WebQuests

We can provide very structured and guided inquiry projects called WebQuests to support the PYP emphasis on inquiry and students being independent and active learners. WebQuests are online research expeditions built by teachers that put the students, working in groups, into roles to find information from specially selected sites and books as they attempt to solve a real problem. The students working in teams analyze, curate and then use the information to create a project to demonstrate their understanding. WebQuests are NOT Internet scavenger hunts with students just going through a list of links. True WebQuests have the students performing in the authentic roles of historians, economists, mathematicians, etc. The culminating project is usually a performance task in which the students present their findings while playing their roles, or apply the learning to produce a product. 

Supporting examples: 

• ColonialQuest
• Solar Explorers  
• Middle Ages Quest
• AfricaQuest

To learn more about WebQuests, experience a WebQuest about WebQuests with their creator, Dr. Bernie Dodge. Developing the several web pages that comprise a WebQuest takes some time up front, but the results can be impressive as students become very engaged as they really do “own” their learning. It can be used year after year with new classes of students, sequencing important instruction online instead of onto photocopies. WebQuests can also be the mechanism to deliver a full unit of study.

ICL Supported Thinking Routines

In Making Thinking Visible, Ron Ritchhart, Mark Church, and Karin Morisson help readers understand the power of thinking routines to guide them to develop cultures of thinking. They define cultures of thinking as “places where a group’s collective as well as individual thinking is valued, visible and actively promoted as part of the regular, day-to-day experience of all group members.” (Kindle version 4357-65) The authors go on to explain that they use the word “places” to note that cultures of learning take place in boardrooms, meeting rooms and not just the classroom.

To support the thinking routines, a Thinking Routines section was created for our Web Resources for Learning Web site to share how technology can be used in the classroom to support and at times enhance the use of the thinking routines as you use them to reach the learning goals of your lessons. An important purpose of the routines section is to connect to the authors’ point that cultures of learning also can take place outside of the classroom. In this case the "place" is a virtual learning space where students and teachers interact. Thus, you will find tools and practices here that support blended learning which helps build cultures of learning by using online tools where students can work individually and in groups outside of the classroom.

ICL and Curation

Curation of information is an important part of the Information and Communication Literacies (ICL) program. We skill our students to find information and analyze it. But what do they then do with the information? Where do they put it? There are several tools such as Google Docs, Noodle Tools and several others where students can curate their findings. 

For more information on curation in K-12, take a look at the article "Why Curation Will Transform Education and Learning: 10 Reasons".

Visual Note-taking (Sketchnoting)

Our students live in a media rich world. They think in images, video, and sound while constantly making neural connections. The iPad empowers students to draw, audio record, insert images and embed hyperlinks to information sources all in a very personalized way. This is where visual note-taking (also called sketchnoting) comes in. We can expand note-taking choices beyond just text recording by guiding students to use mind maps, colors, shapes, images, digital grouping by dragging and dropping objects, and using connecting lines to record their thinking. Talk about individualizing and personalizing student learning! Here are a few resources to help paint the picture of visual note-taking. 

Select the image to see larger version outlining Three Things To Remember with Visual Note-taking

Supporting sites: 

• Sketch Notes 
• Grade 3 Example  
• Sketchnoting by Kathy Schrock
• Sketchnoting slideshow by Sylvia Duckworth
• Teacher’s Narrative 
• Visual Note-taking by Nicki Hambleton
• Wes Fryers’ Blog Dedicated to Working with Media

Image Sources: Visual Note-taking  | Visual Note-taking 3 Things

Using Video to Communicate the Culture of One's Classroom and School

Primary School International Week

As teachers we employ multiple methods to communicate with the parents of our students. Over time, parents gain understanding of our classroom culture. One way to support this process of building understanding is by creating and sharing videos. Whether it be your classroom or whole school, videos are a wonderful way to paint the picture of our learning communities. Don't forget that the Web Resources for Learning has a page dedicated to using videography in our classrooms. 

Blended Learning Language Support

There are many individual language learning apps that one can use with his/her students on the iPad. There are also two online resources that support blended learning with students working in and out of school for language learning.

The iTalki site is a provider of individual language learning. One signs up for the service and works with a tutor. The Duolingo for Education platorm really provides whole class support with each student having his/her own account.  

Image Sources: iTalki   Duolingo

Multiple Intelligences Approach to Assessment

Becky Rosenberg, our PYP Coordinator, put together a chart listing multiple intelligences assessment tasks that students could perform for the upcoming Grade 2 Life Cycles unit of inquiry. Giving students choice and multiple means to make their thinking visible is definitely supported through MI and Universal Design for Learning.