Why Are School Buses Always Yellow?

Teaching for Inquiry, K-8

John F. Barell

• Publisher: Corwin
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781506323657
• eBook ISBN: 9781506340050
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education Curricula

Turn natural curiosity into deep, lasting learnings!

Inquiry is what drives us all toward new knowledge, but how do we transform children's natural ability to notice and wonder into the full learning cycle of observing, thinking, and critically questioning? 

Through this new edition of the bestselling Why Are School Buses Always Yellow? you'll find simple, yet systematic ways to develop authentic student inquiry that fosters deep learning. This new edition features:

• Updates based on the latest research around inquiry-based teaching
• Emphasis on turning inquiry into critical thinking, assessing students' inquiry, and involving families in the inquiry process
• Examples for K–8 across subject areas
• New emphasis on critical thinking about technologies
• New and updated activities, checklists, templates, and implementation tools
• Alignment with Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards

With this invaluable resource, help students transform their playful wonderings into deeper questions about content—and develop the higher-level thinking skills they need for success in school and in life. 

"Educators often talk about developing lifelong learners - our team has had great success using Why Are School Buses Always Yellow? to catalyze professional conversations about how we can better cultivate curiosity through an inquiry approach.  I strongly recommend this [new edition] for those who are interested in unlocking the uniquely creative capacity of our youngest learners."
Devin Vodicka, Superintendent
Vista Unified School District, Vista, CA

Table of contents

• Cover
• Acknowledgements
• Acknowledgements
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Illustration List
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author
• Author’s Note
• Introduction
• Acknowledgements
• 1 “What’s Wondering Got to Do With It?”An Overview of Inquiry
• 2 “This Is Better Than Recess!”Why Inquiry Is Important
• 3 “How Do We Begin?”Modeling Our Inquisitiveness
• 4 “How Do We Build Inquiry Into Our Classrooms?”Initiating Inquiry With Problematic Scenarios
• 5 “When Is It Chaos?”Developing and Refining Units of Instruction
• 6 “Why Are Mountains Necessary?”The Nature of Good Questions
• 7 “How Do We Know They Understand?”Performing Our Understandings
• 8 “How Do We Integrate Technology?”From Crystal Radios to “Explain Everything”
• 9 “How Do We Involve Families in Our Inquiries?”Encouraging All to Help
• 10 “We Don’t Learn That Way”Inquiry and Students With Special Needs
• 11 “How Do We Effect Change in Our Classrooms?”Positive Professional Development
• Conclusion
• Appendix: Templates
• Glossary
• References
• Index
• Publisher Note