A note from Aricka Fleguel, Student Success Coordinator, Curve Lake First Nation
“A Day at Henry’s”
A visit by our partners from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education which included educators from the Robertson Program for Inquiry-based Teaching in Mathematics and Science, Natural Curiosity and the Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study led each classroom to the boardwalk at the marshlands of Henry’s Gaming. Students were asked to observe everything in the area and charcoal sketch anything they saw that sparked their interest and wonder. It was amazing to see the marshlands through the children’s eyes and the questions they had were amazing—such as noticing the pollution on the surface and theories about where do the rising bubbles come from.
Following the tour, everyone gathered on the grassy shore to share what they had produced. Classroom teachers spent some time over the remainder of the year, looking at ways to explore the topics and ideas from this experience within their classrooms. We are looking forward to continuing this journey in the fall with plans for linking our students with the students from Jackman ICS, perhaps through Skype, letters, videos and visits!
Thanks again for taking time to contribute!
Aricka
The Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study’s Robertson Program and Natural Curiosity is collaborating with the dynamic team of educators at Curve Lake First Nation School to create inquiry-based learning opportunities for K-3 children.
A huge thank you to Aricka Fleguel, Curve Lake’s Student Success Coordinator, for developing this partnership and organizing the day! The professional development experience included an overview of Natural Curiosity by Richard Messina (JICS Lab School Principal), a look at what inquiry-based learning looks like in a Kindergarten classroom with Carol Stephenson (JICS Kindergarten teacher), a chance for educators to read a case study and work together to “map” an inquiry with Haley Higdon (Natural Curiosity Lead). We then spent time together brainstorming ideas to begin inquiry in the classrooms. We appreciate the opportunity to spend the day learning with such dedicated educators!
Photo from left to right, back row: Tammy (Grade 1/2 teacher, Dawn (Special Education teacher), Aricka (Student Success Coordinator), Katy ( Student Success Facilitator), Bev (Robertson Program), Holly (Ojibwe Language teacher), Kayla (Grade 3 teacher), Shannon (Grade 3 teacher).
Front row: Helena (Principal, Curve Lake FN School), Carol (Kindergarten teacher, JICS), Haley (Natural Curiosity), Matt (Kindergarten teacher, Curve Lake FN), Richard (Principal, JICS).
