Student Agency and Independent Inquiry Boards in your IB PYP Classroom
Well, let’s talk (again) about student agency and how to increase it within your classroom. Keeping in mind that it is far more than flexible seating and independently gathering resources, and more about giving the children voice, choice and action in their own learning, I’m heading straight to independent inquiry boards. And there’s a FREE sample for you too.
Form: What IS an independent inquiry board?
You may know them as choice boards, tic tac toe etc They are a collection of guided options to encourage the children to make their own selections and can be used within any subject area, theme or concept.
Function: Inquiry boards encourage the children to use their Approaches to Learning Skills(Research, Self Management, Thinking, Social & Communication) whilst showing their knowledge of skills that YOU as the facilitator, are directing. They act as a tool for formative assessment to integrate into any subject or a selection of subjects based around your unit of inquiry.
I have multiple options already created for grades 3-5 that you look at below:
- Maths Concepts Tic Tac Toe : Grades 3 & 4
- Maths Concepts Tic Tac Toe Grades 4 & 5
- Tic Tac Toe for IB PYP Transdisciplinary Themes
- Editable Board for Tic Tac Toe IB PYP Transdisciplinary Themes
Inclusive Assessment & Increasing Student Agency
I have an informative read all about getting the children involved in the assessment process here. With the intention of giving them more of a voice, I have asked the children to help build our Tic Tac Toe boards. I prefer to do this with single subjects or one line of inquiry that we have been focusing on recently. For example, if I am focusing on fractions, then I will ask the children to work together in small groups to come up with a fun activity or inquiry that will show specific learning outcomes. Depending on the level of independence of your class, there are two ways to do this:
- you can either list the outcomes for the children OR
- ask them to think about the skills that they feel need more review and practice and have them decide upon the outcomes.
Regarding student agency, the children become the very part of planning which in itself enables critical thinking, communication and creativity! (You can read more about co-planning the inquiry here, if you wish. )They love to swap out their inquiry boards with other groups. I have also photocopied them and used them as a weekly review at a later time for the class. It’s FABULOUS! It is an easy way to make the shift towards co-planning with the children. Try it out for yourself and let me know how it goes.
You can try it out for FREE right here, from my TpT store.
Enjoy!
