The document provides guidance for designing structured inquiry tasks for online learning for young children. It discusses important considerations like creating authentic tasks connected to real-world concepts, providing structured steps and guidelines, including multimodal sources to vary texts and engage students. Examples of structured inquiry tasks are presented, like designing an informational overview page with embedded links to build knowledge, or structured searches. The document emphasizes designing authentic response tasks for students to compose digital products. It also discusses building language and social skills through partner work and productive talk during online inquiry.

1. Designing Structured
Inquiry Tasks for
Young Learners
Julie Coiro, PhD
University of Rhode Island
jcoiro@uri.edu

2. In this session…
• What sparks reading engagement?
• What is important to consider when designing online
inquiry tasks for younger children?
• What are some examples of structured online inquiry
in elementary school?
• What digital tools and instructional techniques can I
incorporate into structured online inquiry tasks?
• How can I get started?

3. How does a
motivated
learner think?
Quickwrite
THOUGHTS ?ACTIONS ?
What does an
engaged
reader do?

4. Research says motivated and
engaged readers…
• Ask questions, inquire (Tovani, 2000; Wilhelm, 2007)
• Preview, predict, activate background
knowledge (Herber, 1978; Beuhl, 2009)
• Interact with, actively explore (Guthrie, 2008; Burke,
2010)
• Seek authenticity and relevance (Guthrie, 2008;
Wilhelm, 2007)

5. How can we motivate and
engage readers?
Create intentional opportunities for the
following in our teaching:
• Wondering
• Anticipating
• Exploring
• Mattering (being of importance; having significance)

6. • Wondering
• Anticipating
• Exploring
• Mattering
Online Inquiry:
Questioning, Locating, Evaluating,
Synthesizing, Communicating
while reading on the Internet
How can we motivate and engage readers while
also building online inquiry skills?

7. Structured Online Inquiry Circles
Structured opportunities to anticipate, explore, talk about, and
matter while working collaboratively to solve online
information problems and real-life scenarios
1 2 3

8. Types of Inquiry-Based Learning
• Modeled inquiry: Students observe models of how the
leader ask questions and makes decisions.
• Structured Inquiry: Students make choices which are
dependent upon guidelines and structure given by the
leader (may vary).
• Guided Inquiry: Students make choices during inquiry
that lead to deeper understanding guided by some
structure given by the leader.
• Open Inquiry: Students make all of the decisions. There
is little to no guidance.
Alberta Inquiry Model of Inquiry Based Learning (2004)

9. What is important to consider when
designing online inquiry tasks for younger
children?
What digital tools and instructional
techniques can I incorporate into
structured inquiry tasks?

10. Begin With An Authentic Task
and a simple sequence of steps
Use a webpage builder like Google Sites, Weebly, Wix, or even Google Doc!

11. Encourage partner work to help
co-construct an understanding of challenging
texts, concepts, and online reading practices

12. Productive Talk:
Monitor understanding, request & give information
Strategic Reading: Read, question, monitor, repair,
infer, connect, clarify, and interpret
Evan & William – Gr. 5
7:00

13. Design a Structured
Informational Overview Page
(Use a webpage builder like Google Sites, Wikispaces, Weebly, Wix, etc.)

14. Design a Structured Search
(Google Custom Search)

15. Using Google Custom Search
1. CREATE ENGINE
2. ADD LINKS
3. BUILD LIST
4. SHARE LINK

16. Include Multimodal Sources
to vary texts, increase interest, and decrease readability

17. Design Authentic Response Tasks
that engage students in composing digital products

18. Structured Inquiry Tasks
(Design Principles)
• Design an authentic inquiry task to connect
to relevant, real-world concepts and events
• Provide opportunity to work with a partner to co-construct
understanding around challenging texts/ideas
• Design an informational overview page with embedded
hyperlinks to build prior knowledge
• Provide a sequenced list of steps to engage in the process
• Provide a safe-search interface with limited number of
search results
• Include multimodal sources (e.g. video, images, interactive
timelines) to increase interest and decrease readability in
some parts of the task
• Design authentic response tasks (e.g. send an email, create
a podcast) to engage students in composing digital
products

19. What are some other examples of structured
online inquiry in elementary school?
Turn and Talk.
Questions, Observations, Concerns?

20. Structured Reading, Thinking, & Writing

21. EXAMPLE

22. EXAMPLE (con’t)

23. EXAMPLE 2 (con’t)

24. EXAMPLE 3

25. EXAMPLE 3 (con’t)

26. EXAMPLE 3 (con’t)

27. Teaching With Structured Online Inquiry Tasks
How do I get started?

28. Envisioning Inquiry Tasks In A Weekly Routine
(Perhaps once a month or once a unit)
Monday:
Introduce & Model
•Introduce the task
– Set the stage
•Model use of
overview page
Tuesday:
Model/Teach
•Lesson: Reading Search
Engines – generating
keywords, making
inferences, and evaluating
relevance of results pages
Wednesday:
Model/Teach
•Lesson: Reading
websites: Reading
across two
websites &
integrating
information

29. Questions? Connections? Ideas for weaving into your routines?
Good starting places in your curriculum?
Turn and Talk: Structured Online Inquiry Circles

30. Other Ideas for Discussion

31. Fostering Productive Talk Patterns to
Support Higher-Level Thinking
• Teach students how to collaboratively
build on partner’s ideas and jointly
construct new insights rather than
individually compiling facts
• Teach students when and how to apply
Internet reciprocal teaching strategies
• Teach students how to monitor and
stay focused on their purpose and
relevant texts as well as when and how
to think critically
See http://coiroira2013.wikispaces.com/ for ideas

32. Building Language/Social
Interaction Skills

36. In conclusion…
• Inquiry-based learning that pairs students to explore
online texts together provides an engaging context for
encouraging strategic online literacy practices.
• Well designed structured online inquiry tasks support
students as they become more self-directed learners and
more productive listeners, speakers, and collaborators.
• Digital scaffolds can also build teacher confidence to
comfortably explore online inquiry with young children.
For more details:
Sekeres, D., Coiro, J., Castek, J., & Guzniczak, L. A. (2014).
Wondering + Online Inquiry = Learning. Phi Delta Kappan,
96(3), 44-48.

37. How do I know if and what children are
learning during structured online inquiry?

38. How might these structured inquiry tasks be used to
foster productive talk experiences where students
build on each other’s ideas (Speaking and Listening:
Comprehension and Collaboration) while engaged in
developmentally challenging online reading, writing,
and research activities (Reading: Integrate knowledge and ideas;
Writing: Research to build and present knowledge)?
Coiro, Sekeres, Castek, & Guzniczak [related publications]
LRA Yearbook 2012; Educational Forum, 2013; Journal of Education 2013;
LRA Conference 2014; Phi Delta Kappan 2014; The Reading Teacher (in press)
Examining
Learning Processes

39. Less strategic reading: reading aloud, taking separate notes
(Jack rereading, monitoring, asking questions, attempts to interpret;
Jill supports erroneous interpretation)
Jack &
Jill – Gr. 5
Less productive talk: take turns giving information;
(Jack requests clarification; Jill replies with shallow
reactions and twice ignores Jack’s requests before
continuing on)

40. Examining Learning Processes

41. Noticing Strengths and Difficulties in
Cognitive & Social Engagement
S
O
C
I
A
L
COGNITIVE

42. Category Characteristics Examined
Subject Uses the subject line to summarize the gist of the email
Introduction Tells who the authors of the email are and why they are
knowledgeable about green toys (toys & eco-friendly materials
Register Uses a tone that suggests communication with an adult that
they’ve never met before
Context Provides context to signal to the recipient what they’re writing
about
Organization Construct email so it’s easy to read at a glance using spacing
between ideas and references directly and explicitly their choices
Closing Summarizes their choices and closes with an exchange that
includes a way to reach them for further questions, and a
signature
Use of Digital
Elements
Uses digital affordances of email (e.g., hyperlinks, images,
attachments, embedded hyperlinks) to enhance their message
Examining Learning Products (email)

43. Examining
Learning Products

44. Examining
Learning Products

45. Examining
Learning Products