Creating IB learner profile attribute posters with very young children, new to the program.

Creating PYP posters with students might be one of the goals of the first six weeks of school, but how is a Primary Years Program (PYP) teacher supposed to create such posters with very young children who are new to the program? The IB Learner Profile attributes (and all the other essential elements) are complex ideas. When students aren't familiar with them, how is a teacher supposed to help her students create posters so that they can construct meaning of these big ideas?

One kindergarten teacher created posters with her young students by using pictures to help them construct meaning of the IB Learner Profile attributes.

First, gathered together in a large group, she showed the students a blank poster with one attribute in large letters. In the example below, the students were creating the inquirer poster for their room.

Click here for a PDF version of these posters.

Then, the teacher displayed a series of pictures of children, all who were demonstrating behaviors of an inquirer.

Click here for a PDF version of the slides of pictures for each IB Learner Profile Attribute.

The teacher told her students that all the children in the pictures where inquirers. She then prompted the students to notice what specifically the children were doing. As her students offered responses, the teacher added them to the poster, finishing the phrase, "being an inquirer looks like ..."

After the children had contributed several ideas (being an inquirer looks like wondering, asking questions, being confused, looking closely), the teacher gave each student a small piece of paper, directing them to quickly draw themselves as inquirers. As the students finished, the teacher affixed the small drawings around the edge of the poster, so that every child's work was a part of the classroom display.

By creating the IB Learner Profile attribute posters in this way, the teacher guaranteed the students were developing an understanding of each attribute as they collaboratively worked.

Have you successfully made PYP posters with very young children new to the program in a different way than the teacher in this story? Please, share your idea with others by commenting on this post.