When I was a sophomore in high school, my science teacher required us to write a research paper on an animal of his choosing. He assigned me lemmings. Thanks to the popularity of a video game by the same name, many people today have actually heard of lemmings. But in 1980-something, they were pretty obscure. Naturally, I was outraged—like only a high school sophomore can be. Why hadn’t I gotten one of the cooler animals like dolphins or sea lions or even polar bears? How could I be expected to write five pages about a weird little rodent no one had ever heard of? Oh, the injustice! Little did I know that this experience would lead me to employ the Expert Year in my future classroom.

I can’t say it was an easy paper to write or that I grew to love lemmings. But in the end, I felt proud of my work. And, much to my surprise, I liked being an expert on lemmings. I shared random lemming facts with my friends (obviously I was super fun at parties.) I felt sophisticated referring to crowd-followers at our school as “a bunch of lemmings.” And when I came across a Far Side cartoon featuring a joke about lemmings, I chuckled knowingly, feeling superior to all the people who I knew just wouldn’t get it.

Now that I am a teacher, I want to give my own students the same experience—okay, maybe not the sophomoric outrage and over-inflated sense of superiority.  But I would like for them to experience the satisfaction that comes from being an expert—not just an I-cranked-out-a-five-page-paper expert—but a real expert on a topic they care about.

What is an Expert Year?

I want to give my students an Expert Year. This means allowing each student to spend the entire school year focusing on one topic and exploring and working with that topic across all subjects. An Expert Year does not mean ignoring state standards, and it definitely doesn’t mean me scrambling to create a personalized assignment for each child based on her chosen topic. Rather, an Expert Year requires that I set aside time weekly or daily for each student to dive deeply into a single area of interest and then figure out how to explore that topic and apply their newfound knowledge in a variety of ways.

Almost anything kids are interested in works as a topic, and an Expert Year is a beneficial project for students of all ages. Let’s take a look at how a student could explore a topic like horses across multiple subject areas.

Ways to Create an Expert Year Across Subjects and Grade Levels

Literature and Writing

Just so you know, we may get a small share of the sales made through the Amazon affiliate links on this page.

  • Elementary – Younger horse-lovers might enjoy selecting and reading picture books about horses or memorizing and reciting horse poems. They could also write their own horse stories!
  • Middle School – Classic horse novels for kids this age include Black Beauty, Misty of Chincoteague, and The Horse and His Boy. In addition to reading horse-themed novels, middle school students could be expected to write narrative or informative essays or short stories using their newfound horse knowledge and inspired by what they’ve been reading.
  • High School –  At the high school level students might explore the role of horses in various mythologies or examine ways horses have been depicted in art. They could also read more sophisticated novels like All the Pretty Horses, Seabiscuit, or any number of westerns.And there are a variety of horse-related topics that would make for an interesting research paper.

Math

  • Elementary –  As students learn new math concepts and new information about horses, they could be asked to solve or, better yet, write their own story problems involving horses. They might also enjoy creating their own horsey math manipulatives.
  • Middle School – What math would they need to know to raise horses? How are horses measured? Where did the term horsepower come from and how is it calculated? In other words, kids this age should be asking how math applies to raising and caring for horses.
  • High School – Horses are a high-dollar industry. How much does it cost to care for a racehorse versus a workhorse? How do you calculate the amount of feed a horse needs or how much exercise or space? A high school student with a love for horses might want to research the feasibility of owning a horse.

Science

  • Elementary – Because younger children enjoy gathering new information, this is a great age for them to learn all the horse facts they can. What are the parts of a horse? How many different horse breeds are there? What is the difference between a horse and a donkey? Challenge your elementary kids to keep a log of horse facts and to categorize and organize those facts.
  • Middle School – Again, kids this age should be focusing on applying their new knowledge to all the subjects they are studying in school. They can explore the various elements of hippology. They can also explore and compare horse management practices or the different ways to treat health and behavioral issues in horses.
  • High School – Not every high schooler who studies horses will be looking to turn that study into a career. Still, this is a great time for students to research various horse-related fields – from equine medicine to hippotherapy.

Social Studies

  • Elementary – Perhaps younger students would enjoy learning about famous horses or the different jobs horses can do.
  • Middle School –  Middle schoolers can research and write about how horses have been used to build civilizations and fight wars throughout history or how different cultures view or use horses today.
  • High School – Older kids might find it interesting to study the various economic factors surrounding horses. What drives the price of horses up or down? What role have horses played in fashion? Is raising horses a more expensive hobby than say, playing golf or owning ATVs? What careers are available for horse-lovers?

An Expert Year is the ultimate higher-order thinking project. Students must begin by gathering and remembering information. They will spend the year connecting their new knowledge in a variety of areas and using it to create their own stories, projects, papers, or drawings. Ultimately, they will learn that becoming a true expert in something is hard work, but it is also immensely satisfying.

Topic Ideas for an Expert Year

Considering doing an Expert Year? Here’s a list of topic ideas to get you started.

  • Animals
    • Dogs
    • Whales
    • Elephants
    • Monkeys
    • Bears
  • Careers
    • Fashion
    • Farming
    • Inventing (inventors)
    • Exploring (explorers)
    • Presidents, Kings, Queens, etc.
    • Science (scientists)
    • Art (artists)
    • Psychology
  • Mythology
    • Greek mythology (gods and/or stories)
    • Roman mythology (gods and/or stories)
    • Norse mythology (gods and/or stories
    • Mythological creatures
  • Literature and film
    • Folktales
    • Fairytales
    • Horror stories
    • Fables
    • Legends
  • Family
    • Fathers/ father figures
    • Mothers/ mother figures
    • Siblings
    • Babies
    • Royal families
    • Dynasties
  • Sports and athletics
    • Any team sport
    • The Olympics
    • Running
  • Misc
    • Movies
    • Fruit
    • Entertainment
    • Christmas (or another holiday)
    • Baking
    • Pets
The Expert Year: A Deep Dive that Students Will Love