1st Grade International Baccalaureate Learning: Community, Perspective & Responsibility

Our 1st grade International Baccalaureate (IB) learners are exploring the central idea: “We discover who we are by building relationships and understanding our rights and responsibilities.”

As part of this unit, students are developing their understanding of perspective—recognizing that everyone has their own thoughts, feelings, opinions, cultures, and experiences. Through conversations, stories, and reflection, they are learning that listening to others helps us better understand, appreciate, and respect the many ways people see and experience the world.

Students are also exploring responsibility and how our choices and actions affect the people and communities around us. They are thinking about the roles they play as friends, classmates, family members, and community members, and how kindness, inclusion, cooperation, and caring for shared spaces help create communities where everyone feels respected and valued. 

We read Odd Bird by Derek Desierto, a story centered on belonging, acceptance, and what makes each of us unique. Inspired by the story, our 1st grade artists reflected on the prompt:

Students showed open-minded thinking as they sketched imaginative self-portrait birds, celebrating their own individuality and expressing their ideas in wonderfully different ways. 

And this is just the beginning! Next week, students will use ceramic clay to bring their Oddbirds to life. Over the coming weeks, they will learn about the kiln-firing process, add glaze to their birds, create beaded pipe-cleaner legs, and add colorful feathers to complete their sculptures.

We can’t wait to see these unique Oddbirds take flight—and to see how our young community caretakers continue to explore identity, perspective, responsibility, belonging, and respect through their learning.