This lesson is for : Grade 11: English
Summary
The Inquiry Contract is the outgrowth of a year’s worth of college-level English—it is the student’s opportunity to further explore through a substantive project some of the themes, ideas, and essential questions presented throughout the course. Students will explore rhetoric in a variety of ways and genres, exploring how everything truly is an argument. The project will culminate in a presentation of about 10-15 minutes—a very important and integral piece of the overall project. The final product is NOT A PAPER, but rather a multi-genre project.
With the popularity of TEDtalks, the SERIAL podcast, YouTube, and traditional rhetoric in prose, the arts, and journalism, I feel it is important that students become literate in our society’s visual culture and practice writing for authentic audiences about topics they may want to explore in college and beyond, offering them a way to present research in non-traditional rhetorical modes.
In the inquiry contract’s inception year, 2014, a student interviewed her grandmother about family traditions, another read E.B. DuBois’s theory of Double Consciousness and write a poem to her Egyptian father, another demonstrated in class how video games are more social enterprises than people believe, and another created an interactive presentation through Instagram to present commentary on digital copyright infringement. To see how they get there, READ THE UNIT PLAN!!
Want a preview? Click here to see a student product before you read!!
TIPC Ratings
Research & Information Fluency
Rating: Ideal – Explanation:
The Inquiry Contract project provides students the opportunity to independently research a topic, make an informed decision and then create a final product of their choosing. In this project the teachers becomes a facilitator and provides a guided framework for students to answer the two essential questions while still allowing them to drive their own research and information fluency. Students worked independently through the entire research phase of the project using their knowledge they gained throughout the year on how to find sources, determine their validity, synthesize information, and then powerfully display the information in a final product is NOT A PAPER, but rather a multi-genre project.
Communication & Collaboration
Rating: Not observed – Explanation:
Not a focus of this project
Critical Thinking & Problem Solving
Rating: Not observed – Explanation:
Not a focus of this project
Creativity & Innovation
Rating: Ideal – Explanation:
The Inquiry Contract provided an enormous opportunity for students to be creative. Through extensive research and thought students were able to take prior knowledge and connect it to new knowledge. Students then take this new knowledge gained through the research process to create new ideas that supported their thesis statement. Students had the opportunity to be creative in their choice of artifacts they developed to defend their thesis. This open ended approach allowed the students to create a unique product within the assignment parameters. This unique product or “Final Presentation” culminated with the student presenting their work in an interactive ten minute production. Students inform the audience of their thesis, research, artifacts and answer questions posed to them.
Lesson Materials
