Category: Inspiring Inquiry

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Inquiry Into How We Express Ourselves

This is part of a series of inquiry-based provocations for essential elements of the PYP. For more, click here. 

“How We Express Ourselves” was always a tricky PYP unit theme for me. I struggled finding ways to help our students weave it in a transdisciplinary manner, and it almost always just came back to the obvious art.

But similar to how my view of the PYP key concepts has broadened over time, so too is my view of this theme. I have come to better understand that expressing ourselves is a basic human need that is woven into all we do. I’ve also found that authentic self-expression, which engenders passion and joy, is more readily found when we embrace imperfection, cultivate a growth mindset, and are given opportunities to own our learning.

With that in mind, here are a few resources that might help you invite your students into a How We Express Ourselves Inquiry. Don’t forget about the provocation questions at the end (and add a few of your own if you’re so inclined)!

Resource #1: Ballet Rotoscope by Masahiko Sato + EUPHRATES via The Kid Should See This

Resource #2: Callum Donovan Grujicich’s Sculptural Art by CBC Arts, via The Kid Should See This

Resource #3: Why Do I Study Physics? by Shixie

Resource #2: Lily Hevesh’s Dominoes by Telia Carrier, via The Kid Should See This

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ty8OHwPApOU

Resource #5: Picture Books, of course!

“The Big Orange Splot” by Daniel Pinkwater has been a lifetime favorite of mine. Read with your students about what happens when a bird drops a bucket of paint on Mr. Plumbean’s house that used to be just like every other house on his neat street.

I love the mysterious whimsy of Annabelle’s box of yarn that never runs out, and how she uses it to transforms her surroundings.

Provocation Questions:

  • What does it mean to express ourselves?
  • Why do we feel the need to express ourselves?
  • How is general expression different from self-expression?
  • How can one person’s self-expression help someone else see the world differently?
  • How does the way we choose to express ourselves impact our lives? How does it impact the lives of others around us?
  • What is the connection between self-expression and individuality?
  • What is the connection between self-expression and perspective?
  • What does the growth mindset have to do with self-expression?
  • How can self-expression sometimes be unexpected?
  • Why is perfectionism the enemy of self-expression?

featured image: DeathToTheStockPhoto

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Inquiry into Friendship

Real learning — the kind that students carry with them and treasure in the longterm — is a vulnerable process. If we are to help our students get to a place where they are truly willing to put themselves out there, take risks, make mistakes, and try again, we need to take an active role in cultivating a classroom of trust.

It’s with that in mind that I share this week’s provocation on friendship.

Resource #1: Gymnastics student’s repeated efforts, via harleykyan

Resource #2: “Invisible Boy” by Trudy Ludwig and Patrice Barton

Resource #3: The Wonderment online children’s platform

Meet Us In The Wonderment from The Wonderment on Vimeo.

Provocation Questions:

  • How are trust and the growth mindset connected?
  • How does friendship work?
  • Why does feeling a sense of belonging matter?
  • What is our responsibility to be a friend to others?
  • How has technology changed the way we can support each other?

featured image: DeathToTheStockPhoto

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Inquiry into Making

One of my earliest and most vivid memories is of puttering around my preschool’s trays of outdoor loose parts. I can still smell the paste and egg cartons; I can feel the fistfuls of pebbles; I can recall the sense of pride at my creations. Making is something that resonates with me right down to my core, and I love that maker mindsets and makerspaces continue to gain traction in schools today.

If you’re looking for a good way to introduce your makerspace this year, why not begin with a provocation to get students wondering?

Resource #1: 10 Ways to Change a Lightbulb via The Kid Should See This

Resource #2: Primitive Technology: Sandals also via The Kid Should See This (and the guy’s channel)

And if your kids enjoy that one, be sure to introduce them to the Primitive Technology Youtube channel!

Resource #3: Picture Books!

SO many picture books inspire a maker-mindset, but a couple favorites include:

“Rosie Revere, Engineer” by Andrea Beaty,

“The Most Magnificent Thing” by Ashley Spires,

and “What Do You Do With An Idea?” by Kobi Yamada.

Provocation Questions:

  • Why do people make?
  • How does making influence communities, countries, the world?
  • How are making and creativity connected?
  • What responsibilities do we have when making?

featured image: DeathToTheStockPhoto

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Inquiry Into When “The Human Need to Calculate Runs into Messy Reality”

As an avid organizer myself, I completely understand the human need to categorize, calculate, and classify. But as a teacher (ie, a laborer among messy human beings), I also completely understand when “the human need to calculate runs into messy reality.” When we act like everything can be neatly sorted and identified — even the content within our curricula — we do our students a major disservice.

Because the truth is, every field still has its frontiers, its disputed claims, its square-pegs-&-round-holes. Inquiring into this concept can help our students think more deeply and with more nuance as they navigate the sometimes rough seas of human wisdom.

Resource #1: What Counts as a Mountain? (via The Kid Should See This)

Resource #2: Icelandic is Untranslatable by New Age Creators

#Resource 3: The Little Prince (the book or the beautiful new movie!)

Provocation Questions: 

  • How has human knowledge changed over time? How does it continue to change?
  • What is our responsibility in understanding the limitations in human knowledge?
  • Why is reality sometimes “messy?”

featured image: DeathToTheStockPhoto

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Inquiry Into Music

When zoomed in close to the content of our required curricula, an inquiry into music may seem like the least relevant provocation for the typical busy classroom (unless, of course, you’re doing a unit on music). But, as always when it comes to inquiry, when we zoom out and identify the broader, over-arching concepts of our units, we find common ground that will makes our that content more rich, relevant, and memorable.

Resource #1: Bicycle Bell Tree by Lullatone (via TheKidShouldSeeThis)

Resource #2: The Unexpected Love Story of Alfred Fiddleduckling by Timothy Basil Ering (I fell completely in love with the illustrations representing the music made by that fiddle).

Resource #3: “Landfill Harmonic”

Resource #4: Drum Dream Girl by Margarita Engle & Rafael Lopez

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Provocation Questions:

  • Why does music have the power to bring people together?
  • How are music and creativity connected?
  • How are music and innovation connected?
  • How has music changed over time?
  • How does music continue to change over time?
  • How does music impact you personally? How does music impact your family? How does music impact communities?

featured image: DeathToTheStockPhoto

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Provocation for Design in Nature

I am a huge sucker for time-lapse. It’s a mesmerizing phenomenon that by speeding up time, we get to feel like we’re slowing down. This is especially enjoyable when it comes to nature, which is why two of the four resources in this week’s inquiry include time-lapse videos.

The concept connections here include pattern, design, geometry, seasons, etc. Time lapse also lend themselves well to the PYP Transdiciplinary unit of “Where We Are in Place & Time.” But the exciting part about provocations is that we have no idea in which direction this might spark our students’ curiosity.

Resource #1: WoodSwimmer, time-lapse by bfophoto

Resource #2: Spring, time-lapse by Jamie Scott

Resource #3: Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature, picture book by Joyce Sidman and Beth Drommes

Resource #4: Animation Explores the Beautiful Circles of Our World, video by National Geographic

Provocation Questions:

  • How are change and patterns connected?
  • How are form and function connected in nature?
  • Why are there so many different designs and colors in nature?

featured image: DeathToTheStockPhoto

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Provocation for Finding Ideas

Where do we find inspiration? Why is that that one moment, ideas seem to sweep us away, and the next, they feel hopelessly out of reach? I’ve shared other provocations on finding wonder and inspiration before, but it’s such an essential flame to keep burning that I’m sharing another!

Resource #1: Where Do Ideas Come From? by Andrew Norton

Resource #2: On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein picture book by Jennifer Berne & Vladimir Radunsky

Provocation Questions:

  • When have you felt most inspired?
  • How does inspiration impact how our societies run/change?
  • Why do we feel uninspired sometimes?
  • What is our responsibility to share our ideas?

featured image: DeathToTheStockPhoto