Planning the inquiry

1. What is our purpose? Class/grade: PP1 Age group: 3-4Years

To inquire into the following:

School: Hillside Academy School code:
transdisciplinary theme
Teacher(s):Shaheen Banu, Mr. Koteshwar Rao, Mr.Ram Mohan,
How the world works. PYP planner
Mr.Robin , Mr.Sanjeev.

Central idea Date: : 7th of dec-15th of Jan2011

Our world is made up of a handful of distinctive shapes.
Proposed duration: number of hours over number of weeks
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?
Students will talk about 2-D shapes, 3-D shapes and irregular shapes. What are the key concepts (form, function, causation, change, connection,
perspective, responsibility, reflection) to be emphasized within this inquiry?
Children will sort out various objects into different baskets according to
their shapes. FORM
FUNCTION
Show and tell activity: Students will get an object and speak about
it.( in terms of colour and shape) CONNECTION

During this activity Students will demonstrate their understanding.

Based on the criteria color recognition, shape identification and thinking Related keyConcepts(structure, patterns)
skills.

What lines of inquiry will define the scope of the inquiry into the central idea?
Lines of Inquiry:
Kinds of shapes.
Two dimensional shapes.
Three dimensional shapes.

What teacher questions/provocations will drive these inquiries?

Feel these shapes and name them? (Form)

Why do we need circles?(function)

International Baccalaureate Organization 2007

Planning the inquiry 4. How best might we learn?

3. How might we know what we have learned?
This column should be used in conjunction with How best might we learn?
What are the possible ways of assessing students prior knowledge and skills?
What evidence will we look for?
Students brainstorm on the central idea. Anecdotal record
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?
Inquiry 1-: students went for a school tour and identified some shapes,
brainstorming on the shape of the plate they eat in every morning,
Students made a caterpillar using circles shape, penguin using oval shapes
and Xylophone using rectangle shapes. They recited poems: Shape family,
Do you know what shape this is, Make a circle, make a circle.

Students went for a school tour, observed all the boards and identifies the
Students learnt about all the 2-d shapes and 3-d shapes. They made their
shapes around them.
personal itsy bitsy books based on different shapes. Students had a shape
They expressed about the shape they like the most. party where they identified the shapes of the eatables and ate them.
They identified the shapes of the biscuits, candies and sweets displayed in
the shape party. They went for a field trip to a park and identified various shapes.

They sorted various shapes into groups.

What are the possible ways of assessing student learning in the context of the
lines of inquiry? What evidence will we look for?
Children will identify shapes anywhere and everywhere. They will
differentiate between the shapes and will also know how many sides each
shape has.
Inquiry
What opportunities will occur for transdisciplinary skills development and for the
development of the attributes of the learner profile?
LP: INQUIRERS; students will inquire about various shapes they see during the
school tour.
KNOWLEDGABLE: Acquisition of knowledge and vocabulary development..

5. What resources need to be gathered?

What people, places, audio-visual materials, related literature, music, art, computer software, etc, will be available?

Puzzles on shapes, blocks, shapes to feel, poems and rhymes on shapes, field trip to Sanjeevya park.

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

The classroom was furnished with books related to the unit, Shape chart was displayed on the wall, bangles of various shapes were displayed in the class..

International Baccalaureate Organization 2007

Reflecting on the inquiry
6. To what extent did we achieve our purpose?
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.
Integration of math was done by counting on.
Students sorted out the shapes into groups and counted number of
shapes in each group.
Integration with art and craft: drawing and colouring various shapes,
making photo frames.
How you could improve on the assessment task(s) so that you would
have a more accurate picture of each students understanding of the
central idea.
Students can make 3-d shapes with plaster of Paris.
What was the evidence that connections were made between the
central idea and the transdisciplinary theme?
According to the theme how the world works students have
understood that every object has a shape, Students learnt to identify
shapes around them and have started relating every object to a
shape.
International Baccalaureate Organization 2007
7. To what extent did we include the elements of the PYP?
What were the learning experiences that enabled students to:
Develop an understanding of the concepts identified in What do we want to
learn?
Form: students can identify shapes and know well about the number of sides
each shape has
Connections: students went for a field trip and identified the shapes and their
role in our lives.
Demonstrate the learning and application of particular transdisciplinary
skills?
Thinking skills: students started relating objects in their immediate environment
to various shapes.
Research skills: students collected pictures of things that are of various shapes.(
circle, triangle, square, rectangle, oval)
Develop particular attributes of the learner profile and/or attitudes?
In each case, explain your selection.
Curiosity: students started relating things/ objects to various shapes and wanted
to know more about shapes.
Creativity: students started cutting paper into various shapes, they started
making things with scraps of paper.
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.
All the students can identify and differentiate between various shapes.
Activities
1. Game: teacher calls out the shape loudly and the children search for Integration of Math was done by counting on.
that shape and touch it.
Integration of Literacy: songs and rhymes
2 Shape party: Children will get eatables (cakes, biscuits, chips, Students sorted out the shapes into groups and counted number of
chappatis.) of different shapes and will name the shape before
shapes in each group.
sharing it with their friends.
Integration with Art and Craft: drawing and colouring various shapes,
3. Sand play: Make your foot prints in the sand. Treasure hunt: children making photo frames, cutting paper into various shapes.
will dig and find the hidden shapes and will identify the shape.

4. Art and craft: students made a caterpillar using only circles. They
used yarn and made irregular shapes. They used straw and made
various shapes. They used play dough and made different shapes.

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.
Feel these shapes and name them? (Form)
Why do we need circles?(function)
Where have you seen these shapes? (Connection

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.
Hasnain told the fan has rectangle hands.
Samarth said that he loved eating round idlis.

International Baccalaureate Organization 2007