International Baccalaureate Program

Educating for Excellence

 

Rigor + Relevance + Relationships = Educational Excellence

MYP in the Classroom

Northside Blodgett Middle School

MYP Unit Around the World Folk Feast

Instructor Lisa Krol

Students in Lisa Krol's sixth grade class wanted to continue their MYP “Around the World” unit, so they developed a plan for a Folk Festival and pitched it to a funding source. "The students really drove the direction of this MYP project," says Mrs. Krol. "As educators, it was apparent to us that funding would be an obstacle given the various components of learning that were involved, so we supported the students in their effort to obtain a grant."

The students created and delivered a PowerPoint^® proposal to Eileen Bowen, District IB Coordinator, to secure funding for their project. In their presentation, the students outlined a special project that incorporated Math (creating a budget), English (writing folk tales, reading folk tales from around the world and studying elements of literature), Humanities (studying different world cultures), Science (understanding regional weather and climate) and Technology (using PowerPoint and taking digital pictures).

Once money was secured, students conducted research in books and on the Internet, and discussed ideas with teachers and parents. Each group tracked budgets and graphed the average temperature and rainfall in its country of study, created a Recipe Book, compiled Folk Tales, and emailed project updates to Mrs. Bowen. To prepare for their feast, the class made a trip to Wegmans to purchase ingredients for their menu items on a strict budget, bringing calculators to determine item costs.

According to Mrs. Krol, this unit reinforced Quantum Leap’s learning goals of Rigor, Relevance and Relationships. "The students learned leadership skills, the challenges and benefits of working together as a team, presentation skills and the skill of cooking a meal. As teachers, we strive to give students real-world experiences — this IB unit did that for them," she said.