Rocks in the River:
The challenge of piloting the inquiry process in today’s learning
environment
Barbara Letteri-Walker Kiln Creek Elementary School
Patrice Lambusta Passage Middle School
Sandy Graham Menchville High School
• 29,700 students
• 24 elementary schools, 7 middle Schools, 5 high schools
• One full time school librarian at each site and two full time librarians at sites with 1000+ students
• 24 library assistants
Program Objective
By the end of this session you will gain an
understanding for creating inquiry units that
bridge different content areas and
incorporate various trans-literacy skills
Research supports:
• Learning is promoted when learners are
engaged in solving real-world problems
• Learning is promoted when existing
knowledge is activated as a foundation for
new knowledge
• Learning is promoted when new
knowledge is applied by the learner
(Merrill 2007)
Inquiry engages students by:
• connecting learning to prior knowledge
• applying new learning to solving a real-
world problem
• McKenzie’s The Research Cycle • Eisenberg and Berkowitz’s Big 6 • Macrorie’s I-Search • Kuhlthau’s ISP (Information Search
Process) • Pappas and Tepe’s Pathways to Knowledge • Flip-It (Alice Yucht) • Pitts/Stripling Model of Information
Literacy • Brock’s Information Intermediary Process
Model
Question
Plan
Collect and Credit
Synthesize
Communicate
Synthesize
Reflect, Revise,
Evaluate
NNPS Inquiry Process
In 2010 - 2011: Inquiry Academy
for Middle & High School Librarians and Teachers
• Doug Johnson
• Alison Zmuda
• Leslie Maniotes
In 2011-12 - Invited Leslie Maniotes bacl to work with elementary librarian and teacher teams and one middle school team observing and giving feedback.
In 2012-13 - Book Study with Leslie Maniotes using Guided Inquiry Design for high & middle school librarians, in addition to small group “Train the Trainer” seminars with elementary school librarians
Comparing NNPS model 2011 to Guided Inquiry
Information Search Process Guided Inquiry Design
NNPS Inquiry Process
• Start with what you know
• Question
• Plan
• Collect and Credit
• Organize
• Synthesize
• Communicate
• Reflect, Revise, Evaluate
Open Immerse Explore
Identify
Gather
Create
Share
Evaluate
Kuhlthau, Maniotes, Caspari Guided Inquiry Design©
Share
Create
Gather
Identify
Explore
Immerse
Open
Source Citations
Book Example: Parson, Alexander. Amazing Spiders. New York: Knopf, 1990.
Author’s Name Last: First:
Book Title
Place of Publication
Publisher
Publication Date
Encyclopedia
Example: "Spiders." The World Book Encyclopedia. 1998.
“Article Title” Encyclopedia/Book
Title Publication Date
Web Page Example: Guide Dogs of America: An International Guiding Eyes Program.
http://www.guidedogsofamerica.org
Web Page Title
URL
Forensic Science Unit
• Opportunity to attend a CiSSL (Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries) workshop at Rutgers University in July 2012
• Team included Reading Specialist, Science Lead, Librarian and Principal
• Learning Goal: Students will understand how their knowledge contributes to solving a team problem
Forensics Unit
• Overarching Unit Goal: Students will understand how their knowledge contributes to solving a team problem
• Student objectives: - You will explore a variety of careers in forensic
science.
- You will apply your knowledge of scientific investigation.
- You will demonstrate how your individual knowledge contributes to the team.
Explore
• Forensics Day
• Credit due to: VEMA – Fall Conference 2009
Roanoke
Heather Balsley
William Byrd Middle School
Vinton, Va
• Students in action
Guided Inquiry Five Kinds of Learning
Areas of learning in Forensics Unit
Specific focus of learning
Content Science DNA, forensic roles
Math Ratio of the body
English Evidence based problem solving
Foreign Language Fingerprint analysis
Literacy Descriptive Writing Oral communication
Describe role
Learning how to learn
Inquiry Process Reflect and choose area of interest
Social Collaboration
Information Literacy
Citing sources
Begin the actual research component
• Based on previous day’s exit slips, students were placed in specialty teams
• Become experts in their field by collecting information about their role at a crime scene
• Jigsaw into crime teams and solve a crime focusing on their expertise
• Produce a poster displaying hypothesis, description of each member’s role, and citations.
Forensic’s Day Exit Ticket
Name: ________________________ Core:_______
Choose three:
__ DNA Analyst
__Physical Anthropologist (Bone Detective)
__ Detective/ Crime Scene Investigator
__Handwriting Analyst
__Fingerprint Analyst
__Trace Analyst (Hair and Fibers)
__Forensic Pathologist (Morgue)
__Entomologist (Bugs)
__Toxicologist (Poisons)
__ Ballistics
Question
• Students explored all resources
• Pair Share Protocol-began to create questions
• Whole group creation of questions
Understand
• Given crime to solve (Disappearance of
Sparky)
• Each team had to create a hypothesis
solving the crime
• Each member had to explain what role
they played in solving the crime
Menchville High School Inquiry
Challenges – Content
– Time
Solutions – Use the process as the
template for student assignments
– Identify skills needed for success each inquiry step and
– Target specific skills in mini-lessons
– Have students use the process template as a daily journal exit ticket
Sandy Graham
Explore
•Connect to Prior Knowledge/Gain background knowledge/Browse sources
•February 6 or 7
•Examine one of the social, politcal or cultural aspects of the Renaissance and create a paper plus a presentation to perform or present to your class that demonstrates your understanding of this topic. The first part of this project will be done independently; the second part will be done as a group. These are the instructions for the 1st part.
•You will explore your assigned topic. Asking questions about how this relates to the poem you have been assigned.
•Use the Inquiry Log to write down every source you visited as well as the information you have learned.
Question
•Develop question or hypothesis/ Identify focus
•February 8 or 11
•Complete the Project Proposal Form and turn it into your teacher along with your Think-Sheet. Create a list of keywords or queries that will help you locate information about your topic efficiently.
Collect and
Credit
•Gather information/ Take notes/ Credit Sources
•February 12 - 15
•Use your Inquiry Log to return to the sources you marked as helpful and read deeper.
•I also expect for you to have one source from an actual book or ebook.
•You should also keep records (however your prefer) and document your notes.
•During this phase, you will turn in an annotated bibliography of the books, websites, criticisms you are researching.
Understand
•Construct knowledge/ Analyze, organize, synthesize/ Explain, summarize, interpret\ Apply knowledge to problem/ Validate hypothesis, draw conclusions
•February 19 or 20
•You will need to create some form of organization for your paper. It can be an outline or a list – the format is up to what works best for you. This should be detailed. How will your paper flow best – what makes the most sense?
Communicate
•Share what has been learned/ Create product, e.g., write for audience, deliver oral presentation, make podcast
•February21 or 22
•- Have a paper copy and a flash/thumb drive with paper in class
•For this Project, your final product will be a paper. It should follow correct MLA documentation. This paper should be more than just a “copy, paste, and credit” paper. It should demonstrate REAL learning on your part. In other words, you need to UNDERSTAND what you have written.
•The paper should be free of grammatical errors.
•The paper should be written in a formal style. Sentences should flow together nicely.
Honors Renaissance Research Project – Inquiry Process Model
Early National Period Inquiry Objective: TSW synthesize research findings about the Early National Period by creating a storyboard, bibliography, and PIXTON comic strip.
Directions: Choose a topic from the list below. Only one student may choose each topic. Using the research materials available, research
WHO was involved with this event? (Consider political and social leaders, groups, and victims of history. Use at least two historical figures.)
WHAT events happened surrounding this topic? (Consider causes, actions, and effects. Be specific.)
WHEN did this topic emerge in history? (Consider sequence of events. What happened just before this event? What happened immediately after?)
WHERE did this topic have the most influence?)
WHY is this topic historically significant? (What happened as a result? How did this change history?)
Possible Topics
Acquisition of Louisiana Territory 1807 Embargo Act The Monroe Doctrine
Adams-Onis Treaty French Revolution 1828 Nullification crisis
Alien and Sedition Acts Hartford Convention The Panic of 1819
Battle of Tippecanoe Indian Removal Act Panic of 1837
Completion of the Erie Canal Invention of the Cotton Gin Pike Exploration
Chesapeake-Leopard affair Invention of the Steamboat Signing of the Jay Treaty
Creation of the National Bank Jackson’s Bank Veto Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
1804 Duel: Burr/Hamilton Lewis and Clark Expedition 1794 Whiskey Rebellion
The Election of 1800 Marbury v. Madison Worcester v. Georgia
The Election of 1824 McCulloch v. Maryland XYZ Affair
Developing Key Words for search Notetaking: Summarize, Paraphrase, Quote, fact-jot
Understanding Google search and advanced search Gathering supporting evidence and drawing conclusions
Understanding author/website credentials Organizing Information
Understanding Wikipedia Books as resources
Website/Source Evaluation Presentation skills – How not to Powerpoint
Understanding Website Anatomy Student self-reflection on projects
Citation – Finding what you need to cite a source Storyboarding for podcasting and video projects
Databases – why and where I-Movie-Garageband /Movie Maker-Photostory
Google scholar Blogs and Wikis
Asking meaningful questions Other:
Inquiry Target Lessons for this project
Barbara Letteri-Walker [email protected] Kiln Creek Elementary School Patrice Lambusta [email protected] Passage Middle School Sandy Graham [email protected] Menchville High School
T H A N K Y O U