The direction for this week

This week I'm going to have my kids read over all the questions that I transcribed from the KWL chart last week.  I'll have them star up to 4 questions that they think are really really good.  I'll ask them to write down what level of thinking they think those questions are, and why they think they're good questions.  We'll use this as a launch into our 1st guiding question: What makes a question good?  I haven't decided how to post guiding questions in the classroom.  Right now I have students post informal questions on the aforementioned KWL chart, and we post questions that students are researching in their independent reading books and that we share and discuss during reading share after independent reading on the clothes line below, underneath the correct category from Bloom's Taxonomy:

I'm thinking guiding questions could be posted at the end of the clothesline, and students could post their research below the question.  This would be different from a Qfocus.  It's important to draw the distinction between a guiding question that I prioritize for students to research, and a Qfocus which my students use to come up with their own questions to research.  I think both have their place, Qfoci let my students take more ownership and independence, guiding questions help the class probe deeper about a more specific topic.  I'm thinking about revamping where students can post their questions about a Qfocus so it looks more like my friend Sari's:

After students prioritize questions and we discuss what made the best questions the best questions, I'll have students research one question in the computer lab (explaining that with questions that have an informational/non-fiction bent, you use different resources than you would for a question based on a fictional text).  After the preliminary research that we do on a research template (modeled by my research on Tiger Rising) we'll talk about how researchers try to compile their research and organize it into an overarching theory, something refined and final that they can present to their peers.  Students will work on this process with a Theory template I've developed.  At the end of the week we'll have select students present their research, and I'll show students that this is a replicable process that they can repeat using the templates and signing up on the calendar for presentations the same way that they sign up for book talks, just with a different color of post-its. 

I'm very curious to see how they take to this process, if they do find it valuable to replicate, and whether I can keep everything about research and questioning straight in my head.  To recap for myself the progression of all these techniques conglomerated:

Think Tank (where I post the current Qfocus of the class and students write smaller questions that they could research and post them in the right level of thinking in the tank)
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Book Nooks (I'm considering adding a component within this personalized space where students share their personal qfoci and research--> this would give them the space and opportunity to ask questions besides the ones within our whole class Qfocus)

Clothesline (this space could be used either as it is now-for really good questions about any topic/qfocus, or about the really good questions students post on the Think Tank that we vote on as a class to prioritize onto the clothesline.  I'm leaning toward this latter option, and I really want to hype it up and make some sort of really special paper for them to write up prioritized questions that they hang up on the clothesline)

Theory Final Presentation Area (On the other side of the room from Fish Tank and Book Nooks, appropriately connected by clothesline.  This would be where final theories (ie. substantive answers to prioritized questions would go)  This area needs to be hyped too, with pictures of students who post final answers + some sort of title.  like... Master Researcher bestowed upon any student who makes it to this level.  This is an idea inspired by the Light Leader title at Polaris (my school))