Week Five - September 27th, 2024

Peek Into Learning (PYP)

Learning Through Play

27th September

At GIS we believe that play is an essential for children’s development in their early years and beyond. Play nurtures curiosity, creativity, and social skills, laying a strong foundation for lifelong learning. As children engage in hands-on activities and collaborative games, they explore concepts, develop critical thinking, and build resilience.

Child-directed play allows children to initiate their own experiences while teachers observe and facilitate the environment. Inquiry play encourages children to ask questions and explore ideas, with teachers providing resources to deepen their exploration. Educator-guided play involves co-designing activities with children, while educator-directed play sets up specific experiences to meet learning objectives. Finally, playful learning and learning games offer structured activities that promote essential skills through engaging, rule-based play. Together, these approaches create a rich, dynamic learning environment.

This playful approach continues to enrich their experiences in upper primary, fostering independent thinkers who are equipped to tackle real-world challenges. For example our grade 4 students have been using Scratch (a coding app), to explore the concept of migration.

By embracing play, we create a vibrant learning environment where children thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.

Importance of Assessment in PYP

20th September

Assessment in the PYP is all about understanding and supporting each student's learning journey. It goes beyond just checking what students know (assessment of learning) and focuses on guiding their next steps (assessment for learning) while encouraging them to think about their own progress (assessment as learning). In the PYP, assessment happens naturally every day through teacher observations, conversations, and formative rubrics.

Teachers use these daily assessments to give quick feedback, make adjustments to their teaching, and help students find their own strengths and areas to work on. Students are often part of the process, reflecting on their work and setting personal goals. This hands-on, everyday approach keeps learning personalized, relevant, and focused on growth, making assessment an integral part of the PYP classroom experience.

In addition to our internal assessments, we have external assessments to ensure our internal measures accurately track student progress. For early years, we use ALPACA to assess phonemic awareness, while Grades 1–5 participate in the NGRT and MAP assessments. These formalized assessments take place three times a year (September/October, January, and April/May) and provide a broader view of student learning. Both internal and external assessments play an essential role in guiding each student's learning journey.

Provocations

13th September

Provocations are used at the beginning of new learning and are designed to ignite curiosity and inspire a deep engagement with the upcoming content. These learning engagement, questions, or experiences are meant to challenge students' thinking and stimulate their natural curiosity. By presenting intriguing scenarios or posing thought-provoking questions, provocations help students make connections between what they already know and new concepts they will explore. This approach not only makes learning more engaging but also encourages students to take ownership of their learning journey, fostering a love for learning and critical thinking skills that will benefit them throughout their education.

PreK used mirrors and small parts to provoke their thinking about the features of their faces and bodies. KG2 have used questions to begin thinking about what makes a community, students recorded their thinking through words and pictures. Grade 1's provocation for their unit about wellbeing included a visit from Ms. Titi our school counselor who read a story about ways to 'fill their bucket' with positive things. Students were able to begin making personal connections to wellbeing in their own lives. Grade 2 began their inquiry into teamwork with different provocation challenges that involved working together as a team. Students began to think about how we work together and the skills needed. Grade 4 used images to provoke their thinking and used a visual thinking 'See, Think, Wonder' to begin their inquiry into Migration.

Class agreements

A foundational experience for our new cohorts of students is creating agreements for the class community they will engage with throughout the year. Classroom agreements come in different forms, shapes, and sizes, but all have a similar purpose: the children and teaching team work together to consider what commitments each can make to ensure the class is a safe, happy place where everyone can flourish. These agreements take time to consider and decide, with each member of the class being an equal stakeholder in sharing views and ideas before the teacher supports consolidating ideas and making decisions.

Class agreements are not static documents; they are continuously updated, added to, and redefined throughout the academic year as relationships develop and needs arise. This process, combined with the dedicated wellbeing time at the beginning of each day, ensures that every child feels confident to share, learn, and be themselves as part of our vibrant school community.

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