The Issues Project is research based, inquiry project in 9th grade English that was developed during library-led professional development. Students choose an issue they care about, research it, advocate for a solution and present their work to their peers. The research skills are rooted in the fundamental inquiry method ( à la Barbara Stripling) and incorporate additional strategies such as the Question Focus Protocol (from Right Question Institute) that allows for convergent and divergent thinking, learning routines from Ritchart et al., Making Thinking Visible and presentation skills rooted in the approach of Stand & Deliver, a public speaking educational group based in California that breaks down presentations into manageable parts. The final result is a TED-like presentation to their peers that presents the issue, explains why they should care and advocates for a solution. We will provide context on how this fits with the school wide learning goals, talk about the role of the library, explain how this might inform the Information Literacy Scope & Sequence being developed. Google Docs, website evaluation with the CRAAP test, Noodletools and database research are also integrated. Get presentation slideshow
here.
