Inside the Classroom: Ruthie Keyes - Curtis Elementary

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Inside the Classroom is a series that visits Northwest ISD campuses throughout the year and highlights the magical moments that happen between teachers and students each and every day across the entire 234 square miles of NISD.

Force and motion, plus a healthy dose of argument driven inquiry. That’s the recipe for an engaging and informative fifth-grade science lesson unlike any other.

For the next edition of Inside the Classroom, we’re taking you to Curtis Elementary where Ruthie Keyes is using ADI (argument driven inquiry) to encourage constructive criticism among students as they investigate science phenomena.

For this lesson, force and motion was the phenomenon under the microscope. The class was split into groups that included three or four students. Each group was given a set of building materials (LEGO bricks, blocks, magnets, etc.) and challenged to build a structure that would use the force of a marble and turn it 90 degrees.

When we visited, the structures had already been constructed and it was time for the critiquing to take center stage.

Along with their structures, each group was also tasked with creating a project board that featured the guiding question, a claim, a labeled diagram of their structure and a written justification that contained some previously discussed vocabulary terms. It was these project boards that were the subjects of criticism.

Before Ms. Keyes' class took their structures and boards to Curtis Elementary’s outdoor courtyard, Ms. Keyes discussed the “Ground Rules of Critique in Science” that are displayed in her classroom. Students were reminded to be respectful, specific, helpful and to use scientific criteria.

Once in the courtyard, each group had a few minutes to read another group's board before completing a peer critiquing form. The form guided students to check for each required element, share what the group did well, then complete one simple sentence: “I Wonder ___.”

Those two words very succinctly get exactly to the point of what ADI is all about in Ms. Keyes’ class, and throughout the lesson we heard students repeating “I wonder.”.

ADI is designed to help students develop many skills while also completing their scientific investigations. Students are constantly improving their communication, critical thinking, writing and argumentation skills, among many others.

After completing a critique form for all seven project boards, groups gathered around their structures. One-by-one, they rolled their marble down a PVC pipe and into the structure to see if it succeeded or failed in turning 90 degrees. After each group tested their structures, the class picked up their project boards and brought them back inside Ms. Keyes’ classroom.

Each group took a few minutes to read through the critique forms that were left on their boards, then they were offered the opportunity to either accept the criticism or challenge it. 

If a critique form is challenged, the two groups come together and debate the criticism. Debates were animated, but Ms. Keyes was always quick to remind students to be respectful and helpful in their criticism. Ultimately, the criticism is either accepted and changes are made to the project, or rejected and it is a learning experience for the group that offered inaccurate criticism.

Ms. Keyes ended the lesson by asking each group if they would change anything about their project. The opportunity to study each group’s project with the “I wonder” mindset led to almost every group expressing the desire to make some form of improvement.

Ms. Keyes is always encouraged by the way her students seamlessly embed ADI principles into their learning. The method is proven to help students understand the concepts they are being taught, plus the skills they develop along the way will continue to help them outside of the science classroom, preparing them for whatever “I wonders” lie ahead in their futures. 

Check back regularly all year as we continue to visit students and teachers throughout Northwest ISD and offer a rarely seen look Inside the Classroom.