At elementary school, each Inquiry By Design course of study is made up of six units featuring detailed, flexible lesson plans aimed at building critical, standards-aligned literacy skills. Each unit is built around challenging, grade-appropriate texts and spiraling cycles of work marked by reading, writing, and collaborative small-group and whole-class discussion. All grades of Inquiry By Design’s elementary school courses of study feature
- An independent reading program designed to live alongside progressive, inquiry-based work throughout the year.
- A literacy notebook for independent writing as well as other unit-specific writing projects and tasks.
- Challenging informational texts and engaging short fiction that allow students to analyze ideas, arguments, and themes both within and across a variety of texts.
- Novel studies that position students to reflect upon, discuss, and answer important questions raised by the author.
