Ashley Jorgensen, Price Laboratory School, UNI This presentation will focus on developing a curriculum built around inquiry-based units of instruction in a secondary language arts classroom. Audiences will have the chance to see evidence of how the use of essential questions can lead students into a process of inquiry, giving them the skills they need to think critically, question the world around them, and broaden and deepen their perspectives by connecting with others. Audiences will embark on a journey that takes them through a course entitled, ‘The American Teenager,’ and see the activities, assessments, and instructional strategies that transformed this course from a traditional study of American Literature to a course that is relevant, engaging, and challenging for teenagers in the 21st century. Through essential questions like ‘How do societal expectations impact our identity?’, ‘What are the costs and benefits of conformity?’ and ‘Is the American Dream a reality for all?’, this course blends classic and contemporary, and combines writers like Sherman Alexie with The Breakfast Club, Henry David Thoreau with text messaging, and Catcher in the Rye with Jay-Z. Audiences will gain important techniques for creating a classroom built around student-led discussions, including Socratic Seminars and blogging, as well as see examples of competency based assessments fully aligned with the Iowa Core Curriculum and National Common Core Standards.

1. The QUESTION is the ANSWER:Making the Language Arts Classroom Meaningful with Essential Questions & Student-Driven Inquiry Ashley jorgensen Ashley.jorgensen@uni.edu (319) 273-2961

2. Overview of Presentation Introduction & Background Connect to Iowa Core, Common Core, & CEI An Inquiry Based Unit Think Aloud Tying it to the Standards Socratic Seminar Discussions

3. Exploring the Misconceptions How do our students view their learning? “One and Done” Not relevant to their lives – not purposeful Grade-Driven Teacher-Centered – ‘empty vessels’ Concerned with finding the right answer “…a series of contrived exercises necessary to earn credentials for future success” (Newman, 2005) Sleepy & boring

4. Learning the ‘Old’ Way Chronological Learning – typically textbook driven Individual, Isolated Activities Breadth over Depth – “shopping mall classroom” Subjective Grading The Result? “Regardless of how carefully the individual activities and lessons are crafted, on close inspection, the curriculums reveal a lack of intellectual focus and coherence because the goals of study are not explicit” (Traver).

5. National Common Core & Iowa Core Curriculum Iowa Department of Education adopted the Common Core Standards in July, 2010. Five Strands: reading, writing, speaking, listening, & language Emphasizes skills over content – leaving freedom to teacher Characteristics of Effective Instruction Rigorous and Relevant Curriculum Student-Centered Instruction Teaching for Learner Differences Teaching for Understanding (Deep Conceptual Knowledge) Formative Assessment

6. 1. Integration - “the individual strands of reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language are not exclusive of the other. Each strand links to and supports the rest.” “…to be learned and used effectively, the processes of reading, writing, speaking, viewing, and listening are best taught in an integrated manner and assessed in the same way.” NOTHING IS MTUALLY EXCLUSIVE!!! The Core in Language Arts

8. The Core in Language Arts Authentic Literacy -Focuses on the processes of reading, writing, and critical thinking -Requires a shift---a greater focus on the questions, and less on the answers -”When students have opportunities to construct knowledge, to understand topics in depth instead of superficially, to express themselves by explaining their ideas, and to study issues that have significance beyond the classroom, they are more likely to care and be interested in learning” (Newman, 2007) “…encourages the process of thinking over the product, and propels students towards deep understandings of the content” (Wilhelm, 2007).

9. 3. Innovation (American Literature) The Core in Language Arts

10. “The partnerships between reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language – connecting with the ever-increasing knowledge base for each content area – provide the means for thinking among and between concepts and ideas. It is an active process.” -Iowa Core Curriculum Interpreting the Iowa Core

11. What is Inquiry?

12. What is Inquiry? “…education easily becomes remote and dead – abstract and bookish” “…education lacked an authentic connection to the human experience.”

13. What is Inquiry?

14. What is Inquiry? The Five Major Parts of Inquiry Model in Science: Learners are engaged in scientifically oriented questions Through exploration, learners give priority to evidence, which allows them to develop and evaluate explanations that address questions Learners formulate explanations from evidence to address questions Learners evaluate their explanations in light of alternative explanations Learners communicate and justify their proposed explanations “Inquiry based teaching requires careful attention to creating learning environments and experiences where students can confront new ideas, deepen their understanding, and learn to think logically and critically about the world around them” (Inquiry and Science)

15. Inquiry Based Units Based on student-driven questions & issues, relevant to them Multiple texts, activities, and forms of assessment Based on student perspective, deep conceptual knowledge, and meaningful connections “Create a clearly focused problem orientation for our studies that connects kids to socially significant material and learning; thus, leading to exciting conversations” (Wilhelm) Unit Planning around the ICC

16. The Five ‘E’s of Inquiry Engagement Create interest Reveal prior knowledge and pre-existing ideas Exploration Explore questions and test student ideas Explanation Compare ideas Construct explanations and justify them in terms of evidence/data Elaboration Apply concepts and explanations in new contexts Evaluation Evidence of changes in students’ ideas, beliefs, and skills

17. Unit Planning Process in American Lit. Content Selection Identifying the ‘problems’ – I needed a ‘reality check’ Surveying the students Finding Additional Resources Discover the connections The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian A struggle to fit in or construct one’s identity in a stereotypical world

18. Unit Planning Process Continued… Big Ideas Themes The struggle to find acceptance in society How stereotypes/misconceptions influence one’s culture and how we overcome them Building and constructing an identity/individuality in our society today The impact of community expectations on our lives and identity

20. Essential Questions

21. What are stereotypes? Why do we have them? Where do they stem from?

22. How do stereotypes influence American Indian culture? How is this evident in their writing?

23. How do stereotypes impact the construction and perception of identity?

25. American Literature C D Students identify stereotypes in the film “The Searchers” A B

26. American Literature Students analyze the essay, “I Hated Tonto (Still Do)” for style C D A B

27. American Literature C D Students identify with stereotypes in the film, “The Breakfast Club” A B

28. American Literature C D Students discuss stereotypes in the “Great Game of High School” and relate it to their own high school. B A

29. American Literature Students look at identity conflicts in their own lives through artwork and poetry. C D A B

30. Identity Assignment

31. American Literature Students create their own non-stereotypical children’s stories and present C D A B

32. American Literature Students write persuasive essays and debate the Indian Mascot Controversy in sports C D A B

33. American Literature Students form market research teams to redefine the ‘Mook’ & ‘Midriff’ caricatures from ‘Merchants of Cool’ through ethnography studies & Pinterest boards C D A B

34. What is Next? Six Units All integrated to incorporate essential skills & concepts 1.Stereotypes & Identity - How do people form an identity in a stereotypical world? Technology & Transcendentalism - What are the costs and benefits of being a nonconformist in 21st century society? How is technology changing the way we interact, think, and live in our world? America the Beautiful? An MLA Research Paper The American Experience - Is the American Dream a reality for all? The Game of Life – Are we the people society perceives us to be? Teen Culture Study – Teen Research Study & Multi-Genre Presentation Language Arts May Term – ICC Standards Assessment

35. Independent Inquiry Project Writing Standard 7: Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a self-generated question, or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject. Independent Inquiry Project Essential Question Five Sources: One classic, one contemporary, one film, and two other sources Paper and presentation assignment

36. What About Assessment? Grades must have more meaning; must mean more than the title of an assignment. It is about assessing the skills demonstrated, not the students’ understanding of the content

37. Standards Based Grading Assessment Focuses on students’ understanding of the essential skills of the discipline (literacy) Provides an accurate, objective assessment of where students are and where they need to be Is dependent on feedback, revision, and initiative – students are in the driver’s seat Reciprocal Accountability Students must reflect on their own learning

38. Fostering Discussion in the LA Classroom The Importance of Classroom Discussion “despite the importance of academic dialogue, most students don’t engage in it until college or later” (Schmoker). 0.5 percent of 1500 high school classrooms took part in student-driven, engaging discussion Students need the opportunity to talk about what they’re learning, test their ideas, and reveal their assumptions. Must focus on building substantive, sustained conversations, not initiated and led by the teacher, but by the students

40. Students are in the driver’s seat; Teacher is facilitator

41. Can be teacher-guided, or student-led

42. Learn to listen critically and respond to one another

43. Discussion often continues after they leave the classroom

44. Students learn to draft higher order questions:

45. Close Ended

46. Open Ended

47. Real World

48. Universal Theme

49. Literary Analysis