Into the Curriculum

School Library Monthly/Volume XXVI, Number 3/November 2009

Nudging toward Inquiry: Re-Envisioning the Country Report

compiled by Kristin Fontichiaro

Sometimes, revolutionizing research projects isn’t practical or feasible. When full-blown inquiry isn’t possible, what small tweaks can lead to big changes in student learning? This is the third in a ten-part series featuring SLM readers’ suggestions for tweaking a low-level thinking project. This month—the country report.

The Scenario

A teacher is preparing for "the country report." His or her graphic organizer asks students to find and record the country's capital, the population, languages spoken, major exports, currency, tourist attractions, flag, etc. At home, students will create a poster that contains the information they found. The teacher is proud of this lesson and says that parents love seeing their children's work hanging in the hallway during parent-teacher conferences. You are concerned that this project will do little to build students' skills beyond finding and copying information. To preserve the teacher's pride but move students toward questioning, deeper thinking, and synthesis, what nudges can you suggest?

Responses

Shared via the SLM blog: http://blog.schoollibrarymonthly.com/

Reframe the Assignment

Visit the From Now On Web site (http://www.fno.org) to see many good posts and tools about questioning. Pose guided inquiry questions such as, "Which of these countries would you choose to live in? Explain what features would make it a good home for you," or, "Which animals would like to live in which of these places?" For older students, "Look at projections of water levels and climate changes in the future. Using those data, where would you choose to live and why?" The goal is critical thinking, not finding and listing. —Melissa Techman, Albemarle County (Virginia) Schools

I'd ask different questions: "With what other country would your country like to make a trade treaty, and why?" "What is one problem your country faces? If you were king, president, prime minister, etc., what would you suggest should be done to solve it?" —Deven Black, New York City Department of Education

Focus on an Essential Question

Our World Language Department has begun connecting the typical country report to a revamped curriculum based on Understanding by Design (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005). Spanish I students select a Spanish-speaking country and individually investigate that country's culture and customs. In presenting their research to classmates, students focus on such essential questions as, "What are the differences and similarities between different cultures and one’s own?" —Margaret Lincoln, Battle Creek (Michigan) Public Schools

I would try to nudge this teacher towards a "meaningful question." I might ask him or her to consider some scenarios that would give purpose to the study such as, "I'm planning a trip to this country and need the information to travel there," or, "We have a new student from this country in our class, and we’d like to learn more about his/her background." —Anita Phipps, Alvin ISD, Pearland, Texas

Change the Product

After taking notes, the students write a script in the voice of a tour guide. They then create a PowerPoint that contains cited photographs (no text) to accompany their script and present their tour to their classmates. If the school has student-led conferences, they could present their tour to their parents at that time. —Beverley Rannow, Otsego (Michigan) Public Schools

Reference:

Wiggins, Grant, and Jay McTighe. Understanding by Design. Expanded 2nd ed. ASCD, 2005.

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