Planning the inquiry

1. What is our purpose?

1a) To inquire into the following:
transdisciplinary theme
An inquiry into the nature of the self; beliefs and values; personal, physical, mental,
social and spiritual health; human relationships including families, friends, communities
and cultures; rights and responsibilities; what it means to be human.

central idea
Systems that define beliefs and values offer explanations about the world around us and
what it means to be human.
Class/grade: 4 Age group: 9-10
School: School code:
Title: Belief Systems
Teacher(s): Alfonso
Date:
Proposed duration: 6 weeks number of hours over number of weeks


1b) Summative assessment task(s):
What are the possible ways of assessing students understanding of the central
idea? What evidence, including student-initiated actions, will we look for?
Students formulate questions that will inquire into a persons beliefs. Conduct
interviews with a person whose beliefs are different from their own. Find out what
actions reflect those beliefs. Record findings in a written report showing the links
between their interviewees beliefs and their actions. Students present their
explanation in a medium of their choice

Goal: Show the connection of beliefs and values to actions of people in a
society.
Role: A writer/ Reporter / Presenter
Audience: school community
Scenario: You have just moved in a diverse community where home owners
practice different beliefs. You want to share the amazing feature of this
community in your school.
Product: brochure about the beliefs and values observed in that community.


2. What do we want to learn?
What are the key concepts (form, function, causation, change, connection,
perspective, responsibility, reflection) to be emphasized within this inquiry?
Key concepts: form, perspective, reflection
Related concepts: diversity, perception, commitment
What lines of inquiry will define the scope of the inquiry into the central idea?
Similarities and differences between belief systems (secular and faith-based)
How beliefs and values contribute to the formation and actions of
communities
The impact of spiritual traditions on society
What teacher questions/provocations will drive these inquiries?
What are your beliefs?
What is a belief system?
What are the different belief systems, their similarities and differences?
What is the relationship of beliefs and values?
How do beliefs and values contribute to the formation and action of communities?
What are the impacts of spiritual traditions on society?

How do people act in the society due to the traditions that they have?

International Baccalaureate Organization 2011
Planning the inquiry
3. How might we know what we have learned?
This column should be used in conjunction with How best might we learn?
What are the possible ways of assessing students prior knowledge and skills?
What evidence will we look for?
Pre-Unit Assessment
1. Using a concentric circle:
What are the top 4 beliefs and values that you know and practice? How does it
affect yourself, your family and the society/world?
2. Dissecting the central idea
The students will dissect the central idea with the following prompts:
what do you know about beliefs?
how is it connected to the behavior?
how does it impact the society?
With the choice of using the following:
concept map
illustrations
other graphic organizer
What are the possible ways of assessing student learning in the context of the
lines of inquiry? What evidence will we look for?
(Use attachment B: Assessment Opportunities chart)
4. How best might we learn?
What are the learning experiences suggested by the teacher and/or students to
encourage the students to engage with the inquiries and address the driving
questions?
(Use attachment C: Learning Engagements Chart)
What opportunities will occur for transdisciplinary skills development and for the
development of the attributes of the learner profile?
Thinking- Students will develop thinking skills as they acquire data, sort, analyze and evaluate
gathered data, and also as they consider and evaluate dif f erent points of views of dif ferent people.
Comprehension- understanding inf ormation f ound f rom dif f erent sources
Dialectical Thought- thinking about two or more dif f erent points of view at the same time;
understanding the points of view; realize that other people can also take ones own point of view.
Social- Students will develop social skills as they get to respect other peoples belief s and
behaviors.
Respecting others- listening sensitively to others; making decisions based on f airness and
equality; recognizing others belief s, view points, religions and ideas may dif f erent f orm ones own;
stating ones opinion without hurting others.
Resolving conflict- listening caref ully to others; compromising; accepting responsibility
appropriately; being f air.
Communication- Students will develop their communication skills as they listen, gather
perspectives and present their f indings.
Listening- listening to others
Speaking- speaking clearly and expressing ideas clearly and logically; stating opinions
Reading- reading a variety of resources f or inf ormation, comprehending what has been read,
making inf erences and drawing conclusions
Writing- recording inf ormation, taking notes, keeping a journal or record
Self -Management- Students will develop self -management skills as they plan and go through their
research and as they work with their group mates.
Organization- planning and carrying out their research ef f ectively
Time-Management- using time ef f ectively and appropriately
Informed choices- selecting an appropriate course of action or behavior based on various
perspectives
Research- Students will develop research skills as they f ormulate questions, plan their research,
conduct surveys and interviews, record and organize data and as they present their data.

5. What resources need to be gathered?
What people, places, audio-visual materials, related literature, music, art, computer software, etc, will be available?
People: Father Leo (Catholic Episcopal) and religious leaders
Teacher Dad(Joel Banal)
Glori Po
Books: Different information and story books on beliefs, Chinese Cinderella
Articles: Articles on different beliefs
Places: Buddhist Temple (MLA), Manila Cathedral, San Agustin Church, Iglesia Ni Cristo Museum
Others:
SECULARISM
belief systems
your belief system
bizarre belief systems
religious/belief system_PHIL
dev belief sys
science and BS
creating perfect BS
finding rituals
what is ritual
belief systems in asia
how rituals compare
belief systems in the world
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/global-filipi no/worl d/05/18/12/mob-hurls-urine-indonesian-christians
http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/re/re.htm

How will the classroom environment, local environment, and/or the community be used to facilitate the inquiry?
The classroom will have a discovery area with artifacts, books and articles related to the unit.
The work of the students will be displayed as their guide.

International Baccalaureate Organization 2011





Reflecting on the inquiry
6. To what extent did we achieve our purpose?
Assess the outcome of the inquiry by providing evidence of students understanding of the central idea.
The ref lections of all teachers involved in the planning and teaching of the inquiry should be included.
a. Relevant
The most relevant experience was the chance for the students to immerse and
experience various activities regarding to a particular belief. Likewise they were able to
identify and interact with a religions beliefs and values and how it could be compared and
contrasted to their own shared religion (Catholicism).
b. Significant
Students realized that the values of the community is shaped by the beliefs and practices
of each member of the community. They came to realize that people/we could co-exist
even with different beliefs. Lastly, each belief focused on the need to consistently work for
the betterment of man and the world.
c. Engaging
Students enjoyed and were totally engaged in interviewing different people about their
beliefs. They came up with relevant questions and were able to share new perspectives
that they have found out to other people specifically to their parents. They still continued
researching independently even if the unit has already ended.
d. Challenging
The challenges faced in the unit was the need to find credible and ki d friendly resources
for the students to read on. Secondly, the first line of Inquiry (secular and non-secular
systems) proved challenging because of the need to make secular beliefs
understandable and uncomplicated for the students.
e. Resources
The primary and the secondary resources that we have this unit made the inquiry
experience very rich. The most essential learning took place when we visited different
worship places and interviewed different people of different beliefs. Students became
aware that all the beliefs systems have commonality despite their differences.

How you could improve on the assessment task(s) so that you would have a more accurate picture of
each students understanding of the central idea .The assessment tasks that were designed were very
suited because it measures the understanding of the students of the central idea. They are student-
f riendly tasks since the scenarios that were presented were f amiliar which made them get connected with
it personally. Other f orms of assessment f ocused on the students making their own generalizations and
understandings based on what they have learnt and picked up. These tasks theref ore enabled the
teachers to gauge how much they have learnt f rom the Unit.

What was the evidence that connections were made between the central idea and the transdisciplinary
theme?The students recognized the role of belief s and values in f orming the actions of the community
and the world. They were able to realize that our relationship with other shouldnt be af f ected by what we
believe in.

7. To what extent did we include the elements of the PYP?
What were the learning experiences that enabled students to:
develop an understanding of the concepts identif ied in What do we want to learn?
Form: The students were able to recognize the different forms of belief systems and
their tenets
Perspective The students were able to study and interview people from different
faiths learn about their essential beliefs and how their beliefs are not so different.
Reflection The students were able to know that despite different beliefs the common
goal for all the beliefs is to have world peace and unity.
demonstrate the learning and application of particular transdisciplinary skills?
Thinking - the students were able to initiate produce their own questions for
interviewing. Likewise they were able to make connections that would improve their
understanding.
Social- the students were able to interact with different people during their
interviews. They treated these people with respect and acted with proper decorum in
sacred/religious places.
Communication - the students were able to practice their listening and interviewing
skills. They showed how to ask questions properly and when to ask appropriate or
timely questions.
Self-Management- students were able to practice safety and have proper behaviour
during the field trip. They were also behaved properly when interviewing resource
speakers.
Research- the students were able to research from various resources to find out
about their expert topics on the faith-based beliefs

develop particular attributes of the learner prof ile and/or attitudes?
In each case, explain your selection.
Open Minded - the students developed being open minded by respecting other
religious practices.
Knowledgeable - students were knowledgeable about the different beliefs and
practices. They were able to distinguish one from the other.
Caring - students developed being caring by respecting others beliefs even though
its totally different from what they are practicing.
International Baccalaureate Organization 2011
Reflecting on the inquiry
8. What student-initiated inquiries arose from the learning?
Record a range of student-initiated inquiries and student questions and highlight any
that were incorporated into the teaching and learning.
What are the different beliefs and practices of the different religions?
At this point teachers should go back to box 2 What do we want to learn? and
highlight the teacher questions/provocations that were most effective in driving the
inquiries.
What student-initiated actions arose from the learning?
Record student-initiated actions taken by individuals or groups showing their ability
to reflect, to choose and to act.
The students were able to form questions that were worth inquiring on. These
questions were based on their shared experiences in reading various topics about
their expert topic. Secondly, the students interviewed people from various faiths
about their own beliefs and values during the field trip. Lastly, they were able to
create various charts that would compare and contrast one religion with another and
also one belief system (secular) with another (non-secular).
With regards to their assessment, the students were able to create masks that would
illustrate their knowledge and understanding of different beliefs and how it is
applicable in their own lives. Hence they were able to create new ideas that would
further help them contextualize and concretize the unit of how beliefs help in the
formation of values in a community.
For the final assessment, the students were tasked to create a brochure or
newsletter about a community wherein its, who have different beliefs, can still live
together, In this activity, we were able to observe that the students were able to
apply the various teachings of the different religions in order to place it in the right
context. The students were also able to make connections of how the different
beliefs and values can contribute to the formation and development of a community.


9. Teacher notes
We should focus more on other religions beside the mainstream ones
Have a clear cut understanding on the differences between beliefs and
values

International Baccalaureate Organization 2011

Attachment...
A. Key Learning Outcomes
Key Understanding
What do we want students to understand by the end of the unit?
Our character reflects our beliefs.
Peoples choices decisions and actions reflect their beliefs.
Peoples personal beliefs are influenced by religions and spiritual traditions and vice versa.
Our beliefs determines what we think we are capable of, or not capable of.
We create our own belief system based on the conclusions we draw from the experiences we have and the results we produce.
Knowledge outcomes and Skills outcomes
What do we want students to be able to know by the end of the unit?
What do we want students to be able to do by the end of the unit?
LOI #1 Similarities and differences between belief systems (secular and faith-based)
Explain the concept of belief
Differentiate personal beliefs and belief systems
Differentiate beliefs and values
Differentiate different belief systems

LOI #2 How beliefs and values contribute to the formation and actions of communities
Explain connection of beliefs and values
Identify the influences of beliefs systems to the society
Show different perspectives on the influence of beliefs on peoples behavior
Show self-awareness on how their beliefs influence their values and own behavior
LOI #3 The impact of spiritual traditions on society
Explain the different impacts of the religious and spiritual traditions to the society
Explain the different issues that religious and spiritual traditions bring about
Show and evaluate different perspectives on how the different the religious and spiritual traditions impact the society
Reflect on how their religious and spiritual beliefs affect them as a person


B. Assessment Opportunities
Line of Inquiry What will be assessed? How will
evidence be
collected?
What type of assessment will be used?
Similarities and differences
between belief systems
(secular and faith-based)

Our character reflects our beliefs.
There are similarities and differences between the
belief systems

Knowledge Product
Observations
Rubric
Anecdotes
How beliefs and values
contribute to the formation and
actions of communities
Peoples choices decisions and actions reflect their
beliefs.
Our beliefs determines what we think we are
capable of, or not capable of.

Knowledge Product
Observations
Rubric
Anecdotes
The impact of spiritual
traditions on society
Peoples personal beliefs are influenced by
religions and spiritual traditions and vice versa.
We create our own belief system based on the
conclusions we draw from the experiences we have
and the results we produce.


Knowledge Product
Observations
Rubric
Anecdotes


C. Learning Engagements
Tuning in and preparation to find out:
What variety of activities will be used to:
engage all students in the topic? hook?
assess prior knowledge?
ref ine f urther planning?
lead into the f inding out experiences?
Engagement and gathering prior knowledge, pre-assessment, questions f or inquiry, goal setting. Sometimes students will require some immersion in the topic if little is known/ experienced.
Tuning in 1: Inner- outer self
Students show what they believe in personally, though symbols. They will explain this art work through a piece of writing about themselves.

Tuning in 2: Family interview: What do we believe in as a family? Present data in a form of poem.

PART 2: Students gather as many beliefs and practices that people around the school community do through interview. They will then present their findings through an
illustration that would show/represent the common beliefs of the school community.


Tuning in 3: Artifact that shows their belief as a person or family. Share to the class.

Tuning in 4: Picture analysis: Present pictures of different beliefs related to world religions.

Preparing to Find Out: Reading of articles about faith based beliefs.


Finding Out
Data collection
Experiences to assist students to gather new inf ormation
about the topic
Experiences and texts that add to the knowledge base.
Emphasis on gathering f irst-hand data in a range of ways
(usually shared experiences)
Teachers & Students Questions
Teacher and student questions that help drive the inquiry
Focus questions to f or inquiry
Sorting Out Gauging, organizing or presenting new inf ormation
Activities to assist students to process and work with the
inf ormation and ideas they have gathered about the topic
(including exploring values)
Organizing, analyzing and communicating the inf ormation
gathered using a range of vehicles (e.g through Math,
Arts, English, Drama, Music or IT)
Reading faith-based books, articles

Shared inquiry: Catholicism

Researching about faith-based ( expert groups) beliefs
using the web

Math integration: comparing all the belief systems

Field trip to:
Buddhist Temple
Iglesia ni Cristo

Resource speakers
Episcopal Church: Joel Banal
Protestantism: Glorilee Po
Islam: Salem Guimba
Folsom Church: Pastor Tito

Picture analysis: impact of spiritual traditions to society
What are your beliefs?

How do you show your beliefs?

What are the practices that goes with your
beliefs?

What is the impact of your beliefs to your
values?

Mask Painting: Students will paint mask to show their
understanding on the impact of beliefs and values to
the formation and actions of communities.


Comparison of Secular and Non-Secular Belief
Systems


Going Further
Activities to challenge and extend
Raising new questions, extending experiences, challenging assumptions. May be individually negotiated.
The class was not able to do the going further due to time constraints.
Drawing conclusions
Raising new questions, extending experiences, challenging assumptions. May be individually negotiated. Students draw conclusions of what they have learnt. This is an
important time to evaluate the success of the unit and the needs and achievements of individuals. This is where students put it all together.
They understood that they may have different beliefs but they can still work together to have what we all aim for, peace and unity.
Reflecting and Taking Action
To ref lect on what has been learnt and process of learning. It is important that students be given opportunities to act upon what they have learnt. Actions are things that students can themselves and f rom which they
can see results.
Action that resulted out of this unit may not be too obvious since it is seen in the change of perspective/ thinking and behavior. After the inquiry, students are now more
open about the different beliefs and practices of the people around them.