Inquiry Projects And Action Research
Fall 2001 through Spring 2002

1. The Investigation, Reflection, and Implementation of the Best Methods for Creating Good Readers and Writers
   Topic - Teachers attend conferences, read professional literature, and explore various other professional resources in order to investigate, implement, and evaluate methods for effectively teaching reading and writing.
   Lead Teachers - Wanda Moore, Maxine Sewell, and Joanna Harris

2. Gifts of Love: Providing Books for the Homeless
   Topic -Through this service-learning project, students are creating books for homeless children and in doing so, becoming more aware of the problems facing other children around the world as well as within their community.
   Lead Teachers -Margo Jackson, Latonya Lewis, Michelle Kennedy, Kezia Myers

3. Multi-Ethnic Reading Instruction: The Impact of Small Group Reading Instruction on LEP students
   Topic -This project is exploring ways to better assist Limited English Proficiency (LEP) students in making the transition from their native language to English, specifically by involving these students in small group activities. Reading is a major area of weakness for most LEP students, and this project hopes to help LEP students to become independent readers and to experience success in the classroom.
   Lead Teachers -Margo Jackson and Wanda Moore

4. Professional Development: Establishing Resources for Effective Reading Instruction
   Topic -This project established a resource room for both coaching teachers and interns to use when developing effective reading instruction.
   Lead Teachers -TBA

1. Using Computer Software to Enhance Reading and Math Abilities and Success
   Topic -This project is attempting to increase reading and vocabulary skills as well as math skills through the use of computer software that targets remedial components of these areas. Students who use these programs have the opportunity to experience success in academic areas in which they normally struggle. Their success as well as their improved abilities will increase their motivation to practice these skills to achieve further success.
   Lead Teachers -Teri Lucas, Presphonia Perkins, and Linda Jenkins

2. Image Making and the Writing Process: Integrating Art to Increase Ability
   Topic -This project uses art projects such as book making and story quilts to enhance and develop students' reading and writing abilities. Specifically, this project targets areas such as organization, figurative language, sentence structure, and vocabulary within the framework of various art projects, which requires both academic and creative abilities.
   Lead Teachers -Nancy James and Marjorie Collier

3. Using Physical Education to Build Academic Skills and Create Successful Students
   Topic -This project integrates physical education games and academic areas such as language arts, math, and social studies to increase student motivation and ability levels in both the academic and the physical education arenas. This project hopes to allow all students to experience success by targeting several different learning styles including the kinesthetic learning style.
   Lead Teacher -Shawn Norris

4. Building Student Interest, Creating Student Success
   Topic -This project seeks to support and increase the reading ability of students by providing the students with opportunities to experience success with reading. The project creates these opportunities by providing the students with books that contain vocabulary words, which correlate with their instructional and/or independent reading levels. In addition, the project seeks to increase reading ability and student success through the use of games and activities involving phonics.
   Lead Teachers -Presphonia Perkins and TBA

5. Recycling, Helping, and Learning: A Service Learning Project
   Topic -Through this project students are learning about recycling, helping families devastated by fire, and developing a sense of caring and sensitivity for their community. The students are collecting cans for the Columbia Fire Department, which donates the monetary value of the cans to a juvenile burn center. Students are learning how they can help improve not only the world as a whole but also the community in which they live.
   Lead Teachers -Julia Campbell and Wylaine Augustus

1. Great Big Books = Great Big Readers
   Topic -This project is investigating what teachers can do to improve the motivation and skill levels of reluctant readers. The teachers in the project are devoting greater amounts of classroom time to modeling cognitive strategies for reading and to group reading instruction. The project uses big books to model good reading practices.
   Lead Teachers -Erica Gregg and Alzena McGill

2. Puppets in Our Midst
   Topic -This project is attempting to develop both creative writing skills and a greater sense of responsibility by having students plan and implement character education extension activities. Students are creating and performing a variety of original puppet shows targeting elements of character development. The integration of language arts and character education will allow all students, but especially those who are "at risk", to learn about self-control, respect, and sensitivity while improving academic skills.
   Lead Teachers -Mary Jade Haney, Judy Barnette, Judy Barnes

3. Writing "How-To-Manuals" to Improve Reading Comprehension
   Topic -This project is having students in the second and the fourth grades develop "how-to-manuals" in an attempt to improve both reading and writing skills across the curriculum. Students are creating or improve upon assigned tools as they learn and develop their skills at each stage of the writing process. As an extension of this project, students are to present oral reports on their "how-to-manuals".
   Lead Teachers -Barbara Smiling and Sebrina Ashimi

4. Reading to Meet Animal Needs
   Topic -This project is attempting to raise students' awareness of animal needs while improving their reading comprehension and writing skills. As a part of the project students are reading books about both animal needs and animal shelters. Then, they will raise money and gather supplies for an animal shelter. Through the use of reflection journals, students are developing their writing skills.
   Lead Teachers -Diana Studley, Judy Barnette, Tina Burkizer, Erica Gregg, and Amy Seegers

5. Students Reading Growth: A product of leveled, guided reading books?
   Topic -This project is a SCRI, which investigates, considers, and implements the best practices for teaching good readers and writers. This project will build the school's collection of leveled, guided reading books while encouraging students to develop and apply effective, independent reading strategies. Teachers use authentic, small-group reading activities and instruction to support students in the development of these skills.
   Lead Teachers -Diana Studley, Judy Barnette, Tina Burkizer, Erica Gregg, and Alenza McGill

6. Creating an Environment for Successful Learners
   Topic -This project involves students in the process of learning in an attempt to enhance their skills and their successes across all areas of the curriculum. The project provides the students with visual and written reminders of their accomplishments in all areas of the curriculum by posting the products of activities throughout the learning environment. In addition, students reflect upon their learning and their successes by writing in journals.
   Lead Teachers -Barbara Smiling and Sebrina Ashimi

7. Botanical and Animal Laboratory
   Topic -This project investigates what scientific generalizations elementary school students make concerning the care of the earth's environment after they conduct individual research studies involving plants, animals, and environmental issues. The target of this project is an increase in both students' and teachers' content knowledge of science in response to the increasing demands of the PACT test. In addition, both interns and coaching teachers investigate, develop and expand enhanced methods for creating inquiry units and teaching science. The creation of a botanical and animal laboratory allows students to study and conduct daily experiments with plants, animals, and their habitats and to learn about the care of the environment.
   Lead Teacher -Saudah Collins
8. Book Buddies: Bringing Together Children with Serious Medical Needs and Books
   Topic -This project enhances students' reading and writing skills as well as their empathy for children with serious medical needs. Students are researching the medical needs of children in local hospitals, writing businesses requesting donations, selecting and ordering books, and presenting the books to hospitalized children. During the course of the project, students are creating a portfolio that catalogues the development of their feelings and the project. Through the project, students are developing a greater sense of empathy as well as greater reading and writing skills.
   Lead Teachers -Judy Barnette, Saudah Collins, and Diana Studley

1. Will Higher-Interest, Leveled Books Motivate Reluctant Readers?
   Topic -This project is a SCRI that attempts to make reading more enjoyable and meaningful for less capable readers by providing them with texts that match both their reading ability and their interests. Many students who struggle with reading have difficulty finding texts that interest them since the texts that match their reading level are designed for younger students. The project provides high-interest, often non-fiction, texts that are slightly below the student's grade level but that build on their vocabulary and increase their integrated knowledge. By making reading interesting, this project hopes to make it more successful.
   Lead Teachers -Kay Ratliff, Kristi Giles, Debbie Whitlark, Heather Bloomer, Sue Myers, and Mary-Jo Lounsberry

1. Building Civilizations with Standards: Looking at Student Achievement through Motivational Factors
   Topic -In this project, students are creating their own civilizations using sixth-grade South Carolina world history standards as they learn about the successes and failures of ancient civilizations. The project analyzes the factors that affect student motivation and work completion in an attempt to discover the best ways to construct assignments that elicit these responses. The project also analyzes these factors in an attempt to discover patterns relating to race, sex, ethnicity, and student achievement on standardized tests.
   Lead Teacher -David Chadwell

1. African Connections: Building Reading and Writing While Interacting with Another Culture
   Topic -This project investigates how regular communication with students and teachers from another culture affect student interest and participation as well as professional development in teachers and interns. This project implements a cultural exchange of writing between students at Dreher High School and students at Hartzell High School in Mutare, Zimbabwe. Students work together to produce a poetry anthology through email communications. The project is widening the scope of literature studied, attempt to enhance writing and communication skills, offer direct contact with another culture, and provide a real connection with literature and the application of skills.
   Lead Teachers -Francie Markham and Ellen Parker

2. A Comparative Study of Seminar Classes
   Topic -Using the “rounds approach” suggested by David Keiser, participating 402P students will visit mentor teachers. The visits consist of a structured observation and a debriefing session in which the mentor teacher and the students will discuss the observation. The students are writing an essay that compares and contrasts the “rounds approach” and the usual debriefing experiences. Through the project, student teachers and interns have the opportunity to observe, learn about, and reflect upon specific methods of classroom management and teaching methodology.
   Lead Teacher -Jessica Grabiner

3. Using Creative Writing to Build Student Appreciation for Literature
   Topic -This project implements and develops effective strategies for teaching creative writing and for building student interest in both creative writing and literature. The product of this investigation is an anthology of students’ creative writing projects and their reflections about these projects and the literature that they studied. In addition, both coaching teachers and interns are developing a catalogue of effective strategies for teaching creative writing.
   Lead Teacher -Erik Norton

4. Developing and Enhancing Instructional Methods
   Topic -This project established a resource room and library for both coaching teachers and interns to use when developing and enhancing effective teaching methods across the curriculum.
   Lead Teacher -Laura Haverkamp (media specialist) and Francie Markham

Inquiry Samples.pdf

Acrobat PDF Reader