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.
Students doing the thinking
Entries were scored on how clearly the work shows students investigating a question, building evidence and sharing their own thinking.
Telling the story of 6th grade through cave art
The Human Story
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.
Sorting artifacts to uncover their stories
Native America
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.
Interviewing the grown-ups who help our school
Navigating School
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.
A layer cake for a healthy democracy
Rights and Responsibilities
3rd graders designed a layer cake to show their audience how people can take part in a democracy. They decided which layer should support the ones above it, from knowing how government works and using your rights to staying informed, volunteering and voting.
Comic strips on the Agricultural Revolution
The Human Story
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.
More standout classrooms
These classrooms will also be featured in this year's showcase.
Star student bookmarks
My Team and Self
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
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
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
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.
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.
Students work in small groups to learn more about their state's history.
Our State and Region
4th Grade
Handout
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Students work in small groups to learn more about their state's history.
Additional Info
Sarah Arndt from Kipp Texas, Inc.: TX, 4th Grade
Art images are for making connections with our world through art. The illustrated poetry has to do with global warming and how we must pay attention to help solve the problem. Thereby, we are better global citizens.
Global Connections
3rd Grade
Final Product
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Art images are for making connections with our world through art. The illustrated poetry has to do with global warming and how we must pay attention to help solve the problem. Thereby, we are better global citizens.
Additional Info
Alisa Stubbs from Quality Schools International: IT, 3rd Grade
After viewing a variety of homes the second graders each chose a "building" with the idea that they would assemble a facade of that home. First they drew up plans in pencil and listed the materials they would need. They created backgrounds for their houses and sketched out their buildings. Then each student created the 2-D home facade from available resources on posterboard, and wrote a paragraph detailing the natural resources a builder would actually use in the construction of the home s/he created.
Our Changing Landscape
2nd Grade
Final Product
After viewing a variety of homes the second graders each chose a "building" with the idea that they would assemble a facade of that home. First they drew up plans in pencil and listed the materials they would need. They created backgrounds for their houses and sketched out their buildings. Then each student created the 2-D home facade from available resources on posterboard, and wrote a paragraph detailing the natural resources a builder would actually use in the construction of the home s/he created.
Additional Info
Paul Seaton from Agnes Irwin School: PA, 2nd Grade
Students created a graphic novel to educate their reading buddy class to use natural resources in a sustainable way.
Natural Resources of the U.S.
4th Grade
Final Product
Students created a graphic novel to educate their reading buddy class to use natural resources in a sustainable way.
Additional Info
Robbie Pauly from Mason City Community School District: IA, 4th Grade
We will encourage society to be more humane, ethical, and reasonable by spreading awareness of endangered species.
Ancient Mesopotamia
5th Grade
Final Product
We will encourage society to be more humane, ethical, and reasonable by spreading awareness of endangered species.
Additional Info
SANDRA PORTILLO from Quality Schools International: IT, 5th Grade
Students created an infographic to defend their position about the colony's story being one of conflict, cooperation, or both. Some students stretched themselves by taking their paper draft to an online flyer using canva.
The Colonial Era
5th Grade
Other
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Students created an infographic to defend their position about the colony's story being one of conflict, cooperation, or both. Some students stretched themselves by taking their paper draft to an online flyer using canva.
Additional Info
Laura Brown from Lakota Local School District: OH, 5th Grade
Students made posters to encourage people to conserve resources in English and Spanish.
Natural Resources of the U.S.
4th Grade
Wall Display
Students made posters to encourage people to conserve resources in English and Spanish.
Additional Info
Kelly Ashline from Community Consolidated School District 93: IL, 4th Grade
Students worked collaboratively to design and paint a door mural that reflected symbols, people and places that were important to them in both our school and local community. This was a student driven-project, and students maintained creative control throughout the process.
Our Special Location
1st Grade
Final Product
Students worked collaboratively to design and paint a door mural that reflected symbols, people and places that were important to them in both our school and local community. This was a student driven-project, and students maintained creative control throughout the process.
Additional Info
Tamara Quandt from Canby School District: OR, 1st Grade
We explored different images of urban, suburban and rural communities. Students made our classroom seal. Students answered one of their inquiry questions.
Our Special Location
1st Grade
Handout
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We explored different images of urban, suburban and rural communities. Students made our classroom seal. Students answered one of their inquiry questions.
Additional Info
Brandi Barnett from Skokie District 68: IL, 1st Grade
Students viewed image clusters and engaged in a "predict-observe-conclude" protocol.
The American Revolution
5th Grade
Handout
Students viewed image clusters and engaged in a "predict-observe-conclude" protocol.
Additional Info
Rosa Cappetta from Community Consolidated School District 59: IL, 5th Grade
Starting at the top and going clockwise, this is a circular map of our journey through the Our Special Location unit.
Our Special Location
1st Grade
Inquiry-Long Display
Starting at the top and going clockwise, this is a circular map of our journey through the Our Special Location unit.
Additional Info
Brandi Barnett from Skokie District 68: IL, 1st Grade
Students kicked off the unit on the American Revolution by doing a gallery walk in groups of 3. They were highly engaged and loved the activity. By the end, students were able to draw conclusions about what it means to be a revolutionary and what the word revolution means.
The American Revolution
5th Grade
Handout
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Students kicked off the unit on the American Revolution by doing a gallery walk in groups of 3. They were highly engaged and loved the activity. By the end, students were able to draw conclusions about what it means to be a revolutionary and what the word revolution means.
Additional Info
Kelly Ashline from Community Consolidated School District 93: IL, 5th Grade
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