Inquiry Learning Step by Step

Presented by Michelle Luhtala, Library Department Chair, New Canaan High School (CT); Jen McCarty Plucker, Ed.D., Director of Professional Learning, Mackin Educational Resources; and Lindsay Simmons, M.A., Professional Learning Specialist, Mackin Educational Resources

Sponsored by Mackin Educational Resources

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Closed captioning will be added to the recording within 2 weeks of the live presentation.

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There are many excellent inquiry models out there, but what does it look like to work through them? What should students be doing? How does each stage of inquiry inform subsequent stages? Why is inquiry recursive? How do we empower learners to move past relying on “above the fold” Google results? To what extent can they distinguish, then relinquish reference resources as they deepen their research?

During the Emerging Tech community’s March edWebinar, which featured the work of Dr. Joyce Valenza, Grace McCusker, and their team, we briefly touched on this, then promised to revisit the discussion. In this session, Michelle Luhtala takes a deep dive into building strong inquiry skills.

This recorded edWebinar will be of interest to teachers and librarians of grades 6-12. 

About the Presenters

Michelle Luhtala, Library Department Chair at New Canaan High School in Connecticut, was one of five school librarians named as a “Mover and Shaker” by Library Journal in 2015. She is the winner of the 2011 “I Love My Librarian” Award and the Library Association’s 2010 Outstanding Librarian Award. The New Canaan High School Library won AASL’s National School Library Program of the year in 2010. Follow Michelle on Twitter @mluhtala.

Dr. Jennifer McCarty Plucker has spent over 20 years in public education, first as an English teacher and high school speech coach, then as a reading intervention specialist and literacy coordinator at a high-performing high school in the Midwest. She has also been a teaching and learning coordinator leading 6-12 English/language arts, literacy, social studies, and English learner programming. Currently, she is Literacy Consultant and Director of Mackin Learning.

Lindsay Simmons, M.A., Professional Learning Specialist, has several years of experience working as an upper elementary school teacher and has most recently served as the STEM education programming manager for a science center in Pennsylvania. She has her master’s degree in art history with a museum studies certificate and has a passion for learning about most effective engagement strategies, in both design and learning.

Closed captioning will be added to the recording within 2 weeks of the live presentation.

Join the Emerging Tech for Schools and Libraries community to network with educators, participate in online discussions, receive invitations to upcoming edWebinars, and view recordings of previous programs to earn CE certificates.

Mackin is one of the top providers of library and classroom materials for grades PK-12. Working with over 18,000 publishers and a database of nearly 3 million printed titles, and more than 1.9 million digital titles, Mackin supplies print books, eBooks, online educational databases, audiobooks and video resources to schools around the globe.