The first half of this book is a must read, a must purchase, and a mst think through. Brilliant chapters about inquiry whether you are a Common Core state or not tantalize the brain. Essays are written by Jean Donham, Olga Nesi, Deborah Levitob, Judi Moreillon, Leslie Maniotes, Violet Harada, Barbara Stripling, and Kristin Fontichiaro. Quite a line up of experts and worth every paragpha of thinking alongside them. The second half of the book presents a challenge to the reader as various units of instruction are highlighted by a variety of teacher librarians. Few give a good overview of the entire learning experience but instead concentrate on a sample lesson, usually given by the teacher librarian with the classroom teacher absent. The value of these examples would be to give them to a group of teachers and teacher librarians to read and transform into truly great examples of high level learning when teachers and teacher librarians combine their expertise and coteach together. Some essentials are there; some need major reworking; others coud be tweaked. We kept asking, Where is the exemplary technology that might help? How could engagement be improved? Where was both formative and summative assessment by both adults used to advantage? Where was real learning happening rather than directive instructions and assignments? Where were inventive culminating events that put both topic and skills together? How could coteaching rather than turn teaching help the learning experience? How could student creativity be emphasized? Some of the units have a glimpse of some of these concerns. Perhaps that is the challenge of this book: What constitutes real super learning experiences that have inquiry at their heart? It’s a challenge for each of us as professionals to ponder and to figure out, and then create such super learning experiences in the learning commons that we become indispensible partners in the learning of the school. If we don’t figure out this piece, there are others who are already proclaiming they they know how and are doing it. And, the ain’t librarians.

Whether or not your school is working with the CCSS, this publication offers a myriad of information to create successful inquiry programming in your school. As is so well said in the introduction the CCSS is a moving target, but the issue of expectations and standards isn’t. This publication brings together the thoughts and information of many experts in our field, and allows them to wrestle with ideas that are pertinent to our student learning challenges. Well done, and well worth investing in. Highly recommended.

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