Curriculum Resource Guide for Implementing Inquiry-Based Learning in 1st-2nd Grades

As classroom teachers, our goal is to instill a life-long love of learning in our students so they are able to take ownership of their learning and become critical thinkers who can collaborate with others and effectively communicate their ideas using 21st century skills. In my own experience, students often have limited exposure to informational texts. In addition, classroom libraries do not have a wide selection of informational texts available to use during instruction. As a result, students begin to believe that the reading that happens in the classroom is different from the reading that happens outside of the classroom and are not prepared to read and comprehend informational texts independently. The purpose of this project was to develop a curriculum guide that first and second-grade teachers can use to implement inquiry-based learning in their classrooms. The resource guide includes ready to use resources, suggestions for how to incorporate technology and sample inquiry units for first and second grade. Using an inquiry-based learning approach has the potential to help students become life-long learners and prepares them for 21st century learning.