Its Name Says What It Does

An new inquiry unit centered around inventors and inventions began today with third graders. We (my teaching partner, the cooperating teacher, and myself) began by discussing what inquiry means, gave a brief role play example of friendly/unfriendly group behaviors, and listed what we thought we knew about Alexander Graham Bell (in an effort to activate background knowledge).

Then they practiced listing what they know with photographs of inventions. An iPod, a GPS, an old-fashioned bicycle, and a calculator were easy for the list-makers. The paperclip drew a bit of silence...and then my favorite comment of the afternoon: "Its name says what it does!"