And now I'll respond

This was so much fun. I love the way that writing, storytelling, science and exploration are all included in this lesson, as well as time for kids to use technology.

From this lesson, I would say that Tracy recognizes the importance of exploration as a part of creativity. She believes that story-telling and creativity are important parts of learning and culture. Also, this lesson illustrates really well the way that research can influence writing and new ideas. Students are not just citing their research, or looking for quotes that support a pre-formulated thesis. This research is truly exploration, and the myth-making is more a response to that research than a mining of it for the student's own purposes. This reflects how scientific research actually works: we draw on one another's ideas to create new theories and discover new things. It is an ongoing conversation. I love the way this lesson illustrates these principles without lecturing students about it. It is now just a part of their experience.