Journey Through the IB PYP Exhibition

The IB PYP Exhibition! The big event that culminates the PYP for the children, where they get to showcase all of their learning of the Essential Elements! If you are an upper grades teacher, you either love it or you dread it! Regardless of how you feel about it, we cannot take away from the incredibly valuable experience it brings to all involved. Personally, I love it!

I’m really excited  to share this article with you. It is FULL of practical tips, a free video sharing steps through the PYPX and a valuable resource that I created specifically for the IB PYP Exhibition.

I was recently a guest speaker with Vasileios Iosifidis, The PYP Traveller, on You Tube. Being an experienced PYP teacher himself, Vasilis shares a TON of great stuff on his You Tube channel.  I have added his video for you, a few paragraphs down.

But first, whether you are experienced or brand

new to the Exhibition, I have created a tool that will help you to keep your sanity as you facilitate the process. After all, it is the process that is more important than the end product. It is the process and all of its struggles, reflections and celebrations that develops the learner.( and the teacher facilitating the adventure!)  And it is the children’s journey through the process that we are evaluating.

Ladies and gentlemen, please allow me to introduce the Journey Through the IB PYP Exhibition – A Complete Resource! 

You can click the images or the link above to take a preview at it in my TpT store. 

I have designed this resource as a guide and a working tool, using my experience with the IB PYP upper grades. There is no single way to implement the IB PYP Exhibition and, over the years and multiple schools, I have gathered a wealth of knowledge from my peers and my experiences. It is my goal to share these ideas with you within this resource. It can be used as a step-by-step guide, with a suggested timeline, for those who wish or you can pick and choose what you prefer and mix and match the pages to suit you, your staff’s and your students’ needs. It is completely flexible.

I like to print and bind a copy of the journal for each student, although you will find a digital option within the resource too.  You can also print the pages as required and then keep those pages in student binders. Throughout, you will find that it is structured to encourage maximum independence and agency with your students.

You will find sections covering:
Review and Reflection of the Essential Elements –

highly recommended for the first week of the process, ensuring the children’s understanding of each element as well as giving them a clear expectation of both the journey and the final outcome. It also acts as a pre-assessment tool. In addition, there are activities to reinforce the Approaches to Learning skills, particularly self management/social skills for conflict resolution.

Inquiry and Research– 

a step by step guide through the process, with graphic organisers for planning the inquiry, recording research sources, formulating questions, organising and recording data. This section also includes materials to use when planning which action to take, with interview and field trip proposal forms for the children to complete prior.
Reflection and Assessment – within this section you will find numerous resources for reflection and assessment. There are weekly reflection sheets for self reflection as well as group reflection, goal setting and task assignments. I have included rubrics too, if your school prefers to work with such tools.

Appendix – Here you will find the same materials with USA spelling for those who are in the USA or use the American spelling system. In addition, there are materials that include the IB PYP language variations ( risk taker vs. courageous etc) . Hopefully, I have covered all bases within our incredible international community.  Enjoy the video below, which will walk you through how to use the Journey through the IB PYP Exhibition.

Remember that this resource comes in both the printable version and a digital, interactive version, thus making it a very flexible tool. Win-win! Make sure that you are following me by clicking this link or the green star in my store , so that you are notified of any updates to this resource as the changes within the PYP are implemented.  Enjoy!

P.S. Did you know that I am always sharing ideas and practical strategies on Instagram and Facebook @PYP Teaching Tools? Come along and say, “Hi!” I’d love to have you as a part of our thriving community of inquiry teachers.