Walnut Street 5th Graders “Share the Planet” at the Des Moines Central Library

13897210083_6e03af114f_bWalnut Street School 5th graders presented their International Baccalaureate – Primary Years Programme Exhibition at the Des Moines Public Central Library.

This year’s Exhibition was connected to the trans-disciplinary theme of “Sharing the Planet”. There were eight student groups who dug into some global issues which have local relevance. They developed their own central ideas and lines of inquiry connected to their issues of interest. The issues explored this year included: hunger, civil rights/equality, deforestation, bullying, access to technology, children’s rights, homelessness, and community activism.

At the end of Grade 5 all students participate in the Primary Years Programme Exhibition. It is the culminating event in the life of a PYP school and student: an opportunity for students to exhibit the attributes of the IB Learner Profile that they have been developing throughout their engagement with the PYP and to celebrate their transition from primary to middle school.

Principal Craig Leager said the PYP Exhibition:

•             presents an occasion for students to demonstrate their abilities to be self-directed learners

•             requires students to synthesize their prior learning and apply it to an unfamiliar situation, thus providing an appropriate assessment strategy for real understanding

•             provides an opportunity for greater involvement and for the School community as a whole to gain more insight into the PYP programme

•             facilitates all of the student profiles and attributes

•             focuses on all key questions that drive the inquiry (form, function, causation, change, connection, perspective, responsibility, and reflection)

•             requires the application of all the trans-disciplinary skills

•             offers opportunities to develop positive attitudes

•             allows for positive “action” contribution by students.

A winning combination for our students and the communities in which they will continue to grow.

See photos of the event


Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

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