Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Teaching for Inquiry: Engaging the Learner Within

Small, Ruth V., et al. Teaching for Inquiry: Engaging the Learner Within. New York: Neal-Schuman, 2011. ISBN: 9781555707552

From the publisher:
Make AASL’s 21st Century Learning Standards a reality in your school with this practical guide!

The American Association of School Librarians’ (AASL’s) Standards for the 21st-Century Learner define “inquiry” as a “stance toward learning in which the learner is engaged in asking questions and finding answers, not simply accumulating facts presented by someone else that have no relation to previous learning or new understanding. Inquiry follows a continuum of learning experiences, from simply discovering a new idea or an answer to a question to following a complete inquiry process.”

Inquiry is a crucial vantage point for teaching information literacy, but where can school librarians turn for help meeting those standards?

Written by a “dream team” of school library leaders, Teaching for Inquiry will focus on this process, helping school library media specialists actively engage and motivate their students in learning. The authors go over the most important instructional models and help readers integrate these and new standards into their own teaching.

The book even comes with a companion Web site including videos of librarians teaching and student learning that bring the various teaching techniques and motivational strategies described in the book to life! www.teachingforinquiry.net

The planning tools, models, and methods featured in Teaching for Inquiry will provide essential guidance to librarians looking to engage their students in the world of information.