Inquiry lesson plan
Name: Adam Klimas
Grade level: 5th
Brief description of the inquiry lesson: Students will identify causes of the American
Revolution.
Students will select people from the American
Revolution that they would like to learn more about.
They will develop questions, conduct research and
display their findings. May 2012
Inquiry lesson plan
Inquiry Process
Notes
Your plan
Questioning: Define
problem question
Start with a guided
exploration of a topic
as a whole class.
Day 1, Introduce the
question, "Why was
there an American
Revolution"
Activate prior
knowledge: KWL,
Surveys, student
conversation etc.
Provide background
information through
articles, museum
exhibits, audio
recordings, videos,
books, web sites,
photos, art, etc.
Begin to discuss the
events leading up to
the American
Revolution. Introduce
a graphic organizer to
chart causes and
effects of important
events. (French and
Indian War) causes
and effects.
Encourage students
to ask personally
Day 2, relevant and socially Causes and effects of
significant questions. different Acts and
Taxes.
Criteria for question
selection:
Complete chapters 8
Is it personally
and 9 of US History. relevant and socially
significant?
Read the Novel,
Johnny
Is the student truly
Tremain,comparing
interested in the
Johnny's life to the
question?
actual events of the
revolution and making
Is it researchable?
note of the historical
figures who are
Is it big enough?
characters in the
May 2012
Inquiry lesson plan
Inquiry Process
Notes
Your plan
Researching: Find
and gather data,
analyze, compare
Find or create
information and look
for patterns
Research
Students will use
library books, and the
Instruction serves as Internet,
a guide to help
livebinders.com,
students meet their
research different
goals.
causes of the AR and
people from the
When reading identify revolutionary era.
the main idea and
authors point of view,
identify key concepts,
increase
understanding of
vocabulary, extract
meaning between the
lines (infer)
Discussing
Have students
discuss open ended
debatable questions
in small groups.
Working in groups
helps provide a
diversity of views.
May 2012
Students will
collaborate to create
a timeline of the
events that lead up to
the war. They will
write about what they
feel are the three
most important
causes of the AR.
Inquiry lesson plan
Inquiry Process
Notes
Your plan
Creating
Create a tangible
artifact that
addresses the issue,
answers questions,
and makes learning
visible and
accountable
Students will
collaborate to create
a timeline of the
events that lead up to
the war. They will
write about what they
feel are the three
most important
causes of the AR.
Inquiry presentation
framework:
1. State problem or
question
2. Develop
proposition that can
be argued
3. Provide
background
information
4. Support proposition
with facts, statistics,
examples, expert
authority, logic and
reasoning
5. Propose solutions
and action ideas
May 2012
Once the novel is
completed students
will conduct further
research on
characters and
display their findings
in their chosen form.
Inquiry lesson plan
Inquiry Process
Notes
Reflecting
Arrive at a conclusion Students will discuss
take a stand, take
their opinions in the
action.
Socratic format in
class. Document, justify,
Some students will be
and share
selected to present
conclusions with a
their ideas during the
larger audience
AHF showcase in
May.
May 2012
Your plan