Part+2+++4,5,6

Christina Di Battista

4.  I think the activity Stephanie looked at involved some aspects of inquiry based learning. By having students use both fictional and non-fictional pieces of writing enable them to see the differences and how it can be exaggerated. They also need to interview a person in the present who feels they have achieved the American Dream or are trying to aspire to it. This links the past to the present and the students can once again compare and contrast. The students are able to create their own character and monologue. This involves creativity and they can showcase their writing abilities. They develop their own opinion and ideas about the American Dream.

5.Serendipitous Dueling Audiences does not seem to have a lot of inquiry based learning involved. Like Mark said there was nothing on the site that he could not give out on a hand-out. I think it is more of a trial and error activity. The computer basically tells the student what words to use for each audience. It turns into a memorization exercise as to which words fit with which audience.

6. I like Mark’s rubric the best because it addresses what I think is important. I think each of the five areas being assessed is similar to mine as well. I especially like the Research, Application, and Results. The Research area asks whether or not students can do anything with the information gathered and if it leads to a creation of new ideas. The Application section asks whether or not the information can be used in everyday life which I feel is important. The results area is the most important one. Inquiry Based learning is supposed to have unlimited possibilities and Mark addresses that as well.