Week 10

Compelling questions address issues found in and across the academic disciplines that make up social studies. Compelling questions reflect the interests of students and the curriculum and content with which students might have little experience. Example: Was the American Revolution revolutionary?

Standards and Practices The key standard (1-2) that is the foundation for the inquiry. Example: Integrate evidence from multiple relevant historical sources and interpretations into a reasoned argument about the past (D2.His.16.9-12).

Staging the question activities introduce students to the ideas behind the compelling question in order to generate curiosity in the topic. Example: Discuss the question of how much change must occur for something to be considered revolutionary.

Supporting questions are intended to contribute knowledge and insights to the inquiry behind a compelling question. Supporting questions focus on descriptions, definitions, and processes about which there is general agreement within the social studies disciplines, which will assist students to construct explanations that advance the inquiry. Typically, there are 3-4 supporting questions that help to scaffold the compelling question. Example: What were the political changes that resulted from the American Revolution?

Featured Sources: Each Formative Performance Task should have 1-3 disciplinary sources to help students build their understandings of the compelling and supporting questions and to practice the work of historians and social scientists. To that end, sources can be used toward three distinct, but mutually reinforcing purposes: a) to generate students’ curiosity and interest in the topic, b) to build students’ content knowledge, and c) to help students construct and support their arguments related to a compelling question. Example: Abigail Adams letter to John Adams (1776).

Formative Performance Tasks are activities designed to help students practice the skills and acquire the content needed to perform well on the summative task. These tasks are built around the supporting questions and are intended to grow in sophistication across the tasks. The performance tasks threaded throughout the inquiry provide teachers multiple opportunities to evaluate what students know and are able to do so that teachers have a steady loop of data to inform his/her instructional decision-making. Example: Write a paragraph that compares the political rights of white, black, and Native American men and women before and after the American Revolution.

Summative argument: Each inquiry ends with students constructing an argument (e.g., detailed outline, drawing, essay) that addresses the compelling question using specific claims and relevant evidence from sources while acknowledging competing views. Example: Construct a written argument that addresses the compelling question using specific claims and relevant evidence from historical sources while acknowledging competing views.

Extension: An extension activity offers an optional task that might be used in place of the Summative Performance Task. Example: Create a three-part chart detailing the social, economic, and political changes that may or may not have occurred as a result of the American Revolution.

Taking Informed Action: The three activities described in this space represent a logic that asks students to a) understand the issues evident from the inquiry in a larger and/or current context, b) assess the relevance and impact of the issues, and c) act in ways that allow students to demonstrate agency in a real-world context. Example: Understand--Research a proposed tax in the United States. Assess--Examine the benefits and disadvantages of the proposed tax. Act--Write a letter to the newspaper editor that outlines support or opposition to the proposed tax.

Inquiry Design Model Generator http://www.c3teachers.org/generator/

The IDM Generator (online at http://idm.c3teachers.org) is a platform for teachers to develop interactive inquiries that can then be completed online by students. The Generator supports teachers to create their own inquiries, share those inquiries with other teachers, and make inquiry assignments for their students to complete. The easy to use, web-based interface enables students to inquire about compelling questions, access disciplinary sources, and complete formative and summative tasks and exercises in taking informed action. Teachers can create class accounts and produce a unique web address for students to complete an assignment online.

Sample Inquiries: http://www.c3teachers.org/inquiries/

IDM Workbook

http://www.c3teachers.org/idm-workbook/

Structured inquiries offer the flexibility of planning for 5-7 days of instruction. To that end, then, we offer three templates for designing inquiries of this type:

• The 3-Question Blueprint Template employs three Supporting Questions with the attendant Formative Performance Tasks and Featured Sources. It places the Taking Informed Action sequence at the conclusion of the inquiry.

• The 4-Question Blueprint Template differs from its 3-Question peer by adding a fourth Supporting Question.

• The Embedded Action Blueprint encourages the incorporating of the Taking Informed Action sequence into the middle of the inquiry by combining the understand and assess elements with one or more of the Supporting Questions and the act element serving as a substitute for the Summative Performance Task.

Focused inquiries offer the opportunity to do a short inquiry of 1-2 lessons:

• The Focused Inquiry Template still has a Compelling Question and Summative Performance Task, but typically features only one Supporting Question and Formative Performance Task and a reduced set of Featured Sources. There is no Taking Informed Action sequence in a focused inquiry.