Annual Literacy Institute

Mary Jeanne Dicker, Head Librarian

Farnsworth Middle School

Guilderland Central School District

dickermj@guilderlandschools.org

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 21st 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

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Amy Martin’s Solar Energy Inquiry Project

Grade 4

Westmere Elementary School

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Students were exploring renewable/non-renewable energy sources in science.

Question: How can we make a contribution to renewable energy at our school?

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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

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Reality check: What makes this an inquiry project?

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Middle school projects Gr. 6-8

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Essential questions we have explored:

How can the scientific method be used to answer everyday questions?

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How does an innovation in technology impact a civilization?

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How do events in history impact today’s society?

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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

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Analyze Data Conclusions Future Research

– Create More Questions

Mr. H’s Hair!

What hair product creates the best and What hair product creates the best and longest lasting fohawk for Mr. H?longest lasting fohawk for Mr. H?

Our Own Class Research

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Sample questions:

How does pressure change a soccer ball?

What are the effects of music on memory?

http://sciencewithmrh.ning.com/

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Question filter

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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.

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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.

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Write a research paper. Create an Animoto video to promote and

inform for final presentation. Final presentations including audience

questions.

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Social Studies/Language Arts Grade 6

Exploding Technology

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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.

http://techpop.wikispaces.com

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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.

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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High School – Schenectady High School ELA

Susie Walsh, Gr. 10 ELA teacher

Kristen Majkut, Librarian

From traditional to inquiry.

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

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Susie’s year-long theme was:

What does it mean for one person to have power over another?

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The essential question for the research project was:

How do charities positively support and impact the communities that they serve?

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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:

http://shswalsh.pbworks.com/

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“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

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Literacy

Digital Literacy

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A Framework for Digital Literacy

Photo – visual

Reproduction

Information

Branching

Socio-emotional

(Eshet - Alkalai)

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Photo – visual literacy

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Reproduction literacy

synthesize

text

images sound

Independent forms of information

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Information literacy

Evaluate

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Branching literacy

Hypermedia and navigational paths

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Socio - emotional literacy