Elaborating and Open-Ended Questions

Today we used a map and a photograph to talk about elaborating and open-ended questions.

Here are some of the intriguing questions that students asked about the map of the Crusades:

Nikki: The map shows that Christians controlled more land than Muslims at the time of the Crusades.  If Christians already controlled more land, why did they fight the Muslims to try to conquer even more land?

Bertie: Why did the Crusades last so long (108 years)? Don’t most wars last more like 5 years or 10 years?

Pallavi: During the 108 years, did any other countries (in addition to the ones shown on the map) get involved in the Crusades?

Next we looked at a photo of the Kabaa, and these are some of the questions that students asked:

Gia: What do people do when they come to this place?

Henry: Why are so many people visiting this place?

Ryan: How do people get there?

And here's a great example of an open-ended question:

Lucas: Does a person choose his religion, or does the religion choose the person? Lucas said that a version of this question is posed in the Harry Potter books.

Musical bonus question: Halle's question about Let it Go inspired a lively debate:

Halle: Why is Let it Go such a popular song?

Students had a variety of possible answers to Halle's question:

Nikki: The song is so popular because it's part of a very successful movie.

Mason: No, no ... the song is so popular because of its message (girl power!).

Thomas and Gresh: No, no ... the song is so popular because it's really, really catchy, with a great beat!!

I think Thomas and Gresh's answer was the most popular. I loved hearing the variety of ideas.

Lady with an Ermine

Today we practiced asking explicit and implicit questions.

Dawson got everyone thinking with this excellent insight: Sometimes, whether a question is explicit or implicit depends on who is answering the question.

For example, several students asked what kind of animal the lady is holding in the portrait, and there was a lively debate about whether this was an explicit or implicit question.

Dawson pointed out that for a professional zoologist, this would be more of an explicit question, because he or she could determine the type of animal just by looking at it, based on extensive knowledge about animal-types.  For a regular person, though, it would be more of an implicit question, because a regular person would have to do additional research about the animal and would not be able to identify it as an ermine just by looking at the painting.

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Here are some of the other great questions about Leonardo's painting...

Rosalie: Why did the artist choose to paint this particular lady?

Kimball: What emotions is the lady feeling? (and Caroline had an excellent twist on this question): What emotions is the ermine feeling?

Cole, Amrit, and Seppi: What is the painting supposed to symbolize? What does the ermine symbolize?

Gardiner: Does the lady have a special connection with the ermine?

Here's another portrait in which an ermine makes an appearance!  
Can any of you identify this famous queen?

First Day Questions: Leonardo's Lasers and Chinese Water Buffalo

Charles: Did Leonardo da Vinci invent a reflective mirror that could magnify and concentrate solar energy into a laser that could be used to destroy enemy ships?

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Charles got the blog off to a terrific start with this question about Leonardo's possible invention of a mirror/laser machine.

He asked the question in the context of my introduction of Leonardo having one of history's most creative minds.

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To be perfectly honest, I was a bit taken aback by this question! I've read quite a bit about Leonardo da Vinci, but until Charles asked his question I had never heard of this invention.

Oliver, however, chimed in to say that he thought Charles was onto something. Then, Lucas told the class that he's actually seen a magnifying glass used to concentrate the sun's energy so forcefully that the light could be used to carve letters onto metal.

I am really excited to look into Charles's question and to learn more from the students about this topic!

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Mr. Brennan: (1) Where have you come from?  (2) Where are you going?  (3) How many water buffalo do you own?

During the 5th-8th grade Assembly this afternoon, Mr. Brennan posed these questions to the students.

Mr. Brennan explained that a Chinese man asked him the questions as they chatted on the banks of the Pearl River, where Mr. Brennan was living and working at the time.

I like the way that Mr. Brennan is challenging all of us to ponder, as the school year begins, where we are coming from and where we hope to go.

Here's a picture of the Pearl River.

I enjoyed meeting everyone today, and I look forward to our second class tomorrow.

An Introduction to Leonardo's Notebook

WELCOME TO 6TH GRADE HISTORY! 

I am very excited for the first day of school.  I think we are going to have an excellent year.

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This blog is called Leonardo's Notebook.  It will serve as one tool in our discussion of history.

I love photographs, artwork, and maps, and I think the blog will be an especially helpful place to highlight those items.

I will also post course material on the blog, including the Wednesday evening history videos.

Most importantly, the blog will feature your questions and your ideas. In the same way that Leonardo da Vinci wrote down his thoughts and questions so that he could reflect on them later, we will use the blog as a way of thinking more deeply about your questions.

The sun is rising on a new year!