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Introductory techniques
This introductory technique encourages pupils to be curious about their environment and to spot features of their environment that they might want to ask questions about. Start by asking pupils what they might expect to find in a particular space.
Create a number of bingo style cards using the website Bingo Card Generator. You can copy and paste the following vocabulary list in for a visit around the local area or adapt for school grounds:
Runner, Lorry, Train, Little kid, People holding hands, Person napping, Dog, Pushchair, Litter, Musician, Walking stick, Photographer, Painter, Plastic bag in tree, Squirrel, Pigeon, Bicycle, Shop, Ice cream, Station, Person reading, Person listening to headphones, Church, Sign, Park bench, Playground, House, Factory, River, Canal, Boat, Bridge, Tree, Mud, Litter bin, Garage, Petrol station, Garden, Bus stop, Hotel, Grass, Flowers, Insect, Motor bike.
Once printed off, give each pair a laminated card and a dry-marker pen to cross off each item as they spot them. You could also encourage the pupils to mark the location of each item on to a map of the area.
Another introductory technique is to carry out a sit and sense. Pupils find somewhere outside to sit and use their senses to write down words that describe what they can see, hear, touch, smell and feel emotionally.
Questions
- How do these words help us understand what a place is like?
A ‘see, think, wonder’ activity can also encourage pupils to think deeply about their environment so they are better prepared to ask questions about it.
Provide pupils with sticky notes and ask them to explore the space and find something that is interesting. In pairs or threes discuss what they can see, what it makes them think about and what it makes them wonder. Write the wonder on a sticky note and stick to the object. Alternatively, this can be done as a class where all of the sticky notes are placed on one object and then discussed.
Questioning techniques
Ask pupils to explore a space with a set of cards where each has one of the 5Ws and 1H: Who… When… Where… Why… What… How… printed on them. Pupils place cards next to aspects of the landscape that they would ask about, for example they might place ‘When…’ next to a building and ask, ‘When was this built?’.
When pupils have had an opportunity to explore the space, gather together and discuss some of the questions. Ask pupils to vote with their feet and stand in one place if they believe a question could be easily investigated and another place if they think it would be very tricky if not impossible to find an answer.
Questions
- Are the questions that we have asked open or closed?
- Are the questions that we have asked fact or opinion?
- Which do you think is our ‘best’ question? Why?
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