Inquiry Circles Phat Monday

P.H.A.T. Monday Inquiry Circles for deeper comprehension March 8 th , 2010 Jessica Crooker www.evhsliteracystaff.blogspot.com

Millennials—born 1980-1995
“ consumerism” attitude towards education
education=acquisition; not learning process
Accustomed to 24-7 conveniences
This expectation carries over to academia
Most socially connected generation; crave social connection in the classroom
Engaged in a learner-centered & process-driven classroom (versus teacher-driven & content-centered)
“ Good job!” generation; need constructive criticism, but thrive on praise
“ Millennials in College: How Do We Motivate Them?” by Angela Provitera McGlynn

Why Inquiry Circles?
Engage students in reading content texts
Offer choice to increase “buy in”
Differentiate for a diverse population of students
Push students to be seekers of knowledge
Foster thinking skills
Allow students to explore areas of interest
Promote ownership of learning
Deepen comprehension

Benefits of Small Group Work
Lifelike; generate energy for challenging work
In small groups, we are smarter
Diversity is an asset
Engaged, interactive learning
Differentiated instruction
Employers increasingly require collaboration
Well-structured=enhances student achievement
Harvey & Daniels 2009

Inquiry-oriented models
Project-based learning
Expeditionary learning
Problem-based learning
Group investigations
Inquiry groups
Study groups
Topic studies
Guided inquiry
Inquiry circles
Literature circles
Question circles
Writing circles
Peer writing groups
Negotiated curriculum
Multi-genre projects
Simulations

What does inquiry look like?
Managed choice for students
Book/topic choice
Article
Section of the chapter
Mini-lessons (10-15 minutes)
content-driven
skill-driven (comprehension continuum)
strategies for comprehension
small group communication
Groups of desks/tables/chairs for group discussion

discussing ideas collaborating & communicating revisiting the text

Steps in Inquiry Process appear linear, but are actually recursive Immerse

Immerse invite curiosity, build background, find topics Teacher Students Invites curiosity, questioning Express their own curiosity Shares own curiosity Explore, experience, and learn Models personal inquiry Wonder and ask questions Demonstrates questioning & finding a topic Read, listen, and view to build background Immerse students in topics to build background knowledge Connect new information to background knowledge Confers with groups & individuals Meet with teams to set schedules, ground rules, and goals

Comprehension Continuum
Gives students a visual for levels of questioning & thinking
Shows the difference between explicit and implicit questioning
Important to model the process with students
Can be used with any kind of text
Photographs, music lyrics, sculpture, nonfiction, fiction, textbooks, etc…

Small-group discussion
Discussion Directions:
1. Share and Add (10 minutes)
Give each person in the group an opportunity to share
Begin with Levels 1-2; add to your sheet when you hear new ideas
Then, move through each level until you’ve all shared.
During discussion, you have permission to talk through the questions of the group.
Try to answer questions posed from the group—make inferences!
Be sure to model this for students as well.

Small-group discussion
2. Further Inquiry—Closing the Discussion (3-5 minutes)
As a group, come up with at least TWO questions relating to the text that could potentially be further investigated. You may need to revisit the text or reflect on the discussion.
What are you still wondering about?
Did anyone pose a question during discussion that went unanswered?
Did you have a question that was never answered?

Investigate develop questions, search for information/answers Teacher Students Flood students with resources and materials Articulate thoughts and questions about own interests and experiences Model how to read with a question in mind Listen, talk, read, view to gain information Demonstrate how to determine importance, take notes (post-it, code) Develop questions; then read, listen and view to answer them Helps students sharpen inquiry focus Use text and visual features to gain information Confers with groups & individual Meet with teams to set and monitor schedules and task completion

What this looks like…
Investigate
Students will…
Discuss what they collectively know about the new topic?
choose a question generated by class discussions
investigate in groups or individually
gather and collect information
determine which information is important

Coalesce intensify research, synthesize information Teacher Student Show how to infer answers and draw conclusions Engage in deeper reading and research Engage students in guided discussion and debates Keep asking: So what? What about this really matters? Share how to evaluate sources Conduct “people” research: interviews, surveys, focus groups Teach interviewing strategies Synthesize information to build knowledge Confer with groups and individuals Meet with teams to monitor schedules, complete specific tasks and plan for sharing

Go Public share learning, demonstrate understanding, take action Teacher Student Co-construct expectations for final project Co-construct expectations for final project Share widest range of possibilities for sharing/performing Demonstrate learning with performances, posters, models, essays, poetry, etc… Helps students find real audiences Become teachers as they share knowledge Responds, assesses, and evaluates projects Reflect on their knowledge building, cooperative processes & changes in their own beliefs or behaviors Helps students share learning by taking actions Take action through writing, speaking, community work, advocacy

What this looks like…
Coalesce
What do we want to know now? Who will research these questions?
How many diverse resources can we include?
Information, opinions, written texts, videos, music, cartoons, pictures/photographs, maps, charts, graphs
Go Public
How can we best share this information with others?

Review of the process
Immerse
Teacher introduces topic
Students read a short common text to build background
Mini-lesson: Comprehension Continuum “Scaffolded”
Investigate
Comprehension Continuum Independently
Discussion
Coalesce
Determine interests for further investigation
Regroup by interest area
Go Public
Share learning with other classmates

Getting the most out of discussion
Give each member of the group a job with certain responsibilities.
Group facilitator, time manager, organizer of materials, group-teacher liaison
If the group is to work effectively, each person must do his/her job.
Participation and self-control are important ingredients in successful inquiry projects.
Practice =improvements

During-reading activities
Story Map
Concept Map
3-2-1
Double Entry Journal
Circle, Triangle, Square
What? So What? Now What?
KWL
Coding the Text
Comprehension Continuum
Provide thought-provoking during- reading activities. Then, let students use them during discussion.

What should students do during inquiry time?
Read to themselves
Read to each other
Conduct research online
Respond in writing and/or drawing
Respond by talking
Develop interview questions and conduct practice interviews
Contact specialists and experts
Maintain research notebook
Plan to actively use knowledge and take action

Assessment & Evaluation “ We grade the learning, not the knowing.”
Assessment fills us in on what students are doing & how effective our instruction has been
Teachers reflect, revise, and reshape instruction
Observations, note-taking, self-reflection sheets
Evaluation gives a value to what students have learned
Body of evidence: work samples, student talk, performances, artifacts, conference notes
Individual accountability=key to small-group assessment

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Inquiry Circles Phat Monday

by Jessica Crooker

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