Within the Primary Years Programme, it is believed that student learning is best done when it's authentic and connected to the real world.


To help create a visual and provide you with a real world connection to how we create a unit planner, we are using the steps in the building of a house as a way to frame this process...something we all have prior knowledge about especially within our elementary buildings in the past several years.


In teaching, as in construction, there is both a science and an art. As we outline the process, it is our hope that this analogy will provide a deeper understanding of what teaching and learning looks like within our elementary classrooms.

As IB World Schools, we share a common vision for developing internationally-minded young people.

The Learner Profile and its ten attributes lie at the center of this mission and is the heart of the PYP.

We provide opportunities for students to develop their natural curiosity and apply critical thinking skills in an ever-changing world.

Ultimately, we encourage students to appreciate diversity and value the perspectives of others on their journey to becoming knowledgeable and caring citizens of the world.


The leaner profile at its core is what makes our "house" a home and is what makes learning come to life in our schools.

Where do we start??

As IB PYP World Schools, we begin with building codes or IB programme standards and practices.

The standards and practices serve as criteria to ensure quality and fidelity in the implementation of the PYP.

We are always working to develop these standards and practices which are used to measure the success of our work in the PYP.

These standards work in the same way that building codes ensure quality and craftsmanship throughout a construction project.

The PYP framework allows for the use of a wide variety of teaching strategies and styles that are driven by a spirit of inquiry and a clear purpose.

One of the greatest strengths of the PYP is that it provides a process for ongoing reflection about our teaching practices individually, as a grade level team, and as a school. The PYP is based on the continuous improvement of teaching to improve student learning.

The work that is required to build each planner is what offers teachers a sense of agency or ownership of their units of inquiry. This is why despite being an IB PYP district, no two planners look the same despite delivering the same curriculum and standards.

At each grade level, every team creates six units of inquiry which are written, taught and reflected each year. These six units at each grade level become our Programme of Inquiry which consists of 36 unique and complex units.

This Programme of Inquiry is horizontally and vertically aligned and acts as a visual representation of the teaching and learning that takes place within a PYP School.

Although MPS is an IB PYP district, each POI is unique to the individual school, its culture and its members.

This is just as each house is unique to a given architect and builder but still fits within a given neighborhood.

We begin the process with the end in mind...

Each builder and his/her crew must have a vision of what the end product should look like . This model allows the crew to construct each part of the house...step by step.

In this same way, grade level teams work from the understanding of where each student should arrive in terms of their learning by the end of a unit of inquiry as well as how that fits within the entire Programme of Inquiry.

This is known as a backwards design model which is built upon keeping the end in mind throughout the entire process.

Constructing each unit planner takes a team as does building a house.

The PYP Coordinator acts as the Foreperson,
overseeing and guiding the construction of each unit of inquiry as well as the entire Programme of Inquiry.

The teachers on each grade level team are the experts in their curriculum and masters of their classrooms.

Together, we work collaboratively and draw upon our individual strengths while building a collective ownership of our units of inquiry.

As in any process that builds or creates a product collaboratively, time with all team members is essential to a successful build.
We presently meet as an entire team, every other week, during a common planning block that ranges from 45-60 minutes. This time is used to develop, construct, reflect and refine each unit of inquiry and its planner.

Just as builders use a blueprint to plan and construct a house, we use a unit of inquiry planner to act as our blueprint as we construct each unit planner.


The PYP unit planner is a living document. It provides a step by step process for planning, writing, teaching and reflecting on all of the components within a given unit of inquiry.

In the materials we have shared with you, there is a copy of a blank planner template exactly as it is presented to each grade level team. We have also provided samples of two completed planners.

In a few minutes, our crew of teachers will share specifics from their first-hand experiences using the planner and its impact on their teaching and on student learning.

Once we have our blueprint, we begin to build the foundation of the planner. In order to create the foundation, we must consider the grade level curriculum based on our content standards.

We also must determine how each unit fits into one of the six PYP transdisciplinary themes. These themes are based on our common humanity and help students gain a local and global perspective on learning and its application to their lives.

Themes such as How We Organize Ourselves, Who We Are and How We Express Ourselves serve as the context for students to develop knowledge, concepts, and skills.

After the foundation is built, the framing is next. For the planner, we begin with a conceptually strong and universal central idea that invites challenging, relevant, significant and engaging learning experiences for students.

Central ideas such as “Systems provide a way to organize information” or “Exploration can lead to new discoveries” are broad, big ideas that allow for connections across content areas, between grade levels and beyond the classroom.

Just as we construct the walls within a house, the lines of inquiry clarify the central idea, focus student inquiries and help deepen understanding of content.

Lines of inquiry are written in a way that allow students to make meaning that is connected to the central idea and the foundation (or theme) of the unit.

After the walls are constructed, the rooms begin to take shape.

The rooms are learning experiences that are designed around best teaching practices and are created for student engagement, critical thinking and application.

These learning experiences are designed to deepen students' understanding of the theme, central idea and lines of inquiry.

Traditionally, these learning experiences are the daily activities taking place within a classroom.

We have inspections or assessments embedded within our units of inquiry.

It is important for us to have a clear picture of what students know, understand and can do throughout the unit.

We are always monitoring, documenting, and measuring student learning and planning next steps.

This is similar to building inspections that are used to assess progress and test the quality of the construction along the way.

Once the planner is constructed, it is time for the teaching to begin.

Similarly, once a house is complete, it is time for its occupants to start living in it. In both situations, it's an ever-changing and fluid process.

Much like a builder who has completed his/her house, there is a time for reflection about the process and the product.


After the planner construction is complete and the planner has been taught, each grade level team must reflect on the unit. This reflection is completed collaboratively with the PYP Coordinator and relies on the contributions of all members of the teaching team.

Reflection for both teachers and builders results in some level of changes.

Reflection can result in simple changes similar to adding a new piece of furniture, painting a wall or rearranging a living space in a house.

In a unit of inquiry, this redecorating could be the addition of a new resource, a guest speaker, a field trip, a new use of technology or the altering of a learning experience.

Or reflection can result in a much larger renovation. In a house, this could be a kitchen remodel, a major repair due to a broken pipe or a new addition.

In a planner, this bigger remodel can occur when there is a change in curriculum, standards or the adoption of a new program.

This year has been filled with large renovations due to the addition of PLTW in all grade levels as well as significant social studies changes in third and fourth grade.

Hopefully, using the analogy of building a house has given you a more concrete visual of the work that is involved in the creation of each unit of inquiry and its planner as well as the complexity involved in creating a cohesive and aligned Programme of Inquiry.

Now, we would like to share what this process is like first hand from two of our amazing PYP crew:

-Kara Stark who teaches third grade @ Adams Elementary

And

-Dominique Endsley who teaches first grade @ Woodcrest Elementary,

As grade level teams, we meet on average twice a month for an hour block of time as an entire team. The team includes Robin, our PYP Coordinator, and all members of the grade level team.


During our collaborative planning time, we are constructing and revising our PYP planners.

This collaborative time is vital to the growth and development of each unit. Each team relies on the strengths and talents of each member.

Just like construction, our collaborative time can be interrupted or impacted due to schedules changes, weather days, student needs and/or resources.

There are many hours spent beyond this bimonthly collaborative time to ensure rich and engaging units of inquiry.

One of the positives of PYP is that we have a common language and structure across all grade levels and throughout each elementary school.

The structure allows us to write, teach and reflect upon each unit of inquiry with our grade level team.

The planner template provides the framework for guiding all teaching and learning.

However, the common language and structure takes time to understand and develop.

Based on the PYP framework and planning process, it allows us guide student thinking. Within the classroom, we create and post evidence of student thinking and learning.

These visual markers include: Unit of Inquiry Boards, Wonder Walls, and other essential elements of the PYP.

Thinking about PYP in our classrooms, as educators we have encountered many shifts in our teaching and learning.

This is my fifth year teaching. I began my teaching career when Woodcrest started the PYP authorization process.


In my experience, creating learning experiences with the child in mind is essential to how we teach in the PYP.

Student talk and questioning are both developed through student-centered and inquiry-based learning.

We encourage students to explore their wonderings and deepen their understanding of concepts and content.

As facilitators of PYP, we need to set aside time and be flexible within our school day. There are many times when student action, questioning and inquiry guide our teaching rather than a predetermined schedule.

When it comes to PYP, it is not just teaching the standards.


It's way deeper while promoting a more global understanding

For example, we create authentic learning experiences that connect students to the world around them...both locally and globally.

Rather than feeding students material, a PYP teacher is a faciliator of learning.

Allowing students to drive the units of inquiry through student talk and questioning provides an opportunitity to have ownership of their learning.

Classrooms look and sound differently than in the past..you will see flexible groups, hear rich conversations, and students who are actively engaged in learning.

The utimate goal in using a PYP planner to design our learning is to have students take action based on what they have learned throughout the unit of inquiry. Both big and small actions are celebrated.

Examples range from students cleaning up the playground to raising awareness about local and global issues,

Kara and the Animal Activists pangolins

Dominque and the retirement community

This past December, our first grade team taught a unit centered around celebrations and traditions. During this unit, we shared and discussed intergenerational relationships using a variety of read alouds. Throughout the reading and discussion of these stories, students noticed that some elderly people rarely have visits from family or friends.
Through questioning, students developed their first idea for taking action-creating holiday cards. My first graders initiated this action and took great pride in this activity.
Through further discussion, the students wanted to take a more profound action which was wanting to visit a retirement community here in Midland. The students wanted to sing songs and deliver their cards in person.
We planned a visit to a retirement community and had a great turnout for this evening event. The event was so successful that we decided to make this a first grade tradition!
While thinking about PYP and student action, it is up to all of us(our grade level team, PYP Coordinator and community) to create opportunities for students to put their ideas into- ACTION!

Considering the shifts and the framework of PYP, our planners are always in a state of reflection and revision. This could look like a house redecoration or a full renovation.

Our first grade How We Express Ourselves planner needed a redecoration to integrate the PLTW module of Animated Storytelling...which is computer coding.

The central idea is People use creativity to express ideas. This was revised from authors and illustrators use creativity to express ideas to allow for our big idea to expand to include the coding.

Third grade has had to renovate all of our planners this year due to content and curriculum shifts.

Our third grade How We Organize Ourselves planner needed a complete renovation due to implementing PLTW and the realignment of third and fourth grade social studies standards.

Our original central idea of Location affects how and where people organize communities shifted to Systems are created to organize information.

The renovation of the central idea led to a broader more concept based framework for the unit. Exploring the concept of systems rather than location within a community allowed for the learning to be more transdiscipliary.
The renovation included new lines of inquiry, assessments and learning experiences.

As in renovating a house, there are challenges when reconstructing a planner. The biggest challenge is time. Time with your team, time with the coordinator, and the time to implement and refine the learning. Another challenge is having to live in the renovation while its taking place...which means teaching the unit while you are constructing it.

We have shared our view from the classroom and Jeff Pennex will talk about shifts from the principal's perspective.