Welcome to PYPteachingtools.com

Planning Your First Unit of Inquiry: Where to Start in the IB PYP

Back to school in your IB PYP class is well and truly over. The settling-in weeks are behind you. Routines are running, names are sticking, the classroom finally feels like yours. And now the real planning pressure lands: your first proper unit of inquiry of the year.

It's a strange kind of hard. You've done this before, plenty of times. But not with this group, not yet knowing what makes them curious, what derails them, what they'll push back on. There's no "last year's version" of this unit to lean on, because last year's version was built for different children and the reflections came from those children. 

That's why the first unit of the year is so often the one that eats the most planning time, for the least confidence in the result.

Why the First Unit Is the Hardest One to Plan

A few reasons this one is different from every unit that follows it:

  • You're choosing concepts for a class you're still getting to know; there's no muscle memory with this group yet.
  • How well verse
  • ...
Continue Reading

5 Signs Your IB PYP Students Are Becoming True Concept Seekers (Not Just Topic Learners)

Hello again, fellow inquiry teachers!

There's a moment in every unit when you can feel the shift. Your students stop reciting facts about the topic and start reaching for the concept underneath it. Know what I mean?  It's one of my favourite things to watch happen in a classroom, and it's not always obvious unless you know what you're looking for.

Making connections with concepts: form, causation, structure, change, impact all through the topic of rocks & minerals. 

Here are five signs I watch for and they all connect with classroom strategies: 

1. They Use the Word "Because" Without Being Asked

Topic learners tell you what happened. Concept seekers tell you why it happened, and connect it to something bigger, without you prompting them for the "because."😉

2. They Transfer the Idea to a Completely Different Context

A true sign of conceptual understanding is when a student takes an idea from your unit and applies it somewhere else, somewhere you never mentioned. That is tra...

Continue Reading

Planning an IB PYP Who We Are Inquiry: What Concepts Live Here?

Is human body science still an IB PYP Who We Are unit under the IB's refreshed transdisciplinary themes and how does a kindergarten community project fit under the very same theme as a grade 5 unit on beliefs and values?

Short answer: all of it fits, and it isn't a coincidence. Who We Are's updated descriptor names three strands: physical, emotional, social and spiritual health and well-being; relationships and belonging; and learning and growing all pointing back to one idea: identity. Body systems, community, belief .... they're three doors into the same room. (Full adoption of the refreshed descriptors runs through September 2027, so if your school hasn't formally moved over, it's worth a quick check with your PYP coordinator.)

But that raises the real question underneath all of this: if the content is completely different from one Who We Are unit to the next, what actually makes it recognisably the same theme?

Not the content. The concepts.

Content Is the Vehicle, Not the Desti...

Continue Reading

Are You an IB PYP School? The Ultimate Inquiry Toolkit To Support You

Are You a PYP School?

If you are opening a new PYP programme, welcoming a wave of new-to-PYP teachers this year, or simply looking for a complete resource to anchor your whole staff around concept-based inquiry, this one is for you.

Getting a school off to a strong start with the IB PYP takes more than good intentions. It takes a shared language for the concepts, a shared understanding of the Approaches to Learning skills, and practical, classroom-ready tools that every teacher, from Kindergarten through Grade 5, can pick up and use with confidence.

That is exactly why I built the Ultimate PYP Inquiry Toolkit Bundle.

Toolkit Bundles , Whole School Support for Every Level

The bundles come in two complete sets, so every teacher across your school is supported at their own grade band:

Continue Reading

Planning in the IB PYP How the World Works: What Concepts Live Here?

Every Unit of Inquiry starts somewhere. For most of us, it starts with content — forces, motion, machines, energy, structures, technology. We picture the activities first, then go hunting for resources, then try to squeeze it all into the planner.

Somewhere in that process, the inquiry itself can get lost.

I want to suggest a different starting point: start with the concepts. If inquiry is the journey, concepts are what propel it forward and that brings us to the single most useful question you can ask when planning a Unit of Inquiry:

What concepts live here?

Not just the specified concepts already sitting in the planner. What concepts actually live in this theme? That one question can change the way you plan every unit you teach  and it's the starting point for a simple, repeatable 7-step pathway I use for concept-based planning, which I'll walk through below using a How the World Works unit on forces, motion and innovation as the example.

Planning the Inquiry, Not Perfecting the...

Continue Reading

Reading Skills in the IB PYP with Daily Quotes Provocations

In our IB PYP classroom, literacy should do more than teach children to read words, it should help them read the world. One of the most powerful shifts I made in my classroom was introducing daily quote provocations that connected directly to our Programme of Inquiry. Daily quote provocations transformed our literacy from a subject into a thinking practice. These short but powerful texts became a bridge between reading skills, thinking skills, and concept-based learning across all six IB PYP transdisciplinary themes.

Using carefully selected quotes from artists, scientists, leaders, writers, historical figures, and even fictional characters, students engaged in a daily routine of Read – Reflect – Respond. What began as a warm-up quickly became one of the most meaningful literacy practices in our classroom.

Why Quotes Are Powerful for Reading Development

Short texts like quotes are deceptively rich. Because they are brief, students can focus their cognitive energy on deep thinking ra...

Continue Reading

Developing Inquiry and Research Skills in the IB PYP: Project Based Learning for Grades 1 -3

With hands on and meaningful investigations through project based inquiry, we can engage our young inquirers and IB PYP learners in research focusing on concepts through implicit research skills. Take a look at the examples below, including the chart that demonstrates the flow through the inquiry and see how project based learning ties in beautifully with concept-based inquiry. The examples I'm sharing were designed as age-appropriate tools to support our youngest learners whilst diving into transdisciplinary projects that help to build thinking skills, research skills and all leading to deeper conceptual understanding. 

 A Fantastic Entry Point to Inquiry for Young Learners

Project based learning instantly grabs children’s attention because there is an exciting purpose. But behind the fascination lies a rich opportunity to deeply explore disciplinary concepts and develop all important thinking & research skills. The example Im sharing for the purpose of illustrating

...
Continue Reading

5 Ways to Bring Inquiry Into Your IB PYP Math

Maths is so much more than “finding the answer.” When we connect it to everyday experiences, it becomes about seeing patterns, asking questions, and making sense of the world.

One simple but powerful guiding question is:

Where’s the maths here?

This question opens the door to authentic inquiry, giving students the chance to explore mathematics through curiosity, context, and connection. Below are five strategies you can use with any age group to nurture student agency and highlight maths through a conceptual lens.

I'm bringing you 5 ideas that can be applied with ANY age and really support student agency, identifying those threads for inquiry and all through a conceptual lens. 

 When we connect maths to everyday experiences, it becomes less about “finding the answer” and more about seeing patterns, asking questions, and making sense of the world.

Find the threads for inquiry.

Consider the big question: Where's the maths here?

Here are 5 simple, hands-on ways to bring that spiri...

Continue Reading

Developing ATL Skills in the IB PYP Early Years Slow Looking See Think Wonder

 

Slow Looking to Spark Inquiry: Using Look & Wonder Story Mats to Build ATL Skills in the PYP

One of my favourite parts of an inquiry is that moment when my students’ eyes widen and they lean forward, eager to share a question or idea that just popped into their minds. That’s when I know I’ve sparked genuine curiosity. Over the years, I’ve experimented with different provocations to tune into new units of inquiry, but one tool has really transformed the way my learners engage in those early stages: Look & Wonder Discussion Mats. What I didn’t anticipate at first was how powerfully they would support the IB PYP Approaches to Learning (ATL) skills - not just in the early years, but all the way through to upper primary.

Observations were superficial and questions were shallow. 

How to Use Look & Wonder Story Mats to Develop Observation, Thinking, and Communication Skills

I created these mats to help my students slow down, notice details, and wonder out loud. At first, their observati...

Continue Reading

Planning Essentials for IB PYP Inquiry Teachers: Tools, Strategies & Professional Learning

 

Everything You Need for PYP Inquiry Teachers 

 I know how much you pour into creating meaningful, engaging, and wonder-filled learning experiences for your students. I also know how hard it is to juggle planning, professional development, and everything else on your plate.

How do I know? Because you told me.

I receive many, many questions from our community, every month. And I hear you.😊That’s why I created a single home for inquiry-based educators everywhere!

Introducing: Essentials for Inquiry Community Hub
Your one stop designed to empower inquiry teachers with done-for-you resources, practical strategies, tools, and professional learning all focused on concept-based inquiry and student-led learning.

This is more than a subscription. It’s a time-saving lifeline packed with everything you need to develop thinkers and inquirers, provoke wonder in your students, and enhance your teaching practice all unlocked instantly, ready whenever you are.

Here’s what’s waiting for you:

W...

Continue Reading
1 2 3 4
Close

50% Complete

Be sure to subscribe to PYPteachingtools.com for practical strategies, hands on ideas and classroom ready tools for your inquiry-based classroom.