Each three-month learning expedition is based on an inquiry-based project and performance approach that incorporates the core practices of Expeditionary Learning: fieldwork; rigorous research; creating and exhibiting high quality student products for authentic audiences; and learning through music, visual, and dramatic arts.
In each learning expedition, music becomes a laboratory for teaching and learning across content areas. In social studies expeditions, students listen to, learn about, and perform musical traditions and genres from the historical periods they are studying. Science expeditions investigate the science of sound, reveal the anatomy of music instruments, and explore the ways nature has inspired musical expression. ELA expeditions seamlessly integrate the natural connections between the rhythm and melody of language and music. Across disciplines, music provides an interpretive lens through which students can creatively express their ideas about a topic.
The five music or creative processes—listening, questioning, creating, performing, and reflecting—provide the foundation for the learning expeditions. Each expedition’s culminating product—whether it be a musical performance, a painting, a field guide, or a class book—is guided by these five processes and reflect original and critical thought, a love of learning, and high quality work.