Second and third-grade students at Forest Road Elementary School participated in an engaging hands-on lesson during the course of a week on important topics to build their writing and thinking skills.

The school invited the educational program, Submerge Storytelling, into the building to teach literacy, critical thinking and life skills to students. Facilitated by CEO and head writer Cory Levine, the program designed for students in grades K-7 transforms a classroom into a “realm” where students are immersed into the setting of a story. Classes use the realm’s contents to form conclusions about characters, plots and themes.

Forest Road students took part in a story about a 12-year old boy named Trevor Cool who works for a central intelligence agency and breaks codes. The classroom was transformed into Trevor’s bedroom, complete with Legos, a bed, wall decorations and more. Each student became a detective where they learned more about the story and found evidence to support conclusions.

Through the lesson, students learned how to make connections and not jump to conclusions. They also discussed the importance of detailed evidence and participated in an activity that focused on the sequence of events. Students were asked to create a timeline out of the illustrations from the story and worked together to form the correct plot line.