Planning the inquiry
. 1. What is our purpose?
To inquire into the following:
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Class/grade: 5th grade
Age group: 10-11
School: Oran Roberts Elementary
School code: 02254
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.
Title: Fifth Grade Exhibition
Teacher(s): 5th grade
PYP planner
Date: 9-6-2013 revised
Proposed duration: 10-15 hours per week over 12 weeks
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central idea
Inequality can be solved through tolerance and conflict resolution.
Summative assessment task(s):
2. What do we want to learn?
What are the possible ways of assessing students’ understanding of the central
idea? What evidence, including student-initiated actions, will we look for?
What are the key concepts (form, function, causation, change, connection,
perspective, responsibility, reflection) to be emphasized within this inquiry?
Students will create a project, independently or with a partner, to thoroughly
show the knowledge of their self selected topic. Possible products include tri-fold
presentations, student made movies, Power point presentations, puppet shows,
original art work, student-made books, models, and websites. Students will
choose and implement an action designed to continue the good or reduce the
negative effects of the topic. Students will orally present their visual product as
well as the actions they have taken while researching and inquiring about their
topics.
causation, change, perspective, responsibility, reflection
Students will be assessed using teacher made rubrics on their Action, Group
Work, Research, Visual Presentation and Oral Presentation.
At the conclusion of the Exhibition, students will reflect on their work throughout
the project using narrative reflection forms. Students will also review the
feedback from visitors at the Exhibition.
© International Baccalaureate Organization 2007
Related concepts: action
What lines of inquiry will define the scope of the inquiry into the central idea?
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global issues
local responsibilities
What teacher questions/provocations will drive these inquiries?
1. What is inequality?
2. Where do we see inequality?
3. Why do inequalities continue to be present?
4. How do we stop inequalities from continuing?
5. How can one person make a difference?
Planning the inquiry
H
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
questions?
What are the possible ways of assessing students’ prior knowledge and skills?
What evidence will we look for?
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Students will complete the Exhibition planning form including their topic,
reasons for selection, importance, questions, and possible actions.
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While collecting research, students will record information in their Exhibition
journal about their questions and topics.
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Throughout the unit, students and mentors will complete the mentor notes
on progress and next steps, including assignments to be completed by next
meeting.
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Students keep and maintain a journal and folder with all materials collected
throughout the unit. Weekly journal checks and progress checklists will be
used to assess student progress.
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After completing their research, students will write 10 Frequently Asked
Questions with answers concerning their issue.
Discuss with students what hunger is and where is it found. Debrief following a
field trip to the Houston Field Book. What can we do about hunger in Houston?
What are the possible ways of assessing student learning in the context of the
lines of inquiry? What evidence will we look for?
Introduce hunger and field trip to the Food Bank. Reflect on Food Bank Action.
Watch last year’s Exhibition Video (whole group).
Dissect Transdisciplinary Theme (Sharing the Planet).
Develop list of big issues that fit under Transdisciplinary theme.
Create draft “kid-friendly” statements towards central idea.
Define 5th grade central idea and generate agreed upon issue list.
Select topics and formulate groups.
Send parent permission on topic choice.
Students will review research skills and IIM process.
Match mentors with students and issues.
Choose learner profile, skills, and attitudes that students will focus on during the inquiry.
Students research the topic of their choice related to the central idea.
Students develop guiding questions, research to find answers, and develop lines of
inquiry.
Discuss different types of actions students could take to contribute toward their issues.
Research topics and actions with weekly progress checks.
Students create and present a visual presentation and oral presentation that corresponds
with their research.
Complete Google Docs with topic, action, and personal learning experience.
Students present to various classroom for dress rehearsal (using Sign-Up Genius).
What opportunities will occur for transdisciplinary skills development and for the
development of the attributes of the learner profile?
Skills – social, research, thinking, self-management, communication; Profile – thinker,
knowledgeable, risk taker, inquirer, communicator, balanced, open minded, caring, reflective
5. What resources need to be gathered?
What people, places, audio-visual materials, related literature, music, art, computer software, etc, will be available?
Roberts staff, computer lab, laptop computers, iPad, articles, internet, books, presenters, art supplies (presentation materials), primary resource interviews
How will the classroom environment, local environment, and/or the community be used to facilitate the inquiry?
Houston Food Bank, YMCA International, SPCA, Trees for Houston, ADL, Red Hand Campaign, WWF, Children’s Assessment Center
© 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’
understanding of the central idea. The reflections of all teachers involved in the
planning and teaching of the inquiry should be included.
What were the learning experiences that enabled students to:
We feel like the kids didn’t really get the true understanding of inequality and
didn’t really see how tolerance is connected. They did a good job of
understanding the information, but not the true depth of the central idea.
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.
The problem isn’t with the assessment tasks, it’s the process. Since this was
very independent inquiry, many of the students needed more guidance than
Exhibition lends. Students did amazing projects, but due to their lack of maturity
didn’t see the depth of the issue.
What was the evidence that connections were made between the central idea
and the transdisciplinary theme?
Students truly saw and experienced many different global issues and how to
take local responsibility. Their presentations and actions are a testament to
everything they learned and the connections they made.
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develop an understanding of the concepts identified in “What do we want to
learn?”
causation, change, perspective, responsibility, reflection
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Introduced hunger and took a field trip to the Food Bank. Reflected on the issue and the
action.
Dissected the Transdisciplinary Theme (Sharing the Planet)
Developed a list of big issues that fall under the Transdisciplinary theme.
Created global statements leading toward the central idea
Created the central idea and generated a topic list
demonstrate the learning and application of particular transdisciplinary
skills?
social, research, thinking, self-management, communication
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Teachers reviewed research skills using the IIM process
Students researched the topic of their choice related to the central idea.
Students developed guiding questions, researched to find answers, and developed lines of
inquiry.
Students created and presented a visual presentation and oral presentation that
corresponded with their research.
Students were given a calendar of due dates and had to self-manage their time and
progress.
develop particular attributes of the learner profile and/or attitudes?
In each case, explain your selection.
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© International Baccalaureate Organization 2007
Students choose the learner profile attributes, skills, and attitudes that they wanted to
focus on for the inquiry.
Students researched the topic of their choice related to the central idea.
Students developed guiding questions, researched to find answers, and developed lines of
inquiry.
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.
Students write guiding questions at the beginning of unit, refine and write
questions/answers during research
See student Exhibition journals
Missed the big picture about using questions as the guide to research
Rough draft of FAQs due at the end of research
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.
See Action Learning spreadsheet
Bilingual presentations – only if truly bilingual
Action – start earlier and have to follow through; depth was missing for many; want
more to volunteer; have to be local; have to be get started and moving before
Thanksgiving
Idea to help focus topics on Houston - Hunger, Homeless, Inequalities in Education,
Crime – limit the topics a little more
Let kids see what it is like to be somewhere else - A Day in the Life – take away
snack, math lesson of at lower level/teach to the lowest, playground – tiny corner of
lot with no toys, school for a day
Require an interview
No wiki – Google Drive only; review Google Drive at beginning of school year
Need to teach lines of inquiry – many students wrote questions
Feedback cards – for adults at presentations
Use Sign-up Genius for classes to see dress rehearsals of individual presentations.
Follow through on selecting Learner Profile, Attitudes, and Skills through the unit and
on reflections
Add grade level lesson on plagiarism
Need to teach bibliography
Possible Central Idea: The choices we make shape the world around us.
© International Baccalaureate Organization 2007