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Teachers in Cobb County, Georgia have been examining the C3 Framework and Inquiry Design Model developing a deeper understanding of how to implement disciplinary inquiry in their classrooms and creating new inquiries to share across the system.
Teachers in Cobb County, Georgia have been examining the C3 Framework and Inquiry Design Model developing a deeper understanding of how to implement disciplinary inquiry in their classrooms and creating new inquiries to share across the system.
Georgia teachers, led by Cobb County School District, are using the C3 Framework and Inquiry Design Model to put inquiry at the heart of social studies. They are developing a deeper understanding of how to implement disciplinary inquiry in their classrooms and creating new inquiries to share across the system. Learn more about their efforts here and check out some of the inquiries Cobb teachers have created.
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This inquiry is an exploration into the roots of our modern democracy. It uncovers the idea that a deep influence of Greek architecture (columns on the Parthenon, U. S. Supreme Court building), law, and the Olympic Games impacts the present. It also compares and contrasts Athens as a direct democracy and the United States as…
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This inquiry leads students through the roles of three women during the abolitionists and suffrage movements. Through examining the lives of Harriett Tubman, Sojourner Truth, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton students will understand the struggle for equality through all races and genders. Students will share their points of view on equality, and answer the compelling question…
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The students will be able to identify situations in which either maps or GPS are the most appropriate tool for navigation guidance. This is important because online guidance systems are so prevalent that some children might deem paper maps as outdated or unnecessary. The IDM builds capacity by starting with identifying situations in which guidance…
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This 2016 Inquiry Challenge winner inquiry leads students through an investigation of water access in the Middle East using various sources that consider geographical, political and economic issues. By investigating the compelling question, students examine the geography of the region, including environmental and demographic relationships, the ecological impact of accessing water, and the subsequent political…
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This 2016 Inquiry Challenge winner inquiry leads students through an investigation of electronic and paper maps as representations of the physical world. In examining the different ways in which the two mediums reflect place and positionality, students should consider the utility and relative value of different geographic representations. Through interaction with the formative performance tasks…
4th grade inquiry by Lisa Rogers and Kari Reeve – Download here
Kindergarten inquiry by Mary McDonald – Download here
3rd grade inquiry by Marti Rosner – Download here
5th grade inquiry by Jennifer Brewer – Download here
6th grade inquiry by Morgan Delhey – Download here
Check out this inquiry from Georgia teacher Cathy Powell.
Cathy developed this inquiry will participating in the summer 2018 IDM Institute at the Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta.
The inquiry utilizes human rights around the world as the context for students to examine the way in which civil rights in United States history has been realized through concepts such as age, gender, and race. Built upon the premise that students are concerned with foundational principles such as fairness, equality, and rights for themselves and others, this inquiry allows students to examine historical and contemporary events ranging from civil rights and women’s rights in the United States to Apartheid and child labor around the world, all of which underscore the significance, impact, and relevancy of the compelling question.
Download Cathy’s inquiry HERE
Each year, the Georgia Historical Society selects a person or topic that made a great impact on Georgia’s history as the focus of our educational programs and resources. The 2018-2019 Georgia History Festival theme “The U.S. Constitution: Ensuring Liberty and Justice for All,” will highlight Georgia stories that illustrate topics related to drafting, amending, and interpreting the U.S. Constitution throughout our nation’s history. Check out these new inquiries based on the Nation’s founding documents from the Georgia Historical Society. Click here to learn more about the Georgia History Festival.
Please contact the Education Coordinator, Lisa Landers at llanders@georgiahistory.com for any questions or help using the monthly inquires in your classroom!
This inquiry is a case study in the Fourteenth Amendment. It asks students to evaluate Georgia’s response to the Supreme Court decision in Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954. Students examine the 14th Amendment and how it was applied to cases such as Plessy vs. Ferguson, the decisions made in both Brown vs. Board of Education and Brown II, and the results of the Sibley Commission in order to build an evidence-based argument about Georgia’s response to school desegregation.
This inquiry focuses on Article VI of the United States Constitution, regarding debts, supremacy, oaths, and religious tests. This inquiry specifically considers the purpose of the Oath of Office requirement. This inquiry challenges students to consider the purpose of taking an oath of office and includes an activity where students analyze the pledge to the Georgia state flag.
This 8th grade inquiry focuses on Article IV of the United States Constitution and the relationship between citizens and their representatives in state government. The inquiry provides students an opportunity to learn about republican government and the guarantee in the Constitution that each state shall have a republican form of government. Students consider how this takes form through voting and the service of representatives in the Georgia General Assembly.
This 8th grade inquiry focuses on the role of the Supreme Court in relation to court cases that have had an indelible impact on the state of Georgia. Students assess three landmark cases to help them understand the role of the Supreme Court of the United States as one of the three branches of government.
This 8th grade annotated inquiry focuses on the powers of the president. Students assess policies and actions of the Jimmy Carter administration and consider if presidents can (and should) expand their power beyond what the Constitution gives the executive. Students also analyze the processes in which the legislative and judicial branches check and balance the power of the executive branch. As an extension task, students are challenged to analyze the constitutionality of Executive Orders.
The Compromise of 1787, otherwise known as the Great Compromise, gave the United States the bicameral legislature it has today. This inquiry focuses on how the Constitutional Convention decided to create legislature bodies and the details of how those bodies are constructed. The inquiry features the compelling question Was the Great Compromise of 1787 fair? and highlights the involvement of Georgia’s Convention delegate, Abraham Baldwin.
This 8th grade annotated inquiry asks students to consider what factors affect both liberty and security. Students consider the Social Contract Theory and how the Founding Fathers as well as everyday citizens attempt to find the balance between liberty and security. Students will assess founding documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights to discover how these documents address these topics, and assess major events within American history that have forced Americans to reconsider the balance liberty and security.
Cobb County educators are cultivating meaningful inquiries preparing students for civic life. The IDM has empowered and energized teachers to support deeper student learning and experience disciplinary thinking. Here’s what our teachers have to say about the IDM and our professional learning experiences.
The IDM framework is excellent for engaging students and requiring high-level thinking and analysis.
The IDM offers multiple ways for our students to think deeper about concepts.
This model is amazing! I LOVE the concept of IDM and I will be using it quite a lot next year!
The best part of our session was learning how to plan meaningful inquiries.
I felt like the session empowered me to differentiate inquiry and document based learning.
This was one of the best professional learning sessions I’ve been to in a very long time.
I loved having the time to collaborate in an innovative environment.
Inquiry Challenge Winners A big congratulations to Ginny McAnear & Patrice McBean (team from East Cobb Middle School) and Mary McDonnell (Norton Park Elementary School) who won the C3 Teachers Inquiry Challenge!
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| Mary McDonnell Norton Park ES | Patrice McBean East Cobb MS | Ginny McAnear East Cobb MS |
The C3 Inquiry Challenge is co-sponsored by C3 Teachers and the Social Studies Assessment, Curriculum, and Instruction (SSACI) Collaborative, which is part of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO).The Challenge involved the selection of outstanding inquiries to feature on the main C3 Teachers website. The selection committee had submissions and nominations from 21 states, but selected only 10 winners. With two winning inquiries from Cobb, this is proof positive that we are leading the way and doing amazing work with social studies inquiry!
Cobb social studies instruction centers on the systematic exploration of our world. While the Social Studies Georgia Standards of Excellence provide a framework for instruction, Cobb Teaching and Learning Standards for Social Studies extend and enrich student learning by:
See Cobb Standard Grade Bands Here.
The Cobb Teaching and Learning Standards for Social Studies equip students with the knowledge and skills to understand a rapidly changing world. Social Studies inspires the minds and hearts of young citizens to contribute to their communities as informed problem solvers. Social Studies prepares educated and engaged citizens.
Write an inquiry? See how it holds up using this framework to evaluate IDMs. Evaluating an IDM Lesson.
C3Teachers.org facilitates open collaborative conversations among teachers as they tinker with their own instructional practice as it relates to the C3 Framework.
If you are interested in offering more professional development opportunities, rethinking or redesigning your social studies curriculum, we’d love to talk.
