Being A PYP Student
Congratulations you have almost made it to the end of elementary school! Throughout your time in the Primary Years Programme here at UNIS (or other schools) you have been learning how to do things for yourself. You have been learning where you can go to find answers: using books, websites, people, experiments and more! You have been learning how to sort through this information such as finding key words, deciding what is most relevant or looking for evidence in pieces of texts or images. You have been learning how to present your knowledge and understandings in many different ways such as through writing, visual art, drama, dance, music and technology. You have been learning to work effectively in groups: how to share ideas, to write action plans, to comprimise, to listen to others and to self-assess. Stop and think for a moment about all the learning you have been doing in your elementary years - you are already pretty amazing!
The Exhibition
The PYP Exhibition is an opportunity for you to put all of this learning into action and prove yourself! It is a special unit of inquiry where more of the decision making is handed over to you. You get to choose what you want to learn about. You get to decide how to find out about your interest, how to sort through the information and how to summarize what you have learned. You also get to choose how to present your findings using writing, the arts and/or technology.You also get to decide how to take action - to do something about what you have learned.
Choose The Right Topic
Most importantly you must choose an issue or a problem which really interests you - the last thing you want is to be bored over the next few weeks! Your issue or problem must also be something to do with:
An inquiry into:
The Central Idea is: People's actions impact their surrounding.
The sorts of issues which other students have chosen for their Exhibition include animal rights, gender equality, child workers, poverty in the local area and different types of pollution. These are just ideas there are endless possibilities.The great thing about the Exhibition is that you can choose to study something that really interests you. You would be surprised what fits under this theme. If you have an interest You should also bear in mind the availablity of resources for your topic; there is little point choosing a topic which it is hard to find out about. Some topics tend to have more kid-friendly resources. Try to choose a kid-friendly interest. When you make your choice make sure there are websites, magazines and books about your subject which you can enjoy reading and you easily understand. Think also about places you might visit here in Hanoi and people you may wish to interview. If your issue occurs here in Hanoi then that will make your life much easier when you come to find out about it.Your teachers will guide you to choose an interesting, manageable topic which fits this theme. Perhaps you will be inspired by some of the Hot Topics we have investigated which you explored via the Grade 5 homepage.
An inquiry into:
- Rights and responsibilities in the struggle to share finite resources with other people and with other living things
- Communities and the relationships within and between them
- Access to equal opportunities
- Peace and conflict resolution
The Central Idea is: People's actions impact their surrounding.
The sorts of issues which other students have chosen for their Exhibition include animal rights, gender equality, child workers, poverty in the local area and different types of pollution. These are just ideas there are endless possibilities.The great thing about the Exhibition is that you can choose to study something that really interests you. You would be surprised what fits under this theme. If you have an interest You should also bear in mind the availablity of resources for your topic; there is little point choosing a topic which it is hard to find out about. Some topics tend to have more kid-friendly resources. Try to choose a kid-friendly interest. When you make your choice make sure there are websites, magazines and books about your subject which you can enjoy reading and you easily understand. Think also about places you might visit here in Hanoi and people you may wish to interview. If your issue occurs here in Hanoi then that will make your life much easier when you come to find out about it.Your teachers will guide you to choose an interesting, manageable topic which fits this theme. Perhaps you will be inspired by some of the Hot Topics we have investigated which you explored via the Grade 5 homepage.
Develop A Deep Understanding
This is a huge project so you are expected to acquire a deep understanding.You must really know about your issue before you present your findings. In order to get a really deep understanding you should look at your issue through all of these eight concepts'. Your teacher may advise you to focus on:
FORM
What is (your issue) like?
FUNCTION
How does (your issue) work?
CHANGE
How is (your issue) changing? How has (your issue) changed?
CONNECTION
How is (your issue) connected to other things?
CAUSATION
What is the cause of (your issue)?
PERSPECTIVE
What are the different points of view about (your issue)?
REFLECTION
How do we know about (your issue)? What evidence do you have? What do you still not understand?
RESPONSIBILITY
What is your responsibility about (your issue)? What are you going to do about it to make things better?
FORM
What is (your issue) like?
FUNCTION
How does (your issue) work?
CHANGE
How is (your issue) changing? How has (your issue) changed?
CONNECTION
How is (your issue) connected to other things?
CAUSATION
What is the cause of (your issue)?
PERSPECTIVE
What are the different points of view about (your issue)?
REFLECTION
How do we know about (your issue)? What evidence do you have? What do you still not understand?
RESPONSIBILITY
What is your responsibility about (your issue)? What are you going to do about it to make things better?
Document The Learning Process
You will keep track of your accomplishments each week by documenting your progress in your Process Journal. Each of you will be expected to write a summary of the work you did during the week that was done indepentently or collaboratively with your group members. You may include pictures that show you and your group working. You will be allotted one A4 size page each week that you can use to print pictures on. Documenting when you have used the Transdisciplinary Skills during the Exhibition is also a required element needed in your Process Journal.
In addition to documenting your progress in the Process Journal, your group will also be expected to report to the PYP Coordinator Mr. Chris through e-mail summarizing what your group has accomplished that week. This will be due to him every Friday each week. Mr Chris will use these reflections for the Watch it Unfold section of this website so your mums and dads can see what you have been doing.
In addition to documenting your progress in the Process Journal, your group will also be expected to report to the PYP Coordinator Mr. Chris through e-mail summarizing what your group has accomplished that week. This will be due to him every Friday each week. Mr Chris will use these reflections for the Watch it Unfold section of this website so your mums and dads can see what you have been doing.
Present Your Learning
This is what the IB says that must be in your presentation:
It is a requirement that the exhibition is shared with members of the wider school community. There are many formats a sharing event could take, for example, an interactive display, a performance, a debate, or a combination of formats.
The exhibition should include the following.
At UNIS if you study Vietnamese or French this language must be seen or heard during your final presentation. If you want to include another language you know then that is wonderful, but this is not a must. Your presentation must also include English of course.
Your group must choose one of the arts as your main focus: Art, Drama or Music.
For more information about what to include in the final exhibition presentation, go to the Exhibition Presentation section under the 'For Students' tab.
It is a requirement that the exhibition is shared with members of the wider school community. There are many formats a sharing event could take, for example, an interactive display, a performance, a debate, or a combination of formats.
The exhibition should include the following.
- Examples of written work in a variety of formats and styles: poetry, reports, persuasive texts
- Oral presentations, individually or in groups, to the school community
- Uses of technology including ICT, working models, designs, science experiments
- Performances or compositions in any medium: dance, music, drama, visual arts, film, video, mixed media
At UNIS if you study Vietnamese or French this language must be seen or heard during your final presentation. If you want to include another language you know then that is wonderful, but this is not a must. Your presentation must also include English of course.
Your group must choose one of the arts as your main focus: Art, Drama or Music.
For more information about what to include in the final exhibition presentation, go to the Exhibition Presentation section under the 'For Students' tab.
The Art Component
Your goup will have to decide on one main art form which you wish to use to include in your final Exhibition sharing session. You can choose either Art, Music or Drama. Once you have made your choice, you will be allocated an Arts teacher to work with. This Arts teacher will meet with you and your group every lesson 8 from March 18th right the way to the end of the Exhibition. During these lessons you will use your art form to express your issue.
For example you may choose Music and perform a live musical piece during the exhibition days all about your issue. Or perhaps at your exhibition stand you may have music you have composed playing out of speakers. Similarly if you choose drama youmay have a video projection of a drama you have made at your stand or perhaps a live performance. The same is true if you chose Visual Art.
For example you may choose Music and perform a live musical piece during the exhibition days all about your issue. Or perhaps at your exhibition stand you may have music you have composed playing out of speakers. Similarly if you choose drama youmay have a video projection of a drama you have made at your stand or perhaps a live performance. The same is true if you chose Visual Art.
How does the IB describe the role of the student?
Role of student
Students will:
• have an understanding of the purpose and requirements of the exhibition from the outset of the process (guidelines and planning instructions should be provided by the teacher or mentor)
• participate in selecting a real-life issue or problem for the exhibition
• develop the inquiry by helping to decide on a central idea, lines of inquiry and student questions
• collaboratively plan learning and assessment experiences; these should involve independent and collaborative work and students should be involved in all stages of the planning and staging of the exhibition
• carry out an open-ended inquiry into a real-life issue or problem
• demonstrate an understanding of the components of the PYP, in particular the IB learner profile; the students involved in the exhibition should be given an opportunity to demonstrate their learning and the development of the attributes of the IB learner profile
• demonstrate an understanding of the five essential elements—knowledge, concepts, skills, attitudes and action
• select and utilize a variety of strategies and resources to meet the outcomes of the inquiry; wherever possible, students should use a variety of source materials, such as first-hand experiences, interviews, surveys, field visits, artifacts, science investigations, working models, not just book and/or Internet research be academically honest when referring their sources of information
• communicate effectively with teachers, peers and parents
• reflect on the components of and processes involved in the exhibition; they should keep a journal or portfolio of their planning, draft pieces of work, sketches and photographs of work in progress as well as the final product
• carry out self-assessment and peer assessment
• celebrate their learning by presenting the exhibition to the school community.
PYP Exhibition Guidelines (IB 2008) pp. 2-3