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Students work in small groups to learn more about their state's history.

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

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

This is the first inquiry unit that my 4th graders complete. The Wellsnipps simulation activity at the start really engaged students to learn more about sustainability. The case studies were additionally eye opening as they come both from the somewhat distant and recent past. The entire class gave input for the words assigned per letter. Moreover, we assigned students to the cover page (art-oriented), table of contents and glossary as well. This picture book was given to our Kindergarten class and the teachers have been sharing small bits of it to students one at a time.

Students created a graphic novel to educate their reading buddy class to use natural resources in a sustainable way.

These posters are students' displays created after researching different social groups in the Colonial Era.

Ms. Czarnecki's 1st Grade class at Detroit Premier Academy have completed the Unit 2 Final Inquiry Product. This unit focused on "Our Special Location" which was the city of Detroit. Our class investigated how our location, natural features, and climate shape daily life, and how goods and services are produced to address community needs and wants. They also reflected upon how people come together to show pride and care for the community. They were then tasked with talking to friends and family at home and select up to 3 locations, people or landmarks they wanted to feature in the collage. They independently cut out the prints and one-by-one affixed them into the collage. We are thrilled with the turn out and hope you are too!

This is our inquiry-long display after completing Module 2 Lesson 3 - Exploring States within a Region. The students completed their state scrapbook on ClassKick, which were then printed and added to our Inquiry-Long Display.

These are connections students made between the events that tell the history of Illinois.

These are connections students made between the events that tell the history of Illinois.

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

Our first graders ended their unit, "Our Special Location," by creating a mural. Along the way, students learned about murals in the Austin area and heard from two artists, including a successful muralist. Our students worked closely with our art teacher to represent different aspects of their special location, which was our school (Trinity). We had a big presentation in chapel with six students explaining what they'd learned along the way in this unit. And then, of course, we pulled back the curtain on the stage and revealed the finished mural by our first graders. It was a wonderful way to bring families in to celebrate and witness all that our students had learned in this valuable social studies unit.