Rainforest Immersion

Our grade 2/3 class recently embarked on an inquiry about the rainforest. In order to ask rich questions that could help us move towards our science outcomes, we decided the children should build their background knowledge about this habitat first.

To pique their curiosity, we showed them a 2 minute animoto video with photographs of plants and animals that live in a rainforest habitat. They recorded their observations on a 2 column note under the headings: What I know about the rainforest and What I wonder about the rainforest.

Then we divided them into groups of four and they rotated between six centers. Two centers were online slideshows about life in the rainforest. A third center was an online data base with rainforest information. The fourth center was a teacher-made slide show that included labeled photographs of rainforest plants and animals. The final two centers were big books about the rainforest. As they moved between the centers, they were instructed to continue to record their knowledge and questions.

Then, we stood back and let them go!  They enthusiastically dove into the task! We overheard exclamations like "Wow, did you see that snake?" "Did you know that rainforests have half the animal species in the world?"  "I wonder why it rains so much there?" "Is that tree taller than the school?"  They were overflowing with questions, new facts and curiosity. The students carefully recorded their notes and asked if it was OK if they could use the back of the page when they ran out of space. They groaned with disappointment when our exploration time was finished. We showed them how to access the digital information from home and some of our students reported that they had continued exploring the information from home

Armed with their new knowledge about the rainforest they were ready to move to the next phase...choosing questions and beginning an investigation!


Mrs.Champ's Reflections (Classroom Teacher) 
I believe in the power of inquiry and have begun to attempt to shift my practice to an inquiry oriented stance. But, I am a linear person and am very comfortable with explicit instruction. I have to constantly stop myself from defaulting to overstructuring the activities I plan for my students.   As we embarked on this inquiry project I knew I would be relying on my TL, Mrs. Kulyk, to help me release control to my students.

I  had doubts....many doubts. I knew my group of learners was capable but I was concerned about their ability to work well as a group.  I was uncertain they could manage the technology we were using. Most of all, I doubted they would be able to pull out the 'right' ideas from the materials we set up in the centers. Would they learn?
 
But, I was pleasantly surprised. The groups worked together very well. For the most part, they were so engaged in the information, they chose to work together to learn more!  They had a structured sheet to record on which help focus the task for them.  The materials were easy for them to navigate, at their reading level and the variety helped keep the task fresh and exciting. We were wise to store all of the digital information on one page on our libguide. This gave us an easy place to return to if the students made any navigation errors. This common area was also a great place for accessing our digital information from home

I also shifted my idea on what the 'right' information was.  I realized that the goal was to engage and immerse them in the rainforest habitat. The 'right' information was the information that engaged them! There did not have to be a specific content focus yet. As a class, we generated over 60 questions and, as we revise and classify them, I see the threads of our curriculum content weaving into our process. We will narrow our focus as we deepen our background knowledge. As we move to a narrower focus, it is my hope that the energy we felt in this initial lesson will carry through.

This immersion activity taught me to trust...
...my students' curiosity
...my students' ability to work and think together
...my students' ability to navigate technology
...the power of engaging content
...the inquiry process

As we move into the next phase of our inquiry, the investigation, I will remind myself of these lessons and continue to trust them as I learn to release responsibility for the learning into their capable hands.