Solar Sleepover!

Action is a big part of the PYP inquiry cycle. In a nutshell it is my biggest goal when teaching a unit of inquiry. I am so pleased with my students for the enthusiasm they have had to demonstrate their learning with others. This is Action!

One of my students asked me if we could have a sleepover at school so we could look at the night sky. I dismissed her request at first but after thinking about it at home later that night, I realized this too was action. I didn’t want to thwart her enthusiasm so I decided to turn her idea into a reality.

After much planning and collaborating with parent volunteers, Nilde and the administration we got the go ahead. And what an amazing time we had!

We started the afternoon off with a follow up activity to the phases of the moon lessons we had had in the weeks prior to the big event.  We used Oreo cookies to demonstrate the different phases of the moon and to label our diagram on a plate. The kids were very eager to eat their cookies one they had finished their diagram. I think next time I will glue the Oreo’s to the plate and give each child two cookies to eat.  I would love to have displayed them before they ended up in bellies.

Kyle enjoying some delicious cake that Amish's mum brought us.

Check out that Crescent moon. Well done Thomas!

Looks like Daniel is ready to eat them all up.

Next we headed to the cafeteria and made Moon Rocks. The recipe for this activity comes from Teacher Created Resources – Planets for Primary Aged Students.  As a tie-in to the lessons on writing and following instructions that we have been working on, I gave each group of four children an instruction sheet to follow. Here is the link if you want to get a copy.

Here are the directions for making your own Moon Rocks

To make the dough, mix together these ingredients:

• 4 cups flour
• 2 cups salt
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup dry tea leaves (new or used but I have only ever used new)
• silver glitter
• waxed paper

Mix the flour, salt and water together. Add tea leaves and knead until the dough is smooth and pliable. Add more mater if the dough is too dry or more flour if too sticky. Add a few sprinkles of silver glitter and have each students mold a small potion of dough into their moon rock. 

Dry rocks on wax paper for several days (they do take 4 to 5 days to really dry).

*The recipe makes enough dough for 4 to 5 good sized rocks. 

Measuring the ingredients

The kids worked very cooperatively and all made successful moon rocks. Thanks to the parent helpers who were there to help with the measuring and pouring, etc. Your help was incredible!

Following the directions

"This is fun!" - Shivani

Thank you to all our Parent Helpers!!!

Final Product. 

Before we settled down to watch a movie, we played a game of Solar System Jeopardy against the parents. This gave the kids a chance to show off how much they have learnt during the past few weeks. To their surprise the parents did  a great job and almost won.  Many of the kids said that the game was their favorite part of the sleepover.

After saying good night to some of the parents we got into our PJ’s and watched the movie WALL-E. No matter how many times I see this movie I am laughing and crying by the end. It has such a wonderful message about preserving our resources and respecting our planet.

After the movie it was lights out. What a fun time the kids had gigging and talking. I’m not so sure the parent helpers and Nilde enjoyed that part of the night as much as they did.

Amish is ready for the movie.

Ellie and Shivani with their cuddle bears.

Cool pillow Aditya!

Sebas ready to go to sleep. Or not. 

Shahana andAkane waiting patiently as always. 

The kids were up bright and early and helped to tidy everything up. After a yummy breakfast of fresh warm bread, yogurt, cheese and orange juice we were all ready to go home. What a fantastic time we all had!                     

Breakfast Spread.

Which flavor do I want??

1, 2, 3...Sleepover!

Re-launch of Chalk & Slate!

It’s been an exciting summer of continuing education, book study, planning, relaxing and traveling. I have tried to fit it all in and I can’t believe that the five weeks are coming to an end.

I promised a while back that I would “re-launch” this blog with a renewed focus on the PYP. There are so many teacher bloggers out there that offer so much wonderful insight and creative products that can be used in the classroom. There is, however, a much smaller group of bloggers that address the IB and even fewer that focus on the PYP. I would like to share my journey with all of you as I learn more about conceptual teaching and guiding students through inquiry. The topics that we will discuss and the tips you will get can be applied universally to your teaching regardless of whether you teach in an IB school or a Title 1 School.  I hope you’ll find value in what you read here and hope that you contribute to the discussions. I am learning so much and continue to learn from other teachers. I am so grateful for bloggers and all the amazing collaborative spirit that they bring to the table.

I spent the last weekend of the school year at an IB training course in Zurich. It was an amazing and enlightening experience. I felt full of great ideas and left with a clearer understanding of what the PYP is all about. While I understood the 5 essential elements before going to the training, I came away with a clearer picture for myself.

I have created a PYP Synopsis that I will be using to pre-plan all six of my units this year. I’m posting it here for you if you would like to use it as well. For those of you not familiar with the elements I will be addressing them for the next 5 weeks on my IB Thursday posts. 

In celebration of this re-launching occasion I am posting a little freebie. It's my Daily Schedule Labels. Just print, laminate and attach a magnet to the back or use it on a bulletin board or a pocket chart. 

IB Thursday - What Inquiry cycle do you use?

I've been slacking a little with my IB Thursday posts but am happy to find myself back on track tonight.  I've had some opportunities in the past few weeks to really think about the process of inquiry in the classroom.  I know that for those of you who teach in a standards based curriculum the thought of inquiry might seem a bit ridiculous, especially if you have to stick to a scripted program.  I say that because that's how I felt teaching from subscribed programs like Treasures and Everyday Math.
What I didn't know then is that inquiry is the foundation upon which learning is based.  If we don't access our student's interests, if we don't prompt their curiosity then the learning which does happen is superficial.

This is exactly what John Dewey's child-centered learning was about.  His model started with concrete experience.  This is the interaction between the student and his or her environment, subject or teacher.
The cycle moves on to reflective observation.  This is where the action is considered through observation or discussion. The next step according to Dewey is the abstract conceptualization. Basically this is when the student derives some meaning or knowing from the experience. The last step in this cycle is the active experimentation. This is where the student takes his or her new knowledge and applies it to new experiences.

Dewey believed that reflection is an integral part of the learning that takes place from experience. He believed that reflective thought started when students had an experience that created some form of conflict or dilemma within them. Dewey felt that this conflict stirred the learner into asking further questions and asking what is really going on.  From there the learner experiments with possible solutions either literally or in thought, and lastly he or she will determine if the solution was effective.  This entire process, according to Dewey is how all concrete learning happens.

There have been many inquiry cycles developed since Dewey's time.  Here are some of my favorites and lastly I'll show you the one I use in my class.

This model based on Dewey is commonly used in classrooms today.  

This model by Kathy Short really helped me to better understand the inquiry cycle.  She starts with Invitation.  It is this invitation that starts the learner on the journey to something new.  It is on this path that the tension or the conflict is discovered.  From there the students goes on to investigate, demonstrate, re-vise, represent and take action.

A standard inquiry model for the IB PYP is this:

This is the model that I use in my class.  While it is a wheel and connects from one phase to the next I like to think of it as fluid.  No matter what part of the cycle you are in you can always go back, start over or skip ahead.  

I can tell you from personal experience that the process of inquiry works.  It works because it is based on connecting a child's experiences to his or her knowledge.  When working at my school last year we often said that we were working with our hands tied behind our backs.  We thought this because our student population came with so little experience to build on that they were ill prepared to understand texts and topics in our state mandated texts.  

What I realize now, that I didn't then is that Tuning In and creating Tension happen because we present our students with that opportunity.  The first week or even two should be spent immersing the students in experiences.  Hands on learning and exploration are key. The difference between last year and this year is not that my students come with more experience, all be it they do, but that we (my students and I) take the time to discover and investigate new concepts before we ever learn about the facts.  This is what makes the learning personal. This is what makes it stick!!

So...which model of inquiry do you use when designing your lessons?  I'd love to know and have you share with me.  Please leave me a comment and tell me what you think about inquiry and Dewey.

Miss Pam

IB Thursday

As I’ve mentioned I teach at an International Baccalaureate (IB) school.  For a majority of teachers that I’ve met, the IB is something they have heard about in passing but have little understanding of what makes it differ from their experience within the public or charter schools system.  

It is my goal to make my Thursday posts – IB related.  I should start by saying that understanding a little of what the IB is about might help most teachers regardless of what type of curriculum they teach.  Today I’m just going to tell you a little about the Primary Years Program (PYP).

The IB concept or goal (very simply put) is to develop young people who care and help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.  The attributes of such a learner are listed in the Learner Profile.  The Learner Profile is at the heart of what it means to be internationally minded. 

IB leaners strive to be:

Inquirers

Knowledgeable

Thinkers

Communicators

Principled

Open-minded

Caring

Risk-takers

Balanced

Reflective

 Along with concepts and tools the curriculum is planned to develop this type of student.  It is a different approach to how I taught in my previous school.  My students know these words and have known them since they were in pre-k.  They know that they mean and they identify the type of attributes they believe they most represent.  

When I have a visitor to my class I always have my students introduce themselves by sharing their name, age and home country as well as their learner profile.  They usually pick two to three of the attributes to convey who they are.  

The IB also believes it is vital that there is focus on the development of personal attitudes towards people, towards the environment and towards learning. Attitudes, that contribute to the well-being of the individual and of the group. 

In PYP schools, students should demonstrate:

Appreciation

Commitment

Confidence

Cooperation

Creativity

Curiosity

Empathy

Enthusiasm

Independence

Integrity

Respect

Tolerance

These are words, again, that my students know and understand. I am impressed daily by their examples of these attitudes and I strive to always reflect them in my teaching.

What I think I’ll do starting next week is to break down one attribute or attitude at a time.  That way we can open a dialog about how we help our students to internalize and embody these life long skills and attitudes.

Till next time!

Miss Pam

How We Learn

Our first Unit of Inquiry in Grade 3 is How we learn and more specifically an inquiry into how people learn differently depending on where they live. I'm so grateful that we picked this unit to teach first as it is a fantastic vehicle for my students, and myself, to be reflective about how each of us learns and analyze what that truly means for our classroom community.

In the first 4 weeks of school we discussed in detail what type of learning environment we wanted in our classroom as well as our school as a whole. Through this process we created our classroom agreements and the kids were able to take real ownership in decisions made. My partner teacher, Alma, guided our students in discovering our central idea by having each student write about who they are and where they come from. After this was completed we each sat with our own class in front of our world maps and had each child read what they had written. As each student came up I marked the world map with their home countries. I then guided the discussion with questions about school in their country of origin. Through the questions and answers the kids started to make the connection that school is different depending on where you live. From this we were able to discuss what we thought different learners needs are depending on where they live. The connections that my kids made through this lesson was amazing to watch. I am awestruck almost daily by the thinking that my students engage in by discovering knowledge on their own.

Here is the map that hangs in our classroom. Each student's picture and self written profile is hung around the map as well.

In our next unit lesson I read to my students about Hellen Keller and her teacher Annie Sullivan. I used the book Hellen Keller (her life in pictures) by George Sullivan. My students were fascinated by Hellen and her ability to learn to communicate through her hands. The cover of the book has a wrapper that is printed in braille. The kids passed it around and took turns trying to identify different letters. Later that day during Maths, two of my boys were done early and asked if they could get on the computer to look up braille and sign language. They spend several days going back to the internet to read as much as they could find. As part of the IB curriculum we look for evidence that students are applying what they learn and are taking ownership of their own knowledge. It was delightful to see the boys get so curious about Hellen Keller and different forms of communication. The next morning I found two students reading books about Hellen Keller, including one that I didn't even remember that I had. They had found it in our classroom library and were reading it to each other.

The great thing about the Hellen Keller lesson is that it led to another wonderful discussion about how we learn and what each of our individual needs are.

A few days after the H.K lesson I introduced my students to the different learner profiles. We talked about visual, auditory and kinesthetic leaners. As soon as we started talking about them one of my students raised his hand eagerly to tell me that he was certain that Hellen Keller was a kinesthetic learner. The connection between the two lessons was amazing to see. It feels so great to know that my students are taking in what we learn together and constructing their own knowledge. For the first time I think I understand exactly what Vygotsky really meant.

On that note...I know it was a long and boring one today, I'm off to sleep and eagerly await tomorrow with my amazing class!!!

But I'll post some more pictures of the classroom just to give you something to look at. =0)

Hello from Switzerland!

Hello! My name is Pam and I teach third grade at an International School in Zurich, Switzerland. This experience is brand new to me and so is teaching in an IB school. IB is a program of study called International Baccalaureate. The vision of the IB is to "help develop the intellectual, personal, emotional and social skills to live, learn and work in a rapidly globalizing world" (www.ibo.org).

Let me tell you a little about my class. I have 12 students in my class from 10 different countries. 11 of the 12 are English Language Learners (ELL). While many of them have parents at home that speak English, their primary home language is anything from Swiss German to Bulgarian. I myself speak Swiss German and this helps me daily as our students also take three hours of German instruction a week. In stark contrast to Amanda's school, the tuition for my student's is paid by their parents and costs nearly $30,000.00 a year. This allows for an element of financial freedom when planning lessons, adventures (field trips), camp and activities. Our school is relatively small in comparison to most International schools. We have a total of nine classes from K-5. I am lucky to teach one of two third grade classes and therefore have a great opportunity to collaborate with my grade level partner teacher.

Amanda and I studied in the same program at the University of New Mexico and earned our Masters in Elementary Education. We were taught the same fundamentals and we have a similar teaching style. This blog is our opportunity to share our experiences and to highlight not just the differences in our individual classrooms, but also the similarities.

As for me...

I'm 30 something years old.

I live in Duebendorf Switzerland.

I love to read and have a passion for children's literature.

And teaching makes me happier than anything I've ever done before