At the heart of an IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) Unit of Inquiry is student agency and action. For our 4-year-olds in K2, fostering agency and action can involve providing opportunities for students to make choices, express their ideas, and take ownership of their learning. 

These actions are purposeful and:

• Empower young learners, 
• Develop high-order thinking skills (generate new ideas, analyze information and creating), and
• Reinforce the connection between learning and the real world.

By emphasizing agency and action, we empower young learners to become active participants in their own education and responsible global citizens. 

As a prospective parent or guardian, you might be wondering what this actually looks like in the classroom, especially if the IB framework is new to you. The best way to see learning in action is to take an Admissions tour. The Admissions team will let you observe our Early Childhood Education classrooms and also take you through the Primary and Middle School to see the progression of learning over time. We love to show our work in the IB, so you’ll see student work on display in almost every inch of wall space in our buildings!

When you come to campus, you’ll almost immediately see an example of agency and action on our outdoor playspace. Adorning the shed, you’ll see a bright array of musical instruments that the K2 students concepted and created as part of their How the World Works unit.

During this Inquiry, our students were engaged and fascinated to discover raw materials and how they are transformed into daily objects. Making instruments was a great opportunity for them to choose the materials they considered appropriate for the instruments and to be able to see their ideas sketched become real, was exciting for them. They were sharing how they would use them and to play music out of their instrument. That is part of their creativity and their imagination.
- Dan Han, K2 Chinese Teacher

Throughout the unit, students explored different materials to learn about characteristics and uses found in the classroom and at home to share with the class. Students researched the materials from various resources (books, videos, etc.) to learn how the materials are sourced. They then sorted out the different objects according to their material. Then students experimented to identify the characteristics of the material. 

This is when things started to get really fun! Toward the end of our unit, students realized that in our new playground, we did not have any area of music. So they used their incredible imaginations and creativity to create an instrument for our new outdoor playspace. Students used materials of their choice and explored ways to solve problems when building structures. 

Our creative process for our instrument creation entailed:

1. First, we brainstormed ideas about how to make it possible to have a musical corner in the playground as a class. 

2. Then, students sketched their idea of the instrument. (This is very similar to what our Middle School kids do in Design in their process journals.)

3. To ensure the student's understanding of certain materials, and to assess their knowledge upon the usage of certain materials - they were asked to work individually. 

4. Then, students were offered different materials, such as wooden blocks, sticks, noodles, foam, play dough, elastic bands, toilet rolls, and paper. 

5. Students chose the materials to build their instruments.  

Here are some actual student quotes heard through the creative process: 

• “I want to make my guitar in a heart shape because I love hearts.”  
• “I want to paste real rattles to my instrument, can you help me paste them, please?"  
• “I want to make a rattle with this pan to play music with my family.” 
• “I think the shoe box is ideal for the guitar.” 

When their masterpieces were complete, including maracas, drums, guitars, keyboards, among others, students presented their instruments to the class in their target language, demonstrating mastery over their newfound knowledge and target-language vocabulary.

This is a great example of agency and taking action in the early years. We get to celebrate student actions in a really cool, public way by showcasing their efforts and achievements in the permanent installation in our play space.

Students are active citizens with a natural ability for divergent and creative thinking. Through inquiry, agency, and voice, they develop problem-solving skills and engage in open-ended activities. At ISDenver, we foster creativity, self-confidence, and advocacy while ensuring their knowledge is applied to solving real-world problems. This approach exemplifies our belief that students are capable learners, with educators serving as guides on their learning journey.

- Maria Rodriguez Marcos, ECE Principal and Director of the Spanish program and accreditation

I invite you to come and see how an IB and immersion language education come to life in the classroom. Email the Admissions team to schedule a campus tour today.