Reply To: Year 7 Inquiry project on Pirates

[Rachel Huskisson Participant]

Update on the project

Hi Folks,

I thought I would just update you all on how this project has been going. I ran it first time when I was doing library lessons on my own so it was difficult to really collaborate but I did use the FOSIL framework to simplify it as suggested above. I put together a dashboard on my LMS with a few websites, all of the books and a podcast. The question I settled on was “Is it a pirate’s life for me?” using a great video from the rmg to introduce the project, it really got the students engaged. Because of time constraints, we did the Connect stage verbally, I asked them what they already knew about pirates before sending them off to consider questions they might want to ask in order to decide whether it was a pirate’s life for them. I got them to read the pirate books for the rest of this lesson. The next lesson, I introduced the dashboard, and using the investigative journals  https://fosil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/LS-001100-Investigative-Journal-Print.pdf, they began to investigate and record their findings. The Construct phase was harder to include, time limits meant we did have to move onto the Express stage, they were tasked with creating either an advert for people to join a pirate crew or a warning leaflet on the dangers depending on how they finally answered the original question. They had to include the facts they had found including citing sources. They created some really creative work and seemed to really enjoy it. My reflections are, that the Construct phase needed some attention, and there was no real reflection on their part. This year, I was working with English teachers, some of whom got it and some who didn’t. With time always being an issue, I find that research for English teachers can be a case of “have a quick look on Google and see what you can find”. The challenge is slowing the process down in order for it to be a meaningful learning experience. The graphic organisers were a hit with one teacher and she has made use of them in further research based lessons.

Please feel free to add comments or feedback! This is all pretty new to me and I know there are definitely ways to improve it. One thing I will definitely do next time is just limit them to one really good website, time is just wasted when they have too many websites/resources.