Last week our 1st grade was fortunate to have guest speakers
from our community; a firefighter, state trooper, lawyer & middle school
principal connected to a unit of inquiry they are exploring under Sharing the
Planet. Our school counselor, Mrs. Mutscher, also contributed to this unit with
a counselor lesson.
The central idea is: “Citizens can work together to create a peaceful and organized
community.” In this unit 1st grade investigates
characteristics of good citizens before
discussing how cooperation leads to a peaceful community, and resolving
conflicts peacefully. This is an important unit for
students, as it helps in the establishment of a collaborative classroom, illustrates
different perspectives on cooperation and provides opportunities for the
children to practice peaceful conflict resolution. In their presentations, our community
representatives talked about how they work with others to “keep the peace.”
One of the benefits of
teaching and learning in the PYP is how it strives to provide students
with a way to connect to their learning. It does this by making that learning
relevant. By bringing in members of the community, 1st grade
teachers were able to support students as they made these connections. The opportunity to ask questions of the speakers allows our
students to engage in meaningful conversation and deepen their knowledge of the
concepts they are studying.
