Planning the inquiry

Class/grade: 2nd Grade School: Oak Forest

Age group: 7-8 School code: 006610

1. What is our purpose? To inquire into the following:

transdisciplinary theme

How we express ourselves An inquiry into the ways in which we discover and express ideas, feelings, nature, culture, beliefs and values; the ways in which we reflect on, extend and enjoy our creativity; our appreciation of the aesthetic.

Teacher(s): Carnes, Berry, Harris, Long, Woods, Walkley, Campbell, Myrick, Winton (Art), Babb (Music), Tanner (Library), and Ying (Chinese) Date: 5/2012 Taught: October 15- Nov. 9 Duration: 4 weeks

PYP planner

Number of hours: 16 - 20 hours

central idea
2. What do we want to learn?

Feelings and ideas are expressed in various ways.

Summative assessment task(s): What are the possible ways of assessing students understanding of the central idea? What evidence, including student-initiated actions, will we look for?

What are the key concepts (form, function, causation, change, connection, perspective, responsibility, reflection) to be emphasized within this inquiry?
Key Concepts: Connection, Perspective, Reflection

1. 2.

Task---Create a musical instrument using materials found at home. EvidenceEach student writes a report listing the materials used to create the instrument and describes the steps to make the instrument. Each student presents the instrument to his/her class. Assessment---Teacher created rubric.

Related Concepts: Communication, Beliefs, Representation

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

Types of artistic expressions Similarities and differences in ways we express ourselves How feelings and ideas are expressed through the arts

3.

What teacher questions/provocations will drive these inquiries? Questions: 1. What are forms of artistic expression? 2. How are feelings and ideas communicated through music, art, drama and movement? 3. What different artistic presentations could be made about the same idea or feeling?
Provocations: Teacher enters room after Chinese Class to the sounds of Flight of the Bumblebee (Itzhak Pearlman version on youtube-1: 19 minutes) running around the room without talking looking for a lost object.
International Baccalaureate Organization 2007 Taught: October 2012

Planning the inquiry

3. How might we know what we have learned? This column should be used in conjunction with How best might we learn? What are the possible ways of assessing students prior knowledge and skills? What evidence will we look for?
KWHLQ Chart: Use to identify areas of need and to access prior knowledge. This will be revisited at the close of the unit to assure all What I Want to Know areas have been addressed Circle Map---Discuss prior knowledge and experiences in the arts. Students will record what they know about painting, sculpturing, pottery, music, dance, drawing, instruments and communicating Group Discussions: As the unit progresses, students will engage in group discussions to check for understanding and add any questions to the Parking Lot.

4. How best might we learn? What are the learning experiences suggested by the teacher and/or students to encourage the students to engage with the inquiries and address the driving questions?
Week 1-Pre-Assess and Engage (KWHLQ Charts , Circle Map, Inquiry and Group Discussions) Week 2-Explore and Explain (Explorations of the Arts and Observations) Week 3-Extend (Research, Create Instrument, and Journal of experiences with the Arts) Week 4- Evaluate (Presentation of musical instruments)

What opportunities will occur for transdisciplinary skills development and for the development of the attributes of the learner profile?
Learner profile: Risk-takerStudents dance to different music. Communicator----Students present and play musical instruments. Attitudes: Open-mindednessStudents listen to different genres of music and cultural arts. Creativity---Students create their own musical instruments and created pictures using paint. EmpathyStudents view and listen to various artistic interpretations while reflecting on how they feel while experience the art form. Transdisciplinary Skills: Communication Skillsstudents present instrument Thinking SkillsStudents use questioning techniques to learn about instruments Research SkillsStudents research instruments and various art forms

What are the possible ways of assessing student learning in the context of the lines of inquiry? What evidence will we look for?

(Types of Expressions) Thinking Map---Create Tree Map to list and explore types of artistic expressions (Compare/Contrast Ways we Express Ourselves) Venn DiagramCompare and contrast ways we express ourselves (Reflection and Perspective) JournalRecord feelings and emotions while listening to music, viewing paintings, and listening to poetry (Artistic Expression) Checklist---Student create work of art using paint, crayon, glue and construction paper (Ways we express ourselves) Observations---Student dancing to various music genre RubricScore musical instruments created and presentation of the instrument

5. What resources need to be gathered? What people, places, audio-visual materials, related literature, music, art, computer software, etc, will be available? Musical recordings from: http://www.classicsforkids.com (Spring from The four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi; Orpheus in the Underworld by Jacques Offenbach); https://www.youtube.com (Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber; Pavane Pour Une Infante Defunte by Maurice Ravel; Halloween theme song- 1978 [HQ]; Sound of Sadness-Sailor Moon Music Box; Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by Johanne Sabastian Bach). Paintings by various artists: Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh, works by Pablo Picasso (video Dropping in on Picasso ISBN 1-56290-313-6), Georges Roualt, Salvador Dali (to be chosen by art teachers). Dance performances by Alvin Ailey (https://www.youtube.com). Poetry by various artists (Remember by Christina Rosetti; Bear in There by Shel Silverstein, The Frightening from http://www.richardmacwilliam.com/the-frightening). Field trip to see the musical play Annie, view arts stories from Reading Rainbow United Streaming, and view Little Einstein Huge Adventure. Visit website: www.jacksonpollack.org and www.brainpopjr.com How will the classroom environment, local environment, and/or the community be used to facilitate the inquiry? Classrooms will utilize a listening center, painting area, dance space, and places for inquiry and research activities. A field trip to the Dixon Gallery and Gardens Museum.
Taught October 2012 International Baccalaureate Organization 2007

Reflecting on the inquiry

6. To what extent did we achieve our purpose? Assess the outcome of the inquiry by providing evidence of students understanding of the central idea. The reflections of all teachers involved in the planning and teaching of the inquiry should be included. Students were excited to express their feeling through the arts. Students really loved and appreciated the play Annie. They had a great discussion of scenes from the play and how they felt. They compared scenes and the musical score used to convey the mood of the scene. Students also did a fabulous job of creating musical instrument from recycled materials from home. They were able to see the various ways students created instruments. One student compared and contrasted his body movement while listening to music. He stated the music made him feel happy. Students experienced how art can affect how you feel. During inquiry lessons students asked great questions and researched the musical instruments teachers displayed to them. 7. To what extent did we include the elements of the PYP? What were the learning experiences that enabled students to:
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. Key Concepts: ConnectionStudents were able to connect musical instruments with other instruments classified in the same musical families Perspective---Students listened to music and used body movement to express how it made them feel. Each childs feelings and movements were different. The differences were appreciated and encouraged. Reflection---Students used journals to record how they felt and what they wanted to learn more about the arts. Transdisciplinary Skills: Communication skillsStudents presented musical instruments. Thinking skills---Students asked questions about instruments and the arts. Research skills---Students researched musical instruments and the arts. Learner Profile: Risk-takerStudents took risks to dance, draw, paint, play instruments and sing. Communicator---Students presented instruments and asked questions during group discussions. Students moved their bodies to express their feelings. Attitudes: Open-mindedness---Students tried new music and art freely. Creativity---Students created art, drawings, pictures, instruments and music. EmpathyStudents felt bad for Annies story.

How you could improve on the assessment task(s) so that you would have a more accurate picture of each students understanding of the central idea. Students created a variety of musical instruments. We were very pleased with the creativity and effort involved in making the instruments. Students spoke clearly and were very familiar with their instruments. What was the evidence that connections were made between the central idea and the transdisciplinary theme?
Students were able to reflect and write about how they felt about the play Annie. When students were given background information on the play they were able to understand the perspectives of the different characters. They did a great job describing the character traits of the actors. They then discussed the music and Annies optimism. Students created creative turkeys using paint, crayons, glue, glitter, and feathers. Students experimented with various color combinations and materials. Students created various instruments and they decorated them to look different than the recycled materials that they were. Students displayed their understanding of expressions while listening to music and recording how they felt.

International Baccalaureate Organization 2007

Reflecting on the inquiry

8. What student-initiated inquiries arose from the learning? Record a range of student-initiated inquiries and student questions and highlight any that were incorporated into the teaching and learning. Teachers introduced various musical instruments and students asked many questions. Students used these questions to research instruments. How does the instrument produce sound? This question drove the research of many instruments. What happens to colors and how colors can affect moods? This question was used as an inquiry activity into hospital wall colors and classroom colors. Students also viewed and recorded colors seen during each season. Students drew conclusions about how these colors were affected by the amount of sunlight.

9.

Teacher notes

Teachers reflections: I felt that the IB unit "How We Express Ourselves" was a fun way for students to learn that their talents can be a mode of expression. They loved listening to music and discussing how it made them feel. I enjoyed teaching this unit because I felt like I had a wide variety of resources to pull from and bring into the classroom. When it came time to assess it was difficult to get the kids to show their own creativity because they aren't developmentally 'in touch' with exactly how various medias could show their feelings other than just by drawing a face that represents that emotion. How We Express Ourselves was a fantastic unit for the students. Using our central idea, "Feelings and ideas are expressed in various ways," students learned that there are numerous way we can express ourselves. Many students had no idea that artistic expressions meant acting, singing, playing an instrument, taking a photograph, or writing a story. Since the unit was short, next time, I will review these expressions sooner and try to include more of a variety in my formative assessments. I would also allow a few students to act out a story/skit that they wrote. This could be upper level students doing the writing and acting, or a combination: a few upper level students would write the story and some would act it out. Students would learn that both are artistic expressions. They would also learn that there is a person who wrote the story for a movie or a play, and others who act it out. Our summative assessment went very well, but it would have been good to have sample instruments to show the students. Some students did not understand the full assignment since they had no visual. Next year, I will have the samples because I took pictures of each student. Since this year was our first year, I used the instrument assignment as an example of how we each have a form of expression that is better for us. We discussed how some did better on the instrument, some did better on their formative of their favorite season, and some did better on other formative assessments. The students were very creative and innovative as we completed the unit. We were constantly sharing and excited about our next experience. The students enjoyed the unit. We discussed and brainstormed different ways that people express themselves. We wrote about the various ways and decided that we choose different expressions. We choose according to our interests and what we are naturally good at doing. I didnt feel that I had enough time to thoroughly explore each area with the students. I needed more ideas for resources that worked for other teachers. Students enjoyed expressing themselves with music. Students listened to a variety of music to see how they would move based on the music. One student said that the music "makes me feel happy" when he listened to Michael Buble. When we played a Michael Jackson song, students felt like moving more. Students created musical instruments to express their interest in sound. Students did a wonderful job creating instruments for this unit and reflected on their experiences on making sound. Students also formulated questions to research a recorder and a maraca. Students did a great job locating facts to answer the questions they created about the instrument.

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. Alll the provocation questions were effective in driving the inquiry. Additional questions were generated by students, which enhanced the inquiry.

What student-initiated actions arose from the learning? Students presented their instruments to first grade students. They described instruments, played instruments and answered questions from the students. Some students parents purchased them instruments to continue their learning about the instruments. Students viewed the strings class at school and they are interested in playing in the strings orchestra when they get in the fifth grade or sooner.

International Baccalaureate Organization 2007