St. Paul -- Leading Elementary Social Studies Inquiry (LESSI) Institute 2026

Learn how to do more with less. The Minnesota Humanities Center, in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Education, presents the LESSI Institute. Through LESSI, K–5 curriculum leaders and educators are equipped to strengthen interdisciplinary social studies and English language arts (ELA) instruction through cross-district learning and collaboration. This 3-day institute guides participants through the curriculum writing process for inquiry-based instruction rooted in the 2021 social studies standards, with intentional connections to the 2020 ELA standards. Participants will: Build their understanding of disciplinary literacy to support deeper student engagement; Strengthen their ability to center student inquiry in meaningful, standards-based instruction; Leave with classroom-ready resources and routines that can be immediately implemented in their own classrooms and districts. Participants can expect to return to their contexts with practical tools, stronger instructional design skills, and concrete resources that support more engaging and rigorous social studies learning for students, while also reducing planning time. K-12 Educators will receive 16.5 clock hours upon completion of the event.