New Insights on the 5 E Model

At the beginning of the semester, I had a lot of burning questions pertaining to the 5 E Model. This past week we learned about the 5 E Model and tried our hand at create a lesson plan following the 5 E format.  I was familiar with the 5 E Model from my undergraduate studies, and I created an Inquiry Unit for Pre-K students titled “What Makes Day and Night?”  I realize now that I had a narrow scope on Inquiry-Based Learning.  I have learned that inquiry can take many forms, and the 5 E Model is just one way to structure Inquiry-Based Learning experiences.  The 5 E Model was created for Science, but I learned that this model is being applied to other subject areas.  For example, Discovery Education uses the 5 E Model in both their Science and Social Studies Techbooks.  I feel like I  am starting to come full circle in this course, since I started off wondering about the 5 E Model and now my questions have been answered.  

Inquiring about Inquiry

As when begin to wrap up the semester, I feel that I have less questions about Inquiry-Based Learning.  One thing I am curious about is are there other lesson plan templates out there for different Inquiry-Based  Learning Models.  I feel that the 5 E Model is great for teacher directed or guided inquiry experiences, but I’m wondering if there is a different model for more student-led inquiry.  I feel that the 5 E Model might be a bit restrictive for student-led inquiry.

What are your thoughts?

What do you think about the 5 E Model?  Do you think it is for teacher-led or guided inquiry?  Do you think you can use the 5 E  Model for student directed inquiry?  Do you know of other models of inquiry other than the 5 E Model?  Please let me know your thoughts in the comments.