Previously, I shared a blog on 10 ways to make inquiry work in the ELA classroom where I reflected on my frustrations as a 10th-grade English and speech teacher. Too often, students passively engaged with literature—turning to shortcuts like SparkNotes—while lacking genuine excitement for reading, writing, and speaking. I wanted them to become curious thinkers, eager to explore texts and share their voices with an authentic audience. But traditional approaches often led to disengagement, and speech anxiety kept many students from fully participating.
In that blog, I highlighted 10 strategies that helped shift my classroom—and those of other educators I’ve supported—toward a more inquiry-driven approach. This month, let’s build on that foundation with five more ways to put students in the driver’s seat, giving them even more ownership of their learning.
1 Encourage Curiosity Journals
When we structure ELA units around an overarching question, we create a meaningful framework for learning. Instead of teaching Night as a stand-alone novel study, we reframed the unit around a thought-provoking comment Elie Wiesel made in an interview with Oprah: What is the opposite of love? Is it hate? Indifference? Or something else? This question became the heart of our six-week inquiry, guiding students as they explored Night alongside book club selections, articles, videos, TED Talks, art, and more. Throughout the unit, students kept curiosity journals, recording their questions, connections, and wonderings as they engaged with each text. For the most part, these journals are meant to be informal, a place for students to write quick thoughts, observations, questions to explore further, and ideas they might be wrestling with. By centering inquiry, we fostered deep engagement, critical thinking, and rich discussions that extended beyond a single book.
2 Allow Students to Follow the Rabbit Holes
An inquiry-driven ELA unit thrives when students are empowered to explore their own questions. When we provide an overarching question as a guide, students can take ownership of their learning by pursuing topics that spark their curiosity. This student agency leads to deeper engagement and helps them make meaningful connections to the unit of study. For instance, a student following current events might investigate the Israel-Hamas conflict, asking: Is this conflict driven by hate? Does indifference contribute to its persistence? As students research, they naturally engage with essential ELA skills, such as:
- Citing and analyzing textual evidence
- Synthesizing information from multiple sources
- Writing clear and well-structured explanatory texts
- Evaluating the credibility of sources
- Engaging in thoughtful, evidence-based discussions
- Presenting claims with logical reasoning and strong evidence
By structuring learning around inquiry, we create space for curiosity, critical thinking, and meaningful exploration—all while meeting key literacy standards.
3 Make Room for Authentic Expression
Inquiry doesn’t have to end with a five-paragraph essay. When we give students the freedom to express their learning through poetry, podcasts, multimedia projects, social media campaigns, creative writing, artwork, or even makerspace prototypes, we tap into deeper thinking and reach a wider range of learners. In our inquiry unit centered on Elie Wiesel’s Night, students explored the guiding question: What is the opposite of love? Is it hate? Indifference? Or something else? Instead of writing traditional literary analysis essays, students could create spoken-word poetry exploring the role of indifference in historical and modern humanitarian crises, while others might work on documentary-style video projects weaving together survivor testimonies and contemporary examples of apathy in the face of injustice. And let’s be real—grading creative, student-driven projects makes assessment far more meaningful (and fun) for us, too. If you’re looking for a clever critique of the traditional essay structure, check out Kim Zaren’s NCTE article, My Anti-Five-Paragraph-Essay Five-Paragraph Essay.
4 Flip the Script on Writing Prompts
To make room for more creative approaches to sharing learning, we can empower students to develop their own research-based writing projects guided by compelling questions they uncover during their rabbit hole inquiries. Here are some thought-provoking questions students might explore, but feel free to suggest prompts that inspire high-quality research and writing:
- How does indifference shape modern humanitarian crises?
- What responsibility do bystanders have in moments of injustice?
- How do governments today use propaganda to fuel division?
- What lessons from the Holocaust are evident in modern refugee crises?
- How does censorship contribute to indifference?
From here, students can choose to respond in a variety of creative ways:
- A personal inquiry essay
- An investigative journal piece
- A podcast or video essay
- A poetry collection or screenplay
- A dramatic monologue or TikTok-style explainer
5 See the Story
A powerful way to encourage critical thinking and engagement in the ELA classroom is by inviting students to analyze various visual texts—images, political cartoons, infographics, or film clips—through an inquiry-based lens. By examining these visual elements, students can uncover the layers within the messages conveyed. Moving beyond the literal interpretation of the image, we can ask students, “What story is being told?” “Whose perspective is being shared? Whose is missing?” “What questions does this raise?” By framing these visual texts as “stories” to be interpreted and explored, students develop the ability to engage with complex media in a meaningful way. It allows them to see how stories are told through different mediums and encourages them to ask deeper questions about the world around them. One practical activity we can use with images to get students to examine the layers is by walking students through Stephanie Harvey and Harvey Daniels’ Comprehension Continuum.
For more inquiry content, please visit our Mackin Learning Blog.
