Generating Inquiry Questions


ELAR-Grade-4 Inquiry & Research Generating Inquiry Questions
Students work with different texts to generate inquiry questions to gather useful information. They learn about the 5Ws and H to make their questions specific to clarify the results they seek. They differentiate between informal inquiries, designed to answer questions, and formal inquiries, designed for research and writing projects.

This learning experience is designed for device-enabled classrooms. The teacher guides the lesson, and students use embedded resources, social media skills, and critical thinking skills to actively participate. To get access to a free version of the complete lesson, sign up for an exploros account.

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Here are the teacher pack items for Generating Inquiry Questions:

Preview - Scene 1
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Overview

In this experience, students work with different texts to generate inquiry questions to gather useful information. They learn about the 5Ws and H to make their questions specific to clarify the results they seek. They differentiate between informal inquiries, designed to answer questions, and formal inquiries, designed for research and writing projects.

Students will collaborate in small groups in Scene 3.

Note that in this experience, “Generating Inquiry Questions,” students write questions that could serve for formal and informal inquiries based on passages containing information about beagles. In the complementary experience, “Finding Information,” students conduct research to answer questions about that same subject. Each experience can stand alone, but they are designed to work together.

Objectives

  • Distinguish between formal and informal inquiry.
  • Ask and clarify questions for inquiry.

Duration

  • One class period.


“Hey, what’s up with the teacher today?”
“I think she’s handing back our papers.”
“No, that’s not what I meant. I thought she looked happy and I was wondering why.”

Have you ever asked a question and gotten an answer that surprised you because your question was misunderstood? In this experience, you will learn how to generate inquiry questions that will help you find relevant information.

Objectives

  • Distinguish between formal and informal inquiry.
  • Ask and clarify questions for inquiry.


Crossword grid of question words built with letter tiles

Read the following passage:


Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi. He had his first hit with “You Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hound Dog” in 1956. It’s possible he was singing about a beagle. Beagles are members of the hound breed group, one of many groups used to categorize dogs. Other dog breed groups include terriers, herding dogs, and sporting dogs.


What questions do you have after reading this passage?

Post your answer

Ask students to share questions, which may be related to Elvis Presley, “You Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hound Dog,” hound dogs, other dog breed groups, and beagles.


When everyone is ready to continue, unlock the next scene.

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