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Classroom Practice:
Inquiry-Based Gallery Walk
Classroom Practice:
Inquiry-Based Gallery Walk
Intended Purpose:
Intended Purpose:
Inquiry-Based Gallery Walks provide LTELs with a dynamic and interactive way to engage with content. This practice encourages students to carefully observe images, texts, or artifacts, analyze them using background knowledge, and engage in meaningful discussions. Through structured yet informal discussions, students collaborate to identify patterns, make connections, and synthesize their observations into big ideas. The process nurtures curiosity, promotes critical thinking, and ensures all students have a voice in academic conversations.
Benefit for LTELs
Benefit for LTELs
This strategy supports LTELs by creating multiple entry points for engagement and language use. Observing, discussing, and synthesizing ideas in a structured yet low-stakes setting allows students to build confidence in expressing their thoughts. Gallery walks encourage active listening, expand vocabulary through peer interactions, and provide authentic opportunities for academic discourse. By interacting with relevant visuals and texts, LTELs develop deeper content understanding while strengthening their speaking, listening, and analytical skills.
ELD.PI.1 Exchanging information and ideas with others through oral collaborative discussions on a range of social and academic topics
ELD.PI.5 Offering and supporting opinions and negotiating with others on conversations.
SL.1 Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively
RI.7 Integrate information from different formats (e.g., visual, quantitative, textual)
Use Content Standards for the conversation.
For Example, if you are discussing the cause and effects of WWI, you would use the following History-Social Science standards:
Historical Analysis Skills
HSS.5-12.CST.1: Explain how major events are related and influenced by different perspectives.
HSS.5-12.HREP.3: Evaluate different points of view on the same historical event.
HSS.10.WW1.1: Analyze the causes of World War I—including nationalism, militarism, alliances, and imperialism—and evaluate their impact on global history.
Civic Engagement and Inquiry
HSS.5-12.IE.1: Ask questions and investigate primary and secondary sources.
HSS.5-12.CE.2: Discuss and analyze multiple perspectives in a structured academic discussion.
Teacher Moves
Teacher Moves
Select and post relevant images related to the essential question.
Provide students with a note catcher and model how to use it.
Clearly explain the process and expectations before students begin.
Encourage silent observation before discussion to promote focused analysis.
Circulate to facilitate discussions, ask guiding questions, and provide language support.
Highlight key academic vocabulary and phrases students can use in discussions.
Review and synthesize student observations as a class debrief to connect findings to the essential question.
Student Moves
Student Moves
Gather materials and locate posted images.
Work in triads and introduce themselves.
Observe images silently before engaging in discussion.
Use descriptive phrases such as "I see...", "I notice...", "I wonder...", and "I suspect..." to articulate observations.
Engage in discussions with triad members to analyze the images.
Take notes in a note catcher to document key ideas and reflections.
Rotate to the next image at the designated signal and repeat the process.
Read and respond to sticky notes left by other groups to build on collective insights.
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