Inquiry + Ques-oning = Social Science Standards Inquiry + Questioning = Social Science Standards Presented by Dr. Roberta Sejnost Consultant, Professional Development Alliance Clinical Professor Retired, Loyola University, Chicago
Outcomes Ø Understand: The shifts in the New Illinois Learning Standards for Social Science How to incorporate the Inquiry Model into your lesson plans How to foster questioning techniques in your students
Overview of the Shifts in the New Illinois Standards for Social Science
Instructional Shift #1: Inquiry is at Center Ø Frame ways students learn social science content Ø Focus on questions to: ü ü ü ü spark curiosity guide instruction deepen investigations acquire rigorous content ELA Reading Writing Listening Speaking Danielson Ø Apply knowledge/ideas in real world settings to enable active and engaged citizens
Instructional Shift #2: Cultivate and Nurture Collaborative Civic Spaces Ø Deliberate to define/address civic issues, and build problem solving and collaboration skills Ø Reason, analyze and communicate conclusions to build critical thinking, communication skills Ø Engage in civic life by applying knowledge to real world problems ELA Reading Writing Listening Speaking Danielson
Instructional Shift #3: Integrate Content and Skills Instructional Shift #4: Promote Literacy Practices and Outcomes Content Elements connect Civics Using deliberative processes Participating in school Ø settings Following rules Economics Making economic decisions Using economic data Identifying prices in a market Geography Reasoning spatially Constructing maps Using geographic data History Classifying historical sources Determining the purpose of an historical source Analyzing cause and effect in history Connections to the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts Focus on Academic Disciplines ELA Standards Citing textual evidence Understanding disciplinary vocabulary Distinguishing, using fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in text Distinguishing competing or alternating claims Narrating historical events.
Instructional Shift #5: Provide Tangible Opportunities for Taking Informed Action Ø Inquiry Arc is a frame for teaching and learning by Asking students to : ü Develop questions and plan inquiries ü Ask compelling questions focused on real social problems, issues, and curiosities. ü Ask supporting questions that scaffold students investigations into ideas/issues behind compelling questions. ü Apply disciplinary concepts and tools ü Evaluate sources and using evidence ü Communicate conclusions and take informed action ELA Standards Danielson
Components of Standards Standards divided into 2 portions that work in tandem: Inquiry Skills and Disciplinary Concepts INQUIRY SKILLS are the method by which the DISCIPLINARY CONCEPTS are taught Civics Geography Economics History Each discipline provides foundational knowledge and skills essential to inquiry and action. Inquiry skills are the vehicle that drives the learning of the disciplinary concepts
Inquiry Component of New Social Science Standards Ø Students engage in INQUIRY appropriate to context, content, age. Ø May start with question, fact-finding exercise or a story. Ø Is collaborative Ø Involves communication skills, deliberation ELA Reading/ Writing Ø Requires individual/group action through Ø Educating others: writing, speaking, collaborating with peers and across ages) Ø Advocating for change/policies, organizing, staying engaged ELA Listening Speaking Danielson
Inquiry Component of New Illinois Social Science Standards Ø Inquiry Skills = questioning, investigating, reasoning, and taking responsible action ü Evaluate Sources and Use Evidence Ø Gather and Evaluate Sources Ø Develop Claims and Use Evidence ELA Reading/ Writing ü Communicate Conclusions; Take Informed Action Ø Communicate Conclusions Ø Critique Conclusions Ø Take Informed Action Danielson
Using Inquiry in the Social Sciences
What Is an "Inquiry Lesson? Inquiry = the act of asking questions in order to gather or collect information; a systematic investigation often of a matter of public interest (Merriam-Webster) In Social Science, an Inquiry Lesson occurs where students analyze historical evidence in order to form and test hypotheses about past events.
Rationale : Inquiry Lessons: Ø Introduce students to the "doing" of history. Ø Use evidence to investigate historical questions Ø Allow students to see history is not just a collection of facts, but a rigorously constructed set of arguments. Ø Introduce students to new, sometimes contradictory evidence Ø Ask students to reconsider initial views because views can change based on historical evidence.
Inquiry-Based Learning Overview Inquiry-based learning is a complex process where students attempt to convert information into useful knowledge They do this by: asking real questions finding resources to gather information in answering real question interpreting the information reporting the findings Throughout this process, students constantly refine the real question, evaluate and verify information, and reinterpret information in light of new information. Original Source Ar/cle: h2p://goo.gl/ewt19r
Inquiry-Based Learning Overview The Cycle of Inquiry Based Learning is: Tap into prior experience, background knowledge Create intriguing questions/problems to be investigated Develop a plan for investigation Select resources to analyze, and evaluate information that addresses questions or problems Organize information, find patterns, draw conclusions, and new understandings Create demonstration of learning and share with others Reflect on the process and product of learning; generate new questions Source: h2ps://www.teachingbooks.net/content/inquiringmindswanttoknow-stripling.pdf
SS Standards
So what needs to happen in classrooms? Ø Teachers: ü craft questions to foster students ability to create questions ü Provide sources to explore inquiry ü Encourage curiosity through many forms of discussion ü Designate time for presenting/sharing inquiry projects ü Establish time for reflection to: Ø identify other possible views or solutions Ø Evaluate sources Ø Reconcile conflicting accounts or create interpretive accounts Ø Students develop researchable essential and supporting questions Original Source Ar/cle: h2p://goo.gl/ewt19r Hammer (1997); Levs/k and Barton (2001); and Selwyn and Maher (2003)
Student Samples
The New Illinois Social Science Learning Standards How Do We Foster The Challenge Questioning Presents? h2ps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nudwwc_nq4
Require support, justification through evidence Compelling Questions Set opening frame for an inquiry Open-ended; no single, final, correct answer; they're arguable May result in different points of view/opinions Provide intellectual rigor, relevance of inquiry Thought-provoking, intellectually engaging to maintains student interest, compel answers, spark discussion, debate. Call for higher-order thinking: analysis, inference, evaluation, prediction Get to heart of discipline, enduring understanding of core concepts by pointing to big ideas and pressing issues. Lead to more questions to clarify ideas, push exploration forward Set up both formative and summative performance tasks
Student-Generated Essential (Compelling) Questions
How do we get students to generate essential questions? Ø We know teachers must: Ø Pique students curiosity Ø Have students generate many questions Ø Help students focus on questions that guide and sustain inquiry. Ø Provide scaffolding and guidance to help students focus questions.
h2p://rightques/on.org/
Step 1 With your group, write down as many questions as you can about the focus. Rules 1. Ask as many questions as you can 2. Do not stop to discuss, judge or answer the questions 3. Write down every question exactly as it is stated 4. Change any statement into a question What might be difficult about following these rules for teachers? For students?
1. Ask as many questions as you can 2. Do not stop to discuss, judge or answer the questions 3. Write down every question exactly as it is stated 4. Change any statement into a question
Step 2 Categorize each question as open-ended (O) or close ended (C) ü Close-ended questions: Answered yes or no or with one word. ü Open-ended questions: Require an explanation; and cannot be answered with yes, no, one word.
Step 3 Ø Are there any questions you can revise? Ø Can you change any question from closed question to an open-ended question? Ø Can you add additional questions?
Step 4 Ø Choose 3 questions from your list you think are the most important or most interesting questions and mark them with an X. Ø Explain why you chose these. Ø Note where on the list questions fell.
Please share Ø What were your priority questions? Ø What standards would you use? Ø What did you like/dislike about the process? Molly Pitcher (Mary Ludwig), an American Revolutionary heroine, loading a cannon at the Battle of Monmouth, NJ, June 28, 1778. Her husband has fallen from exhaustion beside the cannon. Painting by D.M. Carter, Sons of the Revolution.
The Final Step Using the Process to Guide Inquiry in your classroom Ø Students are divided into groups, and different groups focus inquiry on different questions ü Based on groups who created questions? ü Students can self-select the question that interests them (teacher arranges groups)? Ø Use questions generated to drill down to one essential question to guide the class ü Take similarly themed questions: o Which president are they talking about? o Why does it involve the president? o Could people protest the president? o Why are they protesting against the president? ü Facilitate a discussion to determine a unifying question based on key theme of those generated:
Why Use Primary Sources? Ø Social Science standards and PARCC support teaching with primary sources Ø First-person accounts of real events foster active reading and response. Ø Primary Sources help students: ü relate personally to gain deeper understanding of history ü wrestle with contradictions ü compare multiple sources that represent differing points of view. ü construct knowledge as they draw conclusions, based on evidence ü synthesize information from multiple sources. ü Seek additional evidence through research. ü construct content knowledge and deepen understanding by integrating what they learned from comparing primary sources with what they already know, and have learned from research
Final Thoughts Standards are not asking you to change your content Rather, they are asking you to change the way you think about students roles in social science classes by: Encouraging students to: Take more active role in learning process Ask questions Learn how to discover the answers Communicate their learning Apply what they ve learned by being active in their school, community, and beyond Thoughts? Remember, inquiry goes hand in hand with content they work together to shape future citizens who can think about and solve issues.
Resource Exploration Using the Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/teachers
More Ways to Investigate Primary Sources
Access organizer at http://www.loc.gov/teachers/ usingprimarysources/resources/ Primary_Source_Analysis_Tool.pdf
Access organizer at http://condor.depaul.edu/tps/resources/level1/ thinkingtriangleworksheet.pdf