Notre Dame second-grader Samuel Phillips is in front of a list of famous people who changed the world.Purposeful and structured inquiry is a powerful vehicle for learning that promotes meaning. It challenges students to engage with ideas. The International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (IB-PYP), which is in place at the lower division of Notre Dame, is committed to a concept-driven curriculum as a means of supporting that inquiry.
The PYP provides a framework for the curriculum that includes eight key concepts. Taken together, they form a powerful curriculum component that inspires the teacher- and/or student-constructed inquiries that lie at the core of the PYP curriculum.
When one walks through the rooms in the lower division, you will see the eight key concepts on numerous walls in the building. Each unit of inquiry uses three of these that work as windows of understanding to bring a deeper level of knowledge and inspire a desire to do further inquiry.
Eight Key Concepts:
Form: What is it like?
Function: How does it work?
Causation: Why is it like it is?
Change: How is it changing?
Connection: How is it connected to other things?
Perspective: What are the points of view?
Responsibility: What is our responsibility?
Reflection: How do we know?
The lower division published an update recently on the goings-on in school during Phase 2 of its curriculum. An excerpt follows:
Second Grade: Where We Are In Place and Time
Somewhere In Time
Notre Dame second graders learned about “choices” and how they can affect our lives and world. The unit focused heavily on historical figures and events and each student has chosen a historical figure to study. They will create a poster depicting the person and explaining the choices he/she made and how he/she changed our world.
The students also constructed time machines in class using craft supplies and show boxes. Three objects that represented a historical person were placed in each time machine. We will wrap up the unit with a visit to Troy Historic Village next month. The students will have the opportunity to spend the morning in an old school house and learn about 19th century lifestyles.
Technology Connections
Students learned how to perform safe Internet searches using kidzsearch.com. They also learned how to add the Kidzsearch tile to their homepage for easy access. Students created a graphic organizer using pictures and words they found using Kidzsearch.
Green School
As part of our green-school initiative, the second grade made a trip to Riverside Park in Auburn Hills where the Clinton River Watershed organized a park clean up. Second grade had a blast helping the community and cleaning up the local park. Each student was given gloves, bags and garbage pickers and worked in pairs to pick up trash.
Art Connections
Second-grade students looked at images of Ancient Asian Ming Vases. They also learned about symmetry and how vases were created for specific uses and decorated. Students then created vases by learning how to cut the vases symmetrically and add symbolic decoration.
Spanish Connections
Second grade students experienced an international cultural enhancement by doing a virtual trip to Bolivia. A language connection was made through examining Bolivian literature.
Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org.
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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.