Category: Planning & Teaching

Simple Strategies to Activate Students’ Prior Knowledge

Despite our best efforts, it can be a challenge to get students interested and engaged in their learning. Often, many of them lack the prior knowledge to infer meaning. However, there are some genuinely useful strategies that can help re-engage...

The Power of the Reggio Emilia Approach in Education

You may have heard of the Reggio Emilia approach in education and wondered what it is or how it works. Like other educational theories gaining increased popularity in the 21st century, the Reggio Emilia approach focuses on putting the child...

How to Use Scientific Inquiry in the Elementary Classroom

Science is one of those subjects that gets a lot of students excited and curious about learning. It’s also one of those subjects that teachers sometimes feel apprehensive about teaching, and for a variety of reasons; it can be daunting...

Practical, Time-Saving Tips for Implementing Inquiry-Based Learning

Inquiry-based learning has grown in popularity over the past decade. In fact, over 90% of teachers in a recent poll indicated that they have implemented, or are planning to implement inquiry-based learning in their classrooms. However, implementing a successful inquiry...

9 Powerful Inquiry Learning Examples to Use in the Classroom

Inquiry-based learning is a teaching approach that focuses on student-generated questions, ideas, and observations, and uses these as an anchor for learning. Most teachers are familiar with inquiry-based learning; many of them have implemented it in their own classrooms. However,...

Creating Strong Driving Questions for Inquiry Learning

Both inquiry-based and project-based learning use questions to engage students in learning about topics and ideas that interest them. These questions are called driving questions (also referred to as “essential questions”). A driving question is an open-ended question that is...

Teaching Inquiry Learning: A Simple Roadmap for Teachers

Inquiry-based learning can be incredibly powerful and engaging in the classroom. However, if you’re new to inquiry learning, it can be overwhelming to know where to start and what path to follow. There are plenty of articles online about the...

Provocation vs Invitation: What is the Difference?

You might have heard the terms provocation and invitation with regards to inquiry learning. Here is the main difference between the two:

An invitation is something that encourages students to explore a concept. A provocation is something that provokes action and stimulates thinking.

Invitations and provocations can be seen in all classrooms, but they are incredibly popular in kindergarten and early elementary classrooms. However, they can be used with students of all ages to introduce new topics and concepts. Now that the difference is clear, let’s look into how these work in the classroom.