This was a spontaneous inquiry that came out after watching another class perform a Circus show as part of their IPC topic: The Circus is Coming to Town.
As soon as we got back to our class, they began practicing and performing. It was impossible to ignore, because it was going on inside the classroom, outside during recess/play, and literally.. ALL. THE. TIME.
Below is the documentation pieces I wrote during that time, I don’t have the files anymore (just the images) — this took place about 3 years ago. It’s still one of my favourite inquiries so far. It was also my first ever spontaneous one that I totally embraced!
We even had a parent use their GoPro to film the entire show — including the ‘back stage’ part showing the nervousness of the children as they were getting ready to perform! Everything was voluntary, and we had one student who didn’t want anything to do with performing on a stage, so he was part of the crew and helped me with microphones, the wires, and the sound system. He also was in charge of making sure whoever was on stage, and coming up next was ready. I talked with his mom about this before hand, and they were fine because they knew he was very shy and that he didn’t like being on stage (as previous year concerts showed this, he would often be at the back very nervous). They were happy he took on an important role (even if he wasn’t on the stage)!
Other children took on many roles, some took on one. They wrote their own scripts (with help), and typed up their work (if they were reading a poem they wrote, or a story they wrote). They choreographed their own dances and chose their own music. They took 100% ownership and accountability for what they wanted to do. The focus of this became reflection, emotions, and self-regulation. We checked in throughout the beginning to the end with our feelings, and reflected about how we felt/why we felt that way, and what could help us feel better. I really think this inquiry helped form really strong connections between the children, as they were all supporting each other. The changes they went through during this unit was incredible, and everything was documented in order and shown to the parents before the show.
I wish I had kept more of the documentation I had on this inquiry, especially the work we did with the reflecting and our emotions.
Hope you enjoy reading through it! I think this will always be part of my memories as a teacher!
In The Early Years... 