Planning the inquiry

1. What is our purpose? Class/grade: Age group: 7–9 year olds

The
To inquire into the following:
School: School code:
transdisciplinary theme This unit has been developed as a PE unit of inquiry. Inquiries in this unit could lead to deeper
understanding of aspects of several transdisciplinary themes. Additionally, the PYP key concepts identified for this unit provide a Title: Net Games creation
cohesive context for transdisciplinary learning.
Teacher(s):
central idea PYP planner
Games can be changed to suit the needs of those involved. Date:
Summative assessment task(s):
Proposed duration: 8-9 hours over 2 weeks.
What are the possible ways of assessing students’ understanding of the central idea? What evidence, including student-
initiated actions, will we look for?
Students will present a net game that they have devised, involving teams of 3-4 players, to another group of students and will play
2. What do we want to learn?
the game with them.
What are the key concepts (form, function, causation, change, connection, perspective, responsibility, reflection)
Using rubric criteria developed by the teachers, evidence will be sought that students: to be emphasized within this inquiry?
understand the characteristics of a net game (form) Key concepts: form, connection, change
understand and can discuss the ways in which net games can be changed or modified to suit the needs of those involved Related concepts: challenge, competition, improvement, modification, rules
(connection, change).
What lines of inquiry will define the scope of the inquiry into the central idea?
By observing students during discussions we will also look for evidence of individual contributions to development and revision of
the games. The characteristics of net games (form)
Students will also be asked to identify the characteristics of net games and describe the rules for their specific games on a reflection Features that are common to all net games (connection)
activity. How changes affect games (change)

The school refers to the local state curriculum to inform planning, teaching and assessing, and the following rubric reflects the
content of this curriculum. What teacher questions/provocations will drive these inquiries?

What do we mean by the term ―net games‖?

State Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 What are some examples of net games?
Curriculum How are those games similar?
Strands Do games ever change (have volleyball, hockey, soccer or football ever changed?)
Knowledge Demonstrates Demonstrates some Demonstrates a good Demonstrates a thorough Why do games change?
and misconceptions regarding knowledge of net game knowledge of net game knowledge of net game Are all of these recognized games appropriate for all 7-9 year-olds?
Understanding net game characteristics characteristics characteristics characteristics Can we change them to make them more suitable?
What are some changes we can make?
Demonstrates Demonstrates some Demonstrates a good Demonstrates a thorough
misconceptions regarding understanding of the understanding of the understanding of the
the effects of game effects of game changes effects of game changes effects of game changes
changes
Demonstrates some Demonstrates good Demonstrates a thorough
Demonstrates knowledge of his group’s knowledge of his group’s knowledge of his group’s
misconceptions about his created game created game created game
group’s created game
Active Rarely contributes to group Sometimes contributes to Regularly contributes to Frequently contributes to
Participation discussions group discussions group discussions group discussions

Rarely ready to participate Sometimes ready to Usually ready to participate Always/almost always ready
in good time participate in good time in good time to participate in good time

Rarely on-task Sometimes on-task Generally on-task Always/almost always on-

task
Rarely open to others’ ideas Sometimes open to others’ Generally open to others’
ideas ideas Always/almost always open
to others’ ideas

© International Baccalaureate Organization Sample 11.1

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?
Initial discussions will provide examples of known net games (e.g. tennis, badminton, volleyball) and the extent to which
students connect these. Teacher-devised team net games (e.g. modified volleyball) and reflections will help establish
students’ understanding of basic net game concepts (the characteristics of net games, common terminology, how to
score points).
What are the possible ways of assessing student learning in the context of the lines of inquiry? What evidence
will we look for?
The characteristics of net games (form): Students’ contributions to discussions, their posted notes, their written
reflections and, ultimately, their created/modified games will indicate their development of understanding of the
characteristics of net games.
Features that are common to all net games (connection): Students’ modifications to their games will demonstrate an
understanding of the parameters of net games.
How changes affect games (change): Students’ chosen changes to games, reflections on those changes, and decisions
to retain or reject modifications will provide evidence for understanding in this line of inquiry.
5. What resources need to be gathered?
What people, places, audio-visual materials, related literature, music, art, computer software, etc, will be available?
Badminton nets and posts, miscellaneous balls and objects (volleyballs, tennis balls, beach balls, bean bags, rubber chickens, shuttles, foam balls)
Possible use of laptop/iPad and projector in teaching area (tennis bubble) to show net games in action.
―Teaching Games for Understanding: Theory, research and practice‖ by Linda L Griffin and Joy I Butler.
How will the classroom environment, local environment, and/or the community be used to facilitate the inquiry?
The court area will be used for this unit.
© International Baccalaureate Organization
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?
Structure of PE lessons during this unit: After initial whole class warm-up activities and introductory discussions, students will be
separated into three groups to rotate around three different stations—Station 1: tennis skill development, Station 2 and 3: net games
inquiries. In most lessons, each group will rotate around two stations. One teacher is working with students at Station 1 while the
second teacher is moving between Station 2 and Station 3 facilitating the students’ inquiry into playing net games. Through the unit,
students will play teacher-initiated net games, explore ways to modify them, reflect on the changes, share with others and get feedback
on their modified games. Specific question prompts linked to the lines of inquiry and the key concepts (see teacher questions) are
interspersed with the teaching and learning providing opportunity for deeper understanding of the central idea.
Teacher-initiated game: Discuss with students the games that fall into the net games category and the similarities between those
games. Play a game of modified volleyball (eg 3 vs 3 or 4 vs 4, catching allowed, one bounce allowed, one compulsory pass). When the
students have played the game for a while, discuss why we did not play a full game of volleyball (eg skills are too difficult at this
age/experience, less contact time with 6 vs 6) and why the modified version of the game might better suit the needs of our class.
Student-initiated game changes: Over several lessons students will participate in short games begun by the teacher to which the losing
team can make changes prior to the next iteration of the game. For example, students play a modified volleyball game where a score of
3 points is required to win. At the end of the game, the losing team chooses one rule change (different ball, new rule, court dimensions).
These changes are written on a post-it note and stuck to a display board. On completion of the next game involving a new rule, both
teams decide whether to retain or reject the change before making another change and continuing the cycle. Having done this a
number of times, the class looks at all of the changes made (refer to post-it notes on board), reflects upon them and sorts them into
categories (e.g. equipment change, court dimension change, rule change). This categorization becomes a resource for groups who
cannot think of more changes during the next phase of the unit.
Leading towards summative assessment: Through collaborative discussions, groups will settle upon the basic structure of their game.
As they are going to be introducing their modified game to another group, part of this discussion will be consideration for the things we
already know about net games and what details we would need to know if we were playing a new net game. Students, in groups, think
of questions they would ask if they did not know the new game (e.g. what kind of ball do you use, how do you serve?) and record these
on post-it notes. These questions are then reflected upon and can be categorized, using the previous groupings. Students are then
asked to look at the questions to see if they have the answers for all of those questions for their own game. This process helps students
with communicating their games to their peers.
The students’ games are now considered ―complete‖ and they are presented to another group of students. This is done by dividing the
groups in half and having them describe, then play the new game with the other students. Following the game, the students who
learned the new game reflect with the game creators (things they liked, suggestions, etc).
What opportunities will occur for transdisciplinary skills development and for the development of the attributes of the learner
profile?
Transdisciplinary skills
Social skills: respecting others, cooperating, group decision-making
Thinking skills: comprehension, application, evaluation
Communication skills: listening, speaking
Self-management: gross motor skills, safety
IB learner profile
Thinker (devising game through thinking of changes and the effect they might have on the game), communicator (explaining ideas and games
to others), principled (respecting others’ ideas), open-minded (being open to others’ ideas).
Sample 11.1
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 reflections of
all teachers involved in the planning and teaching of the inquiry should be included.
The purpose of the unit was to take known games and modify them to suit needs (and at times the interests) of the students. The
changes made to the games introduced by teachers showed students understood the purpose of the unit and each group of students
created significantly different games. They suited the needs of the players involved and this is evidenced by the fact that they were
all apparently satisfied with the resultant games.
It is hard to assess the quality of the decision-making as the students’ reflections did not typically show evidence of deep thought on
why one rule was chosen over another. On observation, it appears the students were more motivated to just play and be active in
some games they liked rather than fine-tuning to determine the perfect game. Maybe the reality is that the game doesn’t need to be
perfect to be fun enough!
Competitiveness was an issue with some groups. As is common with boys of this age, some placed more emphasis on beating the
other half of their group rather than on working with them to create the best game they could. This was addressed with the pair-
switch system whereby each player has a ―partner‖ on the opposing team and one pair switches sides after every game.
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 identified in “What do we want to learn?”
Students’ reflections indicated an improvement in their ability to recognise features of net games (form) and see the
connections between different games. This came through most during group discussions.
Having recognised the common features of new games, students were able to recognise changes that were
appropriate in the context of net games (using established net games as reference points). As they became more
experienced, they were able to predict changes that would address perceived limitations in their games (e.g. allowing
two bounces rather than one would make the court easier to defend).
demonstrate the learning and application of particular transdisciplinary skills?
The development of social skills was facilitated through the need for students to negotiate rule changes in their groups.
As mentioned in box 6, students were often inclined to compete rather than co-operate, but ultimately made decisions
that the group could live with.
Thinking skills were developed through the game modification process: predicting what changes might improve the
game and those that wouldn’t.
Communication skills were practiced and improved through the presentation of the group games. A pre-emptive
discussion on the types of information that needed to be shared and how they would answer specific questions was
helpful (e.g. describing in terms of the game it is most like and then the most significant differences).

How you could improve on the assessment task(s) so that you would have a more accurate picture of each student’s
understanding of the central idea. develop particular attributes of the learner profile and/or attitudes?
Thinkers: students were given opportunities to develop their ability to analyse and predict the effect of changes to their
The summative assessment task showed that students had a basic understanding of the central idea. Each group of students games.
created significantly different games. They changed aspects of the games in order to suit the needs of the players involved and this
is evidenced by the fact that they were all apparently satisfied with the resultant games. Principled: students were required to maintain relationships within their groups to ensure productive work. Respectful
interaction with peers was essential.
As an earlier comment reflects, deep thinking about the purpose for changing aspects of games was not really shown. Some kind of
task that maps the progress of each group’s game would help to give a more accurate picture of students developing Open-minded: students had to be open-minded to accept the ideas of others in their groups.
understanding…a daily journal perhaps, a basic flow chart, or a cause-and-effect chart may be useful. This way, students could
describe changes and reflect upon why changes improved the game (or didn’t). Perhaps this could be part of a mini-portfolio Communicators: students had to communicate clearly to explain their created games to other students.
including photos, a plan of the court, etc. We have to be wary of taking active participation time away from the students, but
developing a daily reflection as a habit could minimize the time taken. Such activities could be more possible with a
classroom/homeroom component (e.g. in situations where the classroom/homeroom teacher was also the PE teacher or the
classroom/homeroom teacher was able to use the learning going on in PE to link to language learning going on in the classroom, e.g.
learning about procedural texts). Another suggestion is that a student from each group is assigned to be the official
photographer/note-taker. The school has recently purchased a set of flip cameras so this might be more feasible in the future.

Finally, we are wondering if the central idea is rigorous enough. Perhaps considering that games can be changed to suit the needs of
those involved as well as to reflect the parameters of available time, space, equipment might be an interesting addition.

What was the evidence that connections were made between the central idea and the transdisciplinary theme?
This unit was not directly linked to a particular transdisciplinary theme. Instead transdisciplinary links were made through the PYP
key concepts, transdisciplinary skills, learner profile attributes and PYP attitudes.

© International Baccalaureate Organization Sample 11.1

Reflecting on the inquiry

8. What student-initiated inquiries arose from the learning? 9. Teacher notes

Record a range of student-initiated inquiries and student questions and highlight any that were incorporated into the
teaching and learning. (At this point teachers should go back to box 2 “What do we want to learn?” and highlight the teacher Please note, the particular context for addressing the central idea for this unit was net games, but any game category
questions/provocations that were most effective in driving the inquiries.)
(e.g. within the Teaching Games for Understanding framework) such as ―games we play at recess‖, ―ball games‖, would
The following questions came up as a result of discussions prior to presentation of games:
be appropriate.
How big is the court?
What kind of ball should we use? For this unit, we also selected a specific skill-set to focus on, i.e. racquet skills for modified tennis. Students’ skill levels
What equipment do we use? were assessed at the end of the unit. The selection of modified tennis was largely as a result of the availability of the
How tall is the net? particular teaching space. The unit could easily be run in a gym without this component. If a skill focus is desired, the net
How many people are there to play? games unit would provide ample opportunities for development of throwing and/or catching skills, and then stipulating the
What is the object of the game? inclusion of particular skills in the modified games, as appropriate.
All of the teacher questions served a useful purpose, but the question, ―How are net games similar?‖ was frequently returned to and
stimulated discussion not only on similarities and differences between various net games and the features that we could agree were
Skills component rubric:
common for all, but also how we articulate/describe rules, for example, when exactly is a point scored in a game of tennis? Questions
like these produced some lively discussion and some lengthy explanations from the students. These clarifications helped the students State Curriculum Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4
to frame their own rules. Strands
Movement Skills Rarely makes contact with Can hit forehand and/or Can hit forehand and/or Can hit forehand and/or
The question, ―Do games ever change?‖ did not yield many responses (the students don’t have much sport history knowledge at age forehand or backhand backhand but lacks control backhand with some power backhand with power and
8!) but it was an opportunity to illustrate that even real games do change periodically. and/or power and accuracy accuracy
Demonstrates poor mobility
on the court Demonstrates limited Demonstrates good mobility Demonstrates excellent
What student-initiated actions arose from the learning? mobility on the court on the court mobility on the court

Record student-initiated actions taken by individuals or groups showing their ability to reflect, to choose and to act.

The unit was based upon creating opportunities to have students choose, act and reflect. In creating their games, they certainly did
this. They even became ―critical friends‖ to their peers, e.g. when reflecting on others’ games, they felt empowered to identify what they
saw as limitations (a good chance for a discussion on perspective!) as a result of their new-found understanding of net games (e.g. ―It’s
too easy to score points, your court should be smaller‖).

© International Baccalaureate Organization Sample 11.1