CIBL - Center for Inquiry-Based Learning - Professional Development

K-8 Workshops

All CIBL workshops are 6 contact hours and take place on school days. Workshops may be held at the CIBL Training Center or on your site. CIBL pays for your substitute teachers and for breakfast and lunch at the workshop.

If you rent a kit from CIBL, kit workshop fees are part of the rental cost and CIBL pays your substitute teachers.

If you do not rent kits from CIBL, workshops at the CIBL training center cost $90 per teacher. Workshops on your site for from 15-30 teachers cost $1,800.

Preparation for Using a Science Kit

Choose from more than 40 titles of science kits for grades K-5 and textbook supplements for grades 6-8. Learn more on our Science Kit Workshops page.

CIBL recommends that teachers begin moving toward inquiry by learning a kit and trying it out. If this is not possible, we offer the Inquiry Motivator workshop described below.

Inquiry Motivator

CIBL offers the Inquiry Motivator to introduce inquiry-based science activities. Different versions are available for grade spans K-2, 3-5, and 6-8. Sessions begin by discussing inquiry classrooms and reflecting on a classroom video of best practices. Afterward, teachers take the role of students in six 30-minute activities. During the activities, participants learn by being in situations that require thinking, asking questions, working in teams, communicating ideas, and integrating other curriculum areas.

All offerings below are for teachers who have used science kits for a year or more.

Science Notebooking

For grade spans K-2, 3-5, or 6-8, this workshop teaches basic techniques needed to begin using science notebooks. Notebooks are a vehicle for student thinking and a way for teachers to understand it. Participants spend the day going through an extended investigation that employs 5 types of notebook entries as tools for learning and assessment. Teachers learn how to craft prompts that help students communicate “What I Noticed,” “What I Did and What Happened,” “What I Wonder,” “What I Think and Why I Think It,” and “What I Plan to Do Next.”

Talking Science to Get Understanding

For grade spans K-2, 3-5, or 6-8, this session demonstrates ways to design and facilitate activities so that students are required first to think and then to express their thoughts. The workshop explores science talk between a teacher and a student, a small group, or a whole class. It also explores student-to-student talk in large groups, small groups, or pairs. Participants experience activities designed to incorporate more science talk than usual, then experience firsthand how expressing thoughts helps learners understand science concepts.

Inquiry I

For grade spans K-2, 3-5, or 6-8 “Inquiry I” demonstrates how to help students learn more science content from kit-based lessons. The workshop covers four components of inquiry-based teaching: knowing your destination, guiding students to explore, shaping the activity, and giving opportunities for guided practice. The session gives teachers experience and guidance with three types of assessment. Teachers also gain valuable experience trying to understand how another person thinks about science.

Inquiry II

For teachers of grades K-2, 3-5, or 6-8, using kits and using the four components of inquiry-based teaching, “Inquiry II” focuses on giving students prompts for thinking, doing guided practice that brings out more content, and modifying kit activities to set up situations that require more thinking. Activities in these sessions use different parts of science process such as making a hypothesis, designing an experiment, and drawing conclusions. Each activity demonstrates ways to get students to grapple with science content.