Planning the inquiry

1. What is our purpose? To inquire into the following:

Class/grade: 2nd Grade School: Oak Forest Teacher(s):

Age group: 7-8 School code: 006610

transdisciplinary theme PYP planner

Where we are in place and time: An inquiry into orientation in place and time; personal histories; homes and journeys; the discoveries, explorations and migrations of humankind; the relationships between and the interconnectedness of individuals and civilizations, from local and global perspectives.

Berry, Carnes, Harris, Long, Woods, Walkley, Campbell, Myrick Date: Aug. 20-Oct. 5, 2012

central idea

Proposed duration: number of hours 28 over number of 7 weeks

Journeys create change and can lead to new opportunities.

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?

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? Key Concepts: Causation, Change, and Reflection Related Concepts: Choice, Civilizations, Resources What lines of inquiry will define the scope of the inquiry into the central idea?

1. Task: Students select a journey that they want to experience and decide on how to take the journey, explore the costs and benefits of the journey, and explain how the journey changes their lives. 2. Evidence: Students pack luggage for their journey which includes all the items needed for the journey and write a log of their journey.

3. Assessment: Teacher-Made Rubric

Types of journeys Costs and/or benefits of change Resources involved in moving or taking a journey Changes experienced in a move

What teacher questions/provocations will drive these inquiries? 1. What are journeys? 2. What are the costs and benefits of exploration? 3. What destinations might someone explore? 4. What resources are needed to take a journey?

Taught: August 2012

Revised: November 2012

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?
K-W-H-L-Q Chart Double Bubble Map Circle Map Journal writing- logs of interesting experiences during virtual explorations Venn Diagram- Compare and contrast rural and urban areas Tree map- categorize places to explore and list pros and cons of exploring each type of place Circle map- resources needed to explore a certain place Group discussions to check for understanding and add any additional questions to our parking lot.

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? Pre-Assess and Engage Student and teacher interactive journal/notebook
K-W-H-L-Q Chart Double Bubble Map Circle Map Journal writing- logs of interesting experiences during virtual explorations

Explore and Explain Centers and Observations Extend- Technology to research destinations, types of journeys, cost, benefits, etc. Evaluate-Student-led presentations of chosen journey.

What are the possible ways of assessing student learning in the context of the lines of inquiry? What evidence will we look for? (What are journeys?, Costs and/or benefits of exploration. What destinations might someone explore?, and resources needed). Centers: Students will read books and visit technology websites that are related to space, U.S., other countries, and continents. Students will use Lakeshore centers and teacher created centers. Computer research of journey costs and possible destinations. Rubrics: Teacher created rubrics will allow students to see what is expected of them and work toward a goal of achieving the best possible score. Reflection through Journals: Students will reflect on their travels in journals.

What opportunities will occur for transdisciplinary skills development and for the development of the attributes of the learner profile? Transdisciplinary skills---Metacognition (Reflective)students will reflect on their exploration destinations to explain why they chose that place. Risk-taker/ CuriosityStudents will think beyond their regional locations to explore our world and space. IndependenceStudents will make a choice of a destination to explore and justify their decision.

5. What resources need to be gathered?

What people, places, audio-visual materials, related literature, music, art, computer software, etc, will be available? Lakeshore theme boxes, various trade books, selected stories from Reading Street textbook, Magic School Bus Lost in Space, Reading Rainbow videos/stories, teacher created resources/centers, www.brainpopjr.com, Harcourt Brace website, field trip to the Pink Palace Museum, and travel souvenirs,

How will the classroom environment, local environment, and/or the community be used to facilitate the inquiry? Virtual field trips, classroom tours to view peers projects, and reflective interactive journals.

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. The students loved exploring various destinations. The Language Arts stories about space and the desert started them off with questions and in-depth discussions. Then, early in the Unit, each student picked a place to explore and worked on it everyday in class for a week. This was especially helpful because a few students upon reflection, didnt like the place they had chosen. Choosing another place sparked interest and caused excitement. From then on students asked questions, researched, and created booklets. The only issue for them was finding a way to research. After constant prompting to go to the Library, half of my students did so! After the creation of the booklet, presentations should have been presented once to the class and to another audience. This would have caused them to take the presentations more seriously. This was a great beginning of the year unit. Students did a magnificent job of presenting their journey projects. Students enjoyed exploring concepts during morning meetings. The unit exposed students to other cultures and places. The literature selections and websites were very helpful. The students were actively engaged and involved throughout the learning cycle. We had numerous journeys as we decided how to travel to new places and revisit previous adventures. Children enjoyed the journey unit. Several trade books made this unit interesting and insightful. Children enjoyed taking journeys and learning about money exchanges and passport laws. The entire 7 weeks was needed to explore and reflect. This was one of the more enjoyable POIs. The students summative assessment and projects (journey posters and journey logs) were effective in revealing students understanding of the central ideas and lines of inquiry. They were required to show (visually and in writing) a desired journey location, the resources need to make the journey, and the costs/benefits of taking a journey. This POI fit in nicely with Unit 1 of the reading series. We went on a journey to space, the desert, and the forest. The students did a project and presented them to the class. I was impressed with the products and most of the presentations. The students were excited and enjoyed the unit. They especially liked seeing the other childrens journey posters and presentations.

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.

Key concepts Causation and Change: Students were fascinated by learning about passports and other forms of exchange around the world. Traditions and cultural differences were of great interest of our learners. Reflection: Students gained an appreciation for the cost of trips and the preparation needed to prepare and plan a journey.

Transdisciplinary skills---Metacognition (Reflective)student reflected on their exploration destinations to explain why they chose that place.

How you could improve on the assessment task(s) so that you would have a more accurate picture of each students understanding of the central idea. We could benefit from computer lab time to research to better prepare for the summative project presentations. Due to some students not having internet access at home, their research time is limited. More international destinations will be recommend in the future to extend learning.

What was the evidence that connections were made between the central idea and the transdisciplinary theme?

Summative assessment includes academic choice by allowing students to have more of a choice for project location. Resources were listed in the report and a reflection was included.

International Baccalaureate Organization 2007

Reflecting on the 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.

9. Teacher notes

Where does my family come from? Why did my family end up in the US/ Why is their money not like ours? Why do I need a passport to go over seas?

-Order materials needed at the end of the school year since this is the

first unit of the year (August). Poster board, markers, pipe cleaners, string, markers, glue sticks, etc. Materials for summative. -Continue in-depth questioning for destinations visited in class to prepare for summative. -Students could benefit from presenting to partnering class on at least one formative assessment to help prepare them for the summative presentation. -An idea may be to have students reflect on classmates journeys in order to enhance reflection skills. -Use pool money to order books about more destinations abroad. Students werent knowledgeable about visas, passports, or money exchanges.

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.

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.

Students had ideas of where they would like to take family vacations. Students wanted to start saving money to help families plan future journeys. Some students visited local landmarks after completing this unit.

International Baccalaureate Organization 2007