Planning a new unit of inquiry for students aged 3-6 can be both exciting and challenging. With such young students, it is important to keep in mind their interest, developmental needs, and abilities as well as the overarching goals of the PYP. As a coordinator, you will play a vital role in leading the planning and the implementation of the unit.
In this article, we will go over important factors to keep in mind when planning a unit of inquiry for young students. Whether your school already has a POI in place, is using the IB sample POI, or if you are creating a new POI from scratch, this guide will provide valuable insights and guidance to ensure a successful unit. By the end of this article, you will have the tools necessary to lead your team in planning an effective and engaging unit of inquiry for their students.
The approach outlined in this article seamlessly incorporate all the necessary elements for completing the PLANNING section of the unit planner, including the central idea, lines of inquiry, key concepts, related concepts, learner profile attributes, approaches to learning, tuning in provocations, and knowledge.
Table of content
Learning goals
The planning process for a unit of inquiry begins long before you start filling out the planner. During your first meeting with your planning team, it is important to review or decide on the learning focus and goals for the unit. To facilitate this meeting, it's best to bring only pens and a large sheet of paper for taking notes. Avoid using computers or other devices as they can often be a distraction during the brainstorming and note-taking process.
If your school already has a POI in place, you should have a central idea to work with. Encourage your team to read the central idea, identify the big ideas within it, and think about what the unit will be about.
If you do not have a clear central idea yet, take the time to choose a transdisciplinary theme and theme descriptor. Consider what you want the unit to be about and identify concepts that align with your curriculum and your students' interests.
To guide the meeting, we will be using the following sentence stems:
Our students will be interested in…
We want them to understand that…
They will become able to…
They will need to know…
During the planning meeting, utilize a large sheet of paper to create a mind map. Place the central idea or concepts at the center and use the four sentence stems as branches. Encourage the team to jot down their ideas and thoughts as the discussion progresses. The mind map should resemble something like this:
Our students will be interested in...
This step will help identify the specific interests and needs of your students, providing valuable insight for creating engaging and relevant provocations. Take the time to consider the possible interests and ideas that align with the concepts outlined in the central idea for the unit. Keep in mind that these ideas should be specific to your students and their experiences.
Complete the sentence with as many examples as you can. For example:
for a unit about living things and life cycles: our students will be interested in studying dinosaurs, their own pets, or plants found in a nearby park.
for a unit about communities: our students will be interested in exploring their own families, classmates, and the local community surrounding the school.
for a unit about properties of materials: our students will be interested in studying the different properties of sand in the school yard, dirt in the park, or water in a nearby pond.
It is important to keep in mind that this step is focused on your specific group of students in your current class or grade. By utilizing the interests and experiences of "our students," the unit scope will remain connected to their experience and relevant to them. It is crucial at this stage of the process to avoid basing your planning on general age expectations, and instead, focus on the unique needs and interests of the students you currently have in your class. This approach will ensure that the unit is tailored to the specific needs of your students, making it more engaging and meaningful for them.
We want them to understand that…
Next, discuss what you want students to understand about the concepts and/or the central idea. You can start the discussion as a general brainstorm and then connect the ideas to the school curriculum.
Complete the sentence with as many examples as you can. For example:
for a unit about living things and life cycles: we want them to understand that plants and animals need food, water, air and sun to survive, that all living things go through life cycles, that we have responsibilities for care of living things
for a unit about communities: we want them to understand that a community is a group of people living together, there are rules in every community, that people have various rights and responsibilities in a community
for a unit about properties of materials: we want them to understand that that the earth’s surface is made of different materials, that these materials such as rocks, sand, dirt, water have properties that can be described.
During the discussion, take note of any recurring ideas and concepts that come up. Group these ideas together and identify 2-3 key concepts and smaller related concepts. For instance, the goal "understand that we have responsibilities for care of living things" can be connected to the key concept of Responsibility. Once you have identified the concepts, create 2-3 lines of inquiry or review the existing lines of inquiry by using the related concepts and key concept questions. For example, using the related concepts of living things and care and the key concept of Responsibility, the line of inquiry could be "My responsibilities towards taking care of living things."
Easy, right? This step is very important as it will define the scope of the unit. Identifying key concepts and related concepts may seem difficult at first, but with some practice, you and your team will become more proficient in the process. By working together and continuously learning and practicing, you will gain a deeper understanding of concepts and make the planning process more streamlined.
And don't forget that this is your first unit as a coordinator and it is natural for things to not go perfectly. As you continue to plan for other units and go through this process each year, you will have the chance to improve the program based on your own experiences and feedback from the teachers.
They will become able to...
In the next stage of the meeting, your team will discuss the behaviors and actions that students may display at the end of the unit, as a result of the understandings gained during the unit.
Complete the sentence with as many examples as you can. For example:
for a unit about living things and life cycles: they will become able to demonstrate care towards small insects and plants found in parks, show consideration of the environment and how their actions affect habitats, research about living things and share their learning to the community
for a unit about communities: they will become able to display respect for others, develop a sense of justice, integrity and honesty, help others in need.
for a unit about properties of materials: they will become able to identify and describe the properties of various materials and experiment with different materials in their play.
Organize these ideas together and connect them to 2-3 learner profile attributes and 1-2 approaches to learning categories. These will be the attributes and skills to focus on and assess during the unit, and the evidence to look for when assessing student progress.
They will need to know...
Finally, the team needs to consider what factual knowledge will help students in understanding the concepts and demonstrating the desired behaviors and actions.
Complete the sentence with as many examples as you can. For example:
for a unit about living things and life cycles: they will need to know the needs of living things, different types of habitats and animals that live there, sources of water.
for a unit about communities: they will need to know the definition of a community, the various roles within different communities
for a unit about properties of materials: they will need to know different types of materials such as rocks, sand, and water, as well as the properties of each material.
Remember, the PYP prioritizes an inquiry-based approach. This means that students should acquire this knowledge through investigation and exploration rather than by direct instruction. The teaching team will need to plan for experiments, research, and other hands-on learning experiences.
Crafting the central idea
Finally, it's time to craft a central idea that will encompass the three lines of inquiry and the selected concepts. Instead of thinking of a new central idea from scratch, which is pretty difficult for new PYP practitioners, you may consider looking at POI from other schools or research on Google to find the most suitable central idea for your unit. You can still review and update the central idea later. The Toddle Learn platform also offers a wealth of resources on unit planning and central idea creation.
Some great central ideas for the units I have used as examples are:
All living thing possess unique characteristics and are connected to their habitat.
Our actions and responsibilities contribute to the functioning of a community.
The properties of materials determine how people use them.
Recently, I also have been using Chat GPT to help me with the planning process. You can read more about this in this article.
Putting the data together
Step 1 (students' interests) and step 4 (required knowledge) will provide your team with a foundation to begin the unit. Plan engaging provocations that tap into students' interests while fostering the acquisition of the required knowledge. For instance, the class could start by caring for a living thing and exploring what it needs for survival and growth.
The understandings, behaviors, and actions outlined in steps 2 and 3 will serve as the unit's learning goals. It will take time for the students to demonstrate these, and they may start showing progress only towards the end of the unit. Remind the team to keep these learning goals in mind throughout the unit as they will need to collect evidence when ongoingly assessing and reporting on these objectives.
You can read more about assessment in this article.
A note on understanding and knowing
It can be challenging for new PYP practitioners to distinguish between understanding and knowing.
Knowledge is the accumulation of facts and definitions, and it can only be right or wrong. For instance, stating that a community is a group of people is knowledge. This definition can hardly be argued. It is not open to interpretation, and such a statement usually doesn't lead to deep or meaningful conversations.
On the other hand, an individual's responsibility within a community is open for discussion and debate. For example, one can argue about the role of the teacher in the classroom. But the key understanding in this debate is that the teacher plays a role as a member of the school community, which could lead to a discussion about how a community functions (key concept) and the rights and responsibilties of everyone in the community (related concepts). In the PYP, understanding is closely tied with the exploration of concepts, hence the importance of the key (and related) concepts.
Teacher/Student Questions and Prior Learning (Tuning In)
After the learning goals have been established, you may want to take a break or continue the meeting on another day. This will allow the teachers time to process the information and generate new ideas for engaging learning experiences.
During the next session, you and the team will identify the teachers questions and provocations that will inform the lines of inquiry and help you assess students’ prior knowledge, conceptual understandings and skills, as well as expected student questions.
Teacher questions
Rewrite your lines of inquiry as provocative questions. It is these questions, not the central idea or lines of inquiry, which you will share with the students. So make sure they are child-friendly.
Student questions
Consider what questions you want students to ask in their play for each learning goal. What do you want them to wonder? What student questions will guide them to inquire about the concepts?
Prior learning
Finally, start planning learning experiences that will ignite students' interests and encourage them to ask the questions listed above. 4-5 provocations or learning experiences should be enough for the first two or three weeks of the unit. The next set of learning experiences can be planned after that. I usually recommend teachers to plan only for the week ahead in order to remain flexible and be able to respond to student needs.
Filling the planner
Now, it's time to complete the PLANNING section of the planner. You can find a template on myIB, which includes a .pdf bubble planner and a more standard .doc version. I recommend that you use the .doc version because it is easier to fill and to understand.
To fill in the planner, simply follow the prompts provided on the PYP planner by IB. There is a designated box for each aspect of the unit: TD theme, central idea, lines of inquiry, key concepts, related concepts, learner profile attributes, approaches to learning, and action.
The learning goals (what we want students to understand, know, and do), teacher questions, and student questions should be recorded on page 3 of the planner.
Note that the PLANNING section is in blue, and it is what we are focusing on in this article. The other sections are orange for teachers to fill out during the IMPLEMENTATION of the unit and green for ongoing and final REFLECTION of the unit.
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Final words
Planning a unit of inquiry is an iterative process that requires ongoing reflection and adaptation based on student response and feedback. By continually adjusting the unit to meet the needs and interests of students, teachers can ensure that their learning experiences are engaging, meaningful, and relevant.
A well-planned unit of inquiry is vital in ensuring that students receive a well-rounded education. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can be sure that you are creating a unit that will meet the needs of all students while providing a meaningful and engaging learning experience. Remember that planning a unit of inquiry is a flexible and ongoing process and it's important to remain open to changes and to be responsive to student's needs and interests.
Keep reading this blog to find other resources and information.
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