Live It Learn It

LILI partners with public schools and cultural institutions to create and deliver experiential learning opportunities for students in order to increase their self-efficacy, build on their intrinsic motivation, and support their scholarly achievements.For nearly 20 years, Live It Learn It has addressed educational inequities in Washington, DC by immersing elementary-aged students in learning experiences that expose them to new places, content, and career options. As a result, students build schema (a critical component of literacy proficiency), gain confidence as learners, and develop a sense of belonging to the broader DC community. During the 2022-23 school year we partnered with 95 classrooms from 15 schools, the highest numbers since before the pandemic, serving approximately 1,900 students in 3rd-5th grade and ensuring that they experienced joyful, relevant, and engaging out-of-classroom learning. We utilize DCs tremendous cultural resourcesarguably our citys greatest competitive advantage in educationin an accessible, equitable way for the academic and socio-emotional benefit of our students.Over the course of the school year, students engaged in two experiential learning units focused on art, history, and science. All students participated in a brief hands-on pre-lesson in the classroom that provides them with the needed vocabulary, context, and background knowledge to get the most of the field experience. This is immediately followed by the field experience itself, and finally, within a day or two, a classroom post-lesson during which students synthesized their newfound knowledge through discussion and hands-on activities. All units are led by our highly-trained experiential educators. One recent accomplishment of which we are particularly proud is our revamped curriculum. Based on feedback from DCPS teachers, we have revised older units and created nearly 15 new units that completely align with DCPS Scope & Sequence. Therefore, Weve ensured that teachers are able to schedule their Live It Learn It units when it makes the most sense with their existing curriculum and is the most beneficial for students. To put it simply, our work now fully supports and expands upon what teachers are teaching in their classrooms at any given time. In order to remove barriers and ensure access for Title I schools, Live It Learn It manages all of the scheduling logistics pertaining to programmingfrom arranging times to go to classrooms for pre- and post- lessons, to coordinating with the destination sites, to securing (and paying for) bus transportation for the field experience. Live It Learn It also supplies all materials needed for a unit, including our own carefully-crafted, interdisciplinary, age-appropriate curricular materials that support national and DC standards, the equipment required when technology is needed for a lesson, and even simple items, like pencils, should any student need one. We ensure that no child is ever excluded from learning by removing any and all barriers. In order to remove barriers and ensure access for Title I schools, Live It Learn It manages all of the scheduling logistics pertaining to programmingfrom arranging times to go to classrooms for pre- and post- lessons, to coordinating with the destination sites, to securing (and paying for) bus transportation for the field experience. Live It Learn It also supplies all materials needed for a unit, including our own carefully-crafted, interdisciplinary, age-appropriate curricular materials that support national and DC standards, the equipment required when technology is needed for a lesson, and even simple items, like pencils, should any student need one. We ensure that no child is ever excluded from learning by removing any and all barriers. In Washington, DC, we are seen by schools and cultural institutions as the premier partner in experiential learning. Our model ensures we connect students with destinations in ways that maximize learning and inspire them to return. After the field experience with LILI, 91% of students want to go back and visit again soon, and 90% say that they would like to learn more about the subject. Furthermore, our unique pedagogy engages all students, regardless of prior knowledge, language ability, or reading comprehension skills. As a result of our experiential units, students gained new knowledge in key content areas. Our unique pedagogy engages all students, regardless of prior knowledge, language ability, or reading comprehension skills. As a result of our experiential units, students gain new knowledge in key content areas and experience the joy of learning new things while exploring their city.