Learning Cycle Checklist

It comes as no surprise that some of the best lesson planning we do as teachers happens the month after school ends. The successes and failures of the year are fresh and at least for me, lesson planning and restructuring my curriculum helps me to deal with the deep mistakes that were made during the previous school year. Rectifying those mistakes, at least on paper, helps remind me that my "job" is part vocation, part art, and a very emotional endeavor. Over the past week I've been reflecting on a checklist that I can use, and also share with colleagues, to help keep my pedagogy connected to inquiry while also planning lessons ahead of time. Please note that the below list is  under construction:

Inquiry Learning Cycle Checklist

1. Did the cycle begin with a curated attempt to surface questions about the topic of study?
2. Were students challenged, to provide explanations to specific phenomena with limited prior knowledge?
3. Was direct instruction used to fill gaps in knowledge rather than provide an initial content foundation?
4. Were students asked to visibly master skills, techniques and thinking process in class.
5. Were students challenged to fabricate physical representations of specific phenomena?
6. Were students asked to extend mastered content to new, significant, and more complex scenarios?
7. Were students required to demonstrate understanding of specific phenomena in a variety of ways?