Written by Sharon Laidlaw, Director of Place Network
From Standards to Community Impact: How We Used ChatGPT to Craft Rigorous, Place-Based Learning Experiences with the Boggs School
This year, Professional Learning Coaches partnered with the James and Grace Lee Boggs School in Detroit to design a three-year cyclical curriculum integrating science and social studies. We structured our approach around four six-week thematic units per year, drawing inspiration from past teacher-developed projects such as “Mapping Our Neighborhood” and “Waste Warriors.” Using Michigan social studies standards and NGSS science standards as our foundation, we used ChatGPT to do the time-consuming work of evenly distributing these learning objectives across the units where they made the most sense. Then, through an iterative process—supported by Google Sheets for accuracy checks—we ensured that all standards were meaningfully incorporated while maintaining coherence across grade levels.
Once the framework was in place, we again used ChatGPT to generate place-based unit plans that brought our vision to life, blending inquiry, hands-on learning, and place-based connections. The next step was critical: engaging teachers in the process. Boggs School’s TSS Professional Learning Coach Kate Gessford spent a full day sharing the unit plans, gathering feedback, and introducing teachers to how ChatGPT could be used as a tool for lesson design. This collaborative refinement helped ensure that the curriculum was both rigorous and adaptable, empowering educators to tailor lessons to their students’ unique needs.
The final phase involved making the curriculum easily accessible and modifiable. Boggs School Principal Julia Putnam housed the unit plans on a Google Site, alongside step-by-step guides for teachers to generate and modify lesson details with ChatGPT. This flexibility allows the curriculum to evolve yearly, ensuring it remains responsive to student interests and emerging learning needs.
By leveraging AI as a creative and organizational partner, we built a dynamic, standards-aligned curriculum that not only integrates science and social studies but also strengthens place-based learning at the Boggs School and customizes it specifically for Detroit–and we did it mid-year, ready for teachers to start using this semester. We look forward to hearing how it’s going and using their feedback to modify how we partner with schools on similar projects in the future. Let us know if you’d like some project time with our coaches to launch a similar effort at your school.
