PYP ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS - OVERVIEW

TEACHING/LEARNING 5 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS

INTERNATIONAL
MINDEDNESS
THE PYP PLANNER
KNOWLEDGE
Significant, relevant
content we wish the
students to explore and
know about, taking into
consideration their prior
experience/understanding
Transdisciplinary
Themes
CONCEPTS
Powerful ideas that have
relevance within the
subject areas but also
transcend them and that
students must explore and
re-explore in order to
develop a coherent, in-
depth understanding.
SKILLS
Those capabilities the students
need to demonstrate to succeed
in a changing, challenging
world, which may be
disciplinary or transdisciplinary
in nature.
ATTITUDES
Dispositions that are expressions of
fundamental values, beliefs and
feelings about learning, the
environment and people
ACTION
Demonstrations of deeper learning in
responsible behaviour through
responsible action; a manifestation in
practice of the other essential
elements
IB LEARNER PROFILE
1. What is our purpose?
Central Idea
Transdisciplinary Theme
Summative Assessment
Task(s)

2. What do we want to
learn?
Key Concepts
Related Concepts
Lines of Inquiry
Teacher Questions/
Provocations

3. How might we know
what we have learned?
Assessing prior knowledge
and skills
Assessing student learning
What evidence will we
look for

4. How best might we
learn? Learning
Experiences

5. What resources need to
be gathered?

6. To what extent did we
achieve our purpose?

7. To what extent did we
include the elements of
the PYP?

8. What student-initiated
inquiries arose from the
learning?

9. Teacher Notes
Who we Are
Inquiry into what it
means to be human

Where we are in time
and place
Inquiry into orientation in
place and time local
and global perspective

How we express
ourselves
Inquiry into the ways in
which we discover and
express ideas

How the world works
Inquiry into the natural
world and its laws, the
interaction between the
natural world and human
societies

How we organize
ourselves
Inquiry into the
interconnectedness of
human-made systems and
communities.

Sharing the planet
Inquiry into rights and
responsibilities in the
struggle to share finite
resources with other
people and with other
living things.

Form
What is it like?

Function
How does it work?

Causation
Why is it like it is?

Change
How is it changing?

Connection
How is it connected to
other things?

Perspective
What are the points of
view?

Responsibility
What is our responsibility?

Reflection
How do we know?



Thinking Skills
1. Acquisition of knowledge
2. Comprehension
3. Application
4. Analysis
5. Synthesis
6. Evaluation
7. Dialectical thought
8. Metacognition

Research Skills
1. Formulating questions
2. Observing
3. Planning
4. Collecting data
5. Recording data
6. Organizing data
7. Interpreting data
8. Presenting research

Social Skills
1. Accepting responsibility
2. Respecting others
3. Cooperating
4. Resolving conflict
5. Group decision making
6. Adopting a variety of roles

Communication Skills
1. Listening
2. Speaking
3. Reading
4. Writing
5. Non-verbal communication

Self-management skills
1. Gross/Fine motor skills
2. Spatial awareness
3. Organization
4. Time management
5. Safety
6. Healthy lifestyle
7. Codes of behaviour
8. Informed choices
Appreciation
Valuing of the wonder and beauty
of the world and its people
Commitment
Serious about learning, shows self-
discipline and responsibility
Confidence
Confident in their ability as
learners, courage to take risks,
applying what they have learned
and making appropriate choices
Cooperation
Works in a group, collaborating and
leading/following as the situation
demands
Creativity
Creative and imaginative in
thinking and in approach to
problems
Curiosity
Curiosity about learning and of the
world and its people and cultures
Empathy
Able to project themselves into
anothers situation in order to
understand others
Enthusiasm
Enjoying learning
Independence
Thinking and acting alone, making
judgments and being able to defend
them
Integrity
Being honest and demonstrating a
considered sense of fairness.

Respect
Respect themselves, others and the
world around them
Tolerance
Sensitivity toward difference
Responsive to needs of others
CHOOSE




REFLECT




Risk Takers
Willingness to make mistakes
Try new things
Willing and open to try and do
things in different ways

Thinkers
Prior Knowledge
Link with something new
Build upon other peoples ideas

Communicators
Follow directions
Express feelings, thoughts and
ideas in words, mathematics, art
and music

Knowledgeable
Thirst for knowledge
Openness to learn about self and
others

Inquirers
Questioning
Curiosity

Principled
Honesty
Reflective decision making
Responsible learners

Caring
Thoughtful
Helpful to others
Sensitivity

Open Minded
Active listening
Acceptance of other peoples
perspectives

Balanced
Healthy lifestyle
Time management

Reflective
Thoughtful
Metacognition
Through the action cycle the students
are able to grow both personally &
socially.

It is intended that the person taking
the action will grow from the
experience, and that the process of
taking action, or not, will contribute
to each student establishing a
personal set of values. Ref:
IBO, 2007

PYP action cycle: an ability to
reflect upon the local and global
consequences of ones actions;
thinking about how to make choices
based on these actions; and the ability
to plan and carry planned action(s)
through to a (hopefully) successful
outcome. Finally the need to evaluate
the action(s), so the cycle (C.A.R)
begins again.

NB
Action should not always be
concerned with fund raising
Teachers should be aware of
both tokenism and the
contradiction of planning
for student-initiated action
Disciplinary Subject
Areas
Languages
Mathematics
Science
Social Studies
Arts
PSPE
Modified by Ellen Manson, RCHK, 2010
from a document created by Bec Clementsat Immanuel Primary School,
Adelaide, Australia
ACT