The kids have been asking so many great questions during our Morning Meeting. Asking questions from the observations we make in our daily lives is at the heart of what it means to be a classroom of inquiry - living in wonder at the world around us and sharing this joy of exploration and discovery with one another. When people ask me to define inquiry I often try to explain it as (1) constantly questioning, (2) learning how to learn and (3) critiquing what it is we are learning. In doing this, questions are at the heart of all we do.
Many of our studies are rooted in wonderings that begin "I wonder...," "Why....," "What....," and so on. Because many of the questions come directly from the kids, much of what we learn is negotiated. Sure, we learn the things the state says we need to know but we also explore the curiosities and interests of the kids. It's not worksheets or workbook pages or lectures that most help kids learn; rather, it's questions, explorations, careful observations, research, discussions and critique. More of often than not these lead us to all new questions.
This is why Morning Meeting is such a wonderful part of our school day. This is a dedicated time for the kids to share many of their amazing questions with us. These questions begin as entries in our classroom journals. This structure supports the kids into a questioning sort of life and allows us time to think about all sorts of things that otherwise we might have never thought to address. Here's a sampling of the questions (and shares) the kids have offered already this year:
Math Journal: "Why does a minute feel so long sometimes but then so short other times?"; "Do all problems connect to answers?"
Culture Journal: "Why do we have religions?"; "Why are people sometimes sassy?"; "How do people celebrate birthdays differently during COVID?"; "9/11 is coming up and I have some things to share about it"
Science Journal: "How does the ink in the marker work?"; How do fireflies light up and why do they only do it at night?"; "Why do toucans have such big beaks?"; "How do plants survive in hot, dry places?"; "I built a circuit at home and drew a diagram of it I want to share with you."
Classroom Community Journal: "There are uneven teams at recess during O-Ball when new people join the game. How can we make it fair?"; "I noticed people are playing chess wrong. I want to show you the right way."; "People in football keep choosing the same people to play certain positions and it's not fair. What can we do to fix it?"
For a time, we had stopped doing Morning Meeting because I wasn't sure we could space ourselves out far enough to remain safe. We then tried doing it in the Gathering Room at the end of the day but it was too big of a space to be able to hear another through our masks. We're now back to trying it in the classroom but with half the kids at tables and the other half on the carpet where they can be spaced out more easily. So far, this seems to be working well. Kudos to the kids for being flexible.
Be sure to ask your child about Morning Meeting. And when you're chatting at home and you come across a really good question about something they'd love to understand better be sure to urge them to add it to our journals. We'd love to explore their questions together!
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