Okay, so we already know I am using these ideas in the classroom.  Yet, to bring it to a standards level, I would like to look at projects for freshmen and junior using Indiana Language Arts Standards.

Freshmen

I have written so much about this process of inquiry, it’s kind of hard to remember what I did prior to this, but here goes!

Going back to my undergraduate days, I wrote a load of English papers on various authors and readings.  My process usually went like this:

1. Skim the various material from the semester. (Watching)

2. Figure out what texts intrigue me.

3. Explore thesis for a couple texts (Wondering)

4. Research information on databases and in books. (Webbing)

5. Decide on a “semi-final” thesis and analyze articles that support or question my thesis. (Wiggling)

6. Write up a paper, shifting my thesis if necessary, connecting the beginning and end of the paper, integrating primary and secondary sources. (Weaving/Wrapping)

7. Allow a friend to review, change what is needed, look over mechanics etc,  create title page, send to teacher (Wrapping, Waving)

8. Receive paper back, look over grade and response from professor, think about what I did well, what I might have changed (Wishing)

So, I guess I basically went through the steps of inquiry prior to this project, but I definitely did not think of them in an overt way.  I simply knew what worked for an effective paper.  However, there are a lot of students who do not.  I think my process of inquiry changed most in the fact that I learned to identify what I was doing!  This is a  great way to explain to students the inquiry process when they do not know how to effectively research.