Meet the 2026 Inquiry Work Contest winners

Teachers across the country shared inquiry work from their classrooms this fall, from anchor charts and student work to classroom video. Thank you to every teacher who entered. These are the classrooms that stood out.

1st place Inquiry Week Winner

Students doing the thinking

Entries were scored on how clearly the work shows students investigating a question, building evidence and sharing their own thinking.

🥇 grand prize

Telling the story of 6th grade through cave art

The Human Story

Lakota Local School District, OH · Grade 6

After studying early humans and the stories artifacts can tell, 6th graders created their own Paleolithic cave art. Using four symbols and no words, each student answered the question "What story would you tell?" Then they switched roles, analyzed the art as archaeologists and wrote museum placards to explain it. The finished pieces came together on a simulated cave wall that tells the story of 6th grade.

🥇 Best Video

Sorting artifacts to uncover their stories

Native America

Flemington-Raritan Regional School District, NJ · Grade 5

5th graders spent this inquiry investigating what artifacts can tell us and who they belong to. In the video, students work together to sort artifacts from Native American cultures into categories they came up with on their own, including materials, how items were used, time frame, tribe and how items were made. They then took a position on whether artifacts should be kept in museums or returned to their cultures of origin and wrote out their claims and reasoning, shown in the photo.

K-2 winner

Interviewing the grown-ups who help our school

Navigating School

East Haven Public Schools, CT · Kindergarten

Kindergartners brainstormed the grown-ups who help at school and voted to interview their custodian. With teacher support, they wrote questions to learn about his role and his life outside of work, then illustrated and labeled what they learned.

Middle school winner

Comic strips on the Agricultural Revolution

The Human Story

Elmhurst CUSD 205, IL · Grade 6

6th graders created two-part comic strips about the Agricultural Revolution. First, they illustrated the changes it brought, like farming in place of hunting and gathering and people taking on different jobs. Then they showed the impact on daily life and weighed the tradeoffs, such as a steadier food supply against crop failures and disease from domesticated animals.

Honorable mentions

More standout classrooms

These classrooms will also be featured in this year's showcase.

3rd place Inquiry Week Winner

Star student bookmarks

My Team and Self

Tacoma Public Schools, WA · Kindergarten

Students designed bookmarks about being a star student, and the winning designs are printed in color and handed out with library books.

A colonial regions quilt

The Colonial Era

Bannockburn School, IL · Grade 5

Students researched how culture, geography and economics shaped each colonial region, then designed quilt blocks based on historical regional patterns that came together as a bulletin-board-sized quilt.

Native America inquiry wall

Native America

St. John Catholic School, KS · Grade 5

Students turned their research into large posters connected to each region on a hallway map that families explored during conferences.

Mapping a community's needs and wants

Meeting Needs and Wants

Stevenson School, CA · Grade 2

Students built a class community called Sunset California and created a word splash connecting their vocabulary, with many placing scarcity at the center.

Vocabulary anchor chart challenge

Natural Resources of the U.S.

National Heritage Academies · Grade 4

Students reviewed unit vocabulary by racing to place each term on the correct anchor chart.

Student Works

Explore examples from the Inquiry Work Gallery.

Click on a thumbnail below to expand and view more images.

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The students focused on an important tradition within their family and culture to create a picture book/ebook. They enjoyed the creative process and took great pride in planning and sharing.

Unit

Families Near and Far

Grade

1st Grade

Example Type

Final Product

The students focused on an important tradition within their family and culture to create a picture book/ebook. They enjoyed the creative process and took great pride in planning and sharing.

Additional Info

Beth Caruso from South Brunswick School District: NJ, 1st Grade

Unit

Families Near and Far

Grade

1st Grade

Example Type

Final Product

Our final product was a giant school map put on display to help others navigate our school. We included important areas, people, rules / expectations, and things you might find there. Also included on display is a transcript/photo of our interview with a school helper, plans from our initial mapping of the school, photos of our 3D classrooms, and lots of student writing.

Unit

Navigating School

Grade

Kindergarten

Example Type

Final Product

Our final product was a giant school map put on display to help others navigate our school. We included important areas, people, rules / expectations, and things you might find there. Also included on display is a transcript/photo of our interview with a school helper, plans from our initial mapping of the school, photos of our 3D classrooms, and lots of student writing.

Additional Info

SABINA ROCKE from Alameda Unified School District: CA, Kindergarten

Unit

Navigating School

Grade

Kindergarten

Example Type

Final Product

We will create an ABC Book on Sustainability to inspire our community to use natural resources responsibly.

Unit

Natural Resources of the U.S.

Grade

4th Grade

Example Type

Final Product

We will create an ABC Book on Sustainability to inspire our community to use natural resources responsibly.

Additional Info

Valeria Laitinen from Quality Schools International: IT, 4th Grade

Unit

Natural Resources of the U.S.

Grade

4th Grade

Example Type

Final Product

For our final social studies project, students decided that they wanted to, "create a quilt in order to share with our community and our families about holiday traditions." Here is our final project! (We got the idea from studying other final projects in the Inquiry Work Gallery!)

Unit

Families Near and Far

Grade

1st Grade

Example Type

Final Product

For our final social studies project, students decided that they wanted to, "create a quilt in order to share with our community and our families about holiday traditions." Here is our final project! (We got the idea from studying other final projects in the Inquiry Work Gallery!)

Additional Info

Sarah Maxwell from Public Schools of Brookline: MA, 1st Grade

Unit

Families Near and Far

Grade

1st Grade

Example Type

Final Product

This is an introduction activity for module 1 in which students place the dynasties studied in chronological order. Each group records three interesting facts or point of information on each dynasty card. After sharing their information with other groups they post this information on the yellow paper for the entire class to see. This stays posted in the classroom until the end of the unit for a reference tool. The gold yellow color represents is symbolic of Ancient Chinese rulers.

Unit

Ancient China

Grade

6th Grade

Example Type

Anchor Chart

This is an introduction activity for module 1 in which students place the dynasties studied in chronological order. Each group records three interesting facts or point of information on each dynasty card. After sharing their information with other groups they post this information on the yellow paper for the entire class to see. This stays posted in the classroom until the end of the unit for a reference tool. The gold yellow color represents is symbolic of Ancient Chinese rulers.

Additional Info

Allan Cupicciotti from Chicago Public Schools - Galileo Scholastic Academy Of Math And Science: IL, 6th Grade

Unit

Ancient China

Grade

6th Grade

Example Type

Anchor Chart

Students at a DLI school were able to bridge their knowledge from English to Spanish through this Inquiry Product.

Unit

Natural Resources of the U.S.

Grade

4th Grade

Example Type

Final Product

Students at a DLI school were able to bridge their knowledge from English to Spanish through this Inquiry Product.

Additional Info

Amanda Hargadine from Canby School District: OR, 4th Grade

Unit

Natural Resources of the U.S.

Grade

4th Grade

Example Type

Final Product

Students learned all about Carol Stream and learned all about the amazing places you can visit.

Unit

Our Special Location

Grade

1st Grade

Example Type

Inquiry-Long Display

Students learned all about Carol Stream and learned all about the amazing places you can visit.

Additional Info

Kelly Ashline from Community Consolidated School District 93: IL, 1st Grade

Unit

Our Special Location

Grade

1st Grade

Example Type

Inquiry-Long Display

Half of our class chose to innovate in our cafeteria. A student in our class brought this problem to our attention: There are not signs in the two different lunch lines in the cafeteria that tells students what items are available on each line. This group created picture signs, since our building starts with kindergarten, so students know which line to join when buying lunch. We shared our innovation with our building by making a green screen video and being on our school announcements. Students changed the signs each day for the rest of the school year and then gifted the signs to the cafeteria staff since our building ends at second grade.

Unit

Past, Present, and Future

Grade

2nd Grade

Example Type

Other

Half of our class chose to innovate in our cafeteria. A student in our class brought this problem to our attention: There are not signs in the two different lunch lines in the cafeteria that tells students what items are available on each line. This group created picture signs, since our building starts with kindergarten, so students know which line to join when buying lunch. We shared our innovation with our building by making a green screen video and being on our school announcements. Students changed the signs each day for the rest of the school year and then gifted the signs to the cafeteria staff since our building ends at second grade.

Additional Info

Melissa Riehle from Lakota Local School District: OH, 2nd Grade

Unit

Past, Present, and Future

Grade

2nd Grade

Example Type

Other

Students chose a final product of either a picture book, a play, or a puppet show. They had the BEST time showing their learning.

Unit

My Team and Self

Grade

Kindergarten

Example Type

Final Product

Students chose a final product of either a picture book, a play, or a puppet show. They had the BEST time showing their learning.

Additional Info

Kelly Ashline from Community Consolidated School District 93: IL, Kindergarten

Unit

My Team and Self

Grade

Kindergarten

Example Type

Final Product

While completing the Navigating School Unit, we used shape blocks to create a map of our school. After creating this hands-on visual, we created picture versions with a few more details than the blocks allowed. Each group of students was in charge of creating a map of each of the main rooms of the school we use (classroom, office, lunchroom, library, gym, music, playground), then we all drew ourselves on one piece of paper labeled "US". We posted these up connecting each picture as well as to a (real) picture of our school building. The students enjoyed creating both versions of our school map and took great pride in having the web on display all unit.

Unit

Navigating School

Grade

Kindergarten

Example Type

Inquiry-Long Display

While completing the Navigating School Unit, we used shape blocks to create a map of our school. After creating this hands-on visual, we created picture versions with a few more details than the blocks allowed. Each group of students was in charge of creating a map of each of the main rooms of the school we use (classroom, office, lunchroom, library, gym, music, playground), then we all drew ourselves on one piece of paper labeled "US". We posted these up connecting each picture as well as to a (real) picture of our school building. The students enjoyed creating both versions of our school map and took great pride in having the web on display all unit.

Additional Info

Allison Slater from Iowa City Community School District: IA, Kindergarten

Unit

Navigating School

Grade

Kindergarten

Example Type

Inquiry-Long Display

Fourth graders created a snack business based on what they learned about economic choices. Students managed the business and donated profits to the St. Hubert's Animal Welfare Center. The brochures they independently created were distributed across the school to promote the business.

Unit

Economic Choices

Grade

4th Grade

Example Type

Handout

Fourth graders created a snack business based on what they learned about economic choices. Students managed the business and donated profits to the St. Hubert's Animal Welfare Center. The brochures they independently created were distributed across the school to promote the business.

Additional Info

Hanan Attiyah from Flemington-Raritan School District: NJ, 4th Grade

Unit

Economic Choices

Grade

4th Grade

Example Type

Handout

Students created a quilt from family papers and a cookbook to show family foods.

Unit

Families Near and Far

Grade

1st Grade

Example Type

Final Product

Students created a quilt from family papers and a cookbook to show family foods.

Additional Info

Theresa Meadors from Bloomington District 87 Schools: IL, 1st Grade

Unit

Families Near and Far

Grade

1st Grade

Example Type

Final Product

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