Forecast bright for Holy Family Academy students
The vocabulary word was meteorologist. Like a bolt of lightning, Holy Family Academy's second-grade student, Natalie Mc Hone had a brilliant idea. How about asking a “real live” meteorologist to visit her class?
Encouraged by her teacher, Mrs. Carlotta Lencioni, Natalie borrowed her mom's laptop and typed a letter to Phil Schwarz, meteorologist for ABC 7 News Chicago.
To Natalie's delight, Mr. Schwarz agreed, and the timing couldn't have been more perfect. “We were just wrapping up our Inquiry learning unit on weather,” said Mrs. Lencioni.
Inquiry based learning is a student-centered, active learning approach that focuses on questioning, critical thinking, and problem solving. Over the last several weeks, the second-grade students at Holy Family Academy in Inverness had experimented, observed, researched, and collaborated as they learned about “wild and crazy weather.”
Integrating math, social studies and language arts in this science lesson, the second-graders each created a “weather book” and personally presented their information to a first grade buddy.
“It is amazing how much these 7- and 8-year-olds learn about weather” stated Mrs. Catherine Lyon, also a second-grade teacher at Holy Family.
As experienced teachers, both Mrs. Lencioni and Mrs. Lyon have taught using more traditional methods of instruction. They have found that the depth of knowledge their students achieve using Inquiry learning is limitless. Starting each unit with an open-ended question for the students to consider is markedly different from reading a chapter in a textbook and memorizing facts for a test.
While these incredible teachers never lose sight that their students are typical second graders, they both agree that the critical thinking and problem solving skills their students are learning at such an early age are actually preparing them to succeed in college and future careers.
So, what does Natalie have to say about her brilliant idea? “I'm so glad Mr. Schwarz came to Holy Family Academy. I may want to be a meteorologist when I grow up or, maybe a doctor, or an engineer, or a teacher or..." Clearly, a very sunny forecast.