Annual Literacy Institute Mary Jeanne Dicker, Head Librarian Farnsworth Middle School Guilderland Central School District

Inquiry Active, engaged learners Student oriented. Teacher as facilitator Flexible Collaborative Standards driven Assessment is ongoing Expands the resources beyond school Technology – tool for learning - Harada, Yoshina

Learning and Thinking Skills Critical thinking and problem-solving skills Communication skills Creativity and innovation skills Collaboration skills Contextual learning skills Information and media literacy skills - Partnership for 21 st Century

Life Skills (P21) Leadership Ethics Accountability Adaptability Personal productivity Personal responsibility People skills Self-direction Social responsibility

Expands the resources beyond school Interviews – friends, family, witnesses, other professionals who study the topic (real world) Primary resources including documents Studies by professionals using databases Expert mentoring

Inquiry Amy Martin’s Solar Energy Inquiry Project Grade 4 Westmere Elementary School

Inquiry Students were exploring renewable/non- renewable energy sources in science. Question: How can we make a contribution to renewable energy at our school?

Inquiry Students wrote a solar panel proposal to NYSERDA. Received grant. Each team wrote a paragraph Original musical composition Field trip to GE Renewable Power Plant Switched to solar cookers Mentored by retired solar energy expert Construction paper experiment – best place for cooker? Used at year-end picnic

Inquiry

Reality check: What makes this an inquiry project?

Inquiry Middle school projects Gr. 6-8

Inquiry Essential questions we have explored: How can the scientific method be used to answer everyday questions?

Inquiry How does an innovation in technology impact a civilization?

Inquiry How do events in history impact today’s society?

Inquiry Science/Language Arts Gr. 8 Scientific Method Problem or Question Review of the Literature Develop Hypothesis Set Up Research – Methods- what you’re going to do – Variables – Controls Conduct Research – Observations – Collect Data

Inquiry Analyze Data Conclusions Future Research – Create More Questions

Mr. H ’ s Hair! What hair product creates the best and longest lasting fohawk for Mr. H? Our Own Class Research

Inquiry Sample questions: How does pressure change a soccer ball? What are the effects of music on memory?

Inquiry Question filter

Inquiry Social Studies/Language Arts Gr. 8 Students choose an event or issue prevalent today in American history and relate it back in time to see how it evolved.

Inquiry

Students develop a researchable question after exploring library resources and conferencing with peers and teachers. Gather information (with support from pathfinder). Conduct an interview or survey for primary data.

Inquiry Write a research paper. Create an Animoto video to promote and inform for final presentation. Final presentations including audience questions.

Inquiry

Social Studies/Language Arts Grade 6 Exploding Technology

Inquiry Student teams chose a piece of current technology and traced it back to ancient civilizations, made predictions about the future, and described its impact on the civilization in general.

Inquiry Questioning exercise with old technology. Teams chose a current piece of technology. Developed questions within team. Submitted team research proposal. Developed search strategies. Gathered information.

Inquiry Reflected on the process. Drew a time line. Developed team proposal for sharing new knowledge. Designed a presentation rubric as a class. Created and shared presentations.

Inquiry Time for Reflection Refrigerators “Our research is going well because we all have different jobs to do to get research done. We are definitely going to design a little fridge that works so we are putting facts together and starting our final project. The Fridge Rocks!”- Maggie

Inquiry Fabrics – “The resources that have given me the most help are books, computer, and my brain. Those resources really come in handy. My friends too.” - Megha

Inquiry Guns – “My research has been relatively good. A lot of websites are blocked but many aren't. The history has been very easy. I found a timeline. The impact it has had on civilization is hard to research, so we decided to think it for ourselves.” - Luciano

Inquiry High School – Schenectady High School ELA Susie Walsh, Gr. 10 ELA teacher Kristen Majkut, Librarian From traditional to inquiry.

Inquiry Kristen and Susie were having a friendly disagreement about the book, The Kite Runner.

Inquiry Susie’s year-long theme was: What does it mean for one person to have power over another?

Inquiry The essential question for the research project was: How do charities positively support and impact the communities that they serve?

Inquiry 100% completion rate. 90% of projects were turned in on time These new statistics were in stark contrast to completion rates of previous years Library Research Wiki on Charities:

Inquiry “We came to the conclusion that the amount of our prep time, our new project concepts and ideas (inquiry-based design), and the real-world connections directly impacted the success of the project and the increased level of student engagement.” - Kristen Majkut, Librarian

Inquiry and Technology Wikis

Inquiry Literacy Digital Literacy

Inquiry A Framework for Digital Literacy Photo – visual Reproduction Information Branching Socio-emotional (Eshet - Alkalai)

Inquiry Photo – visual literacy

Inquiry Reproduction literacy synthesize text images sound Independent forms of information

Inquiry Information literacy Evaluate

Inquiry Branching literacy Hypermedia and navigational paths

Inquiry Socio - emotional literacy