Are You suprised - Buffalo Public Schools



Planning the inquiry

|1. What is our purpose? | | |

|To inquire into the following: | |Class/Grade: PK Age group: 3 and 4 year olds |

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|Transdisciplinary theme | | |

| | |School: Makowski ECC School code |

|How The World Works | | |

|Central idea: | |Title: Watch It Grow and Change |

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|Living things grow and change over time. | |Teachers: Melissa Hitzges, Robin Custodi, , Lara Lozo, Sandy Campell-Hill, Lisa Cullen |

| | |Date: Planning: May 7, 2013 |

|Summative assessment task(s): | |Taught: |

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|What are the possible ways of assessing students’ understanding of the central idea? | |Proposed duration: number of hours overall number of weeks 8 |

|What evidence, including student-initiated actions, will we look for? | | |

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|The student will draw and tell how a living thing grows and changes. | | |

|(teacher will record student responses, differentiated for student skill level) | | |

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|Do___________grow and change? Can you draw me pictures of how _________change? Explain this to me. | | |

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| | |2. What do we want to learn? |

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| | |What are the key concepts (form, function, causation, change, connection, perspective, |

| | |responsibility, reflection) to be emphasized within this inquiry? |

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| | |Form, change, reflection |

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| | |What lines of inquiry will define the scope of the inquiry into the central idea? |

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| | |The world is made up of living and non-living things. |

| | |Insects and plants grow and change over time. |

| | |Insects and plants have basic needs to survive. |

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| | |What teacher questions/provocations will drive this inquiry? |

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| | |What makes something living? non-living? |

| | |What makes an insect a living thing? |

| | |What makes a plant a living thing? |

| | |How do living things grow and change over time? |

|3. How might we know what we have learned? | |4. How best might we learn? |

|This column should be used in conjunction with “How best might we learn?” | | |

| | |What are the learning experiences suggested by the teacher and/or students to encourage the students to |

|What are the possible ways of expressing student’s prior knowledge and skills? What | |engage with the inquiries and address the driving questions? |

|Evidence will we look for? | |Class insects – habitats, read-aloud, discussion, center activities, journaling, science museum visits, |

|Sort living and non-living. | |dramatic play, plant experiments, read alouds, teacher directed activities, videos, role-playing, poems, |

|What are the possible ways of assessing student learning in the context of the lines of inquiry? What | |songs and movement activities, computer activities. |

|evidence will we look for? | |Flannel boards or model of stages (butterfly, ladybug, plants) |

| | |Journaling – make observations of plants and insects as they grow and change (drawing, dictation) |

|Students will be able to: | |sorting living / non-living |

|Class Discussions – accurately use vocabulary, make comments which show understanding of unit concepts | |Recording of student’s responses to “What does a _______need to live? (when talking about ladybugs, |

|Small Group Work – productivity, cooperation, discussion using relevant details, products show understanding | |butterflies, plants, prior knowledge) |

|of tasks | |Sectioned paper for stages of development (animal and plant) |

|Journaling – language and illustrations that show student’s understanding of cycles | |Songs and poems relating to life cycles of insects and plants |

|Class Graphic Organizer – KWL living things/non-living things, life cycles | |Dramatic play for ladybugs, butterflies |

|accurately sort living/non-living things. | |Growing plants and insects |

|act out various life cycles. | |Promethean flip charts – living/non-living |

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| | |What opportunities will occur for transdisciplinary skills development and for the development of the |

| | |attributes of the learner profile? |

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| | |Caring: responsibility for living things |

| | |Thinker: observing insects and their changes, predicting development. |

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|5. What resources need to be gathered? |

|What people, places, audio-visual materials, related literature, music, art, computer software, etc. will be available? |

|Seeds, Larva for ladybugs and butterflies, flannel boards, district online resources, books for different class animals, CD, “Butterflies” computer book. Materials for insect dramatic play, videos, songs, poems, books for |

|read alouds. |

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|How will the classroom environment, local environment, and/or the community be used to facilitate the inquiry? |

|Habitats in room, centers, journaling, Science Museum field trips – insects, plants; classroom graphic organizer, dramatic play, songs, poems, movement activities, read-alouds. |

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|6. To what extent did we achieve our purpose? | |7. To what extent did we include the elements of the PYP? |

|Assess the outcome of the inquiry by providing evidence of student’s understanding of the central idea. The | |What were the learning experiences that enabled the students to: |

|reflections of all teachers involved in the planning and teaching of the inquiry should be included. | |Develop an understanding of the concepts identified in “What do we want to learn? |

| | |Demonstrate the learning and application of particular transdisciplinary skills? |

|. | |Develop particular attributes of the learner profile and/or attitudes? |

| | |In each case, explain your selection. |

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|How could you improve on the assessment task(s) so that you would have a more accurate picture of each | |In writing the generative topic, we questioned whether egg or no egg shouldn’t be included in this unit |

|student’s understanding of the central idea? | |based on changes. We need to look at change throughout all kingdoms not just plants and animals. Perhaps |

| | |the first unit on animals would be better to include living versus non-living, what it means to be alive? |

|. | |How are we alive? How do living things meet their needs for survival? Perhaps survival could be a |

| | |generative topic first and look at viviparous/oviparous and then change look at plants and insects. |

| | |This discussion needs to be continued at a further planning time. |

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|What was the evidence that connections were made between the central idea and the transdisciplinary theme? | | |

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|8. What student-initiated inquiries arose from the learning? | |9. Teacher Notes |

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|Record the a range of student-initiated inquiries and student questions and highlight any that | |Characteristics of living things: eating, breathing, growing, reproducing, moving |

|were incorporated into the teaching and learning. | | |

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|At this point teachers should go back to box 2”What do we want to learn?” and highlight the teacher | | |

|questions/provocations that were most effective in driving the inquiries. | | |

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|What student-initiated actions arose from the learning? | | |

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|Record student initiated actions taken by individuals or groups showing their ability to reflect, to choose, | | |

|and to act. | | |

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