Inquiry Time

Welcome to Grade 1 and 2 in Room 116! 

We have had a great first month in our class. Students are settling into routines and building friendships. Let us tell you a little about how we start our days. We start each day with ‘Inquiry Time’. During this time students are engaging in a variety of activities of their choice. We use this time for ‘work on writing’ as well as small group reading instruction. Our students make choices about where they want to engage in the classroom and then they select a writing format to share their thinking, creating and ideas. 

It seems we have a class of architects and engineers as building and creating seems to be a favourite activity. Here are some of their creations:

Soccer field 

Toronto

A library

Using base 10 blocks for a house

Canada's Wonderland

Students also explore a variety of math concepts during this ‘Inquiry Time’. They have done:

• geometry

Pattern Blocks (click for link to purchase)

Pentominoes (click for link to purchase)

• counting

• adding 

Exploring making 10 with Sum Blox

• patterning 

Keva Planks (click to purchase)

• measurement 

Measuring with Linking Cubes 

We believe that you can use play and open exploration to engage students and we need to remember that in Grade 1 and 2 they are still kids and deserve time to explore ideas through play. Providing this time allows students to:

• build social skills
• build curiosity and learn to ask questions
• learn to take responsibility for their learning
• use creative thinking
• express their ideas and knowledge in various ways (structures, loose part creations, writing, conversations, etc.)
• build problem-solving skills
• access various curriculum strands
• work on learning skills
• share explorations through various writing formats