Description
Book SynopsisInquiry Paths to Literacy Learning,acollection of chapters from secondary teachers and university researchers, offers English language arts teachers several models and considerations for how to design and implement inquiry-based teaching and learning. As the contributors demonstrate, an inquiry approach cansignificantly boost student achievement, understanding, and transfer of learning.The chapters in this collectionpresent classroom-tested approaches, activities, and assignments that teachers can use right away, but that also serve as models for designing learning experiences that most engage and benefit learners. Focusing on issues that adolescents find consequential,the sample learning activitiespromote the development of complex literacy skills, engage students in evidence-based reasoning, and foster an environment of cooperation, collaboration, and respect for different points of view.Together, the contributions in this book envision the English language arts classroom as a suppor
Trade ReviewAt a time when society and schools are running at a faster-than-ever break neck pace, a purposeful move towards inquiry-focused learning is precisely the salve that can create more thoughtful and critically-minded students and teachers. What Elizabeth Kahn and her colleagues do in Inquiry Paths to Literacy Learning is provide an essential guide—collected from experts around the field of English Language Arts--to developing classes of students who thrive while pursuing deeper, nuanced understandings of issues important to them. -- Christian Z. Goering Ph.D, Professor, English Education, University of Arkansas, Director of the Northwest Arkansas Writing Project, Faculty Director of the Center for Children & Youth
This book puts the process of inquiry at front and center. Instead of merely touting the benefits of inquiry, the authors adeptly unite theory and practice by first presenting readers with a rich theoretical and historical backdrop for the concept of inquiry and next illustrating inquiry in action in English language arts classrooms. The depth of this book will reignite teachers and teacher educators’ excitement about the learning process. -- Heidi L. Hallman, Professor, Department of Curriculum and Teaching, University of Kansas
The editors of Inquiry Paths to Literacy Learning have curated an inspired approach to guided inquiry, one that teachers will find indispensable. Through cogent explanations and inspiring and well-crafted examples, this volume places guided inquiry right at the heart of literacy instruction, where it belongs. -- Deborah Appleman, Hollis L. Caswell Professor of Educational Studies
Kahn and her colleagues provide us with a remarkable approach to teaching English that harnesses students’ curiosity to engage them in real-world problem solving—and that’s also a lot of fun. Demonstrating admirable depth and breadth and rooted in the foundational research of George Hillocks, their advice covers a range of topics, from classroom instruction to service learning, from planning to assessment, from canonical literature to contemporary young adult texts, from whole-class instruction to small-group work, and from traditional classrooms to digital tools. Are you concerned that you and your students are just going through the motions? Would you like to turn up the dial on your students’ engagement in rigorous critical thinking? Is it time for you to cast a bolt of energy into your class discussions? Read this book, follow its promising practical advice, and stand back! -- Ken Lindblom, professor of English, Stony Brook University (SUNY)
Table of ContentsForeword Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Boise State University Acknowledgments Editors’ Introduction Elizabeth A. Kahn, Andrew Bouque, Dawn Forde, Thomas M. McCann, and Carolyn C. Walter Part I: An Invitation to Inquiry Chapter 1- Inquiring into Inquiry in English Language Arts Hugh Kesson, Michael W. Smith, and Jon-Philip Imbrenda Chapter 2- Inquiry-Based Processes for Writing Thomas M. McCann Chapter 3- Inquiry and Literature: Beginning with Why? Carolyn Calhoun Walter Chapter 4- Inquiring in First-Year Composition Shayne Dwyer and Faye Scott Part II: The Practice of Inquiry Chapter 5- Planning Inquiry-Based Learning Elizabeth A. Kahn Chapter 6- Managing Group Inquiry Patricia Dalton and Suzanne Starnes Chapter 7- Launching Independent Inquiries Deborah Stern and Stacey Carlough Chapter 8- Assessing the Impact of Inquiry Andrew Bouque Part III: Inquiry Beyond the ELA Classroom Chapter 9- Investigating Text and Self: Inquiry, Literacy, and Social-Emotional Learning Gabrielle Caputo and Shannon McMullen Chapter 10- Inquiry and Service Learning in Teacher Education Peter Smagorinsky Chapter 11- Cross-Disciplinary Collaborations: Valuing Inquiry to Navigate Controversy Peter Anderson and Dawn Forde Chapter 12- Learning with Tools of Digital Inquiry Mary Rice About the Editors About the Contributors
