Brian+Inquiry+Activity

Brian Kacharaba **Activity:** TV 411 – Reading and Summarizing []

1. Summarizing is a reading strategy learners can use to better engage with and understand what they read and “ The Tune In for Learning” web site teaches just that. Brain I think you shoould include more of ......This reading exercise began with a slide show that told a story of a man who needed directions to a location and only wrote down the main or “summary” points on how to get there. After the slideshow, there is a page listing what the students will learn in the upcoming exercise; reviewing the basics of summarizing, identifying main idea statements and detail statements and using categories to summarize lists. The first part of the exercise was called “Making a Long Story Short”, which included eight short passages accompanied by a multiple choice question that asked what best summarized the story. Next was “The Main Idea vs. The Detail”, in which students had to read four sentences taken from an article and decide whether it was stating a main idea or an unnecessary detail. The final part was the “Main Idea”. Here, students had to match four words with a list that it summarizes. For example, the word “errands” best described the circle that listed go to the post office, deposit a check and go to the drug store. I am embarrassed to admit that I did get a question wrong in each of the first two exercises, but was prefect on the third. At the end, it listed what was taught in the lesson and suggests other ways of summarizing things, including television shows, movies or even phone conversations. There are 10 other reading-based exercises the students can engage in on this site that deals with a wide range of topics.

2a. New York State Language Arts Standards: **Standard 1:** Students will read, write, listen and speak for information and understanding. **Standard 2:** Students will read, write, listen and speak for literary response and expression. **Standard 3:** Students will read, write, listen and speak for critical analysis and evaluation.

2b. NCTE / IRA Standards for the English Language Arts: **Standard 1:** Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works. **Standard 2:** Students read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to build an understanding of the many dimensions (e.g., philosophical, ethical, aesthetic) of human experience. **Standard 3:** Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics). **Standard 4:** Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes. **Standard 5:** Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes. **Standard 7:** Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and non-print texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience. **Standard 8:** Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge. **Standard 11:** Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities. **Standard 12:** Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

3. Revised inquiry learning definition and rubric:

**Inquiry learning** is the process of seeking new knowledge through creating, questioning, investigating, synthesizing and experimenting for the purpose of understanding a topic. Students gather this knowledge through real-life experiences that can eventually be applied to future tasks during adulthood. There are generally no right answers to inquiry learning, only figuring out a solution to a question or problem. Teachers go against the traditional lecture-based lessons in inquiry learning, instead focusing on ways to test and select information for the students as it relates to problem solving.

**Rubric**

Brian--this sounds like an interesting activity for students to learn the importance of main ideas and details in writing. The latter part of the activity is more inquiry based than the first few steps. I like that the students are prompted to apply the knowledge they have learned in this activity to deciphering main ideas in phone conversations, directions, etc. Don't feel bad about answering some of the questions wrong, I did the same thing in my activity. This shows that the questions are challenging to students and in the end, the activity tests if the students really gained something from it. I think that Jane's rubric would be the best to start with in creating our group inquiry page. --JeanMarie
 * || ** Not evident **
 * 0 ** || ** Partial **
 * 1 ** || ** Exemplary **
 * 2 ** || ** Score ** ||
 * ** Question to be solved ** || The chosen question had no relevance to the problem. || The chosen question was thoughtful and pertained to the problem || There was high-level thinking used to formulate a question based on the problem. ||  ||
 * ** Group Participation ** || The student did no participate; appeared to withdraw from the group. || The student was somewhat engaged, but preferred to let other group members perform most of the work. || The student was an active participant in the group and made significant contributions to the project. ||  ||
 * ** Investigation and Research ** || No investigation was made to solve the problem. || Some investigation was evident, but more was needed. || Information was relevant and highly-investigated. ||  ||
 * ** Synthesizing ** || No new knowledge or information was connected with the question. || There was some information and knowledge connected with the question. || There was significant new knowledge formed from the facts and ideas. ||  ||
 * ** Effectiveness of Solutions ** || No evidence of reasoning skills to evaluate effectiveness of solutions. || Analyzes the effectiveness of some solutions; demonstrates knowledge of the problem-solving process. || Analyzes and evaluates the effectiveness of all of the solutions; demonstrates complete understanding of the problem-solving process. || ​ ||

​ Brian~ I think that this activity looks great. Unfortunately, for all 3 of us finding an inquiry based activity in the language arts is pretty difficult. I think your rubric is really well outlined, but maybe it could be a little more detailed as far as exactly what is required for the activity. Multiple choice questions are hard to incorporate into inquiry, but the activity itself is fun and interesting, so maybe if the questions were essay or short answer that would open it up to more higher level thinking. But you did a great job!!! ~ Janie