What was remarkable to me in this year's library orientation was the response of the grade 9 students to the activity I planned and prepared. I kept the same activities for the returning students, but decided on the last minute to change the activities for the new Griffins. Besides the orientation, I carried on another session for them later in the day. This was part of the Foundation Days Program that the MYP Team put together.
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| The Harkness Table where thoughtful discourse and mutual respect are observed. |
The activities that the grade 9s worked on were anchored on two concepts namely, research as an inquiry process and research as communication. The class was divided in two groups. Group 1 was tasked to make a plan in repairing an old bike. Group 2 was tasked to analyze Hitler's proclamation as Time's Man of the Year. Both tasks involved process as an important factor in completing tasks.
The output that each group brought to the table was impressive. Not only did they answered the questions and completed the tasks, they also described their process at arriving at an answer or a conclusion. There was evidence of critical thinking as one group reasoned out practical means to repair the old bike versus, going the long route of understanding how a bike works and what needs to be repaired if it is broken. I was impressed on the group who worked on the Hitler activity. They consulted books, online resources and went back to previous assignments about World War II. The discussion was rich with in the groups and the presentation was a team effort. Promising!
Onward to the next phase of research skills building. This is going to be an exciting academic year!
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