What
does
an
inquiry
classroom
look
like?
How
does
it
work?
How
can
you
tell
if
genuine
inquiry
is
happening
in
the
classroom?
This
chapter
offers
three
practical
guides
to
help
educators
who
are
trying
to
identify
and
support
the
specialized
characteristics
of
the
inquiry
environment.
The
elementary
classroom
is
a
complex
social
environment
in
which
people
talk,
write,
laugh,
learn,
and
interact
with
one
another.
Teachers
are
asked
to
implement
a
variety
of
policies
and
standards
in
multiple
content
areas.
They
are
expected
to
meet
a
variety
of
goals
and
needs
and
to
respond
to
administrators,
parents,
policymakers,
and
the
community.
But
first
and
foremost,
teachers
are
expected
to
meet
the
needs
of
children.
As
Karen
Worth
suggested
in
Chapter
4,
inquiry
is
an
excellent
way
to
help
foster
children's
learning.
School
districts
around
the
country
have
begun
requiring
their
administrators,
teachers,
and
professional
developers
to
better
understand
the
nature
of
inquiry
and
how
to
implement
it
in
the
classroom.
They
also
have
a
pressing
need
to
help
their
teachers
create
inquiry
in
the
elementary
classroom.
Teachers,
administrators,
and
others
who
experience
inquiry
as
adult
learners
still
wonder
about
the
nature
of
inquiry
in
the
classroom:
What
does
it
look
like?
What
would
the
children
be
doing?
What
would
the
teacher
be
doing?
How
would
the
classroom
environment
feel?
Over
the
past
few
years,
professional
developers
have
been
developing
"markers"
designed
to
help
teachers
recognize
when
inquiry
is
occurring
in
the
classroom.
These
indicators
are
shown
below,
in
three
guides
that
look
at
the
special
characteristics
of
the
inquiry
classroom.
Inquiry
Indicators:
What
Are
the
Students
Doing?
On-the-Run
Reference
Guide
to
the
Nature
of
Elementary
Science
Imagine
yourself
in
an
inquiry
classroom.
What
would
you
expect
to
see?
These
guidelines
from
the
Vermont
Elementary
School/Continuous
Assessment
Project
were
created
by
observing
students
as
they
did
"hands-on,
minds-on"
exploration
in
the
classroom.
"The
intent
is
not
to
use
the
guide
as
a
checklist,"
they
said,
"but
to
use
it
as
a
statement
of
what
we
value
in
the
areas
of
science
process,
science
dispositions,
and
science
content
development."
When
students
are
doing
inquiry-based
science,
an
observer
will
see
that:
Students
View
Themselves
as
Active
Participants
in
the
Process
of
Learning
1. They
look
forward
to
doing
science.
2. They
demonstrate
a
desire
to
learn
more.
3. They
seek
to
collaborate
and
work
cooperatively
with
their
peers.
4. They
are
confident
in
doing
science;
they
demonstrate
a
willingness
to
modify
ideas,
take
risks,
and
display
healthy
skepticism.
5. They
respect
individuals
and
differing
points
of
view.
Students
Accept
an
"Invitation
to
Learn"
and
Readily
Engage
in
the
Exploration
Process
1. They
exhibit
curiosity
and
ponder
observations.
2. They
take
the
opportunity
and
time
to
try
out
and
persevere
with
their
own
ideas.
Students
Plan
and
Carry
Out
Investigations
1. They
design
a
fair
test
as
a
way
to
try
out
their
ideas,
not
expecting
to
be
told
what
to
do.
2. They
plan
ways
to
verify,
extend,
or
discard
ideas.
3. They
carry
out
investigations
by
handling
materials
with
care,
observing,
measuring,
and
recording
data.
Students
Communicate
Using
a
Variety
of
Methods
1. They
express
ideas
in
a
variety
of
ways:
journals,
reporting
drawing,
graphing,
charting,
etc.
2. They
listen,
speak,
and
write
about
science
with
parents,
teachers,
and
peers.
3. They
use
the
language
of
the
processes
of
science.
4. They
communicate
their
level
of
understanding
of
concepts
that
t
hey
have
developed
to
date.
Students
Propose
Explanations
and
Solutions
and
Build
a
Store
of
Concepts
1. They
offer
explanations
both
from
a
"store"
of
previous
experience
and
from
knowledge
gained
as
a
result
of
ongoing
investigation.
2. They
use
investigations
to
satisfy
their
own
questions.
3. They
sort
out
information
and
decide
what
is
important
(what
does
and
doesn't
work).
4. They
are
willing
to
revise
explanations
and
consider
new
ideas
as
they
gain
knowledge
(build
understanding).
Students
Raise
Questions
1. They
ask
questions--verbally
or
through
actions.
2. They
use
questions
that
lead
them
to
investigations
that
generate
or
redefine
further
questions
and
ideas.
3. They
value
and
enjoy
asking
questions
as
an
important
part
of
science.
Students
Use
Observations
1. They
observe
carefully,
as
opposed
to
just
looking.
2. They
see
details,
seek
patterns,
detect
sequences
and
events;
t
hey
notice
changes,
similarities,
and
differences.
3. They
make
connections
to
previously
held
ideas.
Students
Critique
Their
Science
Practices
1. They
create
and
use
quality
indicators
to
assess
their
own
work.
2. They
report
and
celebrate
their
strengths
and
identify
what
t
hey'd
like
to
improve
upon.
3. They
reflect
with
adults
and
their
peers.
Adapted
from
materials
created
by
the
Vermont
Elementary
Science
Project
and
the
Continuous
Assessment
in
Science
Project,
©1995.
Courtesy
of
Gregg
Humphrey.
Inquiry
Indicators:
What
is
the
Teacher
Doing?
The
Role
of
the
Teacher
in
the
Inquiry
Classroom
In
the
inquiry
classroom,
the
teacher's
role
becomes
less
involved
with
direct
teaching
and
more
involved
with
modeling,
guiding,
facilitating,
and
continually
assessing
student
work.
Teachers
in
inquiry
classrooms
must
constantly
adjust
levels
of
instruction
to
the
information
gathered
by
that
assessment.
The
teacher's
role
is
more
complex,
including
greater
responsibility
for
creating
and
maintaining
conditions
in
which
children
can
build
understanding.
In
this
capacity,
the
teacher
is
responsible
for
developing
student
ideas
and
maintaining
the
learning
environment.
Besides
the
process
skills
that
the
student
must
hone
in
the
inquiry
classroom,
there
are
also
skills
a
teacher
must
develop
in
order
to
support
student
learning
of
scientific
ideas.
When
you
enter
an
inquiry
classroom,
you
may
see
that
the:
Teachers
Model
Behaviors
and
Skills
1. They
show
children
how
to
use
new
tools
or
materials.
2. They
guide
students
in
taking
more
and
more
responsibility
in
investigations.
3.
They
help
students
design
and
carry
out
skills
of
recording,
documenting,
and
drawing
conclusions.
Teachers
Support
Content
Learning
1. They
help
students
form
tentative
explanations
while
moving
toward
content
understanding.
2. They
introduce
tools
and
materials
and
scientific
ideas
appropriate
to
content
learning.
3. They
use
appropriate
content
terminology,
as
well
as
scientific
and
mathematical
language.
Teachers
Use
Multiple
Means
of
Assessment
1. They
are
sensitive
to
what
children
are
thinking
and
learning,
and
identify
areas
in
which
children
are
struggling.
2. They
talk
to
children,
ask
questions,
make
suggestions,
share,
and
interact.
3. They
move
around
and
make
themselves
available
to
all
students.
4. They
help
children
go
to
the
next
stage
of
learning
with
appropriate
clues
and
prompts.
Teachers
Act
as
Facilitators
1. They
use
open-ended
questions
that
encourage
investigation,
observation,
and
thinking.
2. They
carefully
listen
to
students'
ideas,
comments,
and
questions,
In
order
to
help
them
develop
their
skills
and
thought
processes.
3. They
suggest
new
things
to
look
at
and
try,
and
encourage
further
experimentation
and
thinking.
4. They
orchestrate
and
encourage
student
dialogue.
Adapted
from
materials
created
by
the
Exploratorium
Institute
for
Inquiry.
Inquiry
Indicators:
How
Does
the
Environment
Support
Inquiry?
The
Social
and
Emotional
Environment
of
the
Inquiry
Classroom
Creating
the
proper
environment
is
a
necessary
condition
for
maintaining
an
inquiry
classroom,
but
it
is
not
sufficient
in
itself.
The
environment
of
an
inquiry
classroom
can
look
quite
different
from
our
"standard"
picture
of
a
typical
classroom.
An
inquiry
classroom
may
be
very
active
and
filled
with
materials.
It
may
be
filled
with
children
having
conversations
about
scientific
phenomena,
or
it
may
be
filled
with
evidence
of
independent
investigations.
There
are
three
major
areas
of
development
in
any
inquiry
endeavor.
These
are:
It
takes
a
very
special
classroom
environment
to
support
all
these
elements
for
children
engaged
in
the
inquiry
experience.
In
addition
to
the
guidelines
expressed
in
the
"On-the-Run
Reference
Guide
to
the
Nature
of
Elementary
Science"
above,
an
inquiry
classroom
must
make
it
possible,
on
a
social
and
practical
level,
for
students
to
pursue
their
investigations.
Walking
into
an
inquiry
classroom,
an
observer
may
see
that:
Students
Work
in
an
Appropriate
and
Supportive
Physical
Environment
1. The
room
is
set
up
to
support
small-group
interaction
and
investigation.
2. Lists
of
student
questions
are
prominent
and
available
for
a
ll
to
see.
3.
A
variety
of
general
supplies
are
available,
both
at
desks
and
in
easily
accessed
cabinets.
4. A
variety
of
materials
specific
to
the
area
being
explored
are
easily
accessible.
5. Student
work
is
displayed
in
a
variety
of
ways
in
order
to
reflect
their
investigations.
1. Their
thinking
is
solicited
and
honored.
2. They
are
comfortable
expressing
ideas
and
opinions
and
speaking
up.
3. They
are
comfortable
interacting
with
one
another,
and
with
the
teacher.
4. They
are
encouraged
to
share
information
and
ideas
with
each
other--as
individuals
or
in
groups.
5. They
know
what
they
are
doing
and
why.
Students
Work
in
a
Variety
of
Configurations
to
Encourage
Communication
1. Work
may
be
done
in
student
pairs,
small
or
large
groups,
or
in
whole-class
situations.
2. Students
have
many
opportunities
to
respond
to
feedback
and
learn
from
one
another.
3. Students
become
part
of
a
"community
of
learning,"
supporting
and
affecting
each
other's
thinking.
Adapted
from
materials
created
by
the
Exploratorium
Institute
for
Inquiry.
Not
every
inquiry
classroom
will
look
and
feel
the
same,
but
the
major
elements
identified
in
these
three
guides
will
be
manifested
in
some
form.
It's
not
the
form
that
makes
an
inquiry
environment
successful,
however,
but
the
underlying
substance.
There
are
many
different
ways
to
encourage
communication,
just
as
there
are
many
different
ways
to
support
continued
learning.
Inquiry
classrooms
always
involve
engaging
children's
intellect
in
exploring
and
investigating
interesting
phenomena.
The
emphasis
is
on
allowing
and
assisting
children
to
find
their
own
best
pathway
to
learning.
The
indicators
listed
here
are
meant
to
be
one
way
to
begin
to
determine
if
genuinely
exciting
inquiry
learning
is
occurring.