THE INQUIRY DESIGN MODEL SESSION 3:
Sources
Part I – The Nature of Sources
• What are sources?
• What makes a source disciplinary?
• What is the relationship between sources and
tasks?
• How do sources support work with knowledge
and skills?
What Are Sources?
• Sources provide information that is useful in
answering questions
• Three characteristics of sources
– Information contained in a source
– Composition of a source
– Perspective or bias of a source
What Makes a Source Disciplinary?
• Sources have features that are distinctive within the
disciplines.
• Examples of disciplinary sources and processes
include:
Political Science – legislation
evaluating public policies
Economics – data and statistics
quantitative reasoning
Geography – maps and GIS data
spatial reasoning
History – oral history and diaries
perspective
Your Task
Given the content suggested in Key Idea 7.7 in NYS
K–12 Social Studies Framework, what are some sources
that would be useful in an inquiry on the compelling
question, “Can words lead to war?”
•
•
•
•
What sources in political science?
What sources in economics?
What sources in geography?
What sources in history?
What is the
relationship between
sources and tasks?
• IDM tasks are
anchored by
sources
• Sources and tasks
must work in
tandem
Source Work Follows C3 Inquiry Arc
If students are
asked a
COMPELLING
QUESTION…
In the middle are the SUPPORTING
QUESTIONS, FORMATIVE
PERFORMANCE TASKS, AND SOURCES
Students answer
in the form of a
SUMMATIVE
ARGUMENT
How do sources support work with
knowledge and skills?
• Disciplinary knowledge and disciplinary skills
are integrated within an investigation.
• Source work is not easy.
Part II – The Instructional Uses of Sources
Sources can be used to
• Spark curiosity
• Build knowledge
• Construct arguments
Sparking Curiosity
Sparking curiosity is about engagement
• Focus on relevance and what we know
students care about.
• Use staging activities in an inquiry.
• Nurture curiosity through sources throughout
the inquiry.
How would you use this source
to spark curiosity?
http://www.speaktruthvideo.com/2014-winners.html
Kailash Satyarthi
What are some other ways to spark
curiosity using sources?
Building Knowledge
• Sources in an inquiry contain the disciplinary
knowledge (content and concepts) students
need to complete tasks.
• Students use disciplinary skills when building
knowledge.
• Students gather information from the sources
during an inquiry.
How do the sources support the
building of knowledge?
Constructing Arguments with Evidence
• Inquiries result in arguments.
• Sources contain information that can be used
as evidence in an argument.
• Students need support when determining
what information should be used in an
argument.
How do the sources support the argument?
Part III – Working with Sources
When using sources in an inquiry teachers
should consider the following:
• Selecting sources
• Scaffolding
• Adapting sources
Selecting Sources
Selection of sources requires deep knowledge
of content
• Where can we find the sources?
– Archives, libraries, collections
– Online
– Through collaboration and sharing
Adapting Sources
• Approaches to adapting sources
– Excerpting
– Modifying
– Annotating
• Examples
– Text passage from Uncle Tom’s Cabin
– Summary of Uncle Tom’s Cabin
– Illustration from the first edition of Uncle Tom’s Cabin
• Adaptations to instruction
• Objections to making changes to sources
Sources Require Scaffolding
• Scaffolds provide novices with support for
complex academic work.
• Toolkit scaffolds were designed to support
formative and summative tasks.
• Analyzing sources in an inquiry involves
literacy work.
• Again, source work is not easy.
Supporting Question 1
Featured Source B
Excerpts from Uncle Tom’s Cabin with an introductory descriptions
Passage 1
Summary: George is speaking with his wife Eliza about his cruel master. After enduring abuse, George
eventually escapes to Canada. His wife and his son Harry, who had a different master, later escaped to
Canada.
MRS. Shelby had gone on her visit, and Eliza stood in the verandah, rather dejectedly looking after the
retreating carriage, when a hand was laid on her shoulder. She turned, and a bright smile lighted up her fine
eyes.
"George, is it you? How you frightened me! Well; I am so glad you 's come! Missis is gone to spend the
afternoon; so come into my little room, and we'll have the time all to ourselves."
Saying this, she drew him into a neat little apartment opening on the verandah, where she generally sat at
her sewing, within call of her mistress.
"How glad I am!—why don't you smile?—and look at Harry—how he grows." The boy stood shyly regarding
his father through his curls, holding close to the skirts of his mother's dress. "Isn't he beautiful?" said Eliza,
lifting his long curls and kissing him.
"I wish he'd never been born!" said George, bitterly. "I wish I'd never been born myself!"
Surprised and frightened, Eliza sat down, leaned her head on her husband's shoulder, and burst into tears.
"There now, Eliza, it's too bad for me to make you feel so, poor girl!" said he, fondly; "it's too bad. O, how I
wish you never had seen me—you might have been happy!"
"George! George! how can you talk so? What dreadful thing has happened, or is going to happen? I'm sure
we've been very happy, till lately."
"So we have, dear," said George. Then drawing his child on his knee, he gazed intently on his glorious dark
eyes, and passed his hands through his long curls.
"Just like you, Eliza; and you are the handsomest woman I ever saw, and the best one I ever wish to see; but,
oh, I wish I'd never seen you, nor you me!"
"O, George, how can you!"
Summary
What is plot of Uncle
Tom’s Cabin?
Details
What are the main
ideas in the selected
illustration?
What details support
those main ideas?
Tone:
What emotions are
evident in the
illustration?
Intention
What do you think
Stowe was trying to
accomplish by using
this illustration?
Reactions
How do you think
people reacted to the
ideas in the text and
the illustrations?
Summary
• Sources contain information useful in answering questions,
are disciplinary in nature, relate to the tasks in an inquiry, and
support work with knowledge and skills.
• IDM features three instructional uses of sources:
– Sparking curiosity
– Building knowledge
– Constructing arguments with evidence
• When using sources in an inquiry teachers should consider
the following:
– Selecting sources
– Adapting sources
– Scaffolding
IDM™ Conceptual Framework: Sources
• Content knowledge and disciplinary skills are
integrated within an investigation (#3)
• Disciplinary sources are the building blocks of
inquiry (#6)
• Social studies shares in the responsibility for
literacy (#8)
Questions
Tasks
Sources
Pulling it All Together