Inquiry+Skill

Information Literacy is necessary to be a successful member of society in the 21st century. As students begin their journey of becoming literate in information, they start out needing a lot of guidance. A 6th grade student would be expected to know how to navigate web sites and databases and is able to evaluate the sources to find the best on for their project. Most middle school students would be able to use inquiry skills on their own because of experiences they had in Elementary school, but they may also need guidance and refresher courses.Their skill level would fall somewhere in the intermediate group. A high school student would be expected to be able to work more independently. Many of the skills that they use are familiar because of years of experience with them. High school students may be perfecting their ability to analyze, evaluate, and comprehension. High school students fall closer to the higher level of inquiry skills, but still are working on mastering them. Students in all grade levels will be at different levels of mastery for inquiry skills. It is our job as Media Specialists to realize that "all skills must continue to be reinforced in association with subject content and student need throughout the academic experience." (Callison 86) The AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner are designed in such a way that each set of skills builds upon the previous ones. The difference between a 6th graders and high school students ability to use their information literacy is not that high school students think more deeply or synthesize more information than the 6th grader, it is that high school students are able to see more connections throughout the information they are analyzing.

**6th Grade Inquiry Skill **
 Technology Application - uses content-specific tools, software, and simulations, including web-based tools, to support learning and basic information research. (Callison 89) AASL Standard - 3.1.4: Use technology and other information tools to organize and display knowledge and understanding in ways that others can view, use, and assess.

** Geography and History of the World Inquiry Skill **
 Research and Reporting Techniques - can conduct extensive searches through various search engines to compare and contrast electronic documents. (Callison 90) AASL Standard - 1.1.7: Make sense of information gathered from diverse sources by identifying misconceptions, main and supporting ideas, conflicting information, and point of view or bias.

Works Cited

Callison, Daniel, and Leslie Preddy. The Blue Book on Information Age Inquiry, Instruction and Literacy. Westport, Conn: Libraries Unlimited, 2006. Print.

American Association of School Librarians. Standards for the 21st-Century Learner In Action. Chicago, IL: American Association of School Librarians, 2009. Print.