Planning the inquiry

1. What is our purpose?

1a) To inquire into the following:
transdisciplinary theme
An 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.
central idea
Signs and symbols are part of human-made systems that facilitate local and
global communication.
Class/grade: 4 Age group: 8-10
School: School code:
Title:
Teacher(s): Alfonso
Date:
Proposed duration: number of hours over number of weeks


1b) Summative assessment task(s):
What are the possible ways of assessing students understanding of the central
idea? What evidence, including student-initiated actions, will we look for?
Goal: to research about "what makes a student" and come up with the School
moniker
Role: student designers and researcher
Audience: school community
Situation: Teacher Juan, as the Activities Coordinator, would like to empower the
students in coming up with a school moniker. A moniker is a symbol, usually an
animal, representing an organization, in this context, the school. The moniker
should possess the distinct characteristic of being a student of the school.
Product: School Moniker
2. What do we want to learn?
What are the key concepts (form, function, causation, change, connection,
perspective, responsibility, reflection) to be emphasized within this inquiry?
Form, function, connection
What lines of inquiry will define the scope of the inquiry into the central idea?
Iconography
How visual language facilitates communication
Specialized systems of communication

What teacher questions/provocations will drive these inquiries?
Form: What are the symbols people use to represent different meanings?
Function: What are signs and symbols for? How are symbols used to
communicate meaning?
Connection: How did the world came up with universal meaning of symbols?
International Baccalaureate Organization 2011
Planning the inquiry
3. How might we know what we have learned?
This column should be used in conjunction with How best might we learn?
What are the possible ways of assessing students prior knowledge and skills?
What evidence will we look for?
Students will be asked to illustrate the symbols and signs that they encountered or
familiar with. They will give the meaning that they know, when/where to use the sign
or symbol and how to use it.
Using artifacts that they have, they will draw or extract the meaning of the signs and
symbols that they see. Paintings, flags, bills will be used.
What are the possible ways of assessing student learning in the context of the lines
of inquiry? What evidence will we look for?
See Attachment B: Assessment Opportunities
Iconography

How visual language facilitates communication

Specialized systems of communication
4. How best might we learn?
What are the learning experiences suggested by the teacher and/or students to
encourage the students to engage with the inquiries and address the driving
questions?
See Attachment
What opportunities will occur for transdisciplinary skills development and for the
development of the attributes of the learner profile?
Thinking Skills- students analyze the signs and symbols in painting, logos and
other artifacts.
Social Skill- students respect others point of view during sharing. They give
chances for other to give their say before making a decision.
Communication skills-students will communicate their ideas using symbols during
the assessment.
Research skills-students interpret various signs that they see based from what they
observe.

5. What resources need to be gathered?
What people, places, audio-visual materials, related literature, music, art, computer software, etc, will be available?
http://www.dailywritingtips.com/12-signs-and-symbols-you-should-know/
http://www.aiga.org/symbol-signs/
http://www.schoolsnet.com/pls/hot_school/sn_primary.page_pls_unit_detail?x=16180339&p_unit_id=294
http://www.highscope.org/file/PDFs/MessageBoardBookSample.pdf
http://www.doodlesandjots.com/2012/05/04/all-signs-point-to-fun/
http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/sites/kids/files/attachment/weather-symbols-activity.pdf
http://www.earlyliteracylearning.org/cellpract_pract/toddler/PGPrac_T_LtrsSymb_WM.pdf
How will the classroom environment, local environment, and/or the community be used to facilitate the inquiry?
Artifacts, paintings will be brought for interpretation,
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Reflecting on the inquiry
6. To what extent did we achieve our purpose?
Assess the outcome of the inquiry by providing evidence of students understanding
of the central idea. The reflections of all teachers involved in the planning and
teaching of the inquiry should be included.

Students understand that through the use of messages from the previous unit, they
are able to send messages using different signs and symbols. Their reflections,
illustrated that in order for society to fully function, signs and symbols are an
essential part in facilitating and aiding communication. Secondly the students
understood that there are universally accepted signs and symbols and regardless of
where a person is the meaning of these symbols remain.
How you could improve on the assessment task(s) so that you would have a more
accurate picture of each students understanding of the central idea.

The assessments provided during this unit were really relevant and engaging. The
students were able to show what they understood about the features of signs and
symbols and apply it to the different projects that they had - in creating family crest
and school moniker. Since this is their second time to have this unit but in different
theme, their previous experiences helped them to dig deeper into signs and
symbols.
What was the evidence that connections were made between the central idea and
the transdisciplinary theme?

Students concluded that signs and symbols aid and facilitate communication,
organizations and people with disabilities make use of specialized signs and
symbols to relay messages. They also realized that the features of signs and
symbols convey and represent multiple ideas, perspectives and histories. Lastly, it
was drawn out that signs and symbols are transcendent of a specific place and are
universally seen and accepted, such examples are: music, language, medical,
transportation, religious symbols.
7. To what extent did we include the elements of the PYP?
What were the learning experiences that enabled students to:
develop an understanding of the concepts identified in What do we want to
learn?
Form
Students were able to analyze that different signs and symbols have key features that are
universally accepted. These features create the characteristics/attributes of a sign.
Function
Students were able to learn that signs and symbols function by providing pertinent information, to
direct or facilitate people in public places or organizations, to serve as landmarks or represent the
identity of a company, organization, or belief. Subsequently, these signs and symbols are also used
in various ways of learning and communicating. Specialized forms of these signs and symbols
Connection
Students were able to learn that signs and symbols are not just used to facilitate communication but
they also understand that it can be used to convey a particular belief or a particular culture. At the
same time they were able to connect that these signs and symbols have different meanings among
different people.
demonstrate the learning and application of particular transdisciplinary skills?
Thinking skills - the students were able to read a wide variety of research material in order to draw
conclusions and generalizations based on their comprehension of their material and interview. The
students were also able to analyze the features of signs and symbols and apply these features in their
work.
Social skills - the students were able to apply how to work with others, especially those from their partner
level in their expert topics.
Communication skills - students were able to communicate their message, ideas, feelings, histories
using signs and symbols. They were able to come up with representations of themselves, their family and
their perspective of the school.
Self-management skills - students made use of different mediums in order to recreate and create their
own signs and symbols
Research skills - students were able to interpret various features of signs and symbols. They were also
able to use a wide variety of resources to answer their tensions/questions based on their expert topics.
develop particular attributes of the learner profile and/or attitudes?
In each case, explain your selection.
Appreciation - students were able to illustrate this attitude by showing the importance of signs in
directing or providing people important information.
Curiosity - students were able to illustrate this attitude by asking relevant questions and raising new ones
to drive the inquiry further.
Respect - students were able to illustrate
International Baccalaureate Organization 2011
Reflecting on the inquiry
8. What student-initiated inquiries arose from the learning?
Record a range of student-initiated inquiries and student questions and highlight any
that were incorporated into the teaching and learning.

At this point teachers should go back to box 2 What do we want to learn? and
highlight the teacher questions/provocations that were most effective in driving the
inquiries.
What are the symbols people use to represent different meanings?
What are signs and symbols for? How are symbols used to
communicate meaning?
How did the world come up with a universal meaning of symbols?
What student-initiated actions arose from the learning?
Record student-initiated actions taken by individuals or groups showing their ability
to reflect, to choose and to act.


9. Teacher notes
Students were able to see and experience firsthand the use of signs and
symbols during the field trip.
Though familiar with the use of signs and symbols, the students tend to over
complicate the signs and symbols they create. Oftentimes not utilizing their
knowledge and understanding of signs and symbols.


International Baccalaureate Organization 2011
Attachment...

A. Key Learning Outcomes
Iconography
How visual language facilitates communication
Specialized systems of communication

Signs and symbols are part of human-made systems that facilitate local and global communication.
Key Understanding
What do we want students to understand by the end of the unit?
People create and use signs and symbols to facilitate communication, locally and globally
There are universal and multiple meaning for a particular sign or symbol.

Knowledge outcomes and Skills outcomes
What do we want students to be able to know by the end of the unit?
What do we want students to be able to do by the end of the unit?
Iconography is the symbolic representation, especially the conventional meanings attached to an image or images.

B. Assessment Opportunities
Line of Inquiry What will be assessed? How will evidence be collected? What type of assessment will be
used?
Iconography Icons used in everyday language and
those used by organizations and religions
convey a specific meaning, history,
attribute, information.
Knowledge Product
Observations
Rubric
Anecdotes
How visual language facilitates
communication
Icons, signs, symbols and logos can
function as alternative methods in
communicating.
Knowledge Product
Observations
Rubric
Anecdotes
Specialized systems of
communication
Each sector of society uses a specific
form of symbol to organize, interpret and
analyze vital information necessary for
their job.
Knowledge Product
Observations
Rubric
Anecdotes

C. Learning Engagements
Tuning in and preparation to find out:
What variety of activities will be used to:
engage all students in the topic? hook?
assess prior knowledge?
refine further planning?
lead into the finding out experiences?
Engagement and gathering prior knowledge, pre-assessment, questions for inquiry, goal setting. Sometimes students will require some immersion in the topic if little is known/ experienced.
#Signs and Symbols Hunt
In small groups, students go around Ultra to look for signs and symbols. Students share what they gathered to other groups.

#Logo Quiz
Students will be exposed to the usual logo quiz that they have in their tablets or smart phones. This will give them the opportunity to be familiar and recall


Finding Out
Data collection
Experiences to assist students to gather new information
about the topic
Experiences and texts that add to the knowledge base.
Emphasis on gathering first-hand data in a range of ways
(usually shared experiences)
Teachers & Students Questions
Teacher and student questions that help drive the inquiry
Focus questions to for inquiry
Sorting Out
Gauging, organizing or representing new
information
Activities to assist students to process and work
with the information and ideas they have gathered
about the topic (including exploring values)
Organizing, analyzing and communicating the
information gathered using a range of vehicles (e.g
through Maths, Arts, English, Drama, Music or IT)
Features of Signs and Symbols

Artifact Attack

My Personal Symbol

Our Family Crest
What are the symbols people use to represent different
meanings?

What are signs and symbols for? How are symbols
used to communicate meaning?

How did the world come up with a universal meaning of
Students explain the relevance of how visual
language facilitates communication from
what they have learnt from the given articles,
field trips and interviews that they had.

They name specialized systems of
communication and explain how, when and
who are using them.

Field trip: ABS-CBN Studios and UPHR Maritime
and Aviation College
symbols?

Going Further
Activities to challenge and extend
Raising new questions, extending experiences, challenging assumptions. May be individually negotiated.

Drawing conclusions
Raising new questions, extending experiences, challenging assumptions. May be individually negotiated. Students draw conclusions of what they have learnt. This is an
important time to evaluate the success of the unit and the needs and achievements of individuals. This is where students put it all together.
Students now understand that signs and symbols are a necessary part of their day-to-day lives and that these function as a way of organizing and
communicating across languages and cultures.
Reflecting and Taking Action
To reflect on what has been learnt and process of learning. It is important that students be given opportunities to act upon what they have learnt. Actions are things that students can themselves and from they can
see results.
Students were able to take action by coming up with a school moniker of their own design. This is based on what they have studied and analyzed about the
schools mission-vision and philosophy. The entire school community will choose one of the monikers created that would represent the identity