Grade 5 PYP

Exhibition - Mentor
Handbook

Exhibition Dates:
13 - 14 May 2010
Name: ________________________

Page 1 Hong Kong Academy Grade 5 Exhibition 2010

 Exhibition Mentor Training:

Agenda:

1. Introduction
2. What questions do people have?
3. The things we steal from children
4. What is the exhibition?
5. Role of the Mentor
6. Process – Timeline
7. Action
8. Mentor Handbook/Student Journal/Wiki
9. Look back at original questions -- did we answer them?
10. Reflections/Feedback/Evaluation

Page 2 Hong Kong Academy Grade 5 Exhibition 2010

 The Things We Steal From Children
by John Edwards
If I am always the one to think of where to go next
If where we go is always the decision of the
curriculum or my curiosity and not theirs
If motivation is mine
If I always decide on a topic to be studied, the title
of the story, the problem to be worked on
If I am always the one who has reviewed their
work and decided what they need
How will they ever know where to begin?
If I am always the one who is monitoring progress
If I set the pace of all working discussions
If I always look ahead, foresee problems and
endeavor to eliminate them
If I swoop in and save them from cognitive
conflict
If I never allow them to feel and use the energy
from confusion and frustration
If things are always broken into short working
periods
If myself and others are allowed to break into their
concentration
If bells and I are always in control of the pace and
flow of work
How will they learn to continue their own work?
If all the marking and editing is done by me
IF the selection of which work is to be published
or evaluated is made by me
If what is valued and valuable is always decided
by external sources or by me
If there is no forum to discuss what delights them
in their task, what is working, what is not working,
what they plan to do about it
If they have not learned a language to discuss their
work in ways that are intrinsically growth
enhancing
If they do not have a language of self-assessment
If ways of communicating their work are always
controlled by me
If our assessments are mainly summative rather
than formative
If they do not plan their way forward to further
action
How will they find ownership, direction and
delight in what they do?
If I speak of individuals, but present learning as if
they are all the same
If I am never seen to reflect and reflection time is
never provided
If we never speak together about reflection and
thinking and never develop a vocabulary for such
discussions
If we do not take opportunities to think about our
thinking
Page 3
If I constantly set them exercises that do not
intellectually challenge them
If I set up learning environments that interfere
with them learning from their own actions
If I give them recipes to follow
If I only expect the one right conclusion
If I signify that there are always right and wrong
answers
If I never openly respect their thoughts
If I never let them persevere with something really
difficult which they cannot master
If I make all work serious work and discourage
playfulness
If there is not time to explore
If I lock them into adult time constraints too early
How will they get to know themselves as a
thinker?
If they never get to help anyone
If we force them to always work and play with
children of the same age
If I do not teach them the skills of working
cooperatively
If collaboration can be seen as cheating
If all classroom activities are based on
competitiveness
If everything is seen to be for marks
How will they learn to work with others?
For if they
Have never experienced being challenged in a safe
environment
Have had all of their creative thoughts explained
away
Are unaware what catches their interest and then
to have confidence in that interest
Have never followed something they are
passionate about to a satisfying conclusion
Have not clarified the way they sabotage their own
learning
Are afraid to seek help and do not know who or
what to ask
Have not experienced overcoming their inertia
Are paralyzed by the need to know everything
before writing or acting
Have never gotten bogged down
Have never failed
Have always played it safe
How will they ever know who they are?
Hong Kong Academy Grade 5 Exhibition 2010
The exhibition

In the final year of the PYP, students participate in a culminating project, the PYP exhibition.
This requires that each student demonstrates engagement with the five essential elements of
the programme: knowledge, concepts, skills, attitudes and action. It is a transdisciplinary
inquiry conducted in the spirit of personal and shared responsibility, as well as a summative
assessment activity that is a celebration as students move from the PYP into the middle years
of schooling. For further information and guidance on the exhibition, refer to PYP exhibition
guidelines (2004).

The exhibition represents a significant event in the life of a PYP school and student,
synthesizing the essential elements of the PYP, and sharing them with the whole school
community. It is an opportunity for students to exhibit the attributes of the learner profile that
have been developing throughout their engagement with the PYP.

In the students’ final year of the PYP, which occurs in some schools at 10–11 years old and in
others at 11–12 years old, there are five units of inquiry and the exhibition. The exhibition unit
takes place under any transdisciplinary theme at the discretion of the school. Students are
required to engage in a collaborative, transdisciplinary inquiry process that involves them in
identifying, investigating and offering solutions to real-life issues or problems. The central idea
selected must be of sufficient scope and significance to warrant a detailed investigation by all
students.

The PYP exhibition has a number of key purposes including the following.

• For students to engage in an in-depth, collaborative inquiry

• To provide students with an opportunity to demonstrate independence and responsibility for
their own learning
• To provide students with an opportunity to explore multiple perspectives
• For students to synthesize and apply their learning of previous years, and to reflect on their
journey through the PYP
• To provide an authentic process for assessing student understanding
• To demonstrate how students can take action as a result of their learning
• To unite the students, teachers, parents and other members of the school community in a
collaborative experience that incorporates the essential elements of the PYP
• To celebrate the transition of learners from primary to middle/secondary education

As the culminating PYP experience, it is required that the exhibition reflects all the major
features of the programme. Therefore, it must include regular and carefully planned
assessment.

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This assessment should take two forms: firstly, ongoing assessment of each individual
student’s contribution to and understanding of the exhibition; secondly, a summative
assessment and reflection on the event itself.

Assessment of the exhibition takes place within the school. It should take place throughout the
whole process of the exhibition and should be rigorous. The IBO seeks to ensure the integrity
of the PYP without formally monitoring internal assessment or conducting external
examinations. Schools may find it helpful to refer to the exhibition rubric in the PYP exhibition
guidelines (2004), which is based on standard D2 of the IBO Programme standards and
practices (2005), as a guide to assessing their exhibition.

Teachers will find samples of how schools have engaged in the exhibition, together with
further guidance for the exhibition, on the OCC.

Page 5 Hong Kong Academy Grade 5 Exhibition 2010

 The Role of the Mentor

Mentors have been asked for and will be designated to individual students or groups
to ensure that students may: accomplish the tasks involved with greater
understandings, achieve successful results, meet deadlines, research, analyze and
synthesize with greater efficiency, develop better organizational skills and to produce
a meaningful action component.

The key roles of any mentor are:

• Understand the process and expectations
• Assist the students with researching their chosen issue
• Help find/locate/arrange contacts, resources, experiences
• Encourage the students to be thorough and creative in how they share their
inquiry results and process
• Meet with students regularly at an arranged time, at least once per week to
set goals, look at students’ work, and give immediate feedback
• Assist the students in setting personal deadlines
• Assist students with organizing information, visuals and artifacts needed
• Discuss possibilities of action
• Help students to identify their strengths recognizing that individual students will
have different needs and aspirations.
• Review meeting log with students and sign.

The effective use of questioning in assisting your group is vital.

Thank you for becoming part of this process! The

students and the Grade 5 team appreciate you
tremendously!!

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What the process will look like for a Mentor

1. You will be assigned a group. They will set up an initial meeting with
you.

2. They will review their central idea, key concepts, and lines of
inquiries with you.

3. They will discuss planning their research with you (What’s the best
way to find out the answers to their questions? Who might have
useful information? Where would they find reliable information? Do
they need to carry out experiments? Do they need a guest
speaker? Do they need to go on a field trip?).

4. The group will carry out their research, meeting with you along the
way. They need to keep an ongoing record of their meetings with
you as well as the sources that they use for research. They gather
all necessary data, and mentors help with strategies to organize all
of this information.

5. Group works through drafts. Revising and editing along the way.
Action is the goal here, but they will need to not only present what
their action is, but what they found out through this process.

6. The group prepares/designs presentation of their action and their

findings. They think about how they will show what they know and
how to show what they did.

7. Group presents at the exhibition. As a mentor, you come to visit and

make your final comments and reflections on your experience.

Page 7 Hong Kong Academy Grade 5 Exhibition 2010

 Exhibition Estimated Timeline
Transdisciplinary Theme: Sharing the planet
An inquiry into rights and responsibilities in the struggle to share finite resources with
other people and with other living things; communities and the relationships within
and between them; access to equal opportunities; peace and conflict resolution.

Week (Mon-Fri) What they’ll be doing Where they should be at

- Breaking down the TT By the end of week one, the students

March 1 – March 5 - Brainstorming topics
- SNAP research
- Central Idea Writing
March 8 – March - Final topic choices
12 - Group formation
- Mentor assignments
- LOI writing
March 15 – March - Research begins
19 - SMART action plans
- Researching/Taking
March 22 – March Notes
26 - Action Plans
- Field trips/Interviews
- Finish research
March 29 – April 1 - Complete Action Plan
- Consider presentation
- Publishing their work
April 12 – April 16 - Use a variety of
after the break mediums
- Work on action plan
- Finish publishing
April 19 – April research findings (variety
23 / of mediums)
(conferences) - Action plan
April 26 – April 30 - Reflect on what’s been
done/ what else needs to be
done
should be aware of what the
transdisciplinary theme is and becoming
curious about a potential topic.
By the end of week two, the students will
hopefully have settled on a central idea,
formed groups and be considering lines of
inquiry.
By the end of week three, the students will
have developed an action plan. At the end
of the week text based research should have
commenced.
At the conclusion of week four hopefully
the students will have collected the majority
of their information from a range of
sources.
After the fifth week, students should have
completed all of their research. They will
begin to work through the drafts stage and
should have a clear plan of SMART action.
By week six they will be starting to publish
their research findings. Action plans should
be in full-swing by the end of this week.
By the end of week seven/week eight,
students should have finished publishing
their research findings using a variety of
mediums. They should now be focused
solely on their action plan. (1.5 weeks left)

Page 8 Hong Kong Academy Grade 5 Exhibition 2010

 - Speeches for next week
- Final work on action
May 3 – May 7 plan
- Last chance for work on
presentation for next
week
- Reflection
- Evaluation/Assessment
- Last minute details
- Set up for the exhibition
May 10 – May 14 - Execute the exhibition
- Clean up and reflect
Page 9
Students will spend the time they have
during week nine finishing their
presentations for the exhibition days,
completing their action plans, and working
on their presentations for the exhibition
parent evening.
By the end of this week, the students will
have completed the exhibition, though we
hope that their action continues beyond this
project. Come and celebrate with our
students on Thursday evening.
Hong Kong Academy Grade 5 Exhibition 2010
The Action Cycle

REFLECT CHOOSE
Is it SMART? Is it SMART?

ACT
Is it SMART?

What is action? List some examples that students could do that might
constitute action.

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Page 10 Hong Kong Academy Grade 5 Exhibition 2010

Examples of
Action

Turning off the tap while you brush your teeth

Having quicker showers
Switching the light off when you leave a room
Creating a documentary video
Creating a booklet for others to read
Teaching others about your topic
Creating a newsletter
Raising money to support a charity
Writing a persuasive letter to someone involved in an issue
Designing and presenting a performance to convey a message

We are asking that our students take action that is S. M. A. R. T. (specific,

measurable, actionable, relevant, and time-bound). For the purposes of
the exhibition, collecting money is not action, but doing something to
solve a problem is.

Page 11 Hong Kong Academy Grade 5 Exhibition 2010

 Teacher Mentor Tips

Do Don’t
Understand the process and Forget to ask questions when
expectations. unsure throughout the process.
Help students find resources and Make phone calls for them.
locate contacts. Phone Skills.
Meet with the students at least Feel responsible if the students
1-2 times per week. forget to turn up.
Help the students set goals. Set the goals for the students.
Make sure they agree.
Encourage the students to set Make decisions about who
deadlines and share jobs. should do what job.
Give suggestions and feedback Tell them how to present their
about presenting their research. information.
Help with photocopying/printing Help prepare the materials.
handouts.
Discuss possibilities for action. Insist on what action the
students take.
Try to be positive and help them Feel responsible if they start to
stay motivated. lose focus and motivation.
Sit back and observe discussions Always feel that you need to
and conflicts. intervene to solve their
problems.
Help them with editing and Help with editing until they have
revising. made a genuine attempt first.
Try to let them establish a format Insist on leading each discussion.
for how meetings should be run.
Encourage them to refer back to Let them fly ahead without
their assessment goals and stopping to reflect.
action plans (S. M. A. R. T.).
Encourage them to explore a Let them decide on only one
wide range of perspectives. conclusion.
Try and encourage them to help Always be the first one with a
each other (or themselves) first. solution.
Help out on a field trip if you Put your mentor group ahead of
have time. your normal workload.

Page 12 Hong Kong Academy Grade 5 Exhibition 2010

 Working through the kinks

• If a student seems lost or confused about the direction their issue is

leading them, please arrange a time to see the class teacher with
the student. This way you will both hear the same thing at the same
time.

• It is imperative that the student(s) focus on the questions they want

to answer, their LOIs, and thier action plans. Encourage them to
identify their key questions and concepts and consistently revisit
them (use the S. M. A. R. T. sheet). They will have all of this
information in their exhibition journals.

• If a student continuously does not show up for arranged times and/

or does not meet deadlines agreed upon, please let the teacher
know. Your time is valuable both to yourself and us. We want to help
rectify the situation as quickly as possible.

• If you need tips on how to assist the student(s) you are mentoring
with research skills or using a variety of sources, please see the class
teacher. There is also a wealth of information in the student journals,
especially in the appendix.

• The Grade 5 teachers will help source any necessary materials your
group may need.

• The Academic portal>Library catalog>HKOPAC>Hong Kong

Academy>Search key words is great source for the students to use.
Reminding the students of the importance of academic honesty is
useful throughout any research process. Also, primary sources are
usually best (where can they go? who can they interview?).

• The best tip is to keep communicating! Feel free to drop us an

email, grab us in the hall for a quick chat, or pop down to our
classrooms.

Page 13 Hong Kong Academy Grade 5 Exhibition 2010

 Planning Calendars for Mentors

March 1 – May 14 2010

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 12

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30 31 April 1 2 3

Spring
Break
Begins

Page 14 Hong Kong Academy Grade 5 Exhibition 2010

 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

Classes
Resume

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30 May 1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Exh. All
Set Up for Day, Exh. All Day
the Parent/
Exhibition Mentor
Night

Page 15 Hong Kong Academy Grade 5 Exhibition 2010

 Meeting Log

Date Goal of Meeting

Group Meeting Yes No N/A Meeting Notes

Checklist

Well Prepared:
Organized ___ ___ ___
Punctual ___ ___ ___
Communicative ___ ___ ___

Share Work Equally ___ ___ ___

Positive Attitude ___ ___ ___

Active Listening ___ ___ ___

Date Goal of Meeting

Group Meeting Yes No N/A Meeting Notes

Checklist

Well Prepared:
Organized ___ ___ ___
Punctual ___ ___ ___
Communicative ___ ___ ___

Share Work Equally ___ ___ ___

Positive Attitude ___ ___ ___

Active Listening ___ ___ ___

Page 16 Hong Kong Academy Grade 5 Exhibition 2010

 Meeting Log

Date Goal of Meeting

Group Meeting Yes No N/A Meeting Notes

Checklist

Well Prepared:
Organized ___ ___ ___
Punctual ___ ___ ___
Communicative ___ ___ ___

Share Work Equally ___ ___ ___

Positive Attitude ___ ___ ___

Active Listening ___ ___ ___

Date Goal of Meeting

Group Meeting Yes No N/A Meeting Notes

Checklist

Well Prepared:
Organized ___ ___ ___
Punctual ___ ___ ___
Communicative ___ ___ ___

Share Work Equally ___ ___ ___

Positive Attitude ___ ___ ___

Active Listening ___ ___ ___

Page 17 Hong Kong Academy Grade 5 Exhibition 2010

 How to the different Inquiry Cycles relate to one another?

Big 6 Inquiry Cycle Kath Murdochʼs What does it really

Inquiry Cycle mean?
1. Task Definition 1. Tuning In 1. What are we going to
be studying?

2. Information Seeking 2. Finding Out 2. How do we find out?

Strategies

3. Location and Access 3. Finding Out 3. Where do we find out?

4. Use of Information 4. Sorting Out 4. What does all of this

information mean? How
am I going to make sense
of it all?

5. Analysis and Synthesis 5. Sorting Out, Going 5. What am I going to do

Further, Making with this information now
Connections, Drawing that I have sorted it? How
Conclusions... will I present what I have
learned? How will I take
action on what I have
learned?

6. Evaluating and 6. Reflection 6. What more can I do?

Reflection (This project should never
really be finished.) What
are the next steps for me
individually? What can I
do differently next time?

Page 18 Hong Kong Academy Grade 5 Exhibition 2010

 S.M.A.R.T.?
What are some things involved in determining whether the solutions to your problem are
good or bad? What standards will your team use to judge the best solution?

Good solutions are also S.M.A.R.T. solutions. This means you have considered whether
they are:
Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant, Time-bound
Think about this: Are your solutions SMART?
Who Yes Possibly No

Specific
Is your solution clear?

Does everyone know

their role in
implementing your
solution?

Have you answered

every possible 5 W and 1
H?

Measurable
How will YOU know
and how will WE know
that your solution has
worked?

Actionable
Will you be able to take
action and be successful?

Relevant
Does this solution
actually relate directly to
your problem?

Time-bound
Will you have enough
time to implement your
solution?

How much time will you

need?

Page 19 Hong Kong Academy Grade 5 Exhibition 2010

 S.M.A.R.T.?
Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant, Time-bound
Think about this: Are your solutions / problems SMART?

Specific
Is your solution / problem clear?

Have you answered every possible 5 W and 1 H?

Measurable
How will YOU know and how will WE know that
your solution has worked?
Actionable
Will you be able to take action and be successful?
Relevant
Does this solution actually relate directly to your
problem?
Time-bound
Will you have enough time to implement your
solution?
How much time will you need?

Page 20 Hong Kong Academy Grade 5 Exhibition 2010