This slide show will guide you through the form and structure of writing a biography, from the different forms of lead to the conclusion. There is text to compare too. You can find the complete inquiry based writing lesson for Creating Living History in my store or on my blog. www.pypteachingtools.com Enjoy! Susan

Free! Keeping those brains in training all summer long! This free summer reading challenge can be used to send home for a fun, quirky way to keep kids engaged in reading over the summer. The challenges are doable for 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th grades and can be sent home at the end of the school year or used as homework at the beginning of the new school year as a great getting to know you activity. UK & USA spelling included. This is part of my Summer Learning Challenges Packet. Mix and match the pages to suit the skill levels of your kiddos or staple them all in fun packets. A cover sheet is included. I like to offer prizes to those who do their best to complete the challenges over summer, and they can hand them back to me when we all return to school in August. Included in the complete packet: Reading challenge Spelling challenge Writing challenge Maths challenge Acts of Kindness challenge IB Learner Profile challenge You can find many more inquiry based learning tools in my store and on my blog. Enjoy! And HAPPY, HAPPY SUMMER!  Susan Powers www.PYPteachingtools.com

Its an oldie but a goodie! I have, who has is a favourite with my kids. The reason this resource came into being is because we lost a few of the cards I have had for years and years and our game was kaput. Thus my fresh, new and colourful card game helping us to learn our math facts with multiplication and division. Use it for small guided math groups or centres activities. Perfect for 3rd grade, 4th grade and 5th grade students. Try these out for FREE! The multiplication cards in my store are an entire class set, with 36 cards showing multiples and factors to practice our multiplication tables up to 10s. Besides the usual way of playing it across the class, we have been timing ourselves to see how our fluency is developing and improving each week. The kids absolutely LOVE this competition that they have with themselves. These can of course, also be used for small guided math groups and math centres activities. For those of you who aren't as old as I am (!), I have included teacher instructions too.  Enjoy! Susan Powers www.pypteachingtools.com

Give them a badge of honour! Wear the award with pride! These colourful and eye catching, superhero IB PYP student awards are so much fun! My kids love to wear them and then actually have people stop them and ask them about their award. The very words on the badges say, “Ask about my……..today.” There are badges for the IB Attitudes, the Learner Profile and the Trans Disciplinary Skills. You have them ALL covered in this printable packet. You will find badges suitable for boys and girls, together with blank badges that you can write your own award on or have the students reflect on their own behaviour and write their own reward. There are so many ways to use this positive behaviour reward system . Included: 20 IB Attitudes badges 16 Trans Disciplinary Skills badges 16 Learner Profile badges 6 large blank badges 6 large blank, black and white badges to save ink. If you like these IB PYP resources you may be interested in my complete units of inquiry for every theme or my classroom posters. You can find more ideas and FREEBIES for the PYP on my blog at www.pypteachingtools.com Enjoy! Susan Powers

These posters are a great, colourful tool to use as you teach the scientific method. Hang them all year long to reinforce the concepts of inquiry and critical thinking skills. These are a part of my complete unit study of The Scientific Method, complete with over a dozen hands on experiments and STEM challenges. Hands on science becomes easy to incorporate into your day with this easy prep, inquiry based learning packet of activities that encourages thinking, communication and questioning within children, from 2nd-5th grade. The skills developed from these engineering science activities leave the planning to the children. Developing thinkers and inquirers is a focal point of the International Baccalaureate but also the more recent CCSS. The speaking and listening opportunities are rich within this printable packet. Each science activity uses minimal materials, mostly paper, sticky tape and scissors. Each task can be done as part of a group, thus adding social skills into the mix, or with a partner. You can have each group working on a single task or rotate the tasks around a few groups. Find more inquiry based learning tools on my blog and in my store. Enjoy! Susan www.pypteachingtools.com

A free sample of my inquiry based math, multi step word problems. These are easy to print and go and can be mixed and matched for simple differentiation. Designed for my 3rd graders, they cover 3rd and 4th grade CCSS Math standards and are aligned with IB PYP Phases 3 and 4. These task cards can be used as centres activities, for mall guided math groups and as homework review sheets. You will find word problems that cover the following: Number and place value Number and operations Measure: area and perimeter Data analysis As with all problem solving, the critical thinking skills are rehearesed as the children learn to do multi-step problems. You can find many more inquiry based products in my stores and on my blog. www.pypteachingtools.com Enjoy! Susan Powers

Make math fun and engaging with this interactive flip flap mini book! This print and go packet contains a flip flap book focusing on fractions, aligned with IB PYP Phase 3 and CCSS Number and Fractions for 3rd and 4th grades. The pages can be easily mixed and matched, thus differentiated for the needs of your kids in 3rd, 4th and 5th grades. I have used these booklets as a reflection piece for my IB PYP class to gauge their own knowledge and learning. They can also be used successfully as formative or summative assessments depending on the needs of your class. Mix and match the pages! The pages also include the language of the International Baccalaureate, therefore aligning nicely with both standards. These mini math books can be used for guided math groups, independent centres activities as well as small peer group collaboration. I hope you find this resource useful. Please take a look at the many other resources that I have in my store and on my blog, all aligned with the CCSS and the IB Primary Years Programme. Enjoy! Susan Powers www.pypteachingtools.com

Homework suddenly becomes FUN and meaningful! Double whammy! Be the coolest teacher in the school with these engaging inquiry based tasks focusing on Earth Day. This EASY print and go packet contains a themed homework sheet with 9 trans-disciplinary activities. Thus, these can be used for 3rd grade up to 5th grade. The children love to independently select their own 3 tasks, horizontally, vertically or diagonally, just like Tic Tac Toe. The activities focus on the Key Concepts, Learner Profile and the IB Attitudes, requiring the children to show their thinking and explain their solutions. Every one of the transdisciplinary skills is used within these activities as the children get to independently select their homework, research it and communicate their findings in fun, engaging and very creative ways. I hope you find this resource useful. There are other Tic Tac Toe packets available in my store, covering[ [math themes]( as well as social studies. Please take a look at the many other resources that I have in my store and on my blog, all aligned with the CCSS and the IB Primary Years Programme. Enjoy! Susan Powers www.pypteachingtools.com

Keeping ASSESSMENT for math fun with flip flap books! Kids love to make these booklets to show their skills with math. The tasks require the children to explain the concept in writing, show examples and to give their strategies. All perfectly aligned with the CCSS expectations and the IB PYP Phases 3 and 4. Simply cut, complete, colour and staple or glue the pages together. Use as engaging and fun assessments, mastery tasks, homework or for early finishers all year long. This printable packet contains two different booklets aligned with CCSS Math Geometry and Data Analysis and Number and Operations. The first booklet includes: Geometry and Data Analysis: Lines Rays Angles Polygons Polyhedrons The second booklet includes: Number Sense and Operations: Number Place value Addition Subtraction Division Multiplication These booklets were designed for my 4th grade as a beginning of the year assessment activity, however they can be used with 3rd, 4th and 5th grades too. You may also be interested in my complete packets of Math Concept Assessment Posters found here. They come in packets for each separate CCSS math unit or as a complete big bundle with savings for you.  Enjoy! Susan Powers