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!

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