MYP Planning Inquiry Cycle

Tuning In:

Planning & Reflecting

Inquiry Cycle

Collaboration

Excellence

- Does our Statement of Inquiry reflect the Global Context? Is it worth understanding?

- Will this UoI be Concept Driven?

- Create inquiry questions driven by the key concept - related concepts guiding

- Review last years Unit Planner - last years reflections

- Tweaks? Changes? New? - any changes for this year?

- What evidence will evaluate (using criteria) learning?

- Map out unit:

*learning outcomes *ATLs *Command Terms to guide tasks *brainstorm ideas - drive with inquiry questions first

- classroom task formatives, common formatives, summative

For Teaching and Learning

Finding Out:

Taking Action:

Should start 2 weeks before the unit begins:

- Have you met all teachers that teach the whole HORIZONTAL CURRICULUM to this group of students?

- Possibly including: support teachers, counsellors, Librarians, and SLL/MYPC

- How is the Statement of Inquiry relevant/challenging/engaging/significant? ***Is it value laden? ***Can we inquire into the Global Context?

- Are the Key and Related CONCEPTS driving the unit? Will they allow students to demonstrate their understanding of the SoI? Do the Know/Understand/Do judge evidence and levels (criteria) of understanding?

- X EXAMPLE X What LANGUAGE genre/text type? Do the vocabulary and/or grammar structures allow students to understand the driving concepts and be able to do the summative assessment? Have you identified integrated vs. stand-alone goals, assessments and engagements?

- Which X insert SUBJECT X skills and understanding support the unit? Have you identified integrated vs. stand-alone goals, assessments and engagements?

- MYP Essential Elements: what criterion will compliment the unit? Can we formatively assess criterion not summatively assessed?

- Are there opportunities for action? Is service embedded within the unit, including all three aspects of its cycle: academic material, relevant service, critical reflection?

Should start after the unit finishes - first two weeks of the new unit:

- Use ManageBac to record all information about the unit - linking resources

- Gather physical resources and order any new: have you checked the inventory to record and return unit resources?

- Are any resources missing? Have you ordered any resources needed? ~ if this is done timely, then they will be available for the next school year

- Have you communicated with parents? What correspondence are you using? What information has your team agreed to communicate? What feedback would you like from parents to help you reflect on student learning?

- How are you keeping your students portfolios? Have your students chosen their own work that they are proud of to enter? Have your students reflected on these pieces of work? Do their reflections include all essential elements?

*Global Context *Key Concepts *Related Concepts *ATLs *Learner Profile *Inquiry Questions *Service and Action

- gather useful resources - create an inventory and order wanted resources

- communicate with parents - anything necessary and relevant about their child

- complete school specific reflection documents to communicate reflection data to the Head of Curriculum

- Complete MYP UoI Planner sections (all Planning and Reflecting Boxes)

- What do you want to find out about your students during your pre-assessment?

- What feedback do you want to gain your formative assessments?

- How can we develop our engagements, moving forward, using the information we will gather?

- How can we develop our integrated lessons further? Interventions that might be necessary? - start with big ideas - articulate details later

- Library: gather resources for the unit - have

students gather texts for your classroom library

with related themes/concepts to the unit

Should start 1 week before the unit begins:

- Where are your unit resources? Have you checked last years planner? Have you checked the library inventory? Are there any new resources? Are there any excursions or people to invite in? Where are their details? ~ ask librarian

- How will you share resources - team decision for everyone to agree and follow? Where are they stored online? Does the whole team have access to last years folder and this years?

- How will resources be monitored and documented? Everyone should be on the same page for this - for all shared resources

- Do you have a meaningful way to connect to the students personal experiences? If not, have you planned an experience or simulation for the students?

- What questions will you use to guide the students through their pre-assessment (what they understand of the SoI)

- How will you model vocabulary? What engagements will allow students to practice and develop the chosen ATLs? And to be introduced to the Global Context, related conecpts, inquiry questions and learner profile attributes needed to develop an understanding of the concepts driving the Statement of Inquiry?

- Personal Inquiry: How will you guide the student driven inquiry using the inquiry questions, yet leave room for students to develop avenues of personally relevant inquiry that will lead to greater understanding of the Statement of Inquiry?

- Essential Elements: which of these will you be assessing during each of your formative assessments? How will you be tracking students progress using these assessments? How will you record these engagements on the planner?

- How will you communicate upcoming learning to parents? Does your team have common communication?

- Have you set up your learning environment? Does it reflect your guidance of student learning?

- How is your inquiry cycle represented within visual learning?

REFLECT

Respect

CHOOSE

Curiosity

Reflections

Internationalism

Student Interests

Growth Mindset

Differentiation

Mindfulness

Questioning

Reminders for When You Are Creating/Guiding Engagements:

Sorting Out:

Making Conclusions:

Engage, Englighten, Empower

Ask yourself:

ACT

- Was/is the Statement of Inquiry easy to access for students?

- What really happened during your unit?

- What can we change for the next time this unit is taught?

- How is your engagement supporting students understanding of your units Central Idea?

- How is your engagement inquiry based?

- Which concept is driving the learning of this engagement?

- What is your Burning Question to help you guide your students?

- Have you taken into account your students personal interests?

- How is the engagement internationally minded/globally connected?

- Where in the engagement have you left room for differentiation? Why?

- Where in the engagement have you left room for extension? Why?

- Classroom library: students can begin

to create

- Burning Questions: students set up an area they

can interact with - guide for student interest

- 5 MYP EE's: are you explicitly addressing these?

Visual Thinking?

- Personal connections:

- do your students have personal

connections to the unit or SoI?

- do your students have personal

connections to the Global Context?

- Learning Environments: how have you used

common areas and individual classrooms

for intentional learning spaces?

Ask ourselves these questions during the middle weeks of the unit:

- How are your personal connections shared within your classroom? Do you have pictures of students and/or student work hung up? Do you have an area set up for students to bring in personal connection items they may wish to share?

- Have there been any shared experiences the class has had to enable them to bond and connect through their learning?

- Hang up meaningful text and quotes around the room that reflect the languages and cultures of the class (parents might be able to help you) - use discussion forums to continue this from home?

- Classroom library: books that reflect the unit can be chosen by students during library time - and set up by students after - create an online resource folder where students can share resources they find that are related to the current unit - new articles, websites, documentaries, etc. - this promotes student ownership of learning

- Do you have a Burning Question area? This is where you can find authentic student interest!

Should start after the unit finishes - first two weeks of the new unit:

Ask your students:

Going Further:

- Have you invited all teachers involved to reflect on the unit - using the MYP Unit Planner?

- Have you completed any school specific reflection documents?

- Where is your evidence of understanding the Statement of Inquiry? Do you have samples of student work saved in your own files?

- What is your evidence that connections were made between the Statement of Inquiry and the Global Context?

- How have your students demonstrated their understanding of the SoI?; How do we know the learner has achieved the expectation level they have? (Reflection)

- What actually happened? - record actual inquiries, including student-initiated inquiries and outcomes *What student initiated action has begun? *How were the targeted MYP concepts, ATLs, learner profile attributes, and inquiry questions developed?

- What would you change for next year?

- Create a list of resources you want to order and differentiation strategies used that worked or that could be improved upon

Creativity

- Which concept is leading/driving your question?

- What concepts do you think best support what we are learning right now?

- Now that we understand this, which concept would take our learning further?

- What questions do you still have? What concepts are driving those questions? *you can substitute any of the Essential Elements for concepts in the last question

- How does this understanding change the way we think? Why?

- What impact will this understanding have on you? On your daily life?

- Why do you think it was important for us to know/understand this?

- Why should we care about this?

- What 'pledges' can we make as a class/as an individual, now that we understand why this is so important, to make our world and lives a better place?

- How could we monitor or track our commitment to change?

Generosity

- Reflect on pre-assessment - what did you find

out about your students?

- Develop engagements further: interventions, emotional responses, student interest ***Strategies to achieve this

- Stay focused on the Central Idea and focus Concepts!

- Share feedback with your teams about student learning

- make arrangements for visitors and excursions for experiential or service learning to take place

- Gather and use Support Teachers or other

subject area feedback for any

interventions necessary

Ask ourselves these questions during the middle weeks of the unit:

- What information has your pre-assessment given you? Has this enabled you to tailor your engagements to ensure you are meeting all students needs? Differentiation could include addressing: prior knowledge of content or concepts, proficiency with ELL, specific learning needs or styles, emotional responses to initial learning engagements, etc.

- Have you met with your subject/grade teams and support teachers to share student responses to learning engagements?

- adapt engagements as you go to meet the specific needs and interest of different students and classes, while staying focused on the Statement of Inquiry and concepts assessed in the agreed summative assessments

- design homework assignments (if appropriate) which are relevant, significant, challenging and engaging to the development of the unit

- make practical arrangements for field trips, visitors, class to class collaboration, use of specialized equipment

- share ideas with one another about how teachers are supporting students with the ongoing recording reflection for the process of their inquiry

- plan how developing student interests and inquiries can best be facilitated - create or tweak already existing strategies

- Growth Mindset: how will the students develop their weaker learning attributes? How will learning strengths be nurtured?

K. Romlewski (Roberts)