Inquiry+Guides

=**PowerPoint Sidekicks: Inquiry Guides**=

**Sidekicks for Outdoor Learning Center by Beverly Riggen**
Avon Community School Corporation has an award winning [|Outdoor Learning Center] that located on school property. It is free for our teachers and students to visit throughout the year. The fourth grade class at my elementary has planned a field trip to the Outdoor Learning Center. Their assignment is to identify the plants and animals they see while on the trail at the Outdoor Learning Center. This “desktop space” for learners will help them identify plants and animals. The Inquiry Guide, adapted from Annette's example, includes voice instructions for the student to follow to solve the mystery. Please click on the sound icon located in the upper right hand portion of the slide to hear the voice instructions.

(Indiana's Mystery Wildflower Inquiry Guide) (Indiana's Mystery Wildflwer Inquiry Guide with Answer) (Indiana's Mystery Bird Inquiry Guide)

Riverboats & Railroads... by Jerry Yarnetsky
The Madison-Jefferson County Public LIbrary and the Jefferson County Historical Society partnered to create a digital history project about Madison, Indiana, in the age of steam. The [|River to Rail project] chronicles the rise and fall of our lovely rivertown as it was fueled and drained by the riverboat and railroad. I was the web designer/master and oversaw the image scanning.

I don't know why it took me three days, but it finally struck me that a teacher could use a Sidekick to guide students through the website. I oriented the sidekick toward fourth graders as that is the grade that studies Indiana history. In the sidekick I combined historical photographs and illustrations from the project with timelines and inquiries that will force the students to explore the site. In the speaker notes I asked the questions and provided links that would give the students a head start, but not give them the answer. I did an intro slide and three activity slides for each of my sidekicks, but I could easily see being able to do a dozen slides each.

The first inquiry guide is about riverboats. Here is the [|original] and the [|sample with answers]. The second sidekick is about [|railroads].

Political Systems and Historical World Leaders... by Michael Moriconi
My desktop learning space is designed to help students of a civics or government class learn about historical world leaders and/or systems of government that have been used throughout history. The first slide is a "starter" and the second slide shows a completed example.
 * [|Historical World Leaders]
 * [|Political Systems]

This could easily be adapted for an economics class, as many of these political systems have a corresponding economic ideology. It could also be adapted into a current events presentation by using pictures of current world leaders and having students match them to the country that they lead.

American Football and Player Positions... by Bonnie McNair
As a football team mom for six years and an avid fan of American football for decades, I am always amazed at the family members of the team who know little about the positions their sons play. To address this need, I created a basic [|football-centered template] based on Annette Lamb's notepaper 1 - side template. Then I used the template to create a learning space about the [|offensive and defensive positions]. Websites help aid the family members ferret out answers. The final slide asks what position the family members would like to play and to explain their choices. Gathering the [|filled out presentations] and compiling them would be a great addition to the end of the season awards banquet.

The basic template was then used to create a fun presentation concerning the [|protective gear a football player] wears. It is not unusual for a new player to put their pads in wrong in their uniform pants the first couple of times. It is easy to see a tailbone pad sticking up like a deer tail or the rounded part of the knee pads to be at the top instead of the bottom. Additional desktop learning spaces could be created to deal with penalties, specific plays and the strategy behind using timeouts. I envision attaching these to the at least weekly emails I already send to team members' families. Other sports, such as basketball and soccer, could be addressed as well.