Planning the inquiry
1. What is our purpose?
To inquire into the following:
Class/grade: Kindergarten
Age group: 5-6
School: Oak Forest Elementary
School code: 006610
Transdisciplinary Theme:
Teacher(s): Sutton, Johnson, Winstead, Troxel, Hampton,
Who We Are: An inquiry into the nature of self; beliefs and value; personal,
physical, mental, social, and spiritual health; human relationships including families,
friends, communities and cultures; rights and responsibilities; what it means to be
human.
Batts, Gutierrex,
PYP planner
Date: September 12, 2011-October 7, 2011
Proposed duration: 20 hours over 6 weeks.
Central Idea:
Increasing awareness of our own personal characteristics and abilities builds
perspective of self.
2. What do we want to learn?
Summative assessment task(s):
What are the key concepts (form, function, causation, change, connection,
perspective, responsibility, reflection) to be emphasized within this inquiry?
What are the possible ways of assessing students’ understanding of the central
idea? What evidence, including student-initiated actions, will we look for?
Key Concepts: perspective, responsibility, reflection
Related Concepts: identity, matter, citizenship
Task:
Each student creates and presents a “Me Museum” to express individual uniqueness
and demonstrate qualities of a citizen. Students will complete each part of the
summative assessment through the ongoing activities related to the lines of inquiries
and related formative assessments.
Evidence: Teachers will be observing to see that…

What it means to be a citizen.

Individual uniqueness.
What teacher questions/provocations will drive these inquiries?

Students can identify what makes them unique.

Students can explain characteristics about themselves.

Students can identify themselves as a citizen.
Assessment:
Teacher differentiated rubric for completed projects and student/peer rubric for
presentations.
© International Baccalaureate Organization 2007
What lines of inquiry will define the scope of the inquiry into the central idea?
An inquiry into…

Observable characteristics of self and objects.
Questions:

How are people/objects alike/different?

How do we describe objects?

What does it mean to be a good citizen?

What is unique about you?
Provocations:

“Me” Teacher Page presentation/ “Me” Teacher Bag of artifacts

PowerPoint of student not cooperating leading into a whole group discussion

Read Cooperation book and Listen to School Cooperation Song
Taught September 12, 2011-October 7, 2011**Revised September 2012
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
questions?
What are the possible ways of assessing students’ prior knowledge and skills?
What evidence will we look for?
Pre-Assessments:

“Me” Drawing- Students will complete a drawing of how they view
themselves

KWL- activating prior knowledge of rules/citizenship

Mystery Bag- students will be asked to describe the physical properties
of series of given objects.
Evidence:

“Me” Drawing- Are students able to identify their physical characteristics
(ie., 2 eyes, 1 nose, 5 fingers, eyebrows, etc.)

KWL- Can students explain…

o
Why we have/need rules?
o
What different types of rules do we have?
o
Where do we have rules?
o
What would happen if we didn’t have rules?
Mystery Bag- Are students able to identify and object and describe its
characteristics?
5. What resources need to be gathered?
Week 1: The teacher will guide student inquiry through teacher provocations and
questions. Students will complete 3 pre-assessments for assessing students’ prior
knowledge of the central idea and lines of inquiry.
Weeks 2-4: Students will inquire about observable characteristics of themselves and
object around them. Students will listen to stories about personal characteristics, sing
songs pertaining to physical characteristics and attributes, identify and describes
objects in the “mystery bag” based on their physical properties, and sort objects by
common attributes. Students will watch a Discovery Education video depicting other
children not following rules and consequences of those bad choices. After viewing
the video, students will begin a KWL chart activating prior knowledge of rules and
citizenship. The students will brainstorm other areas of the school, community, etc.
that need rules. Students will meet in small groups and create rules for those areas
in need of reform. Students will listen to the teacher read I Can Cooperate, learn and
sing the School Cooperation song, and discuss an individual’s role in cooperating in
a community. The teacher will model and students will engage in role-playing
cooperation. Students will learn and recite the poem I am Me. Students will be given
a mirror to view themselves and identify what makes them unique. The teacher will
model attributes of the IB learner profile prior to students role-playing attributes.
Students will view a power point consisting of students role-playing desired attributes
and compare and contrast what they see in their classroom to that of those in other
students’ classrooms.
Weeks 5-6: Students will inquire about what is unique about them. Students will
complete their self-evaluation rubric on their completed summative assessment and
their understanding of the central idea. Students will reflect on what makes them
unique.
What
are the
possible
ways of
assessing
student
learning
context
of the
What people,
places,
audio-visual
materials,
related
literature,
music,in
art,the
computer
software,
lines
of
inquiry?
What
evidence
will
we
look
for?
etc, will be available?
What opportunities will occur for transdisciplinary skills development and for
the development of the attributes of the learner profile?
Dramatic presentation of the rules by Orff Music Department; original adaptation
All About Me (song) by Margaret Campbell-du Gard
These Are My Eyes, Eyes, Eyes (song) by Lois Birkenshaw Fleming and David Walden
I Am A Person (song)
By Myself (poem) by Eloise Greenfield
Social Skills- Students will accept responsibility, respect others, and cooperate
while learning about each other.
Communication Skills- The students will share characteristics that describe who
they are and creatively display what makes them unique and special.
Thinking Skills- Students will use this skill when brainstorming ideas for class
discussions and when creating artifacts for their “Me Museum”.
Kevin Knows the Rules by Molly Dowd: ISBN-10: 1434324354
Know and Follow Rules by Cheri J. Meiners: ISBN-10: 1575421305
Respect and Take Care of Things by Cheri J. Meiners: ISBN-10: 1575421607
A Bad Case of Tattle Tongue by Julia Cook: ISBN-10: 1931636869
© International Baccalaureate Organization 2007
Learner Profiles:
Caring: Students will display a caring profile as they work together in small groups,
share materials, help each other, and encourage and support each other as they
complete their projects in the classroom.
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:
Students were very curious about life stories after seeing teachers’ timelines and
teachers dressed up in decade clothing. Students explored all types of timelines and
listened to their peers presentations. Their ability to create and compare personal
histories demonstrated their understanding of the central idea.


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.
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?
A rubric needs to be developed to assess the summative assessment. A pre
assessment task needs to be developed that is directly related to the lines of
inquiry.
Students’ creation of personal timelines developed their understanding of exploring
different timelines.
Key concepts
Change over time – timelines
Causation --- Life events create life stories
Perspective – Life events based on other perspectives
What was the evidence that connections were made between the central idea
and the transdisciplinary theme?
Student presentations and comparing timelines demonstrated student
understandings that everyone has a personal history and everyone’s story is
unique/different. Students compared themselves and other famous people to
discover how we all have a life story but each person has different experiences.
© International Baccalaureate Organization 2007
Transdisciplinary skills
Students researched famous people and their lofe stories
Students communicated their own personal stories.
Students inquired about individuals’ personal experiences
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.
Students were curious about classmates from other countries, so the Internet and
books were utilized to discover more about other cultures.
Students made the connection that they are now able and equipped with the tools to
teach others (classmates, friends) how to make good choices.
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.
#4 How can I be a
good friend?
This question/provocation was the most effective because it provided successful
ways to encourage students to be good friends and have positive relationships.
However, this question/provocation is no longer a part of the revised planner. As a
team, we decided to go another way with guiding inquiry in order to meet our
standards.
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 began using the IB vocabulary when participating in classroom discussions.
Students began reflecting on their work and asking themselves if they were
cooperating while working in teams.
9. Teacher notes
Sutton: Our team began with an end in mind. The Me Museums displayed the students’
authentic understanding of the unit of inquiry. Next time, I feel that the cooperation piece needs
to be more kid-friendly. Students need to do more reflecting and self assessment throughout
the unit.
The Me Museum was a successful tool to access the student’s knowledge of the unit of inquiry.
The unit would be more useful if implemented at the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year
when rules are being introduced.
I want to do a better job of using the rubric with the students and parents to create the Me Bags
and Me Museums. Parents need additional feedback about their students’ progress during the
unit of inquiry.
This unit of inquiry should be completed at the beginning of the year.
I believe that the students’ learned the concept of who we are. Next time, students need to
participate in more journaling. Also, the unit needs to be completed at the very beginning of the
year when we are discussing the school rules that are already in place. I would like more time
to collaborate with the other KK teachers to create weekly lesson plans.
After the unit is completed, an event should be such as a show-n-tell or picnic. The parents
could visit the classrooms and view their students’ portfolios. Parents could gain more insight
about to the IB program.
Some of my students were absent and missed portions of creating the Me Museums. A plan
needs to be in place so that these students are allowed to go back and work on the unfinished
parts of the Me Museum. Also, the students had to reflect on the positive/negative qualities in
relationships with other people…I would like to find a book or other materials to help them
better understand these qualities.
The unit was very successful because students learned more about the differences in one
another. I would teach it earlier in the year and teach them how to use bubble maps earlier in
the year. I would talk about rules, not only in the classrooms, but about the school
rules…restrooms, cafeteria, etc. Next year, I would have them create the rules as a group,
rather than individually. I would incorporate more books next year.
Books were shared during story time that celebrated the uniqueness of the characters and
expressed a sense of cooperation. Students were able to compare situations in their own world,
with those of the characters.
For this IB unit the we used some pieces of music that reflected the "All About Me" theme. The
students responded well to each of the main points we discussed. This particular unit was
somewhat difficult to integrate into the music standards. Overall I would say the unit went well
in the music classroom.
I was unable to discuss rules with the children as I reinforced my own classroom rules. I also
connected with my family unit-I emphasized their roles in the family structure (sister, brother,
etc.).
© International Baccalaureate Organization 2007