The Interactive Potential of Multiple Media: A New Look at Inquiry Projects

This article presents the inquiry and literacy processes of two fifth-grade students as they created a digital video about African American history for a school project. During this process, the students gained experience in researching (both on the Web and in books) and writing, with the overall goal of creating a digital documentary video about African American history. The interaction of the various media in the project (books, writing notebooks, the Web, digital video) created a synergy that fostered and perpetuated the students’ literacy and inquiry processes.