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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Attached are several anchor charts we completed together in class during the unit. Also included is our word wall and investigation questions anchor chart.

Unit

Ancient Mesopotamia

Grade

5th Grade

Example Type

Anchor Chart

Attached are several anchor charts we completed together in class during the unit. Also included is our word wall and investigation questions anchor chart.

Additional Info

Angela Warner from Quality Schools International: IT, 5th Grade

Unit

Ancient Mesopotamia

Grade

5th Grade

Example Type

Anchor Chart

Students viewed image clusters and engaged in a "predict-observe-conclude" protocol.

Unit

The American Revolution

Grade

5th Grade

Example Type

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

Unit

The American Revolution

Grade

5th Grade

Example Type

Handout

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

Students made posters to encourage people to conserve resources in English and Spanish.

Unit

Natural Resources of the U.S.

Grade

4th Grade

Example Type

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

Unit

Natural Resources of the U.S.

Grade

4th Grade

Example Type

Wall Display

The students were overall inspired by the Champions for Change and deeply cared about protecting the plants and animals in our environment. They took a hint from "Bellen the Crayon Activist" and decided that they would first try to inspire their families to make changes at home to help better our community and world. The students loved the creation part of this inquiry as it gave them the most time to share their individual ideas and collaborate with friends. They were truly empowered. My only regret is that we started it so late in the year. I would've loved to have been able to continue to foster this mindset.

Unit

Civic Engagement

Grade

1st Grade

Example Type

Final Product

The students were overall inspired by the Champions for Change and deeply cared about protecting the plants and animals in our environment. They took a hint from "Bellen the Crayon Activist" and decided that they would first try to inspire their families to make changes at home to help better our community and world. The students loved the creation part of this inquiry as it gave them the most time to share their individual ideas and collaborate with friends. They were truly empowered. My only regret is that we started it so late in the year. I would've loved to have been able to continue to foster this mindset.

Additional Info

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

Unit

Civic Engagement

Grade

1st Grade

Example Type

Final Product

We shared all of our learning with our community by holding an Innovation Museum. The museum had three exhibits- past, present and future. The past exhibit shared all about innovators of the past. The present exhibit shared how we innovated at our school and our future exhibit shared about our future innovation ideas. Students rotated throughout the exhibits presenting about their learning.

Unit

Innovation

Grade

2nd Grade

Example Type

Final Product

We shared all of our learning with our community by holding an Innovation Museum. The museum had three exhibits- past, present and future. The past exhibit shared all about innovators of the past. The present exhibit shared how we innovated at our school and our future exhibit shared about our future innovation ideas. Students rotated throughout the exhibits presenting about their learning.

Additional Info

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

Unit

Innovation

Grade

2nd Grade

Example Type

Final Product

Students write one word/short phrases on index cards that describe what contributes to a healthy democracy and add to poster throughout unit.

Unit

Rights and Responsibilities

Grade

5th Grade

Example Type

Wall Display

Students write one word/short phrases on index cards that describe what contributes to a healthy democracy and add to poster throughout unit.

Additional Info

Angela Kastrava from Canby School District: OR, 5th Grade

Unit

Rights and Responsibilities

Grade

5th Grade

Example Type

Wall Display

Students wrote paragraphs and built dioramas to share information with younger students about the history of the Dakota and Anishinaabe people in Minnesota.

Unit

Our State and Region

Grade

4th Grade

Example Type

Final Product

Students wrote paragraphs and built dioramas to share information with younger students about the history of the Dakota and Anishinaabe people in Minnesota.

Additional Info

Anna Dibley from Hiawatha Academies: MN, 4th Grade

Unit

Our State and Region

Grade

4th Grade

Example Type

Final Product

These are from my class last year. The first step was to create a display board that included physical and human characteristics, travel plan, raw materials and products, inquiry statement, and other facts about the country. The teams of students created an inquiry statement and project based on their country. The students had a World Expo inviting the first grade students. Each team had a table and presented their country's display board and inquiry project. Some presentations were interactive while others were oral presentations. The first grade students had "passport" books that were stamped by the third grade students at each booth.

Unit

Global Connections

Grade

3rd Grade

Example Type

Final Product

These are from my class last year. The first step was to create a display board that included physical and human characteristics, travel plan, raw materials and products, inquiry statement, and other facts about the country. The teams of students created an inquiry statement and project based on their country. The students had a World Expo inviting the first grade students. Each team had a table and presented their country's display board and inquiry project. Some presentations were interactive while others were oral presentations. The first grade students had "passport" books that were stamped by the third grade students at each booth.

Additional Info

Jennifer Heffernen from Waukee Community School District: IA, 3rd Grade

Unit

Global Connections

Grade

3rd Grade

Example Type

Final Product

To kick off our innovation unit, we explored innovations of the past.

Unit

Past, Present, and Future

Grade

2nd Grade

Example Type

Other

To kick off our innovation unit, we explored innovations of the past.

Additional Info

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

Unit

Past, Present, and Future

Grade

2nd Grade

Example Type

Other

This is our classroom quilt square display. Each student has at least 1 completed square that is displayed, and some from each lesson are combined to make our quilt.

Unit

Families Near and Far

Grade

1st Grade

Example Type

Handout

This is our classroom quilt square display. Each student has at least 1 completed square that is displayed, and some from each lesson are combined to make our quilt.

Additional Info

Amanda Fabian from South Brunswick School District: NJ, 1st Grade

Unit

Families Near and Far

Grade

1st Grade

Example Type

Handout

Half of my class chose to create “calm down bracelets.” They interviewed our school counselor about good strategies and made templates for their bracelets. They shared about their bracelets on announcements and made a green screen video. They packaged and delivered bracelets to each class in our building and gave our school counselor a supply as well. Classrooms added them to their calm down centers in their classrooms.

Unit

Innovation

Grade

2nd Grade

Example Type

Other

Half of my class chose to create “calm down bracelets.” They interviewed our school counselor about good strategies and made templates for their bracelets. They shared about their bracelets on announcements and made a green screen video. They packaged and delivered bracelets to each class in our building and gave our school counselor a supply as well. Classrooms added them to their calm down centers in their classrooms.

Additional Info

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

Unit

Innovation

Grade

2nd Grade

Example Type

Other

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