10 Questions for Inquiry:
The Bigger the Better!

Robert King

Inquiry is based on questions, but not all questions are created equally. Big questions open up big spaces for information, while little questions open up little spaces. The size of the answer is predicted by the size of the question.

Suppose that a bug specialist (an entomologist) comes to speak in your Life Science class. After giving a presentation, the entomologist opens the floor for questions. Note what happens when students ask little questions instead of big ones.

In the left column, four different students ask little questions, and they get barely a trickle of information from the entomologist. In the right column, one student asks one big question, and the guest pours out interesting information. The questions on the left are thimble sized, but the question on the right is bucket sized. If students can learn to ask bigger questions, they can gather much more information with much less effort. [Read more.]

In the News

These thumbnail descriptions point to recent articles on 21st century skills, inquiry, project-based learning, media literacy, and education reform.

Three Brain-Based Teaching Strategies to Build Executive Function in Students: At Edutopia, researcher Judy Willis provides helpful advice for teaching higher-order thinking to students through inquiry, problem solving, and authentic experiences.

Nine Life-Changing Inventions from MIT’s Media Lab: At the Atlantic Web site, Rebecca J. Rosen has gathered photos of nine inventions that arose from the Media Lab at MIT. Students’ engagement in playful innovation and problem solving is creating the future.

Twenty Engaging Projects: On the Edutopia Web site, Suzie Boss has collected 20 engaging projects for grabbing students’ interest, teaching them critical research skills, and getting them to collaborate. The 20 projects are in honor of Edutopia’s 20th anniversary.

Respecting Students: In Educational Leadership, Carol Ann Tomlinson writes about the importance of a respectful student-teacher relationship for creating an environment for learning. Students learn from our attitudes and actions as much as from our words. 

Exploring Social Inequity Through Drama: The blog What Ed Said features a wonderful article about using drama in the classroom to explore issues of inequality. Watch the video to see pictures of the 12-year-olds acting out their scenes.

21st Century Readiness Act Introduced: Our friends at the Partnership for 21st Century Skills report on the 21st Century Readiness Act, introduced to the legislature by Senators Hagan and Snowe. This bipartisan Act would extend use of federal funds to support teaching 21st century skills and combining the 4 C’s with the 3 R’s.

Inquire in the News

This section provides information about recent and upcoming events connected to Inquire.

Inquire Online Editions Arrive! The Inquire Online student handbook and teacher’s guide are now available in online editions. You can examine these books for 30 days for free!

Utah’s Common Core Academy Uses Inquire: The 2011 Common Core Academy in Utah is developing a set of standards to prepare high school students for success in college and beyond. The Academy selected Inquire: A Guide to 21st Century Learning as one of its key texts and used the framework of skills presented in the book. You can review a PDF of the Academy’s list with Inquire featured prominently beginning on the second page.

Idaho Adopts Inquire: We also recently received notification that Idaho has adopted Inquire for use as a supplement in computer applications. We’re really thrilled to help the students of Idaho develop the media and technology skills they need.

Thoughtful Learning Upcoming Events

American Association of School Librarians Conference

Thursday, October 27 – Saturday, October 29, 2011, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Drop by our booth, #1132, at the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) National Conference.

National Middle School Association (NMSA) 38th Annual Conference & Exhibit

Thursday, November 10 – Saturday, November 12, 2011, Louisville, Kentucky. Visit us at Booth 936, and be sure to join Inquire author Rob King for concurrent session 2115—Using Project-Based Lessons to Teach Language Arts—on Friday, November 11, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.

National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Annual Convention

Thursday, November 17 – Sunday, November 20, 2011, Chicago, Illinois. Visit us at Booth 1213, and be sure to join Inquire author Rob King, middle school teacher Cindy Smith, and Thoughtful Learning president Chris Erickson for session K.22—Using Inquiry Projects to Teach Language Arts—Saturday, November 19, 4:15-5:30 p.m., Palmer House/Chicago Room, Fifth Floor.

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