Using the Book "Big Bully: the Story of Simon Kenton" to Teach the Inquiry Process Through Active Learning

 

By Lesley Barker

The FKCC books produced by the Kentucky Faith and Public History Education Project model the inquiry process for social studies for elementary and middle school students. Homeschoolers can use them for the same instructional goals as well. The first step in the inquiry process, as we discussed last week, is to ask good questions. Next, students are challenged to engage in independent research to hunt for the answers to those questions. Then, students must prove what they have learned by citing the evidence they have found. Finally, they should create a presentation that demonstrates what they have learned. These four steps are consistent with the objectives of a learning strategy known as “active learning”. It makes students responsible for their own learning while the teacher serves as a coach and a mentor along the way.

Here is how to use the first book of the Famous Kentucky Christian Club Series to model the inquiry process. Assign your student to read the first chapter of Big Bully: The Story of Simon Kenton by Lesley Barker (available as a paperback or a Kindle edition here). This book illustrates how a team of four fourth graders researched the life of this Kentucky pioneer and then created a presentation for a Show N Tell competition. Stop after your student has finished reading the first chapter, “Ask Important Questions”. Discuss the questions that the children posed in the chapter. Ask the student what made the question useful for researching  the life of this famous man. Get the student to predict what tools the children in the story may use to find the answers to the questions. Assign the student to read the second chapter, “Hunt for Facts”.  When the student finishes reading this chapter, talk with them about whether their predictions were accurate. Ask if they were surprised by any of the strategies the children used in the book. Next assign them to read the third chapter, “Use Proof”. After they are done, discuss why it is important to cite evidence for what they claim. Before you assign them to read the last chapter, “Show N Tell”, ask your student to predict what the children in the story will create to try to win the competition. Read the last chapter. Then assign the student to draw a picture of the display that the children in the book created. Ask what your student likes about it; what they would change to make it better and if they think the display should win the prize.

This series of four discussions can be spread over one week. The discussions work to introduce your student to the inquiry process. They also serve as social studies lessons about frontier Kentucky. They can also be a series of reading comprehension lessons. Once your student has read and critically considered the inquiry process the children in the book used to make their presentation, you can challenge your student to research the life of another famous Kentucky Christian. The Kentucky Faith and Public History Education Project posts a “trading card” for a different person each Monday on our Facebook Page. You can print these cards and use them to assign a research project to your student.