Hello and welcome to the team!

Whether you’re reading this to prepare for your Curiosity Lab unit or to create a class of your own, we are so excited to help. 

In this guide you will find everything you need to start building your unit. For those preparing for The Curiosity Lab, here is a bit about what you are stepping into.

The Curiosity Lab was created with the intent of inspiring curiosity and passion in youth eager to learn. For the students too young to join the Ivy League Challenge yet already asking big questions, The Curiosity Lab provides a unique opportunity for them to join the community, ask big questions, start learning, and connect with students with similar interests. And the best part about it? It's taught by us. Every teacher has a unique experience with the unit they are preparing, whether it be a subject they are an expert on or the motive behind their impact project. For the students, it opens them up to hobbies, subjects, and passions they might have never thought about exploring previously. 

You don’t have to follow this toolkit perfectly. Instead, you can use it as a guide and as inspiration for when you are starting your preparation, need advice on teaching, or looking to improve your unit. Feel free to ask questions whenever they may come up. Thank you for being a part of this, we are so lucky to have you join us. Best of luck!

With much excitement and curiosity,

Ava DiNapoli

Founding Member & President

The Curiosity Lab Community

I. How to choose your subject

If you are reading this, chances are you already have a general idea of what you want to teach which is great! The next step is to narrow it down. Your unit should be about a topic you are both knowledgeable and passionate about and it should aim to teach kids a specific Big Idea within that topic. 

Think of your topic like a tree, you can either choose one branch to teach or a general overview of the entire tree. For example, if you are really passionate about the environment, you might choose branches such as:

• Teaching how to protect the environment
• Learning about different sea creatures
• Learning how to engage with nature

Or you might teach a bit of everything rather than getting down to the details of a specific aspect. Ultimately, it’s up to you! 

II. Planning your unit

Each unit in The Curiosity Lab is roughly 4-6 weeks, however the timing is flexible based on your content and goals. 

Each unit should:

• Build a specific skill
• Guide students in creating a project
• Ask reflection questions to encourage curiosity and conversation
• Be fun, hands-on, and engaging

Step 1. Start with the end in mind

Make sure to start with the end in mind. It is important that your unit has a goal that you want to accomplish. This doesn’t have to be complicated, it can be as simple as: “Introducing kids to the basics of graphic design” or “Help kids become more confident speakers.” In the Curiosity Lab community you can access previous recordings. Make sure to watch at least one lesson to familiarize yourself with what a typical class looks like. 

Step 2. Create your project ideas

Every unit in The Curiosity Lab leads up to a final project but not every student learns the same way. Some kids may have experience with your subject, others may be starting from scratch. In order to give students the freedom to choose how they engage with and learn from each unit, we give multiple project options.

For example, our public speaking unit projects were:

• Creating a speech on something they care about
• Creating a podcast episode using the speaking skills they learned interviewing a speaker in their life.
• Creating a skit using the speaking skills they learned
• Creating a poster/guide for students on the skills that make up a good speaker

Your project ideas should range in difficulty levels and time consumption. Try to keep them as fun as possible!

Step 3. Choose the skills you want to teach

Once you have your mini-projects of your unit picked, break your unit up into the essential skills they will need to learn to complete them. While there are multiple ways you can organize these skills, it can be useful to associate 1-2 skills with each class. 

For example, a public speaking unit might look like this:

Step 4. Create your lessons

While planning the way you teach your skills, it is important to keep things as simple and easy to understand for the students. Additionally, keeping them engaging is crucial to a successful class. To do this, you should have a good balance of time spent lecturing, asking questions, in breakout rooms, and playing games/doing activities. 

Here is a sample agenda for how a class might look:

• Warm - Up game

• 5-10 minute lecture on the skill they will be working on

• Breakout rooms to discuss what they learned or are working on

• Asking students reflective questions from their breakout rooms

• Doing an activity to practice the skill they learned
• Short review of class + Class photo

While it might not look identical to this agenda, it's important to keep a balance between activities to ensure students stay engaged. If you lose their attention it's difficult to convey the  messages you want to teach.

The most convenient way to create and teach these lessons are through google slideshows. 

Step 5. Create Reflection Questions

Going back to the roots of The Curiosity Lab, it’s important to get the kids thinking and talking about the unit. One way we do this is through reflection questions. The goal is to come up with roughly 10-20 questions which will be posted during the days in between each class. The students can reply to these questions in the community and spark conversations with each other. 

Here is a link to the community. Navigate to the left-hand side where it says Curiosity Community and you can look at past units and their reflection questions.

The Curiosity Lab Community

When picking your reflection questions, they can reflect on their past experiences, how the students feel about what they learned in class, their plans on how to use these skills, their opinions, and just about anything else related to your lessons. The goal is to get them thinking!

(Your next unit starts here. Download the template and map it out.)

IV. How to create a safe space for students

It is important to create an environment where the students feel safe to be themselves. A lot of this responsibility falls on the teacher. Make sure to communicate with the students often and it's okay to let loose a little. Here are some ways you can create this environment. 

Giving constructive feedback:

When giving feedback to your students, it's crucial to keep a positive mindset and present the information in a kind way. A good method you can use is the Glows and Grows method. It works well when leaving written feedback, however if you are presenting verbal feedback you can structure it in the same way. 

Here is how that would look:

Glows

Discuss all of the amazing things your student/students did well. Make sure to present this information before the Grows.

Grows

Here you should talk about how they can improve their work. Make sure to give meaningful feedback that is clear and easy to understand.

What to do if things go off track

Students enjoy talking about the things they love and sometimes this can lead to the discussions that go off track. If this happens, there's a few things you should do. First, remember that the goal is to create a positive experience for the kids, so if they do start talking or want to contribute information that may be irrelevant, its okay to let them and then respond with a fun comment. 

However, it is also important to stay on track so if this goes on for more than a few moments, make sure to get back to the lesson plan. You can say something along the lines of: “Thank you so much for sharing, we are going to go back to the lesson right now but that's really interesting!”

Overall, the goal is to let kids be kids. To avoid the class getting distracted or bored, make sure to include many fun activities in your lesson plans which can significantly help with staying on track. 

V. Teaching tips

• Ask Questions

The most important part is actively keeping students engaged and thinking. Asking questions consistently helps with this. Whenever you finish teaching a concept, bring the students back from breakout rooms, complete an activity, etc. you should ask questions to get the students talking about their experience. You can also call on specific students if nobody volunteers.

• Create Meaningful Warm Ups / Icebreakers

Usually when we think of warm up activities we think of activities like Two Truths and a Lie. While games like that can be a great way to get kids engaged in the class, try to be creative about activities that relate to what you’re teaching. Here are some examples:

• Create a crossword puzzle / Word search with words related to your unit. The students can work together in breakout rooms to complete it. 
• Create a warm up preparing for the lesson you are teaching. For example, a coding unit might have a warmup that gets kids thinking about a character they want to create.
• Be Clear

In The Curiosity Lab the students are young, often ages 10-13, which might differ from the age group most teachers are used to working with. It is crucial that the lessons are as simple and easy as possible to understand. This means using easy language, engaging examples, and giving motivation to the students to try out these skills for themselves. 

Keep in mind that these students likely have no prior experience with this topic and are learning it for the first time! Start from the very basics and work your way up.

• Use Breakout Rooms

One of the best ways to teach and keep students engaged is through having active conversations about the lessons. Breakout rooms are a great way to get students talking to each other. Before sending them to their rooms, it’s important to make sure they fully understand what they are supposed to be doing. You can do this by giving them clear steps on what to do when they get to their room. These steps might look like:

Once you get to your breakout rooms, first introduce yourselves. If you can’t pick who goes first, the person with the longest hair will. Take turns ____. Once you are done, try to discuss_____!

• Try to avoid unnecessary silence

When a class becomes too silent it can cause students to lose interest or feel a bit awkward.  You can avoid this by filling silence with questions, using music at the beginning of each class, thoroughly explaining a process you are demonstrating, etc.

• Give Encouragement

Students are often motivated through encouraging feedback. Whenever they complete an activity or answer a question, you can explain what they did really well and thank them for speaking up.

• Let Loose

While The Curiosity Lab aims to help students learn, it doesn’t have to be extremely uptight and purely formal. Let loose a little and talk to the kids to create an atmosphere where participation is encouraged and students have fun. 

• If it's boring…

One great way to make lessons less and activities less boring is to add a competition factor. When there is a winner, kids are more determined to participate and succeed.

With any questions, feel free to reach out to:

avadinapoli8@gmail.com

theivyleaguechallenge@gmail.com