Inquiry Paths to Literacy Learning

A Guide for Elementary and Secondary School Educators

Edited by Elizabeth A. Kahn; Andrew Bouque; Dawn Forde; Thomas M. McCann and Carolyn C. Walter

Inquiry Paths to Literacy Learning, a collection 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 can significantly boost student achievement, understanding, and transfer of learning. The chapters in this collection present 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 activities promote 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 supportive environment for authentic inquiry and for the genuine democratic processes involved in grappling together with tough perennial and contemporary issues.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 176 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9

978-1-4758-5034-5 • Hardback • October 2019 • $99.00 • (£76.00)

978-1-4758-5035-2 • Paperback • October 2019 • $51.00 • (£39.00)

978-1-4758-5036-9 • eBook • October 2019 • $48.50 • (£37.00)

Subjects: Education / Teaching Methods & Materials / Language Arts, Education / Curricula, Education / Teaching Methods & Materials / Reading & Phonics

Inquiry Paths to Literacy Learning

A Guide for Elementary and Secondary School Educators

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Inquiry Paths to Literacy Learning, a collection 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 can significantly boost student achievement, understanding, and transfer of learning. The chapters in this collection present 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 activities promote 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 supportive environment for authentic inquiry and for the genuine democratic processes involved in grappling together with tough perennial and contemporary issues.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 176 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9

978-1-4758-5034-5 • Hardback • October 2019 • $99.00 • (£76.00)

978-1-4758-5035-2 • Paperback • October 2019 • $51.00 • (£39.00)

978-1-4758-5036-9 • eBook • October 2019 • $48.50 • (£37.00)

Subjects: Education / Teaching Methods & Materials / Language Arts, Education / Curricula, Education / Teaching Methods & Materials / Reading & Phonics

Author

Elizabeth A. Kahn taught English language arts for 36 years and served as English department chair; she now teaches in the English teacher education program at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. She has co-authored several books, including Discussion Pathways to Literacy Learning (NCTE 2018), The Dynamics of Writing Instruction (Heinemann 2010), and Writing About Literature (NCTE 1984 and 2009, updated edition).

Andrew Bouque has taught English in public high schools for 20 years, currently at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois. He is coeditor of Raise Your Voices: Inquiry, Discussion, and Literacy Learning (Rowman & Littlefield 2019).

Dawn Forde is a teacher at Adlai E. Stevenson High School and has been learning from her students for the past 18 years. She coedited Raise Your Voices: Inquiry, Discussion, and Literacy Learning (Rowman & Littlefield 2019) and has presented at local, state, and national conferences.

Thomas M. McCann is a professor of English at Northern Illinois University, where he contributes to the teacher licensure program. His books include Transforming Talk into Text and Literacy and History in Action (Teachers College Press) and the co-authored Talking in Class (NCTE 2006), The Dynamics of Writing Instruction (Heinemann 2010), and Teaching Matters Most (Corwin Press 2012).

Carolyn Calhoun Walter taught English students for thirty years at both public and private high schools and now supervises student teachers for Northern Illinois University. She is a regular presenter at national conferences and has co-authored Designing and Sequencing Pre-Writing Activities and Writing about Literature, and Discussion Pathways to Literacy Learning.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Boise State University

Acknowledgments

Editors’ IntroductionElizabeth 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

Reviews

At 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, PhD, NBCT, past chair, English language arts teacher educators professor, English Education, University of Arkansas

This book puts the process of inquiryat 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, Carleton College, author of Words No Bars Can Hold: Literacy Learning in Prison

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)