Projects with Heart

This poetry project is something that I use at the beginning of each year. Inspired by the "Where I'm From" poetry project by George Ella Lyon in 2017, this activity provides a template students can use to write a poem telling about themselves. Usually I have the students type their final poems and then cut the poems into line strips. Then I take a black and white photo of the student. They watercolor a piece of white cardstock, glue their photo and their poetry lines any way they choose. The fi

These IB PYP Portfolio Cover Sheets can be used to divide unit sections within the student IB Portfolio. They are intended to be used to begin each unit with an opportunity for students to learn and reflect on the Central Idea and Lines of Inquiry for each Transdisciplinary Theme. Not only are students taking the time to think about what each Central Idea means to them, but they are also given a chance to consider and record preliminary questions they have about the unit. I have used these in my

As students develop an understanding of the IB Learner Profile, this is a fun activity for students to show how each attribute of the Learner Profile is part of who they are. This activity is intended for a beginning of the year project, or for a piece that students may keep in their student portfolio. This colorful display makes an excellent bulletin board, especially for a hallway or classroom door for an event like Open House, Student-Led Conferences, or Back to School Night. Included in this

This resource is intended to be used after a read aloud of the book The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig. It includes space for students to independently reflect on the story the story, 6 action choices they can take (one of which is to come up with their own action) and space to make a plan for an action they can take to show kindness. This aligns with the IB PYP Action Cycle. I find frequent read alouds and prompts like these encourage my students to take more meaningful independent actions thro

This resource includes 6 different choice boards, one for each IB PYP Transdisciplinary Theme. Each choice board shows 16 independent, partner, or team projects that students can undertake as part of the action cycle during their unit of inquiry. Projects can be included in student portfolios. The packet also includes a reflection page that can be completed with any project. In my classroom, I find this most useful as a home/school connection. Students complete projects and as part of our daily

This resource is intended to be used after a read aloud of the book I Walk with Vanessa by Kerascoët. It includes space for students to independently reflect on the story, 6 action choices they can take (one of which is to come up with their own action) and space to make a plan for an action they can take to show kindness. This aligns with the IB PYP Action Cycle. I find frequent read alouds and prompts like these encourage my students to take more meaningful independent actions throughout their

This resource is intended to be used after a read aloud of the book Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson. It includes space for students to independently reflect on a quote from the story, 6 action choices they can take (one of which is to come up with their own action) and space to make a plan for an action they can take to show kindness. This aligns with the IB PYP Action Cycle. I find frequent read alouds and prompts like these encourage my students to take more meaningful independent actions

This booklet is intended to support students' deeper thinking and connections about place value. Individual pages of it can be used as "Do Now" or "Reflection" work before or after a lesson, or it can supplement partner and group work mid-lesson. The packet includes 10 half-size pages that can be cut to make a booklet. It also includes language from IB PYP Learner Profile and Key Concepts.