Writing distinguished by voice, imagination, and impact

the spinning elements are flung into a box

The Well Project: A Drinking Water Report

Grade(s):

5, 6

Fifth and sixth graders from the Shutesbury Elementary School in Shutesbury, Massachusetts prepared this report on the quality of well water within the town as part of a year-long expedition on water resources.

his eyes and his skin were the only things remarkable in a university

This Is Why I Cry

Grade(s):

8

Eighth-grade students at Pioneer Charter School (now Polaris Expeditionary Learning School) in Fort Collins, Colorado created a historical character file as part of a learning expedition on slavery. The process took two months and included multiple drafts of writing and artwork.

the life of a community follows a plot

A Little More Than Just People: Juanita Nelson

Grade(s):

8

Eighth grade students from the Four Rivers Charter School, in Greenfield, Massachusetts, created a book of “monologues of community cultivators.” Students studied people from their community, who both through their vocation or avocation, worked on behalf of their local communities and “gave back”

This court is in session for the case of bear vs. raccoon.

Panda Classification Comic Strip

Grade(s):

7

After learning about DNA, students had to explain if the giant panda was a closer relative to bears or to raccoons by creating a comic strip.

she was involved in her community, but didn't realize it

Small Acts of Courage

Grade(s):

7

Students created a set of four books based on interviews with unsung local civil rights heroes as part of a learning expedition on civil rights. 

When the sun passes through a thicker layer of atmosphere we see colors at sunrise and sunset

What's Up?

Grade(s):

3

This book was written  as part of a three-month learning expedition on astronomy. It was written to help introduce other students to these topics.

The jaws are adjustable to make sure they can meet around the bolt.

Our Book of Tools

Grade(s):

K

This product was part of a learning expedition on tools, in which students learned to identify tools and their uses and learned about the wider world through the study of tools.

grass sways lazily in the breeze as birds tweet and insects are at work

Give Bees a Chance

Grade(s):

6

After researching bees as part of a learning expedition, students crafted a book to help people understand the importance of bees to the production of food and the impact of Colony Collapse Disorder.

I tangle in your mind like a string being tied into knots

I Am Poem

Grade(s):

5

As a culmination of learning about their lives and the greater world, students wrote "I am" poems. They used figurative language, spacing, repetition, and breaking the rules of grammar as poetic authors.

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