1. IBMA Academy
August 6, 2015
Belvedere Elementary
5, 4, 3, 2, 1… LAUNCHING THE PYP!
TIPS, STRATEGIES, AND RESOURCES

2. Belvedere PYP Timeline
Spring/Summer 2013
Parent meetings held
Staff meetings held
April – Application
for candidacy
submitted
June – Staff from
each grade level
trained
August – Additional
staff trained
August – CLTs
planned 1st unit and
worked on POI
2013/14 School Year
In-house workshop
held for staff not
trained
4 units of inquiry
planned, taught,
reflected on
School-based
inquiry PD
PYP school visits
and conference calls
Assessment Policy
Language Policy
Mission Statement
PYP consultation
visit
2014/15 School Year
October – All
teachers trained
October - Apply for
Authorization
All units of inquiry
planned, taught,
reflected on
School-based
concept learning PD
Verification team
visit
June 2015
School authorized as
a PYP school

3. Standards
• Use transdisciplinary
themes to organize
standards
Concepts
• Review standards in
transdisciplinary unit
to identify concepts
Central Idea
• Use standards and
concepts to create
central idea (enduring
understanding).
Summative
Assessment
Lines of Inquiry
• Use standards to
identify
sections/subject-
specific
Teacher Questions
• Identify conceptual
questions to invite
inquiry
Formative
Assessments
Learning
Experiences
• Create big learning
experiences to support
student inquiry
Skills, Attributes,
Attitudes

4. PYP Transdisciplinary Themes
Who we are
Inquiry into the nature of the self; beliefs and values;
personal, physical, mental, social and spiritual
health; human relationships including families,
friends, communities, and cultures; rights and
responsibilities; what it means to be human.
How the world works
Inquiry into the natural world and its laws, the
interaction between the natural world (physical and
biological) and human societies; how humans use
their understanding of scientific principles; the
impact of scientific and technological advances on
society and on the environment.
Where we are in place and time
Inquiry into orientation in place and time; personal
histories; homes and journeys; the discoveries,
explorations and migrations of humankind; the
relationship between and the interconnectedness of
individuals and civilizations, from local and global
perspectives.
How we organize ourselves
Inquiry into the interconnectedness of human-made
systems and communities; the structure and function
of organizations; societal decision-making; economic
activities and their impact on humankind and the
environment.
How we express ourselves
Inquiry into the ways in 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.
Sharing the planet
Inquiry into rights and responsibilities in the struggle
to share finite resources with other people and with
other living things; communities and the relationship
within and between them; access to equal
opportunities; peace and conflict resolution.

5. Group Standards Using Themes
Lessons Learned:
• Some grade levels have standards that need to be taught in a particular order.
• Some teachers are more attached to the way standards used to be grouped.
• Organizing the units of inquiry on Google Drive allowed us to manage them easier.

6. Types of Standards
Science Social Studies Mathematics
The student understands
that adaptations may
increase the survival of
members of a species.
The student knows the
social, economic, and
political challenges that
were confronted by the
North and the South during
the American Civil War.
The student uses place
value to represent whole
numbers and decimals.
 How are these standards different?
Conceptual Factual Skill-Based
Lesson Learned:
• Sorting standards
first would have
been helpful
*Table from H. Lynn Erickson

7. Science Social Studies Mathematics
The student understands
that adaptations may
increase the survival of
members of a species.
The student knows the
social, economic, and
political challenges that
were confronted by the
North and the South during
the American Civil War.
The student uses place
value to represent whole
numbers and decimals.
Types of Standards
Science Social Studies Mathematics
The student understands that
adaptations may increase
the survival of members of
a species.
The student understands that
nations engaged in civil war
face social, economic, and
political challenges that can
reshape a culture over time.
The student understands that
place value can be used to
represent whole numbers
and decimals.
 Use the phrase “the student understands that…”
to rewrite the social studies and math standards
so they are conceptual.
*Table from H. Lynn Erickson

8. Form
Function
Causation
Change
Connection
Perspective
Responsibility
Reflection
PYP Key
Concepts
(Macro Concepts)

9. Program of Inquiry
Who we are Where we
are in place
and time
How we
express
ourselves
How the
world works
How we
organize
ourselves
Sharing the
planet
PreK Central Idea:
Concepts:
Lines of Inquiry:
Central Idea:
Concepts:
Lines of Inquiry:
Central Idea:
Concepts:
Lines of Inquiry:
Central Idea:
Concepts:
Lines of Inquiry:
Central Idea:
Concepts:
Lines of Inquiry:
Central Idea:
Concepts:
Lines of Inquiry:
K
1
2
3
4
5
Lesson Learned:
• Creating the complete POI
before teaching units of inquiry
will help in avoiding overlap.

10. Standards
• Use transdisciplinary
themes to organize
standards
Concepts
• Review standards in
transdisciplinary unit
to identify concepts
Central Idea
• Use standards and
concepts to create
central idea (enduring
understanding).
Summative
Assessment
Lines of Inquiry
• Use standards to
identify
sections/subject-
specific
Teacher Questions
• Identify conceptual
questions to invite
inquiry
Formative
Assessments
Learning
Experiences
• Create big learning
experiences to support
student inquiry
Skills, Attributes,
Attitudes

11. G - Students demonstrate an understanding that environment and natural events change living
things.
R - Students are scientists who have discovered a new plant or animal.
A - Other scientists
S - Students must present their findings at a conference
P - Students are given a type of environment. They create an animal or plant that might live in that
environment. They will create an informational board for a conference that includes non-fiction text
features. Students then consider what type of natural disaster might happen in their environment
and describe how their animal or plant would change. Students will then go look at other class
projects and evaluate the environment, decide what natural event would most likely happen and how
that group’s plant or animal would change.
S – Teacher rubric - The living thing’s form and natural event must match environment, changes must
connect to the natural event.
Science strands: Earth Resources, Life Processes--Standard 4-adaptations; Standard 5-food chains;
Standard 8 b, c animal and plant life cycle; Standard 10 natural and human influences--Language
arts: 3.6c /3.7b preview (features introduced before unit, application during the unit), 3.6 d
ask/answer’ 3.6 fgh - main idea

12. Students work with groups
to create the life cycles of
their own plant/animal.
Science strand: Earth
Patterns, Cycle, and
Change
Science: Standard 8 b and
c
Students create and
describe the adaptations
of their own plant/animal.
Science strand: Life
Processes
Science: Standard 4
Students write about their
own plant/animal’s
changes due to a natural
disaster.
Science strand: Earth
Resources
Language Arts: Standards
3.6c/3.7b
Web – Students will stand in a
circle, each will represent an animal
or a plant. Students will roll a ball
of yarn to another student they
depend on OR who depends on
them and explain how the
relationship is interdependent.
Science strand: Living Systems
Science: Standard 5
FORMATIVE PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT TASKS

13. Standards
• Use transdisciplinary
themes to organize
standards
Concepts
• Review standards in
transdisciplinary unit
to identify concepts
Central Idea
• Use standards and
concepts to create
central idea (enduring
understanding).
Summative
Assessment
Lines of Inquiry
• Use standards to
identify
sections/subject-
specific
Teacher Questions
• Identify conceptual
questions to invite
inquiry
Formative
Assessments
Learning
Experiences
• Create big learning
experiences to support
student inquiry
Skills, Attributes,
Attitudes

14. Additional Professional Development
 Additional IB Workshops
 In-house PD
 Inquiry
 Why are School Buses Always Yellow? Teaching for Inquiry, PreK-5
 Ways to Learn Through Inquiry: Guiding Children to Deeper Understanding
 Ladybugs, Tornados, and Swirling Galaxies: English Language Learners Discover Their
World Through Inquiry
 Taking the PYP Forward: Chapter 1: Inquiry as a Stance on Curriculum
 Concept-based Learning
 Concept-based Curriculum and Instruction for the Thinking Classroom
 Stirring the Head, Heart, and Soul: Redefining Curriculum, Instruction, and Concept-
Based Learning
 IBMA Networking Sessions
 Outside PD on inquiry
 Conference calls
 School visits
Lesson Learned:
• Spending more time learning
about conceptual teaching
beforehand would have been
helpful.

15. PYP Pedagogical Team
 Representative group of teachers
 Mission statement
 Staff reviewed mission statement and developed ideas
 Implementation Team developed statement from ideas
 Statement brought to community and revised
 Assessment/Language policies
 Reviewed best practices
 Reviewed examples on OCC
 Presented to community and
revised
 Professional Development

16. IB Learner Profile
 Monthly IB learner profile focus aligned with
counselor focus
 Weekly BNN message about focus
 Recognize students through “Role Model Moments”
 Posters
 Teacher bios with attribute
 Morning Meeting
 Specialists connect whenever
possible

17. Parent/Community Communication
 Updates in monthly PTA newsletter and bi-weekly
school newsletter
 Information on county-wide portal
 Information on school website
 Parent packets
 PYP brochure, Belvedere
brochure, general regulations,
opt-out form
 PTA meetings
 Parent center presentations
 Back to School Night
 Evening events highlighted
 Program of inquiry displayed and other displays

18. Additional Language/Mother Tongue
 FLES (Foreign Language in the Elementary School)
 Spanish instruction begins in 1st grade
 30 minutes of instruction two times per week
 Support 2nd Language
 Posters and materials in Spanish
 Spanish word of the day on BNN
 PIP (Partners in Print)
 Focused on reading in native language
 Library Resources
 Evaluated resources and began building
 Surveyed students about language spoken at home

19. Assessing PYP Implementation
 Staff PYP implementation survey
 Student IB learner profile survey
 Team/student portfolios
 PYP Standards and Practices
 Record of standards met
 State/school assessments
 Inquiry survey
Lesson Learned:
• This required more planning
and thought.

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