Using an inquiry approach

The most exciting feature, I think, of Reading Apprenticeship, is the fact that it fits so well with an inquiry approach. I am, in fact, doubtful that Reading Apprenticeship methods, by themselves, would yield strong learning gains, because students may not see the value of reading strategies. I think it's the inquiry that makes teaching the strategies possible.

From my reading I have learned the human brain was designed in hunter/gatherer times, and thus that hunting is a brain strength. This includes hunting for answers.

I like to dramatize this each fall at Halloween - with my hunter/gatherer of knowledge costume. 

If I can set up a meaty inquiry I can engage my students in hunting information. On their way, they are interested in learning more reading techniques because it helps them hunt successfully.

At the League for Innovations in Community Colleges conference in March 2013, Chabot College Emeritus faculty Cynthia Hicks presented a sample inquiry from a reading/writing classroom that was something like "Should the United States make gun control stronger?" Another type of inquiry was in the nature of a simulation: "Imagine you are a member of Congress and you are considering whether to..."

Some other possibilities (just brainstorming here):

Why does the order of operations work? 

How can I add fractions of different sizes?

What are the conditions that lead to war?

Why are human beings violent?

What effect does blue/green algae have on Oregon lakes?

What conditions lead cells to multiply beyond the body's ability to manage that growth? 

Is failure necessary to success?

(After much searching I have found, and will be posting here more examples from Prof. Hicks' presentation.)

More about the inquiry approach (from Prof. Hicks' presentation at the League):

According to Prof. Hicks, "inquiry is an instructional focus that engages students in activities to help them develop skills or strategies for dealing with data in order to say or write something about the data."

Teachers "pose very specific inquires for students," giving students data in the form of text. The inquiry appears as a prompt from the teacher, to write or think. The teacher gives the students the prompt before they begin to read.

"The whole point is to have the students get practice in working through the reading and figuring it out in order to respond. They develop knowledge and cognitive strategies for effective reading and analysis - it’s automatic."

"There are three ways to develop inquiry prompts:

1. present students with data about a controversial situation, something people argue about

2. give data with general information about the controversy, with a variety of perspectives

3. ask students to support an argument and support it. "

Prof. Hicks recommends using a limited set of data. "More is not better! Prevent overwhelm," she said.

"As part of the inquiry, teachers support readers' use of cognitive strategies:

• predicting
• picturing
• questioning
• connecting
• identifying a problem
• summarizing
• using fix ups"

"The critical strategy is to give students a clear purpose for reading. Students pay attention 

important content not trivia, related to the problem at hand. Students need to

identify patterns, predictions, inferences and conclusions, evaluating data for

bias, consistency, and compatibility with prior knowledge."

Prof. Hicks recommended What Works in Written Composition by George Hillocks as a guide to inquiry prompts. I did a quick check on Amazon but didn't find it. I haven't yet tried the campus library and library-sharing sites.

I found this interesting site about using inquiry in the math classroom.