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As temperatures and leaves begin to change in Western Massachusetts, members of the Water Inquiry project are commencing their time at Smith with awakened fervor. Summer months did not stymie our productivity; in fact, group members collaborated online to work on character development and illustrations for our forthcoming narrative– a compelling account of a duckling rescue … Continue reading Collaboration and Character Development: Fall 2016 Water Inquiry

  What can you do with 100 hours?  Ask any of the eleven K-3 teachers who collaborated with Smith students and faculty on the 2015-16 Water Inquiry project, or read on to see what we discovered about inquiry-based learning, water as a topic and outdoor exploration. At our final meeting in May, we asked teachers … Continue reading Reflections on Water Inquiry, July 2015-June 2016

Follow up to the Questioning Activity by Katy Butler, First Grade Teacher, Jackson Street School At our last round table discussion, Renee presented work she had done with her class. Each student was given an image of a cloud and a faucet and asked to show how the water got from one to the other (just … Continue reading Investigating and Using Community Resources

COMING SOON: FINAL WATER INQUIRY ROUNDTABLE MONDAY APRIL 25 3:30-5:30  RSVP cberner@smith.edu Questions about Water: Cloud to Faucet Student Drawings Water Inquiry Teacher Roundtable How does water travel? On the sunny afternoon of March 31, teachers from three elementary schools joined Smith students and faculty to investigate children’s maps tracing the journey of water from cloud … Continue reading Questions about Water: Cloud to Faucet Student Drawings

The Water Inquiry Team held two roundtable sessions this year, bringing together participating teachers from four schools to discuss classroom initiatives and reflect on idea-centered learning. We enjoyed these chances to hear about the real challenges of sustaining inquiry in the classroom and, of course, to examine student work. In the coming year, we hope … Continue reading Reflections on the Fall Semester

The school year is just a few weeks old, but we are already hearing of exciting plans and developments from our Water Inquiry teachers. As we prepare for our first teacher roundtable session at the end of the month, the student members of the Water Inquiry team wanted to share our initial reactions to various … Continue reading Reactions to Teachers’ Ideas

Welcome back to school! We are very excited for the year ahead and to see what directions the Water Inquiry project takes. This year’s plans for the project will be discussed in a later post, but before getting started, we would like to take this opportunity to introduce the student members of the Water Inquiry … Continue reading Meet the Students on the Water Inquiry Team

Water inquirers welcome New England weather Thunderstorms on the morning of July 1 invigorated an intrepid group of elementary school teachers meeting at the MacLeish Field Station to launch the 2015-16 Water Inquiry Teacher Group. The Water Inquiry Group is a professional learning community working to improve children’s understanding of water as a natural and … Continue reading Teacher inquiry: From rain drop to faucet

Interested in attending the July 1 workshop at Smith College's Field Station? There are a few spaces left in this kick-off event for the Water Inquiry Teacher Group.  Please e-mail Carol Berner cberner@smith.edu. “Some people might call this painting, but really we’re watching water move.”  - Bob Hepner, Smith College Campus School Art Teacher The following lesson … Continue reading How Does Water Move? Art and Inquiry

Reminder!  Sign up now for Water Inquiry Teacher Group July 1 Workshop. E-mail cberner@smith.edu How does a first grade teacher engage children in learning about the water cycle? Heading to Jackson Street School, water inquiry team member Hannah Searles observed Katy Butler's first grade class and their initial explorations into the water cycle. Ms. Butler … Continue reading Water Cycle: First Grade Experiments and Ideas