Monday, March 8, 2010
Van Sluys Chapter on Invitations
Invitations help students "raise and pursue questions that are important to them and the world, and they need a supportive learning environment in which they are encouraged to ask about and respond to critical issues." (25) As teachers, we need to make time for invitations in our classroom. Through an invitation, the teacher gives students time to challenge ideas and meanings. Invitations will also help develop your students as literate people. Invitations have 4 common features: an initiating experience, a formally presented invitation, possible questions to pursue, and related resources. This is a great activity for your classroom because the investigation that these students are doing is based on their lives, and experiences. One item we need to remember is to make time for reflections. These reflections should be brief, but they give students a chance to write about their thoughts and reactions. I believe that invitations should definitely be apart of your classroom.
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I really like this article and feel as if it provided some great ways to incorporate inquiry based questions and ideas into the classroom. I was amazed at the types of questions students were asking in conjunction to the article they were reading on Ebonics. What a great way to keep students motivated in the classroom as well as allowing them to feel a great deal of pride when they discover new knowledge for themselves.
ReplyDeleteThe best invitations tap into students' concerns and passions, providing a space to investigate while learning new genres.
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