Learning about maps in 4th grade (video)
A group of amazing fourth-graders in Gardnerville, Nevada, star in a new video. In it, they demonstrate how they and their teacher, Alyssa Park, wove the Question Formulation Technique into a unit about geography, mapmaking, and Nevada history.
The video explores how students’ own questions about a primary source — an 1866 map of their state — propelled learning across two days. (You can also read a behind-the-scenes account of how we filmed this video. Thank you, Gene L. Scarselli Elementary School, for welcoming us!)
Watch: Primary Sources & QFT: 4th Grade Classroom Video
Primary sources: self-paced, on-demand modules
You can learn more about using the Question Formulation Technique with primary sources through our free on-demand, self-paced modules.
A group of preservice teachers at Virginia Tech recently took these modules and applied what they learned with students. One of the Virginia Tech educators said this of the experience: It “pushed me to see the broad possibilities and potential of students’ curiosity and the interesting learning opportunities that could be created due to questions I may have never thought to ask or answer before.”
Learn more: free on-demand modules
Webinar: What makes a question a good question?
On January 30, join us for a webinar, What Makes a Question a Good Question, hosted in partnership with PLATO (Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization).
RQI’s Katy Connolly will join Lani Watson, from the University of Oxford Faculty of Philosophy; Johnny Walker, a history teacher at Triumph Charter High School in Sylmar, California; and Karen Emmerman, education director at PLATO, for this conversation. It starts at 4 p.m. Pacific time (7 p.m. Eastern).
Spring 2023 Events
Here are some opportunities to connect with us this spring:
February 13: Okay, February is not spring (wishful thinking). We’re joining #sschat, a network of educators who come together on Twitter every week to talk about social studies, for their February 13 discussion. Hop on Twitter from 8-9 p.m. (Eastern time) and follow the hashtag #sschat. Or, visit sschat.org, where you can learn more.
March 23-25: Find us at the National Council for History Education 2023 conference in Salt Lake, Utah. We’re doing sessions on March 24 and 25. Here are the details.
March 25-April 1: As part of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics virtual conference, we’re offering a pre-recorded session called, Spark Curiosity and Joy in Math by Teaching Students to Ask Their Own Questions.
Feb. 28-March 28: Teaching Students to Ask Their Own Primary Source Questions is a free online course made possible by the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources program.
April 11-May 1: Join us for our flagship course, Teaching Students to Ask Their Own Questions: Best Practices in the Question Formulation Technique, offered through the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Register by April 3.
What we’re reading
These are some recent stories that got us thinking and asking questions — with an unintended emphasis on what so many people seem to be talking about these days: A.I.
Alarmed by A.I. Chatbots, Universities Start Revamping How They Teach — The New York Times
ChatGPT: Teachers Weigh In on How to Manage the New AI Chatbot — Classroom Q&A with Larry Ferlazzo, Education Week
With ChatGPT, Teachers Can Plan Lessons, Write Emails, and More. What’s the Catch? — Education Week
Why Student Voice Should Be Central to School Libraries — KQED MindShift
What your gifts mean
When you make a gift to the Right Question Institute, you help bring free resources to teachers and schools. Plus, you help equip people in low-income communities with skills and strategies for solving problems, participating in decisions, and making their voices heard — contributing to a more inclusive educational system, society, and democracy. Thank you for your support.