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Fall into Conceptual Learning with the PYP

The leaves are turning already in Scotland and the air becoming crisp. It's actually my favourite time of year. Autumn provides a rich backdrop for inquiry in the IB PYP classroom. Seasonal changes are not just fun and exciting for children; they are also filled with opportunities to develop conceptual awareness. By connecting those additional concepts of harvest, change, natural cycles and patterns together with  autumn traditions to the PYP specified concepts and the Learner Profile, teachers can design learning experiences that are hands-on, inquiry-driven, and deeply meaningful. 

To help bring these ideas to life, I'm delighted to introduce our guest writer and fellow PYP educator,  Amber Reynolds, originally from the United States, now living and teaching in Albania. Amber has created a brand-new Fall Collection of resources that align with the IB PYP specified concepts. These activities combine the excitement of the season with the dep...

Making Sense of IB PYP Learning Progressions: A Teacher's Guide to Supporting Student Growth

Let’s be honest: when you first come across the term learning progressions in the IB PYP, it can feel a bit abstract. I know it did for me and, quite honestly, my first question was, "Well, aren't we already monitoring learning progression? What's the point of this new thing?". If you're anything like most of the amazing PYP teachers I work with, you're already balancing a lot—unit planning, inquiry scaffolding, ATL integration, and of course, the day-to-day magic of keeping your classroom buzzing with curiosity. Let me give you a simplified opinion, share how it can look in the classroom and hopefully clarify things. Read on. 😊

So where do learning progressions fit in? Are they another “thing” to do? And is this something "new" to have to learn? 

Here’s the good news: they’re not a burden. They are NOT mandated.

They are a tool to support you and your students.

 In fact, once you underst...

10 Easy Strategies for Assessing Conceptual Understanding in the IB PYP.

 Helping students build conceptual understanding is at the core of how we approach knowledge in the IB PYP. But how do we ensure they’re truly grasping big ideas rather than just recalling facts? I've put together 10 simple, effective ways to check for conceptual understanding at different grade levels ( supporting differentiation and diverse learning styles)—whilst encouraging student agency. Plus, you’ll find links to several resources that I designed for my class to support their self-assessment and reflective thinking practice.

Look for the  IB PYP This or That Exit Slips and Reflection Task Cards for Concepts to support deeper thinking across all transdisciplinary themes. They were such a hit for students and teachers! 

For Your Lower Grades Learners 

1. Concept Sorting with Real Objects This is an example of internalisation & classification in action. 
    Provide a variety of real-world objects and have s...

The good-old SEE-THINK-WONDER thinking routine. You could probably walk into any IB PYP classroom in the world and you will see it being used. How often do we use this oldie but goodie as a thinking routine? Without a doubt, it is a powerful starter to provoke our students' curiosity and then invite children to think more. But how much do we really utilise the power of this thinking routine as a means for developing the journey towards self-directed inquiry?  When we dive deeper into SEE-THINK-WONDER we uncover the IBPYP sub-skills that fall within the Approaches to Learning Skills.  In particular, we reach into the thinking & research skills.  I have a few exclusive PYP teaching tools to support the popular thinking routine of SEE-THINK-WONDER for both our youngest learners and our upper grades and have them all developing those oh-so-important comprehension skills.

A Thinking Routine for ALL Ages:

Thinking routines help our students to think critically about an object, text, ...