This week provided a great example for how teachers work together to plan how best to begin a new unit of inquiry. Usually, a couple of weeks or so before a new unit is due to begin, grade level teachers meet to discuss the upcoming unit. The central idea and lines of inquiry are looked at and teachers consider what the students will need to know, understand and be able to do by the end of the unit. Once agreements are reached, thought is given to how best to introduce the unit to the students.
The opening part of the unit of inquiry is known as ‘tuning-in’ and the aims for this phase include:
- Establish purpose and relevance
- Provoke curiosity and wonder
- Access and document prior knowledge, existing theories and ideas
- Formulate questions
- Consider ways to find out
This week, our Grade 4 team, Ms. Amy Norman, Ms. Ays Lawson, Mr. Jaymz McKind and Ms. Suad Al Balushi, worked together and created a fun provocation to introduce their new, Where We Are in Place and Time unit. The unit has a focus on exploration and discovery so the Grade 4 team set up a scavenger hunt activity that meant the students had to work in small groups to solve clues that would lead them to four different locations around the school. At each station, students completed a different activity, which included creating a timeline, studying maps, investigating key vocabulary for the unit, and even meeting Christopher Columbus!
The activity was thoroughly enjoyed by the students and provoked much excitement for the upcoming unit. Students have started to pose questions and share their wonders about exploration and explorers and it will be exciting to see how the unit develops over the next few weeks.
Making a tuning-in engagement fun and interesting is a great way to generate enthusiasm and the Grade 4 team did a fabulous job in doing just that – well done, Grade 4!
If you ever have any questions about the PYP, please ask.
Best regards,
Matthew