Boulder’s WorkInProgress Launches “Seven-Word Lessons” to Help Educate Students While Classrooms Are Closed

By The Denver Egotist / May 19, 2020 /

WorkInProgress is partnering with teachers to create “Seven-Word Lessons” — a nationwide initiative designed to engage the minds of K–8^th-grade children while homes serve as classrooms resulting from COVID-19.

Starting yesterday, the bite-sized lessons are being displayed on digital billboards in Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Kansas City, Phoenix, Denver and Los Angeles at 12 p.m. EST daily. Placements will be near high-density housing and are designed so families can view the messages from their homes. The lessons are seven words because short-term memory holds, on average, seven items. In advertising, it’s therefore a good rule of thumb to keep billboard headlines within this limit. 

Over the course of 30 days, 300 to 400 lessons will be published. Each billboard will feature seven-word lessons along with information about the teachers who submitted them. Teachers will be paid $25 for each lesson published, or they can donate their payment to DonorsChoose — an educational nonprofit that helps classrooms in need.  Teachers can submit lessons for the program at sevenwordlessons.com.

WIP’s founders felt an immediate concern when schools shut down and challenged their team to turn a traditional advertising platform into an educational tool for kids stuck at home. “Suddenly, teachers were forced to teach without their classrooms, and they’ve worked incredibly hard to adapt,” said Matt Talbot, chief creative officer at WIP. “We’re happy if this initiative can give them one more simple tool to connect with their students. Don’t worry, kids, there are no plans to post any final exams.”