The Building Blocks of Inquiry Project is all about helping teachers and students dive into inquiry in engaging and flexible ways. Building Block Inquiries (BBI) are short, stackable inquiry exercises (15–45 minutes) built around compelling questions, with engaging formative tasks and related sources. Each Building Block Inquiry invites students to think together, share ideas, and create something meaningful.
Teachers can use them on their own or combine them to build rich, inquiry-based learning experiences called Inquiry Stacks. Each Building Block Inquiry and its related Inquiry Stack is designed to engage students in deliberation, collaboration, and production.
Read more about the Building Block approach here
Library of Congress Building Block Inquiries Project
Our first effort to create BBI Stacks was developed through our Library of Congress Building Block Inquiries Project. This project leverages Library of Congress primary sources to create Inquiry Stacks. Grounded in the Inquiry Design Model and a trust-centered classroom approach, educator teams from 15 school districts co-designed, piloted, refined BBI Stacks on topics from U.S. history.
See our initial collection of 19 Inquiry Stacks featuring Library of Congress digital sources. These Library of Congress BBI Stacks were designed though generous funding from the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources program
See our LOC BBI Stacks HERE
