Planning the inquiry 1. What is our purpose? To inquire into the following: transdisciplinary theme Sharing the Planet An exploration of our rights and responsibilities as we try to share finite resources with other people; with other living things; of communities and of the relationships within and between them. central idea Umbrella CI: Individuals and groups connect and organize to solve problems and take action. Class/grade: PYP 5 Age group: 10-11 year olds School: IS of Helsingborg School code: 7033 Title: Exhibition Teacher(s): Cecilia Kristoffersson Date: April 2011 Proposed duration: 5 hours/week for 8 weeks PYP planner Group CI s: 1. We must all take responsibility to stop animal abuse. 2. No child should ever walk the cancer journey alone. 3. Endangered animals can be saved from extinction if we act now. 4. People have responsibilities to prevent pollution and stop Global warming. 5. Every homeless person has a right to feel like they belong somewhere. 6. Loneliness is a challenge that many elderly face. 7. Plastic recycling can have an effect on the whole world. Summative assessment task(s): What are the possible ways of assessing students understanding of the central idea? What evidence, including student-initiated actions, will we look for? 1. Student will celebrate their learning through a final presentation including the following elements: music, art, ICT components, completed essays and informative display boards. 2. Students will take appropriate action closely connected to their issues. 3. Students will self-assess their learning process. 4. Parents, teachers, mentors and PYP students will assess the exhibition presentations and final essays. 2. What do we want to learn? What are the key concepts (form, function, causation, change, connection, perspective, responsibility, reflection) to be emphasized within this inquiry? Form What is it like? Function How does it work? Causation Why is it like this? Change How is it changing? Connection How is it connected to other things? Perspective What are the points of view? Responsibility What is our responsibility? Reflection How do we know? What lines of inquiry will define the scope of the inquiry into the central idea? Umbrella LOI: (See attachments for group LOI): 1. Our responsibilities to our community 2. Our group relationships 3. Our global citizenship What teacher questions/provocations will drive these inquiries? 1. What is your issue? 2. Why is your issue important? 3. How will you take action to try to make a difference? 4. How will you share what you have learnt with your peers, families and school? International Baccalaureate Organization 2007
Planning the inquiry 3. How might we know what we have learned? This column should be used in conjunction with How best might we learn? What are the possible ways of assessing students prior knowledge and skills? What evidence will we look for? Completion of the proposal task where students are asked to write about a topic they would like to inquire into. A clear link to the transdisciplinary theme must be evident. Whole class discussions and mind maps. Organizers e.g. I think, I see, I wonder.. What are the possible ways of assessing student learning in the context of the lines of inquiry? What evidence will we look for? Essays that answer the lines of inquiry. Display boards that include important topic information including answers to the inquiries into and all the elements of the PYP. Actions that are clearly connected to the issue and central idea. 4. How best might we learn? What are the learning experiences suggested by the teacher and/or students to encourage the students to engage with the inquiries and address the driving questions? The group mentors will play an important part in helping to organize opportunities to interview experts in each topic area. The class teacher will help each team to find suitable resources online as well as from the school library. The class teacher will provide reading booklets in each topic area. What opportunities will occur for transdisciplinary skills development and for the development of the attributes of the learner profile? Students will continuously reflect over attitudes and profiles required and displayed during different exhibition related activities e.g. during group work, individual essay writing, conducting interviews, planning actions, mentor meeting etc. Students will also write individual journal reflections weekly where they will state how and when these profiles and attitudes were used. 5. What resources need to be gathered? What people, places, audio-visual materials, related literature, music, art, computer software, etc, will be available? Mentors: Elizabeth Nilsson PYP 1 Class teacher, Jonas Henriksson After School Care Teacher, Magdalena Simmons PYP Prep. Class teacher, Carla Johansson PYP 4 Class teacher, Lill Lomothey Swedish teacher, Karin Åström Swedish teacher & Michelle Hortle Learning support teacher. School library & laptops: The library resources will be used frequently and the ICT labs will be available to the students. Music: The class teacher will facilitate the composition of the groups music components. How will the classroom environment, local environment, and/or the community be used to facilitate the inquiry? Groups will contact: Dagverksamhet Gustav (Old age centre), Djurskyddet (Animal Rights Org.), Hemlösas Hus (local Homeless shelter), Nordens Ark (Swedish zoo for endangered Nordic animals), Lekterapin (Play therapy unit at local hospital), Miljöbyrån (Climate change office at city library) and Nordvästra Skånes Renhållnings AB (local recycling station). International Baccalaureate Organization 2007
Reflecting on the inquiry 6. To what extent did we achieve our purpose? Assess the outcome of the inquiry by providing evidence of students understanding of the central idea. The reflections of all teachers involved in the planning and teaching of the inquiry should be included. All components were well executed and I am truly grateful for the support and active involvement from all the PYP teachers. The ICT component was led by Mrs. Falkman and Mr. Van der Gragt stepped in to help a group create a website. One thing that could be improved would be to have English subtitles on the ICT components that were done in Swedish. How you could improve on the assessment task(s) so that you would have a more accurate picture of each student s understanding of the central idea. I believe that the students had a good understanding of the umbrella central idea as they all could connect their own CI s to this one as well as to the TDT. What was the evidence that connections were made between the central idea and the transdisciplinary theme? Umbrella CI: Individuals and groups connect and organize to solve problems and take action. Group CI s: 1. We must all take responsibility to stop animal abuse. 2. No child should ever walk the cancer journey alone. 3. Endangered animals can be saved from extinction if we act now. 4. People have responsibilities to prevent pollution and stop Global warming. 5. Every homeless person has a right to feel like they belong somewhere. 6. Loneliness is a challenge that many elderly face. 7. Plastic recycling can have an effect on the whole world. 7. To what extent did we include the elements of the PYP? What were the learning experiences that enabled students to: develop an understanding of the concepts identified in What do we want to learn? demonstrate the learning and application of particular transdisciplinary skills? develop particular attributes of the learner profile and/or attitudes? In each case, explain your selection. All key concepts, learner profiles, attitudes and skills were reflected upon during the whole exhibition process as well as shown on each display board. Art out of plastic created by PYP 3. TDT: Sharing the Planet - An exploration of our rights and responsibilities as we try to share finite resources with other people; with other living things; of communities and of the relationships within and between them. International Baccalaureate Organization 2007
Reflecting on the t inquiry 8. What student-initiated inquiries arose from the learning? Record a range of student-initiated inquiries and student questions and highlight any that were incorporated into the teaching and learning. What is the cause of Global warming and how can we stop it? How is plastic recycled? How do different cultures treat their elderly? Who becomes homeless and why? Which Nordic animals are endangered and why? What is it like to have cancer? Which organizations help stop animal abuse? These questions, and others, became the lines of inquiry. At this point teachers should go back to box 2 What do we want to learn? and highlight the teacher questions/provocations that were most effective in driving the inquiries. 1. What is your issue? 2. Why is your issue important? 3. How will you take action to try to make a difference? 4. How will you share what you have learnt with your peers, families and school? What student-initiated actions arose from the learning? Record student-initiated actions taken by individuals or groups showing their ability to reflect, to choose and to act. Group actions: Plastic recycling organized a competition for PYP 3 to make art out of plastic bottles. Childhood cancer made colorful clay hearts to sell and donated the money (1700:-) to the Play therapy unit at the local hospital. Old age and loneliness organized a concert at the local old age home which included the whole class and a couple of PYP teachers as performing musicians. Animal abuse made a news broadcast about animal abuse and included commercials encouraging adoption of local animals in need. Endangered Nordic animals made a website with a blog to educate people in this issue at http://www.pyp5exhibition.blogspot.com/ Homelessness wrote and illustrated a children s book about what it s like to be homeless. Global warming organized a carbon footprint pledge for people to sign. People who signed the pledge also received a sticker made by the group. 9. Teacher notes I m on my way (Original song from Brother Bear) Tell MYP that I m on my way, New friends and new teachers to meet. Exhibition all over, I m on my way, but first dance to a hot summer beat. Tell MYP that I m on my way, Goodbye, PYP we ll miss you. We ve worked really hard and we ve made you so proud, And we ve smiled every step of the way. Cause there s nothing like feeling we ve done so well, We ve proved it this year, yes you ll see. And the things that we know will make you really smile, Oh it really lifts our hearts. Tell MYP that we re on our way New friends and new teachers to meet. A new IB program, we know we ll succeed For we ll come so prepared, yes indeed. Not my mum, not my teacher, Can change my course, It s time to move on, jump aboard. And this feeling of excitement for new things to come my way, Oh, this is where I want to be. Cause I m on my way now, Well and truly, I m on my way now. Tell MYP that I m on my way, New friends and new teachers to meet. Exhibition all over, I m on my way, but first dance to a hot summer beat. Tell MYP that I m on my way, Goodbye, PYP we ll miss you. We ve worked really hard and we ve made you so proud, And we ve smiled every step of the way. We re on our way. Yes, we re on our way! International Baccalaureate Organization 2007
Attachment 1 HOW WE SHARE THE PLANET Plastic Recycling Central Idea: Plast tic recycling can have an effect on the whole world. Lines of inquiry: 1. The process of plastic recycling 2. Why we need to recycle plastic 3. Alternatives to plastic
Attachment 2 Central Idea: Loneliness is a challenge that many elderly face. Lines of inquiry: 1. What changes does the body go through as we grow old. 2. What challenges come from retirement. 3. How do different cultures treat their elderly.
Attachment 3 Central Idea: Every homeless person has a right to feel like they belong somewhere. Lines of inquiry: 1. Who becomes homeless and why? 2. Many organizations help the homeless. 3. Homeless in Helsingborg.
Attachment 4 Central idea: People have responsibilities to prevent pollution and stop Global warming. Lines of inquiry: 1. What is Global warming? (causes) 2. Evidence of Global warming. (climate change) 3. What we can do? (responsibility)
Attachment 5 Central Idea: Endangered animals can be saved from extinction if we act now. 1. 2. 3. Lines of inquiry: Nordic endangered animals Causes of endangerment Ways to protect endangered animals
Attachment 6 Central Idea: No child should ever walk the cancer journey alone. Lines of Inquiry: 1.About cancer 2. Coping with cancer 3. Treatment of cancer
Attachment 7 Central Idea: We must all take responsibility to stop animal abuse. 3. Lines of Inquiry: 1. Animal Rights 2. Animal Cruelty Organizations that protect Animals