From Presentation to Investigation:
Using Boards to Build Active Learning

by Emily Sigman

Because students are at the center of learning, we’re highlighting student work and how they use Discovery Education resources. When students have the freedom to explore and discover – and have tools to facilitate and capture their thinking – they begin to make true meaning from content. See how students are working with Discovery Education tools and get ideas about how to empower students in your classroom.

This student example shows a close reading of visual text: a comparison of two pictures of FDR in World War II. What’s interesting about this board is that the student shares why he chose the images and what he sees in them, and he begins to analyze what the details are and why they might be important. The information he’s gleaned from the photographs themselves is just the beginning: the pictures and his ideas have sparked a number of questions for further inquiry. Board Builder can be used as a great tool to focus, capture, and communicate student thinking, transforming presentation to investigation.