IB

I teach at an International Baccalaureate school which follows a PYP program. We do a lot of inquiry and trans-disciplinary teaching. Here are some of the things I do in my room!

 

I use one of the "lines of inquiry" as a planner reflection. I write it on an index card and the students reflect on the planner to be hung on our "IB Reflection Wall."

 

 

 

 Wonder Wall! My students are ALWAYS asking questions and being little inquirers. I love it but sometimes we don't have time to answer all these questions in our day. I always say "I LOVE THAT, will you go write it on a sticky note so we can research it later?" We always do, and they really enjoy writing the answer at the bottom of their inquiry sticky note.
 

 

 

I guess even Second Graders notice the trend. Here is an inquiry after I introduced our Economics Planner last week.

 

Producers and Consumers

For an introduction to my Economics unit I brought in some juice and left 5 cents (fake coins) on each kids desk. They all purchased the juice and I collected their money. I discussed with them that a person that sells an item is called the producer and the person that buys the item or good is called the consumer. I had them write reflections afterwards.

Producers Consumers

Ox- Cart Man is an AMAZING book for discussing Producers, Consumers, Goods, and Services with your kids. Last year I just read the book to my kids but this year I found the Reading Rainbow video read aloud and played that also. The first day I read it to them and asked them to find the goods and services in the story. The next day I played the video and they searched for the producers and consumers.

Wants Vs. Needs

Our Economics Unit is one of my favorites because it is always a hit with my kids.

I wanted to see what students had background knowledge about the terms "wants and needs" so I gave them each two sticky notes and asked them "What do you think WANT means? What do you think NEED means?

 

One of my favorite sidebar conversations that I heard was "Well I asked my mom for new Nike shoes and she said I DIDNT NEED THAT" "But you do need shoes to survive, so she SHOULD have bought them for you."

 

Afterwards, we watched a BRAIN POP Jr. short video that explained Wants and Needs. Students were able to write down the real terms if they didn't already have that answer on their sticky note.

 

Next, we started our Wants and Needs Folders. The students were given $40. They had to spend $20 on things they need to survive and $20 on things that they thought would increase their quality of life. I gave each student a lined piece of paper where they made a T chart to keep track of their spending. Their objective was to total up their purchases to make sure they did not exceed their $20 limit.

 

 

I had both magazines and Publix adds to groups to look through. It was interesting how many students asked "Can I buy this Puppy?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Water Cycle

We  did another experiment in my classroom! Shocker I know! :)

We used water, shaving foam, and blue food dye to show the water cycle. The students were able to explain that the water molecules were condensing and forming rain drops that fall from the cloud. In this picture my students are mocking my crazy "Molecule Dance"... #teacherlife #dancingmakesthingsmorefun

Phases of the Moon

Phases of the Moon!

I used a flash light to represent the sun, a globe to represent the earth, and a paper plate that I drew to make look like the moon. I asked a student to walk around the globe to show how the moon orbits the sun and had another student spin the globe to show how Earth is constantly turning on its axis and I stood holding the sun to show how the light shines. Each student had an opportunity to play a "part" in the cycle.

Dr. Seuss Day

 

 

Dr. Seuss Day was a blast!

We read the story "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" then conducted a science experiment!

Students discussed color mixing and the scientific method. They made predictions about what they thought would happen if we put the tissue into the two colors of water. Surprisingly, some my second graders did not know what secondary color blue and yellow made or what red and blue made (primary colors vs. secondary colors). They also were in awe of how the water traveled up the tissue and down into the third cup.

The wonders of water!

Cookie Erosion

So I had some leftover cookies and I thought "What kind of experiment could I do with these?"

Sometimes, its the simplest activities that are the most fun!

 

First: I wanted to see my students background knowledge. I wrote the word "EROSION" on the board and asked "what does this word mean or make you think of?"

Answers: Starts with an e, so maybe earth.

Error

The sun

Then I explained what Erosion was by playing a short video from Discovery Education.

I wrote the word EROSION on the board again and asked "what does this word mean or make you think of?"

Answers: Water moving dirt.

Dirt breaking down into smaller pieces.

Rock being made into different types of rock.

 

Experiment time!

I showed my students a cookie and a cup of water.

I asked the essential question:

HOW MANY MINUTES WILL IT TAKE FOR A COOKIE TO ERODE IN WATER?

Students made their predictions as a team then shared for our chart paper. (1, 5, 7, 10)

We practiced our time skills by watching the clock. During each prediction time, teams wrote down observations about the cookie in the water onto sticky notes.

I can honestly say, I have never seen my kids more excited.

 

"MS ROSE COME HERE AND LOOK AT THIS!!!!"

:)