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Outstanding and practical look at utilizing the ACT model to promote conceptual acquisition/consolidation, connection and transfer for deep learning.

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Learning That Transfers empowers teachers and curriculum designers alike to harness the critical concepts of traditional disciplines while building students' capacity to navigate, interpret, and transfer their learning to solve novel and complex modern problems.

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Learning That Transfers empowers teachers and curriculum designers alike to harness the critical concepts of traditional disciplines while building students' capacity to navigate, interpret, and transfer their learning to solve novel and complex modern problems.

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Connect Extend Challenge template to use with your class

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Previous cards

Quote by Carol Ann Tomlinson, Ed.D., William Clay Parrish, Jr. Professor, University of Virginia, Curry School of Education: "This book is smart, and wise, and energizing. It honors the disciplines we teach by reminding us of their inherent meaning, rather than allowing us to accept them as collections of data. It honors teachers with the belief that they grow as human beings through understanding the power of what they teach and crafting approaches for sharing that power with young learners. It honors students by expecting them to become thinkers capable of reasoned stewardship of the world they live in and will inherit. It maps out a path for achieving the twin goals of content understanding and developing thinking-both too long absent in too many schools."

"This book is smart, and wise, and energizing. It honors the disciplines we teach by reminding us of their inherent meaning, rather than allowing us to accept them as collections of data. It honors teachers with the belief that they grow as human beings through understanding the power of what they teach and crafting approaches for sharing that power with young learners. It honors students by expecting them to become thinkers capable of reasoned stewardship of the world they live in and will inherit. It maps out a path for achieving the twin goals of content understanding and developing thinking-both too long absent in too many schools."

Quote by Julie Stern, Independent Trainer and Curriculum Designer, Author, Tools for Teaching Conceptual Understanding, Secondary, Bogota, Colombia: "This revised edition is essential for all educators! If you want to help students deal with the overwhelming rate of complexity and information overload they face, look no further. This practical guide will help you design units for deep learning that lasts."

"This revised edition is essential for all educators! If you want to help students deal with the overwhelming rate of complexity and information overload they face, look no further. This practical guide will help you design units for deep learning that lasts."

Quote by Jennifer T. H. Wathall, Consultant and Author of Concept-Based Mathematics, Island School, Hong Kong, China: "This new, updated edition of Erickson's Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction for the Thinking Classroom provides deep insights on how to create a thinking classroom by developing intellect and preparing our students for the 21st Century. This is a research-based, practical guide to designing curriculum and instruction that focuses on conceptual understandings through utilizing an inquiry-based approach. This book is bursting with examples and systematic strategies to engage and motivate our students. A must read for all 21st century educators!"

"This new, updated edition of Erickson's Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction for the Thinking Classroom provides deep insights on how to create a thinking classroom by developing intellect and preparing our students for the 21st Century. This is a research-based, practical guide to designing curriculum and instruction that focuses on conceptual understandings through utilizing an inquiry-based approach. This book is bursting with examples and systematic strategies to engage and motivate our students. A must read for all 21st century educators!"

Quote by Karen L. List, Project Director, PK - 3rd Grade Leadership Program, Executive Coach, LEAD CT, Neag Dept. of Educational Leadership, University of Connecticut: "The authors are justly intent on advancing the intellect of our students and ensuring schools are places that shape lifelong learners. The Concept-Based approach challenges teachers to think deeply about what and how they are teaching so that students deepen their understanding and retain and apply what they've learned. One of the greatest challenges any teacher faces is the transfer of agency from the teacher to the student. Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction does just that. If we are serious about promoting engaged, motivated, productive, creative citizens, our teacher preparation institutions must provide in-depth guidance in this powerful design process. It is imperative that pre-service teachers understand "how knowledge and processes are structured and the relationship of these structures to teaching, learning, and intellectual development." I know of no better resource to guide pre-service teachers in the development of thinking students than this text and others by these authors."

"The authors are justly intent on advancing the intellect of our students and ensuring schools are places that shape lifelong learners. The Concept-Based approach challenges teachers to think deeply about what and how they are teaching so that students deepen their understanding and retain and apply what they've learned. One of the greatest challenges any teacher faces is the transfer of agency from the teacher to the student. Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction does just that. If we are serious about promoting engaged, motivated, productive, creative citizens, our teacher preparation institutions must provide in-depth guidance in this powerful design process. It is imperative that pre-service teachers understand "how knowledge and processes are structured and the relationship of these structures to teaching, learning, and intellectual development." I know of no better resource to guide pre-service teachers in the development of thinking students than this text and others by these authors."

Quote by Ashish Trivedi, MYP School Services Manager, Asia Pacific, International Baccalaureate Organization:

"Teachers must be able to engage and motivate learners before they can teach them. However, engagement and motivation only come when learning is relevant and intrinsically interesting. For learning to be relevant and intrinsically interesting, teachers must start by crafting deeper conceptual understandings of personal or transferable significance. Given the pressures of a coverage curriculum, developing students' critical, creative and conceptual minds is one of the biggest challenges our teachers face today. This brilliant piece of work by Lynn, Lois, and Rachel is what teachers need to address the challenge. The authors have beautifully presented a broad range of theoretically grounded and highly practical strategies to improve student engagement, thinking, and motivation through the principles of Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction. "

"Teachers must be able to engage and motivate learners before they can teach them. However, engagement and motivation only come when learning is relevant and intrinsically interesting. For learning to be relevant and intrinsically interesting, teachers must start by crafting deeper conceptual understandings of personal or transferable significance. Given the pressures of a coverage curriculum, developing students' critical, creative and conceptual minds is one of the biggest challenges our teachers face today. This brilliant piece of work by Lynn, Lois, and Rachel is what teachers need to address the challenge. The authors have beautifully presented a broad range of theoretically grounded and highly practical strategies to improve student engagement, thinking, and motivation through the principles of Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction. "

Quote by Charles Fadel, Author of "Four-Dimensional Education" and "21st Century Skills", Founder, Center for Curriculum Redesign, Harvard Graduate School of Education: "What should students know in an age of search engines? As factual and procedural knowledge are a click away, education needs to foster contextualization and higher order thinking through a focus on transferable conceptual understandings. This should be the Holy Grail of a modern education, which needs to crisply redefine what type of content matter is most needed so as to reserve time and space for deeper learning to occur. This essential book translates the needed sophistication of concept-based learning into actionable classroom practices, which every teacher will be enchanted to have."

"What should students know in an age of search engines? As factual and procedural knowledge are a click away, education needs to foster contextualization and higher order thinking through a focus on transferable conceptual understandings. This should be the Holy Grail of a modern education, which needs to crisply redefine what type of content matter is most needed so as to reserve time and space for deeper learning to occur. This essential book translates the needed sophistication of concept-based learning into actionable classroom practices, which every teacher will be enchanted to have."

Quote by Guadalupe Arellano, Student Advocate and Instructional Coordinator, Los Angeles Unified School District: "A must read for all teacher credentialing programs. A valuable teacher's guide on creating deep, passionate concept-based units of inquiry. This book artfully engages the reader's thinking and takes them through a journey merging best practices in teaching and learning with brain based pedagogy. Once again, the authors explicitly demonstrate why Concept-Based teaching and learning is essential for all 21st century learners."

"A must read for all teacher credentialing programs. A valuable teacher's guide on creating deep, passionate concept-based units of inquiry. This book artfully engages the reader's thinking and takes them through a journey merging best practices in teaching and learning with brain based pedagogy. Once again, the authors explicitly demonstrate why Concept-Based teaching and learning is essential for all 21st century learners."

Quote by Carla Marschall, Vice Principal and Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction Consultant, United World College South East Asia:

"The 2nd edition of Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction effectively brings together Erickson's Structure of Knowledge and Lanning's Structure of Process to present a coherent vision for Concept-Based teaching and learning across the disciplines. The enhanced focus on inquiry reiterates the importance of giving children the opportunity to form their own conceptual understandings inductively. I recommend this book to anyone interested in getting to the heart of Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction!"

"The 2nd edition of Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction effectively brings together Erickson's Structure of Knowledge and Lanning's Structure of Process to present a coherent vision for Concept-Based teaching and learning across the disciplines. The enhanced focus on inquiry reiterates the importance of giving children the opportunity to form their own conceptual understandings inductively. I recommend this book to anyone interested in getting to the heart of Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction!"

Quote by Caroline Joslin-Callahan, Primary School Principal, Frankfurt International School: "This book provides support for educators implementing a concept-based curriculum. The practical planning steps and concrete examples for a range of grade levels provide an invaluable guide for those who aspire to make learning powerful. The book does not shy away from the reality of what a challenging journey the transition to a concept-based curriculum will be; rather it embraces the challenge as part of the joy of learning."

"This book provides support for educators implementing a concept-based curriculum. The practical planning steps and concrete examples for a range of grade levels provide an invaluable guide for those who aspire to make learning powerful. The book does not shy away from the reality of what a challenging journey the transition to a concept-based curriculum will be; rather it embraces the challenge as part of the joy of learning."

Quote by MiddleWeb: "Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction for the Thinking Classroom starts with a brief introduction on how our brains work and why it is important to look at each unit of study with a conceptual focus. The authors discuss the difference between inductive and deductive instruction and also show us how structured versus guided inquiry differ. There are lesson templates, examples of lessons, checklists, and even most frequently asked questions to guide us in continuing our challenging but rewarding journey into concept-based teaching."

"Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction for the Thinking Classroom starts with a brief introduction on how our brains work and why it is important to look at each unit of study with a conceptual focus. The authors discuss the difference between inductive and deductive instruction and also show us how structured versus guided inquiry differ. There are lesson templates, examples of lessons, checklists, and even most frequently asked questions to guide us in continuing our challenging but rewarding journey into concept-based teaching."

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Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction for the Thinking Classroom

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A concept-based curriculum developed with the help of this book yields skillful, motivated students who can transfer knowledge and understanding to ne...

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Link to KIS Concept Attainment Portfolios

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Link to KIS Concept Attainment Portfolios

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https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/14zeI-uV7NLdZH_f4LWc74k4wHFGgyt84?usp=sharing

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Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.

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Go to your Subject Guide and you will find Concepts in the Approaches to Teaching

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Quick video on Inductive vs Deductive Reasoning

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Quick video on Inductive vs Deductive Reasoning

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What's better: Inquiry or Direct Instruction?

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What's better: Inquiry or Direct Instruction?

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Planning: In structured and controlled inquiry, teachers certainly plan for the content and skills they want students to gain. In guided inquiry, teacher planning involves more open-ended or general outcomes of learning. Teachers give students choice in the direction the journey might take. In free inquiry, there is even less teacher control over the outcomes of learning.

We can generally assume that in schools where standards of learning are used, it is usually not free inquiry for most of the year.

Instruction:Teachers put more effort into gently leading students to the learning outcomes set out in the planning stage in structured and controlled inquiry. This doesn't mean teachers "tell" the outcomes to students explicitly. Through open yet carefully crafted questions, prompts, experiences, and instructional materials, students are expected to construct and demonstrate the learning outcomes from the planning phase. Importantly, even in the most free inquiry settings, teachers can still notice and clear up student misconceptions. Open or free inquiry does not mean students can make up new facts.

When it comes to the question about which is better: inquiry vs direct instruction, the answer depends on two factors:

1. How rigidly you interpret each of those approaches.

2. Your general outlook about formal learning.

For point number 1, I personally think inquiry is compatible with occasional direct instruction. We can certainly explain things to students and still be inquiry teachers. As a rough percentage of instruction time, I would say around 20% or less of instruction should be explicit teacher explanations.

For instance, I am explaining in this article- but it was written in response to teacher questions. And my hope is that you are reading it because you have some interest in this topic.

That leads to point number 2.

Rate yourself on a scale from 1 to 10 on the following statements.

Strongly Agree 1 ←→ 10 Strongly Disagree

1. Our primary job as teachers can be summed up as getting students to understand, know, and be able to do what the teacher understands, knows, and is able to do.

2. Students' attitudes about learning and knowing how to learn are not as important as explicit knowledge and discrete skills.

3. It doesn't matter all that much how students feel about the teacher or the learning process, as long as they learn the material.

If you strongly agreed with at least two of those statements, you would probably not be happy at a school that uses or is moving toward an inquiry approach.

I prefer to think of inquiry as a philosophical stance more than a rigid process to follow. Proponents of inquiry almost always believe that:

Our primary job as teachers is to help each young person in our care to develop and grow into the best version of themselves, both within the learning targets of our class or course and overall in their lives.

Fostering a love of learning and knowing how to learn are just as important as explicit knowledge and discrete skills.

All students are thinking, feeling beings, who deserve to be in the driver's seat of their own learning and their own destiny.
If you agree with those statements, you can safely call yourself an inquiry teacher.

Now, how does all of this relate to conceptual learning and transfer of learning?
Whether you are an inquiry teacher or not, this is what I believe:
Teaching students via transferable concepts is the most intellectuallyrigorous way to teach anything in any context.
Even if your primary job is to get students to know, understand, and do at a very high level - for instance IB Diploma or Career courses (DP & CP), Advanced Placement (AP) courses, or the British GCSE - teaching conceptually is going to yield better results than not teaching conceptually. So, technically, one could use the ACT model with significantly more than 20% direct instruction instead of an inquiry approach. Students in these courses are often self-motivated (even if it is for a certain score), and therefore put in the intellectual effort even when the teacher does not set up instruction to best foster effort.

AND - astute inquiry teachers will notice that the ACT model is also completely aligned with inquiry. The Acquire stage suggests strategies such as notice and wonder, concept attainment, affinity mapping, what's all true, four corners, and more - all of which can and should be used to 'tune students into' the learning. And importantly, of Learning That Transfers (unit planning) includes the importance of writing 'compelling questions' - understandable, authentic, open, and important - to invite students into the learning journey.

And of course the connect and transfer phases are completely aligned to 'sorting out,' 'going further' and 'reflecting and acting.'

Here are rough alignments between Kath Murdoch's Inquiry Cycle and the ACT Model:

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Inquiry vs. Direct Instruction: What's Better? - Education to Change the World

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Planning: In structured and controlled inquiry, teachers certainly plan for the content and skills they want students to gain. In guided inquiry, teacher planning involves more open-ended or general outcomes of learning. Teachers give students choice in the direction the journey might take. In free inquiry, there is even less teacher control over the outcomes of learning.

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Summary by Lynn Erickson

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Help for writing Central Ideas or Conceptual statements

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Don't forget to reference your Portfolios for examples of strategies!

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Teaching for Concept Attainment Key Points

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Teaching for Concept Attainment Key Points

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Julie Stern: Anchoring Units in Concepts to Facilitate Transfer

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Julie Stern: Anchoring Units in Concepts to Facilitate Transfer

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Explains! Samples! Concepts!

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For you to customize for your students

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Her article on the "balance" trap of inquiry is well worth a read.

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'We have a balanced approach.'

I keep hearing it - the word 'balance' being used to reassure me that an inquiry approach is still alive in a school, as tables are reorganised into rows and cookie-cutter slide decks are distributed. While the concept of balance is meant to feel comforting and agreeable, it can quietly erode very foundations on which a culture of inquiry is built. In this context, the last thing we are going for is balance.

Hear me out.

To say we are experiencing turbulent and tense times in education right now would be an understatement. I witness this tension played out daily in staffrooms and planning meetings, over coffee with teacher friends and, of course, in online spaces where a degree of anonymity seems, at times to override the art of respectful discourse. While I have found myself gradually retreating from social media commentary, my work does require me at least keep a foot in that door. And when I do step in, there it is - the 'Punch and Judy show' as Claxton describes it, replete with endless arguments about 'best practice' and 'evidence' and 'what works'.

Those of us less enamoured with the current push (and in some cases a mandate) for a return to direct instruction across the curriculum often suggest we need a more 'balanced' approach - a kind of compromise or 'sweet spot' between what continues to be placed as opposing ends of the pedagogical continuum. I have noticed the way this idea of 'balance' is used by those who might argue for a more student- centred pedagogy as an attempt to reconcile the tension between what can be called "direct" teaching and inquiry-based teaching or between agency and compliance.

But what if balance isn't the goal? What if inquiry isn't something to be balanced with direct instruction, but rather a fundamental stance that determines when and how we use all pedagogical tools?

Balance. It is such a comforting word - and often for good reason. A balanced diet, work-life balance, a balanced view - these all suggest that we've managed to get it right - we have found a more agreeable place between extremes. Balanced is neat, satisfying and neutral. When we are balanced, we are not at risk of falling or failing. We get to have our cake and eat it too. Balance doesn't rock the boat (literally!) - everybody gets a prize.

I've been having a good, long think about it. I think our platitudes about balance are little more than thinly veiled fence-sitting, people pleasing or perhaps worse, a failure to bravely stand by a set of principles and values that guide our work - and an understandable but worrying avoidance of a discourse ridden with conflict.

When a school community chooses to intentionally grow a culture of inquiry, they do so based on principles defining the purpose of school, the image of the child, and the role of the educator and the role of the environment. The ethos of inquiry sees the 'pedagogical compass' underpinned by the values of agency, equity, democracy, collaboration and curiosity, drawing on the rich and impressive bodies of research that support the cultivation of an inquiry stance to both teaching and learning.

The pedagogy of inquiry is characterised by a thoughtful and varied repertoire. Being 'explicit' (directly explaining, modelling, breaking something down step by step ,etc.) has always been part of the repertoire but to suggest that it is somehow 'in balance' is misleading at best and problematic at worst. When the pedagogy of inquiry is strong, the educator spends much more time questioning, listening, facilitating, pausing. observing, scaffolding, negotiating - within learning engagements designed for high interactivity, active engagement, deliberate cultivation of competencies, deep understanding, problem finding and solving and sustained dialogue. This is sophisticated and deep work - and requires educators to be creative, collaborate and design in response to learners' needs. Scripted programs and pre-determined, generic slide decks simply do not align with those values. It is highly intentional work that honours learner agency and voice as well as acknowledging the '100 languages' available to the child as means of investigation and expression.

Of course, Incorporating some explicit teaching into inquiry-based pedagogy is, quite frankly, a given. Positioning inquiry pedagogy as 'minimal guidance' and a free-for-all is an old, tired argument. In four decades of working with children and educators on cultivating an inquiry stance, I have witnessed abandonment of guidance and support on very few occasions. I think we can all agree that providing guidance is a key role of the inquiry teacher. That guidance takes many forms - questioning, listening, observing, suggesting, modelling.

But here's the thing. I am not intending to strike a balance. It's not a 50/50 thing. And when we do talk about 'balance' in this way, we run the risk of perpetuating the false dichotomy at the root of so many current arguments.

If I truly see the child as a capable, competent, curious learner with the right to be an active participant in their learning journey, and if I bring an inquiry stance to my teaching, planning and assessment, then the pedagogy of inquiry will drive my work: the way I curate the classroom environment, the assessment practices, documentation the language I use and the kind of relationships I nurture with children and their families.

I make no apologies for employing a pedagogy that is driven by a belief that children deserve time to think, to be in dialogue with educators and peers, to play, experiment and problem solve. Explicit teaching (explaining, demonstrating, modelling, step by step processes) are in my repertoire but they are used at the point of need, and for children that require additional or earlier support. Like a pinch of salt, or a teaspoon full of chilli, well timed, direct teaching adds value to process. Of course, I am fully aware that there are many educators in furious agreement with this and yet they are currently hamstrung by mandates that leave them feeling helpless. I understand the significance of the moral injury incurred. But at the very least, we can keep asking questions, we can think carefully about the language we use to talk about pedagogy, we can raise the question of 'balance' in our informal conversations - we can be 'half a shade braver.'

Inquiry is not a subject. Inquiry is not something we do on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons to balance the pedagogy of transmission used the rest of the week. Inquiry does not need to be 'balanced' with direct teaching. Inquiry is a stance, a culture and a way of being. That way of being and evolves from and feeds a way of seeing ... the child, the educator, the purpose of school and the concept of learning itself.

So before we promote a 'balanced' approach - let's ask ourselves what we mean. Are we avoiding the contradiction of slavishly following a scripted program in the morning by "doing inquiry" in the afternoon? Are we letting ourselves off the hook when we set the classroom up in rows (strugglers at the front, fliers up the back) but claim to 'do lots of turn and talk' so it is 'balanced?'Are we appeasing anxious parents who read the headlines rather than being clear about the principles that guide our pedagogy and the research that supports it? Are we in danger of seeking balance as a form of conflict avoidance and ultimately eroding the power of inquiry?

Just wondering ...

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'We have a balanced approach.' I keep hearing it - the word 'balance' being used to reassure me that an inquiry approach is still alive in a school, as tables are reorganised into rows and cookie-cutter slide decks are distributed. While the concept of balance is meant to feel

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Chris Gadbury's PYP & MYP placemats, graphics and sketchnote resources.

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Children's Stories on Global Goals and The PYP Learner Profile

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The Organized Chaos In The PYP Classroom

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The article discusses the mixed perceptions of inquiry-based learning, despite its effective strategies supported by research. It highlights that poorly executed inquiry can lead to superficial lea…

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This is found under cross-programme resources on My IB.

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This is found on My IB.

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Inquiry and Concept Based practices are two of our ATTs

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From Harvard Project Zero: a multitude of routines to make thinking visible for accessing prior knowledge, showing changes to thinking, and other formative tasks!

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Criteria for Generalizations (Central Ideas)

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Criteria for Generalizations (Central Ideas)

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Check your Central Ideas or Enduring Understandings against these. . . . another good one to ask is "Is this worth 4 - 6 weeks of instruction, or is it something they already know?"

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Understanding starts at the center

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Have you ever seen this "picture of practice" on the Visible Thinking webpage: Concept Keys Strategies ?

I remember the first time I saw this Kindergarten teacher demonstrate how she explicitly used concept-based learning in her classroom, I was really in awe and secretly jealous-mostly because her students could articulate ideas in English since my students could barely respond to "hello". It provoked me and posed a challenge; and like a piece of dirt that got into my oyster shell, by Jove, I was going to make something beautiful out of this irritation!

So began the drive in me to pull off explicitly teaching the key concepts that drive the PYP. As an Early Years teacher, it's easy to use "play-based learning" as my shield to avoid teacher directed lessons, having a morning meeting/circle time to have teacher-directed lessons. So I decided that I would do a math-literacy integration instead that would develop using the key concepts in our unit. It would be a pseudo stand alone unit and I wanted to scaffold the big understandings, introducing the key concepts in a systematic way.

So I decided to explore this connection as a part of our Where We Are in Place in Time unit which was actually focused on Transportation : Different types of transportation help people move from place to place. The lines of inquiry were as follows:

Different forms of transportation (form)

How transportation has changed over time (change)

Where you live affects the transportation you use (connection)

I focused on shapes as a part of looking at the first line of inquiry (shapes found in different parts of transportation), using those same concepts as the lens in which we could think about shapes. As I thought about it, I couldn't resist coming up with another Central Idea that I would use to assess their understanding: People can find shapes everywhere and we can become more aware of them in our environment.

As a teacher whose 3-5 year olds are in the pre-emergent English stage, my first thought was about the key vocabulary that they would need to describe shapes, not to mention finding shapes in their environment. Of course the names of shapes are obvious key words, but I also wanted them to know words like line, corner, curved, round, straight, short, long. I had several morning meetings, dedicated to developing their conceptual understandings.

During this time I brought the 3 key concepts for our unit: Form, Change and Connection. I talked about how the Key Concepts unlock our thinking and I "opened" everyone's brain before we began lessons. The kids loved it! Also, to encourage their language skills, I had sentences starters to help articulate ideas, such as "This is a...." or "I see a..." and "I think that.." I also had the negation of those phrases so there could be some debate, such as "This is not a ....". I used a "marble jar" to encourage them speaking English (since the go to language in my classroom is Mandarin); I would drop a marble in the big jar every time they used those phrases in their speaking. It was very effective and I found that several students made growth, initiating more conversations in English during playtime and requiring less prompting from me to speak in English.

Sorry, I digress...

We probably spent a week easily on just the key concept Form so I could introduce and develop their language skills. The children were always hunting around looking for these shapes, eager to point them out and intentionally creating them.

The following weeks we looked at how shapes can change. For example if you "stretch" a square, it becomes a rectangle. I used wooden blocks and popsicle sticks to demonstrate these ideas. During circle time we played "Guess the Change" game, in which I would make a shape and then have them close their eyes while I changed it; students then had to tell me how it changed.

Then I introduced the key concept of Connection. First I used literature to inspire them to think about the connection between shapes and letters. Books like Alphabet City byJohnson and The Turn-Around Upside Down Alphabet Book by Lisa Campbell Earnst were fun favorites of the kids. Later in the week I brought out blocks and popsickle sticks and asked the kids to show me what they know about shapes to make letters. Before I knew it, they were making connections with the key concept of connection and expressing what they knew about letters: "This big B, two circles. Little b, one circle."

Since play=inquiry in the Early Years, I created many opportunities that allowed them to think about what they learned and show me that they were thinking about the shapes within letters and how we can form them. Some were spontaneous and some were "suggestions". I also worked diligently on engaging them in questioning ("what if I ....") and encouraging them to express their ideas in complete sentences.

After 2 weeks of this, I introduced a T-chart and Venn Diagram (curved vs. straight lines was my example) activity in which the students sorted the letters based on shapes. It was an assessment, but they didn't know that. However, because I offered these as a choice rather than an obligation, only some students wanted to do it at first. I used all sorts of materials to inspire them to do the sorting activity and then I did games like "hide and seek letters" to "hide" these letters inside the charts. Oh my goodness, what I wouldn't do for concrete data! I wish I had pics of this but I was too busy playing with the students to snap any of them.

Well, this was really my first attempt to test if I could go deeper with teaching young students conceptual understandings in a systematic way. I think the kids got a lot out of it and I definitely noticed that more acts of inquiry arose, particularly experimenting with how to draw lines. I'm still in the midst of assessing and reflecting on my approaches to teaching and learning.

What about you- How have you taught the Key Concepts to young learners? Please share in the comments below.

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Concept Based Learning in the Early Years - Judy Imamudeen

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Have you ever seen this "picture of practice" on the Visible Thinking webpage: Concept Keys Strategies ?

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Erickson's Structure of Knowledge (for content based disciplines) & Lanning's Structure of Process (for process based disciplines)

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Unpacking the SoP model, and showing how it can be used in tandem with SoK

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Key Points of Scaffolding Generalizations

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Key Points of Scaffolding Generalizations

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Julie Stern's incredible work and even some free PD can be found at Education to Change the World.

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Join us for tools that empower young people to navigate a complex world

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Inquiry Based Learning & Guiding Student Driven Questions

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Inquiry Based Learning & Guiding Student Driven Questions

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Samples of classroom practice

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Remember those "no no" verbs! (effect, is, are, have, impact, affect)

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If your Conceptual Generalization meets this success criteria, you are facilitating transfer!

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Whether a statement or a conceptual question, it should be a statement of the relationship between two or more concepts.

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#1 Root Cause of Overwhelm for Educators

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What is 'transfer of learning'? | Julie Stern

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Sample template to plan Lenses for Transfer

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Sample template to plan Lenses for Transfer

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Glossary of Terms for Concept Attainment & Transfer

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Glossary of Terms for Concept Attainment & Transfer

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Storyboard database — Education to Change the World

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Additional Concept Attainment Strategies by Phase of ACT

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Additional Concept Attainment Strategies by Phase of ACT

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Scroll down to find additional strategies for Acquisition, Connection and Transfer!

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LTT Rubric for Conceptual Understanding and Transfer (1)

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LTT Novel Scenario for Summative Assessments Planning Template

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Essential Shifts for Learning That Transfers

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Essential Shifts for Learning That Transfers