Inquiry by the Book: Teaching Historical Fiction With the Inquiry Design Model

Kristy A. Brugar and Annie McMahon Whitlock

Reading sparks students’ natural curiosities, helps them answer questions, and even prompts new ones. Using historical fiction and the Inquiry Design Model (IDM), Kristy A. Brugar and Annie McMahon Whitlock encourage readers to follow these curiosities and engage with these texts to elevate attention to social studies concepts and skills. Inquiry by the Book: Teaching Historical Fiction With the Inquiry Design Model equips educators with innovative methods for integrating English language arts and social studies through the use of historical fiction texts commonly found in elementary and middle school classrooms.

This book offers strategies to enhance social studies instruction and to help students develop historical empathy, recognize diverse experiences and viewpoints, and critically engage historical content. Each chapter features one or more historical fiction texts alongside primary and secondary sources to help students answer the IDM’s compelling question. Inquiry by the Book supports educators in selecting high-quality texts, designing compelling questions around important concepts or themes, building historical context through supporting questions, curating primary and secondary sources, and designing thoughtful and intentional action elements.