All About Today

Today a group of kids started a PIP. PIP stands for Personal Inquiry Project. I'm researching horses. I'm wondering how horses see on the sides of their head. -Jadyn
Today was our second day doing our PIP. Mrs. Malkoske got us notebooks, coloured pens, dividers, and binders. We got to choose the colour of our pens. My colour was pink. We got to pick our colour of our notebooks. The colour of my notebook is green. I'm learning about butterflies. After I'm done learning about butterflies, I'm going to be learning about flowers and other plants. We got to write in our notebooks with our pens. -Madeline
At Daily 5 we did Listen to Reading and we got to choose our books. -Sam
Today some of the grade 2s were working with Mrs. Malkoske. We were doing PIP. We picked things that we could write about. I picked fossils. -Jonathon
Today I did Daily 5 and I did work on writing on the computer. I'm star of the week this week. In the start of the week bag there's a book called All About Me. That gave me an idea that I should write about me. I"m not finished it but I"m going to finish it next time I do work on writing. I am also very excited to finish my book because my Mommy is going to look at it and she might say it's very good. -Rhianna
Today we did PIP. I started doing some writing in my notebook that Mrs. Malkoske bought. I am doing research on crystals. I am wondering if when they get over a hundred years old they start to change colours. Tyson is also doing research on crystals. We are going to have fun doing it. -Tristan
Today after lunch we were doing a plan for a boat. I finished doing all the steps. One of my things on my boat is a balloon. -Sydney R
Today we did some planning for our boats. We got to pick if we got a partner or work by ourselves. My partner was Jolene. We designed a boat. I think tomorrow we get to build them. Mrs. Malkoske will get our materials. We got a little booklet that had some stuff we had to work on. -Taylor

Today we got to get our folders for PIP. I'm focussing on planets and I'm going to learn so much about them. I already know lots of things. -Ashley

Today we did another PIP. I picked to research on crystals and rocks. I like rocks because sometimes they have crystals in them and sometimes they are flat and sometimes they are bumpy. Something I learned today is that sometimes rocks have crystals in them. -Tyson

Today during Daily 5 I did a PIP. I am researching about earth and space. -Cole

Today Mrs. Malkoske gave us boat planning books and I made a boat and Andy said it was a nice boat. -Kaspir

Today Mrs. Malkoske gave us a booklet and we had to write down the materials we were going to use to make it. I"m using clay, a glue gun and tin foil. -Sydney H

Today was an exciting day for the children who are beginning their first P.I.P., or Personal Inquiry Project, (and for me too!). On Friday I spoke with a group of my grade 2s about "learning to read" versus "reading to learn". They all agreed that they have definitely learned to read :) They also agreed that they can't read every book that they see, but that they can read and understand most of the books in our classroom. They use strategies to decode text, they can retell the books they read, and they self-monitor for understanding. They are ready for a new challenge. During Daily 5 time, these children will continue to develop their independence as readers and writers as they conduct their own inquiry into a topoic of their choice. In other words, they will read to learn. Each child has selected a topic (a few have their next topic chosen as well), and started today by looking for some books, writing down what they know already, using our computer to find more information and images, and of course, they set up their new binders! It was very exciting for me to see them so engaged in their learning. Quite a few of them chose to take their notebooks home so that they could work on their PIP tonight... they've actually given themselves some homework. :)

As you know, I believe in the "fun theory". For this project the 'fun' is in the stuff... the kids were buzzing about their new binders, notebooks, pens, and dividers (which they were kind of confused but excited about at first). They couldn't wait to put pen to paper and get started. I think the new supplies also make them feel important and in turn, make them see that the work they are doing is important too. I think (hope) it also sends a message about how I value all of their efforts, big and small. A couple of the kids (who had obviously seen my weekend blog post) came in to the classroom in the morning and said "I saw all the stuff you got us for PIP! Thanks! When can we have it?" There were lots of thank you's during our meeting too.

A few small things had them so excited and eager to get started.

I think the choice the kids have for this project is a big part of why they are so excited about it. So much of their time in school is spent learning about the content in our curriculum for each grade level. The truth is that not all kids in grade 2 will be interested in learning about lifecycles, but during our Science time, that's what I need to teach. PIP allows these kids some time for their own learning. During this time they will be learning other life long learning skills that will (hopefully) be valuable to them no matter what they are trying to learn. Skills like finding information, asking good questions, using different types of resources, and organizing and  presenting information... Life long learning skills. I can't wait to see what they find out!

-Mrs. Malkoske