at home!