PYP Programmes of Inquiry

Knowledge

... significant, relevant, subject matter we wish the students to explore and know about...

Transdisciplinary Themes

• • Who we are

  • Where we are in place and time

  • How we express ourselves

  • How the world works

  • How we organize ourselves

  • Sharing the planet

Subjects

• • Language

  • Social Studies

  • Art

  • Mathematics

  • Science & Technology

  • Personal, Social, & Physical Education

POI = Programme of Inquiry

UOI = Unit of Inquiry

Sample PYP UOIs from the IBO

• Click here to see 10 sample units of inquiry for the PYP

  • • "The units of inquiry in this publication have been developed by Primary Years Programme (PYP) educators and trialled in IB World Schools. The examples included are intended to support teachers in developing and documenting units of inquiry from their own school’s programme of inquiry as well as those outside the programme of inquiry. Some of the units are based on central ideas documented in the PYP sample programme of inquiry included in Developinga transdisciplinary programme of inquiry (2008). Additional units, including subject-specific inquiries, will be added to this publication over time."

UOIs -- & the IB Community Theme: Sharing our humanity

• • Global poverty

  • Peace and conflict

  • Education for all

  • Global infectious diseases

  • Digital divide - uneven access to information and communication technologies

  • Disasters and emergencies

(Adapted from "High Noon” by J.F Rischard, 2002)

• Powerpoint presentation by Irene Davy: "ideas and suggestions on general approaches and ways of addressing the community theme in the PYP"

• PYP Unit Planners relating to teaching peace and conflict resolution

• Intercultural understanding: Exploring Muslim contents to extend learning

  • There are 5 planners for the Primary Years Programme. All are transdisciplinary.

  • · Oman – our host country (KG2, ages 4-5 years)

  • · The Wonders of Exploration (grade 4; ages 9-10 years)

  • · Arts and Belief (grade 4; ages 9 – 10 years)

  • · Expression of traditions and beliefs through rituals and celebrations (grade 5; ages 10 – 11 years)

  • · Human migration (grade 5; ages 10 – 11 years)

  • There are 3 Middle Years Programme planners:

  • · Mapping my dreams (Visual Arts, grade 7, ages 12 – 13 years)

  • · How the ancients shape how we understand the world today (Sciences, grade 9; ages 14 -15 years)

  • · State of the nation – defining boundaries in geography, culture and community (Humanities and Arts, grade 10; ages 15 – 16 years)

Collecting & Sharing Online Resources for UOIs

• Blogs are a place where a class or grade can share resources

  • • Space Quest -- a Year 6 blog for "Where We Are in Time and Space"

    • Energy Quest -- a Year 6 blog for "How the World Works"

• Netvibes and Pageflakes are tools that allow you to collect resources relating to a UOI in one place.

• Examples:

  • • Grade 5: Energy -- Netvibes page at the Copenhagen International School

    • Grade 6: Exhibition -- Netvibes page at the Campus des Nations school, Switzerland

    • Grade 1 Units & Links -- Netvibes page at Tokyo International School

    • Grade 4 Units & Links -- Netvibes pages at Mount Scopus College, Australia

    • Art in the PYP -- Netvibes page -- from Dresden International School, Germany

• Social bookmarking tools, like Delicious and Diigo, are a more dynamic way to collect links relevant to different units of inquiry.

• • Note that Diigo has free premium Educator accounts, which allow you to get login/passwords for students, so they can bookmark and annotate digital resources as well.

    • Example of UWCSEA East group in Diigo -- UWC Grade 5

• • • A group composed of all the Grade 5 students and teachers -- who bookmark websites and "share" them with the group. Tags identify which unit of inquiry the link is related to.

    • E.g., click here to see what websites members of the group have bookmarked for the unit "Lend a Helping Hand".

Managing UOI Resources between the Library & Classroom

• Blog post [May 2010] by Fiona Birkin at Mt. Scopus Primary School in Australia, describing how she manages boxes of UOI books and how she's now thinking of creating virtual UOI Boxes to complement the physical ones. She asks what others do -- and posted the query on the ECIS iSkoodle Library Forum. Read the responses here (you will have to login in order to read it).

Examples of school POIs

NB: You can add to this list by bookmarking websites using Delicious and giving the links the tag "pyp_poi".

To see lists of resources related to schools' PYP Programme of Inquiry, click here

NB: You can add to this list by bookmarking websites using Delicious and giving the links the tag "pyp_poi_resources".

Also see the PYP school's OPACs, as they often have lists of resources identified inside the catalogs.