Planning the inquiry

1. What is our purpose? Class/grade: K1 Age group: 5-7 year olds

To inquire into the following:
School: Northbridge (NISC) School code: 003902
 transdisciplinary theme
Who we are Title:
An inquiry into PYP planner
 the nature of the self;
 beliefs and values; Teacher(s): Jim, Todd, Mitty, Lynsay
 personal, physical, mental, social and spiritual health;
 human relationships including families, friends, communities, and cultures;
 rights and responsibilities; Date: 13 August – 21 September 2012
 what it means to be human.
 central idea

Awareness of our characteristics, abilities and

interests informs our learning and development.
2. What do we want to learn?
Summative assessment task(s):
What are the key concepts (form, function, causation, change, connection,
What are the possible ways of assessing students’ understanding of the central perspective, responsibility, reflection) to be emphasized within this inquiry?
idea? What evidence, including student-initiated actions, will we look for?
Form: what are our characteristics, abilities and interests
Portfolio - Students create a cover page for their portfolio with a picture of Responsibility: responsibility for learning,
themselves (characteristics) and the things they enjoy doing (interests), and are
Reflection: how do we know we are developing?
good at. Students will also discuss the picture with their teacher about
themselves. Related Concepts: Identity, similarities and differences
Goal setting - Student set some goals for themselves for the year (learning in What lines of inquiry will define the scope of the inquiry into the central idea?
different subjects, social, etc) and talk about them with the teacher, who records
the goals.  Physical, social and emotional characteristics
 Similarities and differences between ourselves and others
Checklist  Personal abilities and interests
Students can
 reflect on what they are good at (learning and social) What teacher questions/provocations will drive these inquiries?
 talk about what they are interested in at school
 have a reasonable estimate of their abilities in various areas What are physical, social and emotional characteristics?
 identify goals and possible steps for achieving them What makes me me?
What do we have in common with others?
What are you good at? What would you like to improve?
Self- Assessment - students rate their ability in different areas including academic
and social (similar to Learner profile balloons).

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2007

Planning the inquiry

3. How might we know what we have learned? 4. How best might we learn?
This column should be used in conjunction with “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
What are the possible ways of assessing students’ prior knowledge and questions?
skills? What evidence will we look for?
Responding to literature read – draw characters, paying attention to
Has definite likes/dislikes/interests – observations of them playing, indicating characteristic; discussing social and emotional qualities.
preferences for food, activities.
Comparing and contrasting the students with each other. “What makes Bob,
Sorting objects according to different characteristics – what characteristics are Bob?”
being used to sort.
Change places game / Who am I?/ transitions
What are the possible ways of assessing student learning in the context of the
What opportunities will occur for transdisciplinary skills development and for
lines of inquiry? What evidence will we look for?
the development of the attributes of the learner profile?

PSPE - There are many factors that contribute to a persons individual identity Reflective – examine who they are/ similarities and differences
Open Minded – accept and understand their own and others’ differences
 describe similarities and differnces between themselves and others through
the exploration of cultures, appearance, gender, ethnicity and personal Appreciation - strengths, similarities and differences
preferences. Respect – (not just tolerating) those who are different to them
 Value interacting, playing and learning with others
Social Skills –
reflect on the process of achievement and value the achievements of others. Communication –
Self-Management –
Thinking – metacognition.

5. What resources need to be gathered?

What people, places, audio-visual materials, related literature, music, art,
computer software, etc, will be available?

How will the classroom environment, local environment, and/or the community
be used to facilitate the inquiry?

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2007

Reflecting on the inquiry

6. To what extent did we achieve our purpose? 7. To what extent did we include the elements of the PYP?
Assess the outcome of the inquiry by providing evidence of students’ What were the learning experiences that enabled students to:
understanding of the central idea. The reflections of all teachers involved in
 develop an understanding of the concepts identified in “What do we want to
the planning and teaching of the inquiry should be included.
learn?”
Form: what are our characteristics, abilities and interests
How you could improve on the assessment task(s) so that you would have a Lots of work done on getting the kids to find out what their abilities and interests
more accurate picture of each student’s understanding of the central idea. are – music they like, their social characteristics during a range of contexts,
measuring themselves and graphing physical characteristics, Ruth’s PE lessons –
who is the leader/ finisher/communication etc
What was the evidence that connections were made between the central idea
and the transdisciplinary theme? Responsibility: responsibility for learning (will need to keep doing through
the year, refer back to it)
Summative assessment – developing goals for different areas within the school –
 the nature of the self;
 beliefs and values;
in the library, music,
 personal, physical, mental, social and spiritual health; Taking responsibility for teir environment in music.
 human relationships including families, friends, communities, and cultures;
 rights and responsibilities; Reflection: how do we know we are developing?
 what it means to be human.
Information vs non-infomration texts – how did they know which one was which.. Vanna is
very good at this. What they enjoyed dancing to in music.
Most of the kids know what they are good at, perhaps at this age they tend to think they are
great at (is it appropriate at this age to let kids know when they aren’t great at something)
Some self awareness – outsourcing in Todd’s class.
 demonstrate the learning and application of particular transdisciplinary
skills?

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2007

Reflecting on the inquiry

8. What student-initiated inquiries arose from the learning? 9. Teacher notes

Record a range of student-initiated inquiries and student questions and highlight
any that were incorporated into the teaching and learning.
It is a good unit to start the year with.
Not really any questions – just asking clarifying questions about vocabulary. More
of a teacher focus with the presented experiences. What is dislike? Some of Todd’s kids wrestling with goals and actually getting them to reflect.
Was difficult for the kids to reflect in music – the task may have been too much
for each other.
Some of the kids were making the links. Knew what they could do and what they
At this point teachers should go back to box 2 “What do we want to learn?” and wanted to get better at.
highlight the teacher questions/provocations that were most effective in driving the
inquiries.
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.
Most of the K1 students are very aware of their dribbling abilities – the gr6 did the
lesson with them.
I am not good in numbers I want to be better. – some kids were able to identify
what they were better at etc.

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2007