by PYP Development Team on 14 November 2017 in approaches to teaching
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Kylie Dorsett, PYP coordinator, The Scots School Albury, Australia
This article puts forward three different approaches to the creation and use of the central idea, including early sharing, student creation and parent creation of the central idea. It shares the benefits and drawbacks of all three approaches.
We can spend hours crafting a rich and significant central idea with colleagues, but once this process is over, what is the best way to share it with our students? I have been working with teams of teachers to take different approaches with their central ideas for different purposes, resulting in different kinds of learning for our students. Here are three possible approaches explained.
Purpose: To share the central idea early on, to inspire inquiry.
How: In this approach, the teacher presents the central idea near the beginning of the unit of inquiry. Typically, a teacher will help the students understand the vocabulary of the central idea, then over the course of a few days, run mini info sessions on the essential elements that will drive the inquiry. This approach may see students writing their own version of the central idea, or displaying their understanding through drawings, acting out, models or questions and can be a form of formative assessment.
Benefits: By deconstructing the central idea in a very direct manner near the onset of a unit of inquiry we can help our students understand the programme, how it works as a structure and what each part plays. It is helpful to use this approach with students or teachers who are new to the programme.
Draw-backs: This approach can be formulaic, less than inspiring, and can actually hinder inquiry by providing students with a conclusion. If the vocabulary of the central idea is too rich for the age group, this type of deconstruction can be confusing and switch off the learning engagement.
Purpose: To assess student understanding at the conclusion of an inquiry.
How: In this approach, teachers collaboratively construct the central idea to inform their teaching, but do not share it with students. Teachers lead learning engagements that develop student understanding of the lines of inquiry, the concepts, skills and attitudes, sharing these with the students. At the end of the inquiry, students reflect on and analyze their understanding by creating a central idea that summarizes their learning, is conceptually driven and expresses an enduring understanding.
Benefits: By going through this process, students deeply engage with the underlying aims of the programme and often report that they ‘get it’ after this process. This approach promotes a high level of conceptual and critical thinking and promotes creativity. Students feel empowered and respected as learners. For teachers, supporting students to write a central idea can be a great learning opportunity to reflect on and articulate the ideas and values behind the programme, improving our own ability to write great central ideas.
Draw-backs: Although I have seen this approach used as young as 5-6 year olds it may be a challenging process for very young children. Likewise, students new to the PYP may struggle with this approach.
Purpose: To increase parent understanding of the programme and increase home/school engagement.
How: After experiencing the provocation and a few key learning experiences, students invite their parents into a session in which they complete an inquiry activity together, review student learning so far, and then, led by teachers, students and parents co-construct the central idea. Parents and their children consider the transdisciplinary theme, chosen concepts, attitudes and attributes of the learner profile, and read curriculum outcomes that must be achieved. They then work in groups to construct a rich central idea which is shared with the group. One central idea is chosen, or a new central idea that uses language from many is settled upon.
Benefits: This approach helps parents really understand the structure of the programme, its elements, and how inquiries are driven. They see the craft in teacher planning, and often relay a new sense of enthusiasm and appreciation for the quality of the education their children are receiving. The engagement between home and school is never stronger than when parents design the central idea.
Draw-backs: Teachers need to work the room to ensure that all voices are heard and that progressive ideas of how children best learn drive the discussions.
What approaches to the central idea do you use for different kinds of student learning?
by IB Educator on 8 September 2015 in approaches to teaching
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Louise Knight, a previous PYP Coordinator and Language Support teacher with grades 1 to 5
The author of this article provides some pointers to aid the process including focussing on the word choices and arrangement when writing a strong central idea.
A unit of inquiry is only as strong as its central idea. We have to be able to answer the question “At the end of the unit what do we want the children to understand, know and do?”
Writing a good central idea is not easy. There should be a balance between openness for the generation of inquiry and be specific enough to ensure the construction of knowledge, skills and conceptual understanding. After many years of evaluating units of inquiry, my colleagues and I have identified some patterns in central ideas that make for strong or weak units of inquiry and constructed some guidance to evaluate central ideas when writing them.
Some common pitfalls to avoid are:
We found that focusing on very specific word choices and sentence structure is a useful device.
Central ideas that contain concepts from the heart of the disciplines to drive the inquiry ensure building of globally transferable, significant knowledge. In the PYP these are the ‘related concepts’ for example ‘migration, stories, force, light, simple machines’ as described in Making the PYP happen (2009), in the subject area annexes.
The writing of a single, concise sentence benefits from the use of a well-known acronym from word level English teaching – CVC (Consonant Vowel Consonant). We modified this to stand for ‘Concept Verb Concept’ when thinking about the structure of the central idea. This structure helps focus on efficient and powerful word choices.
Verbs that describe relationships between concepts, or processes one performs on another, give clear direction for ‘unpacking’: impact, shaped, depend, work together, grow, change, communicate’ are examples of powerful verbs that denote a clear relationship or process. Verbs that are subjective in nature such as ‘appreciate, value, enjoy’ can be avoided as they are judgmental. Children are engaged by potentially interesting content but they can only know this if they understand the sentence. Complex ideas do not have to be dressed in complex language. Mystery generally does not promote the engagement that is a precursor for appropriate, challenging and critical thinking.
‘The properties of materials determine their function’ – has globally significant science concepts, a verb that describes the relationship between them, is concise and can be unpacked using the key concept questions. There is breadth in the multitude of materials and objects made from them that exist in the world and the potential for exploration, comparison and investigation by the scientific method promotes scientific thinking.
The collaboration of multiple perspectives in writing central ideas can lead to excellent outcomes but I believe that some systematic evaluation a little akin to the scientific method may be helpful to consider.
by IB Educator on 16 June 2015 in approaches to teaching
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Sara Croucher, the PYP Coordinator at Dwight School Seoul in South Korea
The author of this article shows how a central idea was rewritten to become more transdisciplinary in nature.
Who plans the units of inquiry? Is it homeroom teachers writing central ideas from a homeroom perspective? Is it a PYP coordinator with an overview of the whole programme of inquiry? Is it a collaborative group of teachers from different disciplines? As we reflected on our collaborative planning process, we realized that homeroom teachers, with guidance from the PYP coordinator, were writing the units with their own subject disciplines in mind. So we decided to make a conscious effort to rewrite the central idea from a transdisciplinary perspective.
Our grade 1 unit of inquiry, How we express ourselves, about poetry as a means of creative expression, proved engaging and challenging. Students loved reading and writing poems and benefitted from the integration of Korean spelling patterns and poetry. The librarian supported the students’ inquiries with poetry books. But other than students developing conceptual understanding and knowledge and skills in languages, this unit of inquiry was clearly not transdisciplinary. So we asked ourselves, “What is the concept at the heart of poetry that could be better understood by exploring it through other disciplines?”
As the group of subject specialist teachers reflected on this unit, each shared ideas about how a student’s understanding of poetry might be enhanced or expressed in the different subjects, and we concluded that patterns should be the focus. Our revised central idea states: “We appreciate both the patterns that occur in the natural world and the ones that we create”. Looking through the subject scope and sequence documents, we identified several conceptual understandings and learning outcomes to be developed within this unit of inquiry. We selected some Approaches to Learning skills that would help the students work through their inquiries: observation, analysis, and communication skills. All PYP subjects now support the students in developing and communicating their understanding of the central idea.
Language
Students analyze stories and decide if they follow patterns and then identify and evaluate created patterns in poetry. They write poetry and use rhyme and patterns to spell new words. By reciting poems, students further develop listening and speaking skills. iPads enable the students to apply viewing and presenting skills while communicating what they know and understand in a format including visual images, text, drawings and voice recordings.
Korean
Students with advanced reading and writing skills inquire into the use of onomatopoeia and mimetic words in Korean poetry, while beginners explored Korean words with similar and differing patterns to help develop their vocabulary and learn spelling and pronunciation patterns.
Mathematics (Pattern and Function, Shape and Space)
Students investigate number, shape and color patterns to establish how patterns can increase, decrease or repeat. They inquire into the rules for patterns in mathematics to better understand how patterns occur in everyday situations and can repeat and grow.
Science (Living Things)
Students investigate Fibonacci’s Sequence in nature, and they identify other naturally occurring patterns (spiral, packing, meander, branching and explosion). This helps them develop their observational skills and deepen their appreciation for living things and the environment.
Social Studies (Social Organization and Culture)
Students inquire into how patterned cloths represent a group’s cultural identity.
Personal and Social Education (Identity)
Students create cultural cloths to represent individual identity and they compare cloths to notice commonalities within the class.
Physical Education (Games)
Students identify, create and apply various attacking and defending patterns in invasion games to further develop their understanding that using critical thinking and working together can help a group achieve its goal.
Visual Art
Focusing on pattern, variety and emphasis, students respond to the artworks of Henri Matisse, Romero Britto and Gustav Klimt. They investigate patterns found in nature (spiral, packing, meander, branching and explosion) and use these to create artworks of their own.
Music
Students create rhythmic and melodic patterns using voice and percussion instruments. They present to classmates and respond by keeping the beat to demonstrate their understanding that a relationship is developed between the artist and the audience.
The PYP teachers who planned and reflected on this unit of inquiry were pleased with the students’ ability to understand the central idea. Assessments revealed that students spoke about patterns across disciplines; something they found on a nature walk in a park became inspiration for an artwork, a melodic pattern created in music was spontaneously sung in homeroom and had lyrics added in both English and Korean, and a mathematical pattern was used as a plan for a story about how numbers can grow and change. The Approaches to Learning skills we had planned for: observing, analysis, and communication skills, were developed in a truly transdisciplinary context, helping students and teachers alike to recognize their long-term and immediate value. The collaboration worked better in some subjects than it did others. Inquiries in beginner Korean and in Personal and Social Education did not particularly enhance students’ understanding of the central idea; these somewhat thematic links are being re-thought by the teachers. Inquiries in Science, Music, Mathematics and Visual Art were stronger and will be planned for again next year.
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Sara has been working in IB school for more than fourteen years. She is a PYP workshop leader and is currently working as the PYP Coordinator at Dwight School Seoul in South Korea.