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C3 Teachers is proud to bring you innovative new books, journal articles, and original C3 Briefs on a wide range of topics related to using inquiry in social studies.

Front and center in the work of C3 Teachers is the Inquiry Design Model. Learn more about IDM through our IDM Book trilogy, Social Education columns, and an assortment of related research and scholarship using inquiry in teaching and learning. Also, be sure to check out our C3 Briefs series where we present essays on some of the biggest opportunities for and challenges with using inquiry in the classroom.

BOOKS

More about our C3 Teachers books

Inquiry Design Model (IDM) series

You and your colleagues can have ready access to IDM through the printed word. The first book in the series, Inquiry-Based Practice in Social Studies Education: Understanding the Inquiry Design Model is on bookstore and Amazon now. Our second book, The Inquiry Design Model: Building Inquiries in Social Studies is available from the National Council for the the Social Studies and Amazon. Our newest in the series, Blueprinting an Inquiry-Based Curriculum: Planning with the Inquiry Design Model, will be out in November 2019.

Inquiry-Based Practice in Social Studies Education: Understanding the Inquiry Design Model

Our first IDM book presents a conceptual base for shaping the classroom experience through inquiry-based teaching and learning. Using their Inquiry Design Model (IDM), Grant, Swan & Lee provide a detailed account of inquiry’s scholarly roots, as well as the rationale for viewing questions, tasks, and sources as inquiry’s foundational elements.

Available from Amazon HERE

Inquiry Design Model: Building Inquiries in Social Studies

The second IDM book will walk readers through the process of designing an inquiry. Organized into three clear design phases (Framing, Filling, and Finishing an Inquiry), the Swan, Lee & Grant break down the components of the IDM blueprint and teach others how to create intellectually engaging and thoughtful inquiries. Foreword by Walter Parker.

Available from NCSS Publications HERE

Blueprinting an Inquiry-Based Curriculum: Planning with the Inquiry Design Model

Our third book in the series is intended for educators who want to speak fluent inquiry across a social studies course and throughout their schools and districts. In this book, we elaborate on the ideas presented in our first two books on the Inquiry Design Model (IDM) by pushing on the original model to think not just about a singular experience of inquiry, but inquiry as a routine practice in social studies classrooms. More importantly, this book honors the curricular dialects of IDM inquiry that have grown out of the experiences of teachers who have innovated with the original blueprint model and want even more from inquiry.

Order now from NCSS or Amazon

Inquiry Design Model: The Workbook

Inquiry-based teaching puts students in the middle of important ideas and events. The Inquiry Design Model helps teachers plan, teach, and assess those ideas and events in ways that position students to succeed. Inquiry Design Model: The Workbook was written as a companion to Inquiry Design Model: Building Inquiries in Social Studies. Together, the two books offer teachers a practical means of developing ambitious and relevant curriculum blueprints.

Available from Amazon HERE

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for State Social Studies Standards

The C3 Framework (National Council for the Social Studies, 2013) ushered in an important opportunity to articulate a common vernacular for and a curricular approach to inquiry. Featuring four distinct but inter-connected dimensions, the C3 Inquiry Arc lays out a process for supporting students to ask questions about our social world, use concepts and tools from the disciplines that make up social studies, analyze and argue about what they have learned, and apply that knowledge to the challenges that face our world today.

Learn more at https://www.socialstudies.org/c3

Teaching the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework: Exploring Inquiry-Based Instruction in Social Studies

Part I of our Teaching the C3 series consists of model lessons contributed by 15 social studies curricular organizations. Each lesson encompasses the whole of the C3 Inquiry Arc from questioning to action, engages students in a meaningful content experience that fits a typical curriculum, and needs between 2 and 5 days of instruction. There are lessons for all grade bands from K-2 to 9-12.

Published in conjunction with the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), the Teaching the C3 books are available from the NCSS store HERE

Teaching the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework, Part 2.

The powerful social studies inquiries in this book bring the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework to life. They are based on the Inquiry Design Model (IDM), a curricular approach that animates social studies standards and integrates the four dimensions of the C3 Inquiry Arc.

The editors of this book invited outstanding social studies curricular organizations to take the “IDM challenge” and contribute units based on IDM blueprints about topics that are central to K-12 social studies. The resulting inquiries cover an impressive range of subjects: teaching students about the concept of money and how to understand maps; engaging students in historical investigations of Indian Removal, slavery and the failure of Reconstruction, and the Holocaust; exploring social changes such as the historical impact of bicycles and the present-day effects of the use of robots in manufacturing; and dealing with current issues such as gun control, media literacy, the minimum wage, and the controversy over school bathrooms. We are pleased to feature inquiries from an impressive array of organizations and colleagues in the collaborative spirit of the C3 Framework.

Digital Public Library of America
Echoes and Reflections
Facing History and Ourselves
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Ford’s Theater
National Constitution Center
National Geographic Society
National Museum of American History
National Museum of the American Indian
Project Look Sharp
Teaching Tolerance
University of Delaware Center for Economic Education
Virginia Commonwealth University Center for Economic Education

This book is a companion volume to the popular NCSS publication, Teaching the C3 Framework. Published in conjunction with the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), the Teaching the C3 books are available from the NCSS store HERE

Should we tax robots? A sample blueprint from the book is available HERE.

Teaching Social Studies: A Methods Book for Methods Teachers

This innovative methods book features short tasks designed to take preservice teachers deep into schools in general and into social studies education in particular. Organized around Joseph Schwab’s commonplaces of education and recognizing the role of inquiry as a preferred pedagogy in social studies, the book offers a series of short chapters that highlight learners and learning, subject matter, teachers and teaching, and school context.

Available from Amazon HERE

Inquiry-Based Global Learning in the K–12 Social Studies Classroom

Edited By Brad M. Maguth, Gloria Wu

This book, edited by experienced scholars in the field, brings together a diverse array of educators to showcase lessons, activities, and instructional strategies that advance inquiry-oriented global learning. Directly aligned to the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standard, this work highlights ways in which global learning can seamlessly be interwoven into the disciplines of history, economics, geography, civics, psychology, sociology, and anthropology. Recently adopted by the National Council for the Social Studies, the nation’s largest professional organization of history and social studies teachers, the C3 Framework prioritizes inquiry-oriented learning experiences across the social studies disciplines in order to advance critical thinking, problem solving, and participatory skills for engaged citizenship.

Available from Routledge here

Race Lessons: Using Inquiry to Teach About Race in Social Studies

Addressing the space between the theoretical and the practical, this edited book provides teachers and teacher educators with concrete lesson ideas for how to engage learners with social studies content and race. This work is unique in that it represents an attempt to use Critical Race Theory and inquiry pedagogy (Inquiry Design Model) to teach about race in the social science disciplines.

http://www.infoagepub.com/products/Race-Lessons

Edited by:
Prentice T. Chandler, Austin Peay State University
Todd S. Hawley, Kent State University

ARTICLES

C3 Teachers Social Education Column

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In 2017, C3 Teachers partnered with the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) to publish a Teaching the C3 Framework column in each issue of Social Education. Edited by Kathy Swan, John Lee, and S.G. Grant, the column features articles about designing inquiry-based curriculum and teaching with inquiry. The first six columns will focus on questions and are available for download here as well as on the NCSS publications page.

Column 1 (September 2017): Questions that Compel and Support by S.G. Grant, Kathy Swan & John Lee

Successful inquiries using the C3 Framework depend on compelling questions that structure an inquiry and supporting questions that allow the inquiry to unfold coherently. https://www.socialstudies.org/publications/socialeducation/september2017/questions-that-compel-and-support

Column 2 (October 2017): Stimulating and Sustaining Inquiry with Students’ Questions by Our Colleagues at the Right Question Institute

A simple yet rigorous technique enables students to develop their ability to ask questions as they plan and drive their own inquiries.

https://www.socialstudies.org/publications/socialeducation/october2017

Column 3 (November 2017): Calibrating Your “Compelling Compass”: Teacher-Constructed Prompts to Assist Question Development by Rebecca Mueller

These key prompts can help social studies teachers and students gauge a compelling question’s rigor, relevance, and functionality.

https://www.socialstudies.org/publications/socialeducation/november-december2017/calibrating-your-compelling-compass-teacher-constructed-prompts-to-assist-question-development

Column 4 (January/February 2018): Making Inquiry Critical: Examining Power and Inequity in the Classroom by Ryan M. Crowley, LaGarrett J. King

A truly critical inquiry should identify unequal power relationships in society and offer students counter-narratives to transform unjust social relations.

https://www.socialstudies.org/publications/socialeducation/january-february2018/making-inquiry-critical-examining-power-and-inequity-in-classroom

Column 5: (March/April 2018) Using Project-Based Learning to Drive Inquiry and Student Questioning by Andrew Miller

A true project-based learning experience provides students with a voice and choice in what they want to learn.

https://www.socialstudies.org/publications/socialeducation/march-april2018/using-project-based-learning-to-drive-inquiry

Column 6: (May/June 2018) Questions, Tasks, Sources: Focusing on the Essence of Inquiry by Kathy Swan, John Lee, S.G. Grant

A focused inquiry approach, like the one on Pearl Harbor in this article, enables teachers to weave inquiry into the fabric of their courses as part of their daily instruction.

https://www.socialstudies.org/publications/socialeducation/may-june2018/questions-tasks-sources-focusing-on-essence-of-inquiry

Column 7: (September 2018) Getting Inquiry Design Just Right by Wayne Journell, Adam M. Friedman, Emma S. Thacker, Paul G. Fitchett

Creating an effective compelling question is the cornerstone of any inquiry that engages students with evidence in critical ways.

https://www.socialstudies.org/publications/socialeducation/september2018/getting-inquiry-design-just-right

Column 8: (October 2018) C3 Teachers Blogging: Grappling with the Realities of Inquiry by Carly Muetterties

The educators’ blog space of the C3 Teachers website offers teachers a valuable opportunity to share their experiences on inquiry-based teaching and reflect on their own practices.

https://www.socialstudies.org/publications/socialeducation/october2018/c3-teachers-blogging-grappling-with-the-realities-of-inquiry

Column 9: (November/December 2018) Why Korea? Why Now? Using Inquiry to Teach about the Korean War and Its Legacy by Jongwoo Han and Joseph Karb

The inquiry-based materials and audio interviews of Korean War veterans highlighted in this article offer an excellent entry point into a lesson on the “forgotten” war and its legacy.

https://www.socialstudies.org/publications/socialeducation/november-december2018/why-korea-why-now-using-inquiry-to-teach-about-korean-war-and-its-legacy

Column 10: (January/February 2019) The Deliberative Classroom: Inquiry-Based Teaching, Evaluative Questions, and Deliberation by Stefanie Olbrys

In a classroom that promotes deliberation, students practice the kinds of speaking, listening, and critical thinking skills that advance active citizenship.

https://www.socialstudies.org/publications/socialeducation/january-february2019/deliberative-classroom-inquirybased-teaching-evaluative-questions-and-deliberation

Column 11: (March/April, 2019) Inquiry in the Social Studies: Reflections of an Octogenarian by Peter B. Dow

When teachers are driven mainly to transmit a prescribed curriculum, student curiosity is left by the wayside.

https://www.socialstudies.org/publications/socialeducation/march-april2019/inquiry-in-social-studies-reflections-of-octogenarian

Column 12: (May/June, 2019) Engaging Social Studies Educators: Professional Development on Inquiry by Patricia Krizan

Having a meaningful plan for professional development on inquiry-based learning will translate into richer instruction for students.

https://www.socialstudies.org/publications/socialeducation/may-june2019/engaging-social-studies-educators-professional-development-on-inquiry

Column 13: (September, 2019) Be the Change: Guiding Students to Take Informed Action by Carly Muetterties, Kathy Swan

This guided inquiry walks teachers through the steps to help students understand a societal problem, assess possible actions, and move to civic action.

https://www.socialstudies.org/social-education/83/4/be-change-guiding-students-take-informed-action

Column 14: (October, 2019) Using Inquiry and Digital Storytelling to Teach about American Enslavement: Anna, One Woman’s Quest for Freedom by Grant Scribner, Aaron Johnson

An inquiry framed around the experience of an enslaved woman, highlighted in a recent film, offers an opportunity for meaningful student engagement with the history of American enslavement.

https://www.socialstudies.org/social-education/83/5/using-inquiry-and-digital-storytelling-teach-about-american-enslavement-anna

Column 15: (November/December, 2019) Can the Civics Test Make You a Good Citizen? Reconciling the Civics Test with Inquiry-Based Instruction by Jennifer Fraker, Carly Muetterties, Gerry Swan,, Kathy Swan

Engaging students in a structured inquiry offers an excellent approach to bridging the tension between a fact-based civics test and inquiry-based learning.

https://www.socialstudies.org/social-education/november-december-2019/can-the-civics-test-make-you-a-good-citizen-reconciling-the-civics-test-with-inquirybased-instruction

Column 16: (January/February, 2020) In Support of Students’ Needs: Exploring the Benefits of the Inquiry Design Model by Christopher T. Dague

The Inquiry Design Model offers an instructional framework that enables students to exercise control and agency in their social studies inquiries.

https://www.socialstudies.org/social-education/84/1/support-students-needs-exploring-benefits-inquiry-design-model

Column 17: (March/April, 2020 The Signal and the Noise: Coaching Pre-Service Candidates to Teach with Questions, Tasks, and Sources by Kathy Swan, Ryan Crowley, Gerry Swan

Teacher educators are inundated with ideas about what their students should know. A newly developed protocol focused on questions, tasks, and sources can help teachers cut through this information overload.

https://www.socialstudies.org/social-education/84/2/signal-and-noise-coaching-pre-service-candidates-teach-questions-tasks-and

Column 18: (May/June, 2020) Inquiry as a Way of Thinking through the COVID-19 Pandemic by Kathy Swan, S.G. Grant, John Lee

Our students will understand the principles of inquiry better by examining their own reactions to the pandemic.

https://www.socialstudies.org/social-education/84/3/inquiry-way-thinking-through-covid-19-pandemic

Column 19: (September, 2020) Zooming Inquiry: Online Teaching with the Pomodoro Technique by Kathy Swan, Andrew Danner, Meghan Hawkins, S.G. Grant, John Lee

Implementing 25-minute instructional blocks when teaching online can help learners develop stronger inquiry skills and prevent the zombie-like effects of staring nonstop at a screen.

https://www.socialstudies.org/social-education/84/4/zooming-inquiry-online-teaching-pomodoro-technique

Column 20: (October, 2020) Dining with Democracy: Discussion as Informed Action by Paula McAvoy, Arine Lowery, Nada Wafa, Christy Byrd

A “Dinner with Democracy” event encourages civil discourse, promotes deliberation, and exposes students to different perspectives.

https://www.socialstudies.org/social-education/84/5/dining-democracy-discussion-informed-action

Column 21: (November/December, 2020) Blueprinting an Inquiry-Based Curriculum: Planning with the Inquiry Design Model by Kathy Swan, S.G. Grant, John Lee

The authors describe five types of inquiry that keep students engaged, promote student agency, and meet the need of teachers for curriculum flexibility.

https://www.socialstudies.org/84/6/blueprinting-inquiry-based-curriculum-planning-inquiry-design-model

Column 22: (January/February, 2021) Making Inquiry Possible: A Film Project on Building a Culture of Inquiry by Kathleen Swan, Ryan Crowley, S.G. Grant, John Lee, Gerry Swan, Callaway Stivers, Gates Sweeney

Educators can get an inside look at how some classrooms have shifted to inquiry-based social studies with four documentary films featured in the The Making Inquiry Possible project.

https://www.socialstudies.org/social-education/85/1/making-inquiry-possible-film-project-building-culture-inquiry

Column 23: (March/April, 2021) What’s In A Claim? A Framework for Helping Students Write Persuasive Claims by Ryan Lewis

Teaching students to make an effective claim is a critical step in establishing a culture of inquiry in the social studies education.

https://www.socialstudies.org/social-education/85/2/whats-claim-framework-helping-students-write-persuasive-claims

Column 24: (May/June, 2021) Power, Injustice, Costs and Benefits: Looping Curricular Concepts with the Inquiry Design Model by Kathy Swan, S.G. Grant, John Lee, Andrew Danner, Christy Cartner, Grant Stringer

Engaging students in inquiry at regular intervals, or looping inquiry, within and across grade levels promotes deeper content knowledge and skills over time.

https://www.socialstudies.org/social-education/85/3/power-injustice-costs-and-benefits-looping-curricular-concepts-inquiry-design

BRIEFS

IDM Assumptions

The Inquiry Design Model (IDM) is a distinctive approach to creating curriculum and instructional materials that honors teachers’ knowledge and expertise, avoids over-prescription, and focuses on the central elements of the instructional design process as envisioned in the Inquiry Arc of the C3 Framework.

As an instructional framework, IDM builds out from the C3 Inquiry Arc through: a) compelling and supporting questions that frame and give structure to the inquiry (Dimension 1); b) summative, formative, and additional performance tasks that provide the opportunities for communicating conclusions (Dimension 4); and c) disciplinary sources that allow students to explore the compelling question, build content expertise, and develop the disciplinary skills to successfully support and defend their ideas (Dimensions 2 & 3). Unique to the IDM is the blueprint, a one-page representation of the questions, tasks, and sources that define a curricular inquiry.

IDM is rooted in 10 conceptual principles, based in research and practice that align with the ambitions of the C3 Framework and speak to the conceptual and pedagogical coherence of the Inquiry Design Model. These ten principles are summarized in this brief.

Download the IDM Assumptions

Cultivating and Nurturing Collaborative Civic Spaces

by AMBER STRONG MAKAIAU

With clear learning goals and the organizing structure of an Inquiry Arc, the C3 Framework supports teachers by providing them with an instructional pathway for fostering student-citizens who can both think for themselves and collaborate with others. With a focus on building inquiry skills and key concepts—within a collaborative civic space—the C3 Framework breaths new life into John Dewey’s (1916) assertion that, in order for democracy to function as it should, teachers must provide students with opportunities to experience democracy in schools. So how do C3 social studies teachers cultivate and nurture collaborative civic spaces in their classrooms? In this Brief, I draw on my experiences teaching social studies in the K-12 setting and respond to the question by offering three strategies from the philosophy for children Hawai‘i (p4cHI) approach to deliberative pedagogy. p4cHI is part of an international movement that aims to convert traditional classrooms into intellectually safe democratic communities of inquiry by engaging students and teachers in the activity of philosophy.

Download this C3 Brief

Questions, Frameworks, and Classrooms

By JOHN LEE, KATHY SWAN, SG GRANT, DAN ROTHSTEIN AND LUZ SANTANA

The College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards (or C3 Framework) (National Council for the Social Studies, 2013) puts forward a vision for what inquiry-based teaching and learning can look like in social studies. A vision for inquiry is one thing, actually committing to and enacting this vision is another. To that end, C3 Teachers has partnered with the Right Question Institute (RQI) to tackle what is perhaps the thorniest problem in implementing the C3 Framework—helping students become confident and proficient in asking their own questions.

C3 Publications

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C3 Teachers is proud to bring you innovative new books, journal articles, and original C3 Briefs on a wide range of topics related to using inquiry in social studies.

BOOKS

More about our C3 Teachers books

Inquiry-Based Practice in Social Studies Education: Understanding the Inquiry Design Model

Available from Amazon HERE

Inquiry Design Model: Building Inquiries in Social Studies

Available from NCSS Publications HERE

Blueprinting an Inquiry-Based Curriculum: Planning with the Inquiry Design Model

Order now from NCSS or Amazon

Inquiry Design Model: The Workbook

Available from Amazon HERE

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for State Social Studies Standards

Teaching the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework: Exploring Inquiry-Based Instruction in Social Studies

Teaching the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework, Part 2.

Should we tax robots? A sample blueprint from the book is available HERE.

Teaching Social Studies: A Methods Book for Methods Teachers

Inquiry-Based Global Learning in the K–12 Social Studies Classroom

Race Lessons: Using Inquiry to Teach About Race in Social Studies

ARTICLES

C3 Teachers Social Education Column

Column 1 (September 2017): Questions that Compel and Support by S.G. Grant, Kathy Swan & John Lee

Column 2 (October 2017): Stimulating and Sustaining Inquiry with Students’ Questions by Our Colleagues at the Right Question Institute

Column 3 (November 2017): Calibrating Your “Compelling Compass”: Teacher-Constructed Prompts to Assist Question Development by Rebecca Mueller

Column 4 (January/February 2018): Making Inquiry Critical: Examining Power and Inequity in the Classroom by Ryan M. Crowley, LaGarrett J. King

Column 5: (March/April 2018) Using Project-Based Learning to Drive Inquiry and Student Questioning by Andrew Miller

Column 6: (May/June 2018) Questions, Tasks, Sources: Focusing on the Essence of Inquiry by Kathy Swan, John Lee, S.G. Grant

Column 7: (September 2018) Getting Inquiry Design Just Right by Wayne Journell, Adam M. Friedman, Emma S. Thacker, Paul G. Fitchett

Column 8: (October 2018) C3 Teachers Blogging: Grappling with the Realities of Inquiry by Carly Muetterties

Column 9: (November/December 2018) Why Korea? Why Now? Using Inquiry to Teach about the Korean War and Its Legacy by Jongwoo Han and Joseph Karb

Column 10: (January/February 2019) The Deliberative Classroom: Inquiry-Based Teaching, Evaluative Questions, and Deliberation by Stefanie Olbrys

Column 11: (March/April, 2019) Inquiry in the Social Studies: Reflections of an Octogenarian by Peter B. Dow

Column 12: (May/June, 2019) Engaging Social Studies Educators: Professional Development on Inquiry by Patricia Krizan

Column 13: (September, 2019) Be the Change: Guiding Students to Take Informed Action by Carly Muetterties, Kathy Swan

Column 14: (October, 2019) Using Inquiry and Digital Storytelling to Teach about American Enslavement: Anna, One Woman’s Quest for Freedom by Grant Scribner, Aaron Johnson

Column 15: (November/December, 2019) Can the Civics Test Make You a Good Citizen? Reconciling the Civics Test with Inquiry-Based Instruction by Jennifer Fraker, Carly Muetterties, Gerry Swan,, Kathy Swan

Column 16: (January/February, 2020) In Support of Students’ Needs: Exploring the Benefits of the Inquiry Design Model by Christopher T. Dague

Column 17: (March/April, 2020 The Signal and the Noise: Coaching Pre-Service Candidates to Teach with Questions, Tasks, and Sources by Kathy Swan, Ryan Crowley, Gerry Swan

Column 18: (May/June, 2020) Inquiry as a Way of Thinking through the COVID-19 Pandemic by Kathy Swan, S.G. Grant, John Lee

Column 19: (September, 2020) Zooming Inquiry: Online Teaching with the Pomodoro Technique by Kathy Swan, Andrew Danner, Meghan Hawkins, S.G. Grant, John Lee

Column 20: (October, 2020) Dining with Democracy: Discussion as Informed Action by Paula McAvoy, Arine Lowery, Nada Wafa, Christy Byrd

Column 21: (November/December, 2020) Blueprinting an Inquiry-Based Curriculum: Planning with the Inquiry Design Model by Kathy Swan, S.G. Grant, John Lee

Column 22: (January/February, 2021) Making Inquiry Possible: A Film Project on Building a Culture of Inquiry by Kathleen Swan, Ryan Crowley, S.G. Grant, John Lee, Gerry Swan, Callaway Stivers, Gates Sweeney

Column 23: (March/April, 2021) What’s In A Claim? A Framework for Helping Students Write Persuasive Claims by Ryan Lewis

Column 24: (May/June, 2021) Power, Injustice, Costs and Benefits: Looping Curricular Concepts with the Inquiry Design Model by Kathy Swan, S.G. Grant, John Lee, Andrew Danner, Christy Cartner, Grant Stringer

More Articles about the C3 Framework and the Inquiry Design Model

Dissertations

BRIEFS

IDM Assumptions

Download the IDM Assumptions

Cultivating and Nurturing Collaborative Civic Spaces

Download this C3 Brief

Questions, Frameworks, and Classrooms

Download this C3 Brief