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Building an Inquiry Based Learning continiuum

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Building an Inquiry Based Learning continiuum

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Tara brings passion and a deep understanding of service learning, rooted in years of experience, to her training. Her training builds bridges from theory to implementation while generously sharing her resources and knowledge to ensure our success. Tara works with the whole school (administration, teachers, students, and SL leaders) to build a sustainable program that is embedded in the curriculum and tied to the mission. She energized a faculty on a Friday afternoon, no easy feat, leaving them with a desire to learn more about SL and to become more involved. I cannot recommend Tara highly enough.

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Building an Inquiry Based Learning Continuum: Checklist included - Serve Learn

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Tara brings passion and a deep understanding of service learning, rooted in years of experience, to her training. Her training builds bridges from theory to implementation while generously sharing her resources and knowledge to ensure our success.

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6 STRATEGIES FOR CREATING AN INQUIRY DRIVEN CLASSROOM

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6 STRATEGIES FOR CREATING AN INQUIRY DRIVEN CLASSROOM

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by Irena Nayfeld, TeachThought PD Inquiry Workshop Facilitator

Teachers of young children juggle a lot.

There is literacy, math, science, social and emotional development, learning standards, the needs of each child, materials to make activities engaging, safe, and educational...the list goes on. More and more, researchers are finding that ' such as curiosity, persistence, collaboration, growth mindset, Habits of Mind and 'critical thinking, and creativity are malleable and, when fostered, improve learning across all academic domains. 21 Century Skills

Curiosity is a powerful catalyst for learning. Young children want to understand the world around them, and naturally reveal their interests by asking questions - sometimes even too many questions! As educators, we may feel pressure to keep going with our intended lesson plan or to get to our 'point.'

This may lead us, as teachers, to push ahead instead of listening to a child's question, or to answer it briefly and move on. The goal of education should be to nurture and grow minds that are ready to solve problems and think critically, and asking questions is a necessary skill in that process.

For this reason, we want to prioritize the asking of great questions and place it at the forefront of our mission for our classrooms and our students.

6 Strategies For Creating An Inquiry-Driven Classroom

Given all of the other responsibilities and priorities, how can early childhood educators create environments and experiences that encourage curiosity and inquiry to flourish?

1. Let students explore and learn through play

Imagine you are at a professional development workshop, and the facilitator hands you a bunch of materials for your next project. Before you've had the chance to take them in or figure out what's what, the facilitator says "Okay, what questions do you have?"

Besides "What are these?", it is hard to come up with in-depth, meaningful questions about the materials or project you have not had any time to explore. Once you have had a chance to examine them closer, touch them, move them, make sense of their relationship to each other, you will likely make observations and start exploring more purposefully; now you are ready to ask some questions and take your understanding of this project to the next level.

Keep this in mind whenever you introduce a new activity to your students- we cannot expect children to ask meaningful questions if they do not have time to explore and play first.

See also 8 Critical Skills For A Modern Education

Spending a whole small group on playing with new materials may seem like 'wasting time' but this exploration will pay off - the next day when you are ready to introduce the activity, their desire to touch and play has been fulfilled the day before. This lets them focus on your instructions better, and brings in that prior experience as a foundation, which means more engagement, more thoughtful questions, and more lasting learning.

2. Turn a lesson into a project (or project-based learning opportunity)

Often, we feel that every lesson we do has to have a 'point' or something concrete that the children created or learned or accomplished. We want to be able to say, 'Here is what I taught them today. Here is something we can show the parents. Here is a lesson I can check off the list.'

The truth is, real learning takes time, and experiences that gradually build on each other over time can create investment, interest, and understanding that is impossible to create in a one-day lesson.

Creating a whole project might sound intimidating at first, but teachers actually find that a project-based mindset takes a lot of pressure off, gives them room to explore children's interests and use their questions as springboards for exploration while still meeting your requirements and objectives.

Let's say it's Halloween and you want to talk about pumpkins. One lesson on pumpkins can become a week-long of science and math activities where children explore the pumpkins first, cut them open and observe the insides, compare them to other fruits and vegetables, measure their size, circumference and weight, and then generate some questions that lead to an ongoing experiment.

What else do we want to know about pumpkins? Maybe one child wants to know what happens if we leave it out - will it rot? How long will it take? Another might wonder how a pumpkin becomes pumpkin pie. A third might ask about where, or how, pumpkins grow.

As the teacher, you can then take that curiosity and pick a question to investigate, teach children how to use find answers using books or technology, and, most importantly, show them that their questions can lead to experiments and explorations and new knowledge!

3. Stop being the expert

Once a question is asked, there are three paths a teacher can take:

1. Ignore the question or tell the student now is not the time.

2. Answer the question as best as you can and keep going with your lesson.

3. Say "I don't know, but that's a great question... how can we find out?"

It's okay not to know the answer! In fact, that can lead to richer, more in-depth and more interesting discussions. When you are not sure of the answer, use it as an opportunity to model curiosity.

Tell the kids you are not sure of the answer and ask for suggestions of how we can find out! They might come up with reading books, watching videos online, using Google, or conducting an experiment to figure out the answer!

Think how much more powerful and lasting this learning will be when the students take ownership, and when the whole class is actively engaged in building the knowledge together!

4. Have a (good) plan for questions

Step 1 is to create a classroom environment where great questions are welcomed. However, if we allow every question to lead to a new discussion or investigation at that moment, we will never finish any lesson we start.

This is why it's important to have a question action plan or a system in your classroom for how questions are handled. Depending on when the question is asked, answering it or starting a conversation might work just fine.

However, what about questions that are on topic, but would take longer to answer fully? How about questions that would take the lesson too far off course to be addressed at the moment? To empower children and send the message that questions are important, we want to think about where these questions fit in, when they are answered, and by whom.

In an inquiry-driven classroom, questions drive the learning, and students drive the questions.

5. Create a 'Wonder Wall.'

One way to accomplish this is to help students create a 'Wonder Wall.'

A Wonder Wall is a great space to "park" questions, but it is only great if children know that there is a set time and procedure for when those questions will be reviewed. Perhaps you pick 1-2 questions to answer during morning circle.

Perhaps you review them yourself during independent work time and then raffle off who gets to find the answer of the computer.

Create a consistent system that works for you and your classroom, and make it a regular part of the routine so that questions are a vehicle for, not a distraction from, learning.
Ed note: The item below was added by Terry Heick to add to the author's ideas.
6. Highlight the evolution of student questions

Similar to the Wonder Wall, consider highlighting not just questions but the evolution of questions-or even publish them somehow to relevant audiences.

How questions change is a strong indicator of understanding. Consider the following scenario:

A student begins a lesson on immigration with a 'Question Journal Entry,' What exactly is immigration? After reading an article about immigration they might ask, 'Do some countries have more immigrants than others? If so, why?' That's a great question.

What if they kept building, asking, 'What problems does immigration cause and solve?

How should governments 'respond to' immigration? Should they encourage it? Discourage it?

What sorts of cultural shifts lead to shifts in immigration patterns? For example, how has technology changed immigration? How do policies from world leaders affect immigration?

How should citizens of a nation respond to immigrants? What is the difference between the rights of an immigrant and the rights of a citizen?

How would I feel if I had to immigrate to another country? Does that matter? Who decides? Is that fair that they decide? Does 'fair' matter? Who gets to define 'fair'?

All of these questions indicate higher levels of understanding than the first; questions are outstanding methods of assessment.
6 Strategies For Creating An Inquiry-Driven Classroom

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6 Strategies For Creating An Inquiry-Driven Classroom

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Curiosity is a powerful tool for learning. Creating an inquiry-driven classroom can leverage potential. Here are strategies to get started.

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BLOG DE MILAGROS TAPIA

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https://youtu.be/-UMINlGN6KM

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Routines and objectives

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How to set a dramatic play center

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Dramatic Play Center Ideas and Resources for Preschool, Pre-K, and Kindergarten.
How to set-up and organize a dramatic play center your in preschool, pre-k, Head Start or kindergarten classroom.

The dramatic play area is a favorite with both boys and girls. Every year it's a tie between which center is the most popular in my classroom, the dramatic play center or the blocks center. Young children thrive on pretend play, they love to dress up and act out real life situations in the play center. The opportunities for developing creativity, imagination, and oral language skills in the play center are endless!

Preschool Dramatic Play Center

The pretend center can be filled with many opportunities for both learning and fun. If you're intentional about planning rich and meaningful play experiences for your little learners, they will not only be having fun, but they'll be learning through play!

Pretend play promotes the development of higher level thinking skills, problem solving, oral language development and oh so much more! When your kids engage in pretend play they are developing critical skills across all learning domains such as language and literacy, math, science, social studies, fine and gross motor, and even social skills!

Dramatic Play Themes

You can change your dramatic play center throughout the year to keep it fresh, fun, and exciting. We like to start out the school year with the basic home living or play kitchen center, and then we spice things up by changing our dramatic play themes about every two weeks. Changing dramatic play themes every two weeks allows children opportunities to practice the vocabulary and begin to internalize the new words offered in each play theme.
Click on the links below to see pictures of and learn more about the different dramatic play themes we have used in our classroom.
Dolls for Pretend Play

Having dolls that represent a variety of ethnicities in the dramatic play center will provide opportunities for cultural identification for some students, and acceptance for others.

I found all of the dolls pictured here at my local Goodwill store for a few dollars each. I was lucky enough to have a parent make doll clothes one year, and I bought the rest of the clothes for the dolls at the toy store since I didn't have to pay much for the dolls.

Props for Play

Old purses, wallets, keys, and used gift cards are always extremely popular in the pretend play center. I found the purses at a garage sale. I also save my old gift cards, wallets, and keys to use in the dramatic play center. You can ask your family and friends to save these things for you too.

Dress Up Clothes for Pretend Play

Clothes for dress-up play are hanging from sticky hooks attached to the wall. The best place to get dress up clothes is the thrift store. You'll find a wide variety of fun clothes that won't break the bank at your local thrift store.

Another way to get inexpensive play clothes is to shop the costume sales after Halloween.

Books in the Dramatic Play Center

A tub of books about homes, clothes, food, and families is available to students. You want to have books available in this center to help young children understand the importance of reading - especially to the baby dolls! Show them how to read board books to the baby dolls as they hold and rock them in the play center.

Favorite Toys for Pretend Play

Printable Labels

When it comes to cleaning up the play center, labels are your best friend! If you label absolutely everything in this center it will make clean-up time go so much more quickly and smoothly for everybody! You can take pictures of each item in this center with your phone, then add them to a Word or PowerPoint document. You'll also want to add words along with the pictures on the labels to help create a print rich environment in your classroom.

If that sounds like a lot of work, I've got your back! I created these free printable labels for you to print and use in your pretend play area to help organize the pretend food and dishes- I hope you like them!

Play Center Materials

Below I have listed some of the other items we have in our dramatic play center:

Book Basket (featuring books about homes, household items, food)

Purses with wallets & keys (these are a HUGE hit)

Table and Chairs

Pencils and Paper

Restaurant Menus

Old Cookbooks and Cooking Magazines

Homemade telephone book with pictures next to each number (library, friends phone numbers, pizza etc)

More Center Ideas from Pre-K Pages

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Dramatic Play Center in Preschool Pre-K and Kindergarten

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How to set up a dramatic play center for learning and fun in your pre-k or preschool classroom. Spice up your dramatic play center with these fun and creative ideas. Your little learners will have a blast pretending to be bakers, chefs, doctors, paleontologists and more!

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Kindergartners get little time to play- why does it matter

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Kindergartners get little time to play- why does it matter

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Dramatic play areas

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Being a kindergartner today is very different from being a kindergartner 20 years ago. In fact it is more like first grade.

Researchers have demonstrated that five-year-olds are spending more time engaged in teacher-led academic learning activities than play-based learning opportunities that facilitate child-initiated investigations and foster social development among peers.

As a former kindergarten teacher, a father of three girls who've recently gone through kindergarten, and as researcher and teacher-educator in early childhood education, I have had kindergarten as a part of my adult life for almost 20 years.

As a parent, I have seen how student-led projects, sensory tables (that include sand or water) and dramatic play areas have been replaced with teacher-led instructional time, writing centers and sight words lists that children need to memorize. And as a researcher, I found, along with my colleague Yi Chin Lan, that early childhood teachers expect children to have academic knowledge, social skills and the ability to control themselves when they enter kindergarten.

So, why does this matter?

All work, and almost no play

First, let's look at what kindergarten looks like today.

As part of my ongoing research, I have been conducting interviews with a range of kindergarten stakeholders - children, teachers, parents - about what they think kindergarten is and what it should be. During the interviews, I share a 23-minute film that I made last spring about a typical day in a public school kindergarten classroom.

MJGDSLibrary, CC BY-NC-ND

The classroom I filmed had 22 kindergartners and one teacher. They were together for almost the entire school day. During that time, they engaged in about 15 different academic activities, which included decoding word drills, practicing sight words, reading to themselves and then to a buddy, counting up to 100 by 1's, 5's and 10's, practicing simple addition, counting money, completing science activities about living things and writing in journals on multiple occasions. Recess did not occur until last hour of the day, and that too for about 15 minutes.

For children between the ages of five and six, this is tremendous amount of work. Teachers too are under pressure to cover the material.

When I asked the teacher, who I interviewed for the short film, why she covered so much material in a few hours, she stated,

There's pressure on me and the kids to perform at a higher level academically.

So even though the teacher admitted that the workload on kindergartners was an awful lot, she also said she was unable to do anything about changing it.

She was required to assess her students continuously, not only for her own instruction, but also for multiple assessments such as quarterly report cards, school-based reading assessments, district-based literacy and math assessments, as well as state-mandated literacy assessments.

In turn, when I asked the kindergartners what they were learning, their replies reflected two things: one, they were learning to follow rules; two, learning was for the sake of getting to the next grade and eventually to find a job. Almost all of them said to me that they wanted more time to play. One boy said:

I wish we had more recess.

These findings mirror the findings of researchers Daphna Bassok, Scott Latham and Anna Rorem that kindergarten now focuses on literacy and math instruction. They also echo the statements of other kindergarten teachers that kids are being prepared for high-stakes tests as early as kindergarten.

Here's how play helps children

Research has consistently shown classrooms that offer children the opportunities to engage in play-based and child-centered learning activities help children grow academically, socially and emotionally. Furthermore, recess in particular helps children restore their attention for learning in the classroom.

Focus on rules can diminish children's willingness to take academic risks and curiosity as well as impede their self-confidence and motivation as learners - all of which can negatively impact their performance in school and in later life.

Giving children a chance to play and engage in hands-on learning activities helps them internalize new information as well as compare and contrast what they're learning with what they already know. It also provides them with the chance to interact with their peers in a more natural setting and to solve problems on their own. Lastly, it allows kindergartners to make sense of their emotional experiences in and out of school.

woodleywonderworks, CC BY

So children asking for more time to play are not trying to get out of work. They know they have to work in school. Rather, they're asking for a chance to recharge as well as be themselves.

As another kindergarten boy in my study told me,

We learn about stuff we need to learn, because if we don't learn stuff, then we don't know anything.

Learning by exploring

So what can we do to help kindergartners?

I am not advocating for the elimination of academics in kindergarten. All of the stakeholders I've talked with up to this point, even the children, know and recognize that kindergartners need to learn academic skills so that they can succeed in school.

However, it is the free exploration that is missing. As a kindergarten teacher I filmed noted:

Free and exploratory learning has been replaced with sit, focus, learn, get it done and maybe you can have time to play later.

Policymakers, schools systems and schools need to recognize that the standards and tests they mandate have altered the kindergarten classroom in significant ways. Families need to be more proactive as well. They can help their children's teachers by being their advocates for a more balanced approach to instruction.

Kindergartners deserve learning experiences in school that nurtures their development as well as their desire to learn and interact with others. Doing so will assist them in seeing school as a place that will help them and their friends be better people.

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Kindergartners get little time to play. Why does it matter?

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Being a kindergartner today is very different from being a kindergartner 20 years ago. In fact it is more like first grade. Researchers have demonstrated that five-year-olds are spending more time engaged in teacher-led academic learning activities than play-based learning opportunities that facilitate child-initiated investigations and foster social development among peers.

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La primera infancia en el PEP desde el punto de vista de los educadores

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La primera infancia en el PEP desde el punto de vista de los educadores

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"As newborns we enter the world completely dependent on others - for food, warmth, shelter and survival. Throughout our lives we remain connected to those around us. But we also strike out on our own, developing the confidence to explore and make sense of our surroundings, gradually becoming aware that we have influence and a measure of control over things that happen." (National Quality Standard - Professional Learning Program 2013)

Ever had a buzz from realising that you can effect change over your life? That may be as simple as starting a new exercise or diet or as powerful as your vote enacting legislative change for marriage equality. Pretty good feeling isn't it knowing you have the power. Children have this right too - but sometimes we adults as carers, parents and educators forget this.

Yes children require love, nurturing, encouragement and support, but they also require some freedom, autonomy and a voice within their lives too. Children when given the opportunity are certainly capable of making decisions and holding valid opinions. All adults need to do is respect and listen to children and by that model a collaborative and cooperative world.

Supporting children to make simple choices for themselves is a relatively easy step towards encouraging independence and agency. This can easily be provided within flexible rather than fixed and regimented environments. Space to explore, loose parts and flexible settings which can be adapted through child-directed play can offer hours of valuable activity for children.

Sometimes as adults this can be a hard for us as offering choices to children may not be compatible with the timeframes and needs of our own daily routine, maybe we're even worried about finding ourselves eventually out of a job.

The benefit that children will receive from this small window of opportunity for freedom is immense.

To empower children is to encourage them to undertake tasks themselves, rather than do it for them. Yes it may take more time and yes they may not do it perfectly - we all put shoes on the wrong feet at one stage! But just think how proud and confident they will feel in achieving something usually reserved for a grown-up. If children struggle or get frustrated, we can support with suggestions - not jump in and do it for them.

Free play is a great stage for encouraging children's agency. Opportunities to lead, organise, socialise and problem solve independently are abundant.

So the next time we're clock watching and hurrying children along to make that 3pm appointment, take a moment to breathe and consider what they are actually doing and how valuable it is to them - even if its just letting off steam.

"If you find yourself in an inconspicuous place, forget about time & all your pressing tasks, & simply watch and listen, you will develop a kind of reverence for the games of children, for their inexhaustible ingenuity ... but you won't always like what you see!" (Colin Ward, 1979)

Play Australia's Play Today Campaign fact sheets (see image below) can be downloaded soon from www.playaustralia.org.au/play-today

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Why does time and space for children's 'agency' matter and how can play help? (Play Today 1) -

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"As newborns we enter the world completely dependent on others - for food, warmth, shelter and survival. Throughout our lives we remain connected to those around us. But we also strike out on our own, developing the confidence to explore and make sense of our surroundings, gradually becoming aware that we have influence and a measure of control over things that happen."

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There's been a great deal of talk about agency lately. This isn't too surprising. After all, it's a major component of the new, enhanced PYP. However, with the explosion of conversations surrounding this topic, many seem to think that it's merely the latest buzzword in education.

But agency is not merely a buzzword.

It's much, much more.

For most of us, agency is something that we have always valued. We became educators because we want to instill a lifelong love of learning in our students. We want our students to develop the skills they need to have agency over their own learning and over their own lives. Of course, in addition to this passion that we have for our students, we value agency in our own lives, too.

Earlier today, I was invited by a brilliant friend into an intriguing conversation on Twitter. The topic was agency. More specifically: What components need to be in place for agency to exist? Should we measure and evaluate student agency?

Great visual! This definitely matches the agency built into the #workshop as well. Especially #minilessons as an #invitation and not an assignment. Thoughts, @Mrs_Gilchrist ? https://t.co/MvvEalcC3M

- Hannah B. Fernweh (@ms_fernweh) October 13, 2018

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the conversation also linked to a post written by a colleague of mine at Tokyo International School. He offered several thought-provoking points. I especially appreciated that he ended his post with a plea to keep the conversation going and to offer alternative viewpoints. It's wonderful to be a part of a community that values lifelong learning and inquiry. While I agree with some of the points made, I also hold an alternative view to several points as well.

I certainly agree that the aspects in the tweet's visual-forethought, clear intention, execution, and self-reflection-are valuable. However, they still do not capture all that agency encompasses.

There must be voice, choice, and ownership.

All of those aforementioned aspects could be in place-but without voice, choice, and ownership, learners could still simply be going through the motions and doing those things because they "have to."

As educators, we must provide an environment that cultivates a culture of ownership-a culture where students have choice and voice in what they are putting forethought towards, the intention they are setting, how they execute their intentions, and how they reflect upon their actions.

What about measuring and evaluating agency? Can it be done? Should it be done?

We cannot measure agency itself, but we can measure how we are doing at fostering learner agency in our schools and classrooms. It's not the students we should be measuring; it's ourselves as educators and the environment we provide. In fact, we have a responsibility to evaluate ourselves and our learning environments to ensure that we empower students to exercise their agency. What are we doing to provide students with opportunities to be authors of their own learning?

In the conversation-sparking tweet, "I Can" statements were given as a potential way to measure and evaluate student agency. These included statements such as:

I can choose my own resources

I can access my own resources

I can explain the question I am investigating

I can describe what my finished product or performance will look like when it is a success

I can explain what I do not understand about _____ yet

I can explain what I am investigating

I can voice my opinion

Those above statements might measure knowledge, the ability to communicate, and perhaps even independence-but not agency. Agency is much more than independence. It's more than the ability to do something on your own. It's more than a skill. It's the opportunity to create, choose, take charge of, and own your knowledge, learning, and skills.

Of course, another problematic aspect in attempting to measure and evaluate student agency is that you would then be communicating to students that they are either "doing agency well" or "doing agency wrong"-which only negates the agency we seek to edify.

Agency is neither a skill that needs to be developed nor measured. It's something that all of us already have-the difference lies in whether others in our environments respect, value, and support it.

This is a juicy topic with many, many layers. I'd love to hear your thoughts and perspectives on this, too, in the comments.

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What is Agency? Should It Be Measured? - Tonya Gilchrist

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There's been a great deal of talk about agency lately. This isn't too surprising. After all, it's a major component of the new, enhanced PYP. However, with the explosion of conversations surrounding this topic, many seem to think that it's merely the latest buzzword in education. But agency is not merely a buzzword.

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This article illustrates inquiry on transportation through an unstructured play-based environment.
After a presentation on student agency at the South Asia International Baccalaureate Schools Association (SAIBSA) meeting at Neev Academy, a chord was struck within me instantaneously. My four-year-old kindergarten students were going to inquire into transportation under the theme How we organize ourselves soour teaching team collaborated on the idea of creating an unstructured play-based learning environment to facilitate the students' understanding of the need for transportation and how transportation makes our life easy.

The classroom provocation was set with sand and toys before the students entered. The students were free to play and explore with different toy vehicles in the classroom with sand on the table and floor.

This activity led to many questions and suggestions. "This place is not good to play because it is not smooth, the wheels are getting hard, etc."

The need for a good road for the vehicles to run smoothly was pointed out when the students first tried moving their toy cars on sand. They analyzed and came to the conclusion that the wheels could not roll on sand as they were getting stuck and that was why the vehicles were not able to move forward. It was a valuable experience to document these four-year-olds discussing alternatives and solutions to the problem at hand. As a result, the beginning of a road was created by the students the next day.

Crossing a road to get to the other side became the next challenge. Children interacted and found various means to get the vehicles across mountains by building bridges using play dough and blocks. They painted a zebra crossing their customized road to help an imaginary old aunty get to her apartment.

Very soon toy policemen emerged in the scenario, standing by a traffic light created by the students in order to direct traffic.

Action
A few days later the students received special permission to paint a zebra crossing in front of the school building for older students to cross the road. They were making a difference in the community they are a part of.

During this unit, the students inquired into the various modes of transportation and understood that people move from place to place through different means. By creating necessity they soon were able to categorize the various modes of transportation according to the medium they operated in, such as road, water or air.

As the students inquired further into various modes of transport, they participated in a real life experience of a bus journey: a mock bus trip on campus with different bus stops along the way, where they got a hands-on experience of buying tickets, counting money and the safety rules to be followed in a moving bus. The students decided on the bus route and stops where they would like to embark.

Similarly, a mock airport scenario was created in the class with pilots, stewardess, security and passengers. Students were excited to experience how to buy airline tickets, print boarding passes, check in baggage and go to the security point. Our in-flight experience included an in-flight menu and a movie. The students carefully paid attention to the safety measures and became aware of the required documents and etiquette of traveling by air.

This play-based method gave the students an opportunity to explore a variety of possibilities, take into consideration others' viewpoints and their own experiences to come to a conclusion about the need of various transportation based on the given situation. This is truly learning through play: agentic learning at its best!
After 6 years of teaching in various schools across the Southern part of the nation, Sangeetha Rajeev is currently in her 3rd year as an early years facilitator at Trivandrum International school, India. Her passion for teaching is not only limited to the classroom and the given resources but extends to the involvement and integration of play and unstructured learning to facilitate student initiated inquiry. With her firm believe in the need to change with time in our means of facilitating education, Sangeetha aims to bring in student-led teaching to the Primary Education System.
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This article illustrates inquiry on transportation through an unstructured play-based environment. After a presentation on student agency at the South Asia International Baccalaureate Schools Association (SAIBSA) meeting at Neev Academy, a chord was struck within me instantaneously.

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MARCOS TEMPORALES
Los alumnos de 3 a 6 años de edad indagan sobre cuatro temas transdisciplinarios cada año como mínimo,
incluidos “Quiénes somos” y “Cómo nos expresamos”.

LOS MARCOS TEMPORALES de duración  para las unidades de indagación serán elegidos por los maestros de acuerdo a la unidad de indagación.

Permite profundizar las unidades de indagación a profundidad.
Realizar conexiones con lo aprendido y vivido
Permite planificar el tiempo para el juego sin interrupciones  así como para el juego dirigido por el maestro .
Apoya a la agencia del alumno .
Tiempo adecuado para los niños para establecer relaciones entre sus pares.