Planning the inquiry
1. What is our purpose? Class/grade: To inquire into the following: 
5th School: Summit Primary Age group: 10‐11 School code: transdisciplinary theme Title: Rhythm How We Express Ourselves: An inquiry into the ways 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): Emily Cole, Arielle Hollander, Henna Hosain, John Celestin Proposed duration: number of hours 70 over number of 6 weeks 
Date: 11/2/15 to 12/17/15 central idea Awareness of the rhythm around us helps us to develop human expression. 2. What do we want to learn?
What are the key concepts (form, function, causation, change, connection, perspective, responsibility, reflection) to be emphasized within this inquiry? 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?
Task:
Using George Ella Lyons’ “Where I’m From”, scholars will create an original poem, rap, or song using sensory details, figurative language, and rhythm as a means of self‐ expression. See attached assignment sheets. Criteria:
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Scholars will study figurative language and sensory details in Lyons’ poem Scholars will interview family members to glean information about family history, culture, ideas, and beliefs. Scholars will record sensory details from their daily lives. Scholars will compile all information and use a template to write a poem, rap, or song describing where they are from. Scholars will use a medium of their choice to present their project (poster board, oral presentation, power point, video, etc.) Assessment
© International Baccalaureate Organization 2007
Key Concepts: Form, Function, Change Related Concepts: Rhythm, movement, patterns, sequences, cycles, predictability, symmetry What lines of inquiry will define the scope of the inquiry into the central idea? 
Rhythm in nature 
Expression of rhythm 
Benefit of rhythm 
The diverse ways in which people express themselves What teacher questions/provocations will drive these inquiries? Teacher Questions:  Where does rhythm exist in the natural world?  How does or can rhythm change?  How does awareness of rhythm enhance our lives?  How do different people or cultures express their thoughts and feelings? Provocation(s): Trail/Nature Walk around school with the anchor questions: What are some patterns we observe? What commonalities exist between two organisms? Planning the inquiry
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 engage with the inquiries and address the driving questions? What are the possible ways of assessing students’ prior knowledge and skills? What evidence will we look for? The teacher provides the context for inquiry (All done in Weeks 1‐6) What are some patterns we see in nature? 1.
Reading, writing, and reciting poetry What commonalities exist between two organisms? 2.
rhythm in art and music Where do you see/find patterns in your daily life? Leading and facilitating student inquiry In what ways is music a means of self‐expression? 1.
Different You Tube videos demonstrating rhythm as a means of self‐expression, rap music What are the differences and similarities between different mediums for self‐expression (poetry, art, music, rap)? How are these mediums connected? 2.
Poetry‐ Read, write and recite poetry. Read poems that illustrate onomatopoeia, imagery, haiku, rhyme schemes, figurative language, repetition, alliteration, and humor, author study, limerick, couplet, historical poetry, narrative poetry, nature in poetry. 3.
Patterns in prime/composite numbers, the rhythm of simplifying expressions and solving equations (PEMDAS as a pattern/rhythm/process), How can we use rhythm to learn about ourselves? Express what we have learned? What are the possible ways of assessing student learning in the context of the lines of inquiry? What evidence will we look for? Rhythm in nature—connections at Camp, connection to slow and fast changes of the earth’s surface Expression of rhythm—learn about other people using their songs, stories, poems Benefit of rhythm—use rhythm to create science raps to learn content, use rhythm of PEMDAS to simplify expressions The diverse ways in which people express themselves—summative assessment will give scholars an opportunity to express where they are from in a different way What opportunities will occur for transdisciplinary skills development and for the development of the attributes of the learner profile? 5. What resources need to be gathered? Transdisciplinary Skills: What people, places, audio‐visual materials, related literature, music, art, computer software, etc. will be available? Communication skills: writing, reading, listening ‐
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Interviews with family members Video about rhythm/ rap used to express emotion How will the classroom environment, local environment, and/or the community be used to facilitate the inquiry? Camp Grady Spruce—we will learn about how the rhythms/ slow changes of the earth resulted in different landforms created. © International Baccalaureate Organization 2007
Thinking Skills: analysis, synthesis Learner Profile attributes: open‐minded, reflective, balanced Attitudes: appreciation, creativity, integrity Reflecting on the inquiry
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 students’ understanding of the central idea. The reflections of all teachers involved in the planning and teaching of the inquiry should be included. What were the learning experiences that enabled students to: “ earthquakes happen in a rhythm, remembering how they happen, where they happen, and when they happen can help us predict the rhythm of when it will happen again” Different dialects can affect the rhythm of a poem—this changes how the person expresses their ideas, the perception from the audience “When we write poems, we are using sensory details to write in a way that we can understand. This is similar to math, when we use rhythm to simplify expressions in a way that we can understand” How you could improve on the assessment task(s) so that you would have a more accurate picture of each student’s understanding of the central idea. Namesake—Brother Ali (rap song)—use this as a poetry study for next year, research additional rap songs that demonstrate artists using rhythm of rap as a means of self ‐
expression When I was Young in the Mountain – pull this resource and additional poems that can be spiraled throughout the unit to discuss strategic decisions authors make re: rhythm/ sensory details to elicit emotional responses Research Chris Emdin’s “Reality Pedagogy” and use content as a means of “self‐
expression”—write their own math problems, raps for science/math Include explicit questions opportunities for scholar reflection: how did this person express a personal insight? Why did the author write this? Why did the author/artist choose this medium? What was the evidence that connections were made between the central idea and the transdisciplinary theme? “In the poem I was able to express myself through the lyrics” “my work is about my family and it has funny stories then sad stories. It relates to the unit of inquiry because I’m expressing myself from where I am from” “the rhytm of the words in my poem helps me to show other people the real me” © International Baccalaureate Organization 2007
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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 Transdisciplinary Skills Key Concepts focus: Trans. Skills focus: “ the function of a volcano starts with magma coming up from the earth’s core and exploding when enough head is added” Organization: I can determine a plan to solve a math problem and carry out that plan well. Learner Profile/Attitudes LP/Attitudes focus: Key Concepts: Connection, hook/ INM, p. 180 Students will connect their knowledge of science tools to the math lesson. They will use background knowledge about sieves to complete the “Sieve of Eratosthenes”. Form/ Function: Do determine whether to use the formula for area or perimeter, we must ask ourselves “what is it like?” (form) and “how does it work?” (function) Form/ Function: Do determine whether to use the formula for area or perimeter, we must ask ourselves “what is it like?” (Form) and “how does it work?” (function) Connection: How are fossil fuels and sedimentary rocks related? Can we have one without the other? Balanced: Just like we must be balanced in order to manage different tasks in life, we need to balance equations in order to ensure mathematical accuracy Metacognition: Students will reflect on their learning and track their progress towards mastery of readiness standards Thinker: How was Hell’s Gate formed? Application: I can use what I know about division to represent it in a new way using linking cubes. . Thinker: what kind of rock is at camp?. Dialectical Thought: Students will be able to compare and contrast dividing a fraction by a whole number and dividing a whole number by a fraction. Responsibility: Why is it our responsibility to conserve resources and use more alternative energy? Perspective: What are the differenent ways of looking at using fossil fuels vs. alternative energy? Inquirer: Questions about our world can be answered using the scientific method. Reflecting on the inquiry
8. What student‐initiated inquiries arose from the learning? 9. Teacher notes Record a range of student‐initiated inquiries and student questions and highlight any that were incorporated into the teaching and learning. Date, Teacher Names Present
Students went home and researched volcanoes in more depth—connected to rhythm “the process leading up to volcanoes erupting is a rhythm” Single‐subject teacher (Specialists) integration: Neva said, “If we had a better understanding of the wars in the past we would understand our present rhythm. Afnaan would have liked to write more in the unit. Technology (ICT) integration: Students looked for examples of rhythm in nature at Camp Grady Spruce. 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. What student‐initiated actions arose from the learning? Record student‐initiated actions taken by individuals or groups showing their ability to reflect, to choose and to act. Arielle Hollander, Emily Cole, Trevor Gallagher, Virginia O’Connor Collaborate with Ms. Woodley to include study of rap/ rhythm/ poetry slam Overall reflections for next year: Organize a poetry slam for the end of the unit—early December—speak with ops, LT, etc. Tying rhythm to plot and story elements for next year Start with poetry next year instead of ending with poetry, read different anchor poems to tie in the theme throughout the unit Include lessons on author/ artist/ creator’s purpose and connect to central idea—
how is the person trying to self‐express an idea? We need to order/arrange: Namesake—Brother Ali (rap song) When I was Young in the Mountain Student created science rap about landforms and engaged in a rap battle to express their ideas about their chosen landform against their classmates Research Chris Emdin Include explicit questions opportunities for scholar reflection: how did this person express a personal insight? Why did the author write this? We listened to the poem “They Came for the Socialists.” Kimberly went home and listened to it on yutube. © International Baccalaureate Organization 2007