MLA Handbook. 8th ed., New York, Modern Language Association of America, 2016.
Open - Review Assignment. Introduction of the general topic to stimulate curiosity and engage inquiry. Ideas, themes, questions, problems or concepts related to the subject. (Prewrite)
Immerse - Connect with content and discover interesting ideas to explore further. What seems particularly interesting, curious, surprising or troubling? Reflect on ideas that matter to you and are worth further investigation. (Prewrite)
Explore - Survey a wide variety of sources, read when you find something interesting, explore ideas. Browse and scan a variety of sources and prepare to develop your inquiry questions. (Skim and Scan) (Prewrite)
Identify - Students are ready to identify a question for their inquiry because of the time spent immersing and exploring in order to build enough background knowledge to ask a meaningful question. Construct an inquiry question from the ideas, pressing problems, and emerging themes you have explored in various sources of information. Form a focus and draft a question.
Gather - A question gives direction to collect detailed information from a variety of sources. Locate, evaluate, and use information. "Go broad" to find a range of sources that are useful and "dig deep" and choose a core of the most useful sources to read closely as you find connections and gain personal understanding. (Close Reading) (Prewrite)
Create - By this stage, you have gathered enough information to construct your own understanding, you are now ready to organize your learning. What is important about the subject? Construct your own understanding, summarize, interpret, and extend meaning. Integrate your own ideas more firmly into deep understanding. (Close Reading) (Write and Revise)
Share - Students share the product they have created to show what they have learned. (Publish)
Evaluate - This occurs at the end when evaluation of the achievement of your learning goals takes place. Students reflect on their content learning and progress through the inquiry process. Self-reflection reinforces content learning and establishes good habits for learning how to learn through the inquiry process.
Guided Inquiry Design® Framework. 2020, guidedinquirydesign.com/gid/. Accessed 22 Oct. 2020.
Bias: Bias is the opinion, preference, inclination, perspective, or slant that informs actions and/or text. Bias can be positive or negative. This definition differs from a common usage in which bias has only negative connotations such as prejudice, unreasoned justification, distorted interpretation, and unfair influence. To deal with text knowledgeably, the reader must interpret it from competing perspectives, and determine whether bias is positive or negative.
Stereotypes: A false or generalized conception of a group of people which results in the unconscious or conscious categorization of each member of that group, without regard for individual differences. Stereotyping may be based on misconceptions and false generalizations about racial, age, ethnic, linguistic, religious, geographical, or national groups; social, marital, or family status; disability, gender, or sexual orientation. Stereotypes are often developed with little thought and they can lead to high levels of resentment. Stereotypes lead to inequities of all kinds: employment, housing, social acceptance, and all forms of exclusion.
Prejudice: Is a set of opinions about or attitudes toward a certain group, or individuals within it, that cast that group and its members in an inferior light and for which there is no legitimate basis in fact. It can be a consequence and a cause of discrimination. The term is derived from the word “prejudge.” Prejudicial attitudes are very resistant to change because concrete evidence that contradicts the prejudiced view tends to be dismissed as “the exception to the rule.” Discrimination The differential allocation of goods, resources, and services, and the limitation of access to full participation in society based on individual membership in a particular social group.
A Teaching Resource for Dealing with Controversial and Sensitive Issues in TDSB Classrooms, TDSB, 2003; and Challenging Class Bias, TDSB, 2005.
Assignment Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10mlHwClI1BtyFq7GaeRosm3fa-FS6LbYhIOA8OZgR-k/edit
Seek out the perspective of individuals or organizations with strong opinions. Those stakeholders and how they view the controversy will lend added depth to your approach on the topic. When identifying who those people or organizations are with an interest or a concern on a topic, consider this:
Once you've identified those groups with the different perspectives, begin seeking out who they are and where they might be discussing the controversial topic you've selected.
25 Controversial Topics: Position Paper Guide: https://thebestschools.org/magazine/controversial-topics-research-starter/
CAL State: Controversial Topics: https://csulb.libguides.com/papertopics/topics
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EBSCOProvider of research of databases, journals, magazine subscriptions, and ebooks.
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Issues & Controversies (Infobase) Explore hundreds of hot topics in politics, government, business, society, education, and popular culture in a balanced, pro/con format. |
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NewsbankA database that specializes in news resources, including archived and up to date news stories. |
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NewselaCreate an account and read news stories that are leveled by Lexile |
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Nonpartisan organization that conducts research on public policy. The site contains analysis of a commentary on many issues.
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