Throughout this unit, students not only learned valuable information about the Midwest, Southwest, and West Regions of the United States, but they learned how to conduct their own research on a topic and present what they have discovered.  This is not only an important life skill, but it is empowering for the students as well.  In order to prepare them for this research, the direct instruction portion of the unit was structured to maximize participation, personal connections, and opinion formation.  This took the form of checks for understanding in the form of collaboration boards, open ended questions, polls, and a choice in virtual field trip.  In her book Teaching Essentials, author Regie Routman states that “we teachers need to set up and structure our learning environments to encourage participation that supports students’ approximations and responses.”  This early focus on participation paved the way for the latter portion of the unit, which was sculpted by the students, their interests, and their participation.  Without students’ personal investment in the topic, the presentations would not be a success.  But by ensuring that students form connections with the topic of study early on in the unit by making choices and sharing their opinions during class discussions, I ensured they carried that enthusiasm into their research and delivered meaningful presentations that taught the class what they have discovered through their independent and collaborative research.