What Was It Like?

The first grade IB Planner Theme for this month is "Where We Are in Place and Time." The central idea is that discoveries in technology affect our lives. Students will mainly focus on changes in transportation and communication, but many other aspects of life and change will naturally come into discussion and consideration. Our specific IB inquiries for this planner are into: (1) how human connections have changed; and (2) similarities and differences in technology, across time and in comparison to each other.

Our activities in this Planner will broaden your child’s awareness of history, inventions, and change. Students will be provided with nonfiction books at various reading levels, and will have opportunities to determine and write interesting facts during individual and small group research. Your child will share research information through oral presentations, write about past and present modes of transportation and communication, and try to invent forms of transportation and communication for the future.

In a few weeks, your child will participate in a small group project in which students will choose or create visuals for a report, arrange graphics for a presentation board, and analyze and write about the positive and negative aspects of technological changes. Students will also continue their study and use of the Independent Investigation Method (IIM) of research. By the end of this Planner, your child should be able to discuss the seven steps of the IIM process with you!