Planning the inquiry

1. What is our purpose? Class/grade: 1st Age group: 6-7 years old
1a) To inquire into the following:
● transdisciplinary theme School: Poe Elementary School code: 49497
How We Express Ourselves: an inquiry into the ways in Title: How We Express Ourselves
which we discover and express ideas, feelings, nature,
Teacher(s): Burton, Orta, Randall, Culver, Hilton, Quevedo
culture, beliefs and values; the ways in which we reflect on,
extend and enjoy our creativity; our appreciation of the Date: August 24 – October 2, 2015
aesthetic.
Proposed duration: 6 weeks
● central idea
Storytelling is an art that can be told in many different forms.
1b) Summative assessment task(s): 2. What do we want to learn?
What are the possible ways of assessing students’ What are the key concepts (form, function, causation, change, connection,
understanding of the central idea? What evidence, including perspective, responsibility, reflection) to be emphasized within this inquiry?
student-initiated actions, will we look for?
 Form
 Perspective
Students tell a story any way they wish, making sure they
have a clear beginning, middle and end with characters and  Reflection
setting.
Related Concepts:
This could include drawing, singing, retelling or a
performance of the story. Part of their presentation will  Patterns
include why they have chosen this particular story and how it  Conflict
makes them feel.  Purpose

Students will be graded using a rubric that they will be made

aware of ahead of time. What lines of inquiry will define the scope of the inquiry into the central idea?
 Communication through stories.
 How reflection of story elements (i.e, character and setting)
facilitates and enhances comprehension.
 Storytelling through art, music, dance, film, and literature

What teacher questions/provocations will drive these inquiries?

Teacher provocation will include gathering students around on the carpet,
setting the scene for a story, once the students are hooked, the teacher will
abruptly end the story without ever introducing characters or setting or any of
the other story elements that make a story work. Teacher will then facilitate a
student-led discussion.
 What is a story? What does a story have?
 How do you know a story is being told?

 Why do we listen to stories?

 Why are stories told?

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2011

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 What are the learning experiences suggested by the teacher and/or
learn?” students to encourage the students to engage with the inquiries
What are the possible ways of assessing students’ prior knowledge and address the driving questions?
and skills? What evidence will we look for?
 Read a variety of stories: fairy tales, legends, Kevin
Pre-Assessment (check list) Henkes, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Alexandra Day, Dr.
Seuss, Doreen Cronnin, Alma Flor Ada, Josefa Kratky,
Using story sequencing cards, students choose which ones they want stories from around the world
to use then tell the teacher the story. The teacher will record the story
using iPads. After each student has gone, we will view videos as a  Have community volunteers come in and perform music &
class, discussing what we liked about each students story and what dance skits
we could change to make the story different. The teacher will be
checking that the students name their characters and provide a setting  Compare and contrast characters from stories using Venn
for their story, if time permits, they should also provide a simple Diagrams and Graphic Organizers
problem and solution in their story. The other students will be given a
checklist to assess each other.  Brainstorm favorite stories/characters and why we like them

What are the possible ways of assessing student learning in the  View short stories using the internet.
context of the lines of inquiry? What evidence will we look for?
 Sequencing picture cards.
Formative Assessment
 In a group, students retell a story any way they wish,
 Children are to create a piece of art based on a character from making sure they have a clear beginning, middle and end.
a story. Have them explain why they have selected that
character as well as how different parts of the story made  Have art lessons on how stories are told through visual
them feel a connection to that character. form

 Sort pictures of different storytelling forms and explain why it  Have a dance lesson on how stories are told through
goes with that form. movement.

 Create a chart of key elements of certain stories  Discuss how other authors from different countries might
have different perspectives on stories based on where they
 Create a story – group/individual live and their respective cultures.
Students will be shown a rubric prior to beginning the assessment.
Teacher will discuss what they are looking for:
What opportunities will occur for transdisciplinary skills
After presenting, students will discuss what they liked and what they development and for the development of the attributes of the
thought could be improved upon. Teacher will explain constructive learner profile?
feedback and how authors, artists and performers use it to shape their
forms of expression.  Communicators -Listen to others tell their stories; Retell key
components of a story; Tell their own short story.

 Risk takers – Voicing their own opinions about a story and

presenting their story to their peers.

 Thinker- Analyze parts of the story to determine author’s

purpose and any problem/solution presented 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?

Megan Jackson (dancer), Fletcher Stafford & Michelle Dugan (Art), Michelle Jackson & Lia White (Music-Opera/Songs), Books by these authors:
(Alexandra Day, Doreen Cornin, Alma Flor Ada, Josefa Kratky, Kevin Henkes, Amy Krause Rosenthal), Internet for for books online (StoryOnline,
United Streaming), CD player (stories to music), Main Street Theater (Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse Performance)

How will the classroom environment, local environment, and/or the community be used to facilitate the inquiry?

Classroom- book displays, charts of elements of books we’ve read, story-starter pictures, pictures of characters

Houston Storybook Opera- school visit to perform Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes

© International Baccalaureate Organization 2011

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 What were the learning experiences that enabled students to:
planning and teaching of the inquiry should be included.
 Develop an understanding of the concepts identified in “What
Some of the teachers felt the unit could be better understood by the students if it do we want to learn?”
took place later in the year. The students would be more independent writers Students recognize diverse styles by recognizing the
and better communicators. differences among their individual stories.
Creating stories and expressing themselves improved. It was easier for most Students recognize the patterns in Kevin Henkes’ stories and
students to find expression, purpose, and format in stories than to create their how he often incorporates the same characters throughout his
own. stories.
Students can make their own story maps detailing the story
How you could improve on the assessment task(s) so that you would have a elements.
more accurate picture of each student’s understanding of the central idea.
 Demonstrate the learning and application of particular
The pre-assessment was interesting. Some of the students needed assistance transdisciplinary skills?
in fleshing out their stories, but all of them were unique and different. Socially, the students shared their own stories and respected
For the post-assessment, we might offer students a chart of story elements to each other’s different styles by giving positive feedback.
help them organize their ideas before writing the final story. The students communicated with each other and their teacher
Some teachers felt they wanted to offer more choices of picture promts or the to demonstrate their understanding of the material.
ability to create their own drawing. Thinking: The students were able to identify and use new
vocabulary learned from the books studied in their own work.

What was the evidence that connections were made between the central idea  Develop particular attributes of the learner profile and/or
and the transdisciplinary theme? attitudes?
Students were able to tell the difference between different authors studied, Introduced a wonder wall as a way to invite student inquiry related
specifically the author’s tone and purpose. to our unit of study.
Our appreciation of the aesthetic as evidenced by student’s ability to compare and Talked about how stories are a form of communication for
contrast the different mediums of expression, (i.e, dance versus art and written authors.
words)
Students had to be risk takers in order to share their own stories.
Reflection occurred in self and peer evaluation of pre- and post-
assessment.
The study of Kevin Henkes’ books led to discussion of character’s
attitudes and choices.
© International Baccalaureate Organization 2011

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 How are authoring and story-telling connected to other things in
that were incorporated into the teaching and learning. our daily lives?
Students wanted to know, “Why do authors write?”
How and why are some stories different than others?
What is the quality of stories that I have written? Create a self-
How do they come up with characters? assessment for the students to check for elements and purpose.
Why do some people choose to dance? Or paint? In the future, we want to choose more global authors, fables, and
Are stories the same all around the world? myths to connect to various cultures and periods. Also, use the
provocation of how the story would change or remain the same if it
were to take place in another setting (in other countries).
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.
Why did the author write this story?
How do the characters, setting, and events affect the story?
What do the illustrations add to the meaning?

What student-initiated actions arose from the learning?

Students used new vocabulary learned from Amy Krauss Rosenthal books in their
own writing and conversations.
Students focused on character’s attitudes and compared them to IB attitudes. They
also discussed what would occur in the story if they had other attitudes.
© International Baccalaureate Organization 2011