Inquiry Through an Integrated Unit of Study

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Inquiry Through an Integrated Unit of Study

• Going beyond coverage!
• Andrea Frasier
• Thursday, January 31st
• 310-430

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Session Objectives

• Participants will
• Build expertise of the steps in creating an
  inquiry-based unit of study and begin planning
  the first step
• WILF Reframe curricular standards into essential
  questions for an inquiry unit

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Setting the Stage

• Read passages 1 and 2 to yourself.
• Complete the T-Chart
• Discuss the differences between these two
  teaching approaches
• Do you think that the students in Mr. Plocks
  class would perceive writing a research report in
  the same way that Sam did?

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Research Does NOT Inquiry!

• Learning how to write a research report is a
  valuable skill
• BUT,
• it is not inquiry unless it also engages the
  students and involves choosing which questions to
  pose, what investigations to conduct, and how to
  present the knowledge gained!
• -Regie Routman

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Mr. Plocks Classroom Inquiry in Literacy
Science

• Overlaps science investigation, oral language,
  reading, and writing
• Children raise and pursue questions
• Inquiry-based instruction through integration
• Begins with students existing knowledge

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Why Inquiry?

• Cultivate motivation and engagement
• Deepen conceptual and strategic understanding
• Higher-level thinking
• Productive habits of mind
• Positive attitudes toward future learning
  (no matter the subject area)
• - Jeffrey Wilhelm

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Why Inquiry?

• Improve achievement on standardized tests
• Evidence from the National assessments of
  Educational Progress (NAEP) and the Third
  International Mathematics and Science Survey
  (TIMSS) show that better student scores are
  associated with inquiry approaches that promote
  deep thinking

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Why Integrate?

• Bridge the gap between subjects
• Make learning more authentic and functional
• Move student thinking beyond facts to conceptual
  levels of understanding

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A Mile Wide and an Inch Deep?

• (TIMSS) also found that American education covers
  far more content than other nations, but lacks
  depth
• Teachers feel compelled to cover abundant
  subject area content
• Student problem solving active learning have
  been limited

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The Need for Integrated Inquiry

• Time spent teaching in the content areas had
  decreased due to state testing mandates (Math
  ELA)
• However, many states have now adopted
  accountability measures in Science Social
  Studies
• How can we prepare students for these tests, and
  ensure a depth of understanding that goes beyond
  a recall of facts? Integrated Inquiry!

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Integrated Inquiry

• When inquiry is both genuine and integrated,
  then reading, writing, speaking, listening, and
  viewing are naturally part of the exploration or
  investigation.
• -Regie Routman

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Where to Start?

• Teachers need to understand the differences
  between conceptual curriculum and instruction
  through inquiry and traditional methods.
• They need the expertise to design integrated
  inquiry units of study around designated content
  by drawing essential understandings, questions,
  and processes from district and state frameworks.

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How? Reframing Your Curriculum

• Jeffrey Wilhelm suggests
• three practical steps
• 1.) Reframe Standards into Essential Questions
• 2.) Identify Final Project(s)
• 3.) Create a backwards plan

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What is Your Focus Why Does it Matter?

• Ask What compelling question(s) could I pose to
  students that will focus my teaching and drive
  their inquiry learning?

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Where Do You Want to Go How Will You Know
Youve Arrived?

• Ask What are the bottom line goals do I have for
  my students throughout this unit?

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How Can You Help Students Get There?

• Ask What do I need to teach or have students
  experience so that they can attain the learning
  outcomes/standards?

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What Does it Look Like?

• Lets look at a sample inquiry-based unit
• Notice the difference between traditional
  curriculum vs. inquiry curriculum

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Effective Essential Questions

• 1. Reframe a required standard, topic, or text so
  it matters.
• 2. Consider the heart of the matter.
• 3. Look around the community.
• 4. Consider the principal organizing questions of
  the discipline(s) you are studying.
• 5. Ask questions like those practitioners use to
  guide their own work.

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Effective Essential Questions

• 6. Ask questions about quality that require
  students to make judgments (open-ended).
• Ask ethical or moral questions that require
  judgment about particular concepts issues.
• Ask questions of application.
• Solicit students help to generate an essential
  or sub-question.
• 10. Reframe historical periods as inquiry by
  focusing on geographical and intellectual spaces
  of debate of the time.

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From Topics to Essential Questions
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Imagine You Are a Student About to Begin a
Community Unit of Study...
Would you rather be asked, How does my community
affect my life? What do I owe my communityor
do I? (OR) Be told, Students, you will learn
to recognize personal responsibility to the
community.
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Lets Give it a Try

• Topic Government
• Original Question How do the three branches of
  government balance power?
• Problem This is simple information retrieval.
• Revision
• Ex. What makes a good government?

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What Does it Feel Like?

• 1. Move with your teams from chart to chart
• 2. Read the topics questions posted
• 3. Determine if the question meets the criteria
  of an essential question
• 4. Place a dot next to each question that your
  team feels would be an effective essential
  question for an inquiry unit for the given topic

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Essential Question

• Yes or No?
• In your teams, use the handout provided to
  rewrite the questions into essential questions.

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What Now, What Next?

• You know how to write essential questions!
• You are ready to go further with inquiry!
• Can you think of a grade level a topic that you
  might consider exploring this with?
• Inquiry focus groups will continue to build your
  expertise assist you in the planning of a unit!

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Bibliography

• Erickson, H. Lynn. (2002). Concept-Based
  Curriculum and Instruction. Thousand Oaks, CA
  Corwin Press, Inc.
• Five, Cora Lee Dionisio, Marie. (1996).
  Bridging the Gap. Portsmouth, NH Heinemann.
• Parker, Diane. (2007). Planning for Inquiry Its
  Not an Oxymoron. Urbana, IL NCTE
• Routman, Regie. (2000). Conversations.
  Portsmouth, NH Heinemann.
• Wilhelm, Jeffrey. (2007). Engaging Readers and
  Writers with Inquiry. New York Scholastic.