What is Beauty?

Third grade is beginning a PYP unit of inquiry under How We Express Ourselves, regarding beauty in the arts. The central idea is: Through the arts people learn to appreciate the many faces of beauty. 
As a provocation for this exploration students are bringing in art objects from home and sharing their criteria for why they think it is beautiful. They will then share with classmates, and then with other classes and teachers.
In order to enhance and expand our students' understanding of beauty and the our unique interpretations and perspective on it, we want to hear from others at Spicewood, in our community, and around the world.
We would like for you to share what you think beauty is. In the comments can you tell us what your criteria for beauty is-what makes something beautiful to you?
We appreciate your contributions and look forward to learning from you!

Using the PYP Learner Profile and Attitudes to Explore Artists

The arts are not mere diversions from the important business of education; they are essential resources. -Elliot Eisner, "The Role of the Arts in Cognition and Curriculum"

The arts provide students with a wide range of opportunities to respond to their experiences and engage with societal, historical and cultural perspectives. Students are stimulated to think and respond in new ways and through a variety of media and technologies. Learning through the arts is fundamental to the development of the whole child, promoting creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and social interactions (Making the PYP Happen, 2009)

Spicewood has wonderful volunteers that organize and run an art appreciation program where they use art prints to introduce and expose students to a diverse groups of artists and their work.
Funded through the PTA, the volunteers purchase prints they want to expose students to, show the pieces, talk about the artist, and lead the students through discussions and observations. Reflecting on and evaluating the work of these great artists allow students to make connections to their lives  through the PYP Learner Profile and attitudes. They see when an art demonstrated commitment, took risks, showed empathy or creativity. They can reflect on these traits and see how developing them in themselves could lead to realizing their goals, or learning something new.

Image courtesy The J. Paul Getty Museum: http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=937

4th Grade Would Like to Hear Your Family's Immigration Stories

To explore the theme Where We Are in Place and Time, 4th grade examines the reasons people migrate. They specifically look into where people migrate from and where they choose to go and why. They also study the effect that migration has on a community, as well as the effect on the immigrants.

To begin this inquiry they would love to hear YOUR stories. Over the course of time most people have migrated to the United States from another place. Please share your family's migration story with us. Where did you family come from and when? What factors did they consider when they chose a new place to live? How did the journey and the location they chose affect them? Tell us in the comments!

Thanks so much for helping support our inquiry!

Spicewood Prepares to Host the Central Texas PYP Roundtable

Next Saturday, November 3rd, Spicewood will host PYP teachers from all over the state of Texas for a roundtable discussion and workshop on the PYP transdisiplinary skills. Spicewood partnered with Round Rock elementary schools Anderson Mill, Caldwell Heights and Chandler Oaks, as well as with LISD elementaries CC Mason and Grandview Hills, to apply for a grant through Texas IB Schools (TIBS).
We chose to explore the transdisciplinary skills because we believe that the construction of meaning is complimented by the development of skills in authentic learning situations.  Within their learning in the Primary Years Program, students acquire and learn to apply transdisciplinary skills.  These skills are applicable not only within the classroom, but in their lives outside of the school setting.  These skills are not relevant to just one content area, but rather transcend all of them to fully support the our development as a lifelong learner.

The development and application of these skills is relevant and applicable to all areas of curriculum because of their broad and diverse nature. They often act as a link across subject areas and are used as a guide for behavior and communication at Spicewood. The upcoming roundtable will give us the opportunity to explore more deeply how and when we explicitly teach these skills, and where we provide students the opportunities to practice and apply this knowledge.

You can find information regarding the transdisciplinary skills and other PYP components on our website!

5th Grade Examines the Relationship Between Government and Citizens

Central idea: Systems of government organize societies.

Under the transdisciplinary theme How We Organize Ourselves, students explore the roles and responsibilities within different government systems, how citizens impact government and the way in which government impacts society.

During this unit students engage in elections in their classrooms and as a grade level. They create a student led government that then involves students from other grade levels. As school leaders students set agendas, attend meetings, and carry out action in response to feedback from the students they represent.

They undergo a media literacy study that assists them in analyzing and comparing citizen's roles in governments around the world. 

Through this unit students use the thinking skill of application to establish government structures in their classroom and write a personal bill of rights. They also apply the social skills of group decision making and resolving conflict when they campaign, come to consensus and create classroom laws.

While exploring the concepts of responsibility, function, and perspective, students work to synthesize all the learning from previous units, and exemplify this knowledge. Throughout the unit sudents will enagage in language, math, social studies, media literacy and other subject areas to uncover this single big idea related to the relationship between society and government.
In this type of transdisciplinary approach  curriculum and instruction are moved beyond single content-area focuses towards cross-curricular connections.  This approach involves the organization of curriculum and instruction around authentic student questions where concepts and skills are developed through real-world contexts.  Inquiry is at the heart of the transdisciplinary approach as students seek answers to the questions raised by the curriculum and themselves.
This is a powerful unit that has our 5th graders examining the way societies are organized and what that means for them and the world around them! Come check out our student elections on Friday, November 2nd!

IB Around the World

Over 3,000 schools and 141 countries now offer IB programs. Here are some of the reasons the IB is growing in popularity around the world:

The IB Mission Statement
"The IB aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect."  The goals outlined by the IB for its schools really speak to the changing face of our globe and emphasize our need to become respectful, responsible citizens of our world. These ideals stand out as being relevant to our students and their families, we want our students to take their knowledge and use it to make a better, more peaceful world.

High Academic Standards
By centering our learning and exploration around things that are relevant, challenging and engaging-we can inspire our students to take responsibility for their own inquiries and learning. The PYP framework allows us to access the diverse prior knowledge and experience of all our students, we expose our students to different perspectives and questions while building off of what they already know. Using the transdisciplinary themes to organize our learning experiences, we place ideas and concepts into context for learning. These things all provide for a dynamic, interactive learning environment that helps students succeed and excel.

International Minded-ness
The IB provides a framework that allows students to explore concepts on both a local and global level. When we explore traditional topics such as water cycles we instead explore the availability of water as a resource around the world. Who has access? What affects this access? Who owns water? We take content outlined by our state and district standards and extend it to a wide exploration of concepts and big ideas.

Spicewood is proud to be an IB school! If you would like more information, please contact our PYP coordinator at doriane_marvel@roundrockisd..org



(2012). Welcome to the world of ib. IB World, (66), 1.

How The World Works

In the PYP, science is viewed as the exploration of the biological, chemical and physical aspects of the natural world, and the relationships between them. It encourages curiosity and ingenuity and enables the student to develop an understanding of the world. Reflection on science also helps students to develop a sense of responsibility regarding the impact of their actions on themselves, others, and their world. Inquiry is central to this exploration as students construct knowledge and make connections to their own lives. By encouraging hands-on experiences and inquiry, we are able to support students as they engage in the world around them, ask questions, and seek new understandings.
One was we do this is by observing the hatching of chickens. Please enjoy these videos from our latest batch of eggs! Come and visit them in the library today!