We have begun our Inquiry topic called “Keep Me Covered” about different homes around the world. Last week we read a book called “Come Over to My House” by Theo LeSieg (otherwise known as Dr Seuss). This introduced the idea of different types of housing around the world. Students chose a house they were interested in and drew a picture of it. They then had to come up with two questions about the house that they would like to know the answer to. This is because questioning (and asking deep questions in particular) is a central component of Inquiry.

Today I drew children’s attention back to Australia (we will then move out to our neighbouring countries and then South America and Africa). Children were given one state of Australia. They then had to find the missing parts of Australia to make a complete map. It was interesting to hear comments move from “I don’t know what I have” to “I have Perth” to “I have Tasmania” and finally to “I have Northern Territory, who has Queensland?” etc. This dialogue occurred naturally but we will formalise it in the weeks ahead. Students then had a go of drawing a freehand map of Australia before being shown some tricks to help them (Australia is a rabbit with the ears being North Queensland and Tasmania being a carrot!) This task helps students form a mental picture of the shape of Australia.