Chapter 8

   

 Chapter 8 put a great emphasis on the importance of students asking questions and becoming a researcher. By this, I mean that students need to ask questions to further their learning and think in an alternative way and to get the most meaningful questions, students need to explore and do research.
       This chapter is important because this idea of researching and forming questions is a skill that is important for children down the road. In college students are required to think critically and participate in research for assignments. In life in general, these skills are also important. For student's later success, these skills need to be introduced and reinforced early on. This chapter goes over many great ideas to get these skills introduced.
       The lesson on 'wonder questions' is one of the activities that I found to be a great way to introduce these question building and researching skills to young students. This lesson involves teachers showing students pictures of common, every day things in their community and posing questions that they are wondering about. Students then do the same, working in small groups to come up with questions they are wondering about the photos. Later, students will research these questions to find answers and share them with the class. This to me, seems like an awesome way to get children to begin forming questions, because it shows that there can be great questions about simple things that you normally wouldn't think to ask questions about. It is a great introduction to forming questions, but also research.
       Throughout my education, I have had many research assignments. It wasn't until my freshman year of college that I finally got down the skills of researching, even thought I had done many research assignments in high school. I still see students in college struggling to find reliable sources. This is an important concept that I feel isn't introduced properly or early enough. There are so many great ways, that can be enjoyable for students as early as elementary school. These skills need to be continuously expanded on as students get older, so they are prepared for college and later, the professional world.