E.+Inquiry+Skill

=__//**Inquiry Skills: Questioning and Exploration**//__=

Although all five elements of information inquiry are intended to be a part of both units, the chosen lessons focus on the skills of questioning and exploration. Daniel Callison actually places these two skills together in his "Cycle and Interaction of Information Inquiry Elements" (6), because they interact with each other before students move on to the next stage of the cycle.

__Questioning__
It's not enough to research a famous person and write a report if educators wish to strengthen inquiry skills. Even third grade students need to be invested in their research topics, and that process begins when the students question what they already know, what they need to know, and most importantly, what they **want** to know about their topics. The featured lesson encourages the students to ask these questions and process their responses. The classroom teacher and school media specialist can facilitate the questioning process by modeling focused questioning techniques and teaching effective research strategies, with the goal of instilling "the ability to ask more focused, relevant, and insightful questions" (Callison 6).

If students have those experiences in third grade and practice them regularly, they will be second nature by the time the students are in tenth grade. However, if that is not the case, then the tenth grade lesson offers an opportunity to strengthen that skill. It can also encourage students to critically question the variety of media sources that they encounter each time they research any topic. Good questioning techniques can have a positive impact on the "flood of information that is often unorganized, misleading, and overpowering" (Callison 6).

__Exploration__
In order to answer their questions, the students in both groups will have to explore available resources. The third grade students would have access to a more limited collection of resources, due to their developmental stage and limited abilities; as Callison writes, "the ability of the inquirer to be successful in applying information literacy skills is relative to age and information need" (7). The students will start with their chosen picture books, but they can do further research in the library or on the computer with the assistance of educators. The students could use those resources to further develop their skills.

The tenth grade students could have access to a greater number of resources, but they also faced the challenge of locating quality resources and analyzing them. Strong exploration skills develop when students practice searching for such resources and studying them for appropriate information, which should then lead to another round of questions. This particular lesson also incorporates the challenge of finding resources to support a point of view. By developing these exploration skills in tenth grade, students will be prepared to use inquiry at the collegiate level and beyond.

Resource:
Callison, Daniel and Preddy, Leslie. //The Blue Book on Information Age Inquiry, Instruction, and Literacy//. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited. 2006.