Planning the inquiry
1. What is our purpose?
To inquire into the following:
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Class/Grade:
PK
3 and 4 year olds
Transdisciplinary theme
School: Makowski ECC
How We Express Ourselves
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Age group:
Central idea
Stories have character, settings, and plots and can have
similar themes.
Title: Runaway
School code
Cookies Around the World
Teachers: Melissa Hitzges, Pat Andzel,
Lara Lozo, Sandy Campbell Hill, Pat Bunk, Lisa Cullen
Date: Planning 10/16/12
Proposed duration: number of hours 25
overall number of weeks
5
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?
Students will choose their favorite Runaway Cookie story to retell
with book cover only(teacher scribes) and illustrate. Standard prompt
will be “tell me more”.
Form, connection, reflection
What lines of inquiry will define the scope of the inquiry into the central idea?
Looking for: characters, setting, plot (beginning, middle, end) of
story.
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Essential parts of stories
Variations of the same story theme
Opinions: likes, dislikes, favorites
What teacher questions/provocations will drive this inquiry?
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What are the essential parts of a story?
How are these stories the same? How are they different? (overall idea:
theme is the same, details are different)
What’s your favorite story and why?
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 possible ways of expressing student’s prior knowledge and skills? What
Evidence will we look for?
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What are the possible ways of assessing student learning in the context of the lines of
inquiry? What evidence will we look for?
Students will be able to:
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name the setting
name the characters
sequence the events in the story by beginning, middle, and end
tell the conclusion
compare two different gingerbread stories
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?
 Read alouds
 Class discussions
 Venn Diagrams, T charts
 Retelling
 Dramatization
 Flannel Boards
 Illustrations
 Pictures of characters, related words at writing center
 Song and Movement activities
 Computer activities
 Inviting families to make gingerbread houses
 Baking gingerbread cookies
What opportunities will occur for transdisciplinary skills development and for the
development of the attributes of the learner profile?
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Communicator – telling the story, making a gingerbread house
or cookie, expressing likes and dislikes
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Caring – discussion of traits of the characters in the story
5. What resources need to be gathered?
What people, places, audio-visual materials, related literature, music, art, computer software, etc. will be available?
Books with variations on the gingerbread boy theme., Starfall.com, Jan Brett website, many books with variations on the gingerbread boy story.
How will the classroom environment, local environment, and/or community be used to facilitate the inquiry?
6. To what extent did we achieve our purpose?
Assess the outcome of the inquiry by providing evidence of student’s understanding of the central
idea. The reflections of all teachers involved in the planning and teaching of the inquiry should be
included.
Stories have character, settings, and plots and can have similar themes.
7. To what extent did we include the elements of the PYP?
What were the learning experiences that enabled the students to:
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Develop an understanding of the concepts identified in “What do we want to learn?
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Form: In retell: named characters, sequence of story (beg, middle, end), identify author,
Summative is reflective of central idea.
illustrator, title of book, setting, plot
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How could you improve on the assessment task(s) so that you would have a more accurate picture
of each student’s understanding of the central idea?
Important to note if book is used in the retell. Retells were short if the book isn’t
used.
.
What was the evidence that connections were made between the central idea and the
transdisciplinary theme?
Students were able to:
compare and contrast characters, events, whether Gingerbread character was eaten at the end.
use vocabulary related to the stories ie. “Run, run, as fast as you can….”, also specific words:
butcher, musicians, muddy old sow, construction workers, Musabi man, title, illustrator, author,
characters.
Connection: All the stories are connected by theme : Runaway stories from around the
world.
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Reflection: What is your favorite Part? Do you want them to be eaten or not eaten?
Stories challenge ideas of what is expected.
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Demonstrate the learning and application of particular transdisciplinary skills?
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Acquisition of knowledge: Stories follow a known form
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Comprehension : understanding in order to retell
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Social skills: cooperating, respect, tasking on group roles
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Communication Skills: listening – read many stories, speaking - retell, reading –
multiple types of runaway stories
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Develop particular attributes of the learner profile and/or attitudes?
In each case, explain your selection.
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Communicator – retell the story from multiple countries.
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Caring – Gingerbread Girl teaches manners and is a strong role model.
Dealing with feelings of frustration and aggravation appropriately.
8. What student-initiated inquiries arose from the learning?
Record the a range of student-initiated inquiries and student questions and highlight any that
were incorporated into the teaching and learning.
One student remembered from one story to the next what happened in the previous version.
Questions about “what is a…?” led to vocabulary development.
“Why don’t you have a book of the gingerbread’s parents?”
“What is a fox’s snout?”
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.
9. Teacher Notes
Vocabulary:
Cookie, man, boy, girl, baby, gingerbread man, wolf, fox, farmers, bear,
mowers, threshers, cow, pig, dog, cat, characters, setting, plot, beginning,
middle, end, title, author, illustrator, conclusion, crunchy, sweet, sticky,
Gingerbread Playdough: 1 C water 3C flour,1 1/2C salt,1/4 C oil, ginger,
cinnamon (google)
Made gingerbread house out of cardboard and in dramatic play area.
“What’s your favorite part? “
“What part did you like the best and why?”
Gingerbread center: character cutouts in craft sticks (comprehension),
flannel board characters
Record student initiated actions taken by individuals or groups showing their ability to reflect, to
choose, and to act.
Talk Box: characters to act out story
Crowns with characters for role play.
What student-initiated actions arose from the learning?
Student wrote her own stories about the gingerbread girl
Student brought in gingerbread cookies
Student used garlic press to make hair for gingerbread girl
Student used play dough to make a runaway pancake.
Flip chart : title, author, illustrator, beginning, middle, end
Use books to find end, find beginning.
Books:
The Gingerbread Man Karen Schmitt
The Gingerbread Baby Jan Brett
The Gingerbread Boy Richard Elesky
The Gingerbread Girl Lisa Campbell Ernst
The Gingerbread Cowboy Janet Squires
The Gingerbread Kid goes to School Joan Holub
The Musubi Man by Sandi Takayama
Marsupial Sue John Lithgow