Across grade levels 6–12, literacy classrooms often drift toward compliance, over-scaffolding, and formulaic responses. What if we redesigned the year around curiosity and joy instead? 

Informational units often become skill-heavy and engagement-light. What if they became inquiry engines instead? In this session, teachers will design informational text sets that invite investigation, research, and student-driven questioning. Participants will build essential questions that frame informational reading as exploration and design writing tasks that move from synthesis to innovation. Through inquiry blocks and structured research routines, teachers will create classrooms where informational literacy becomes a vehicle for curiosity, relevance, and real-world connection.