The Green School offers an innovative curriculum that integrates project-based learning with balanced literacy (the workshop approach to reading and writing). We follow an educational approach called "using the Environment as an Integrating Context (EIC) for learning." EIC uses the school's surroundings and community as the context for reading, writing, math, science, and social studies. This approach integrates learning from textbooks, problem-solving opportunities, and hands-on experiences. (For more information on EIC, visit the State Education and Environment Roundtable at www.seer.org.)

Students are involved in projects that incorporate Maryland State standards and require them to apply skills learned in all subject areas. Projects include: planting pollinator gardens, raising diamondback terrapins, growing bay grasses, planning and growing an edible, organic garden, developing a recycling program, and creating a tree nursery. For example, as 1st graders raise diamondback terrapins, they take weekly measurements of the terrapins; read books and maps about the Chesapeake Bay; and publish a teaching book about terrapins.

Our curriculum is built upon the standards included in the Maryland Voluntary Curriculum, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics standards, and the New Standards for Literacy. As we developed the curricular overview and the essential question for each grade, we were guided by these standards and have aligned our projects with them accordingly.