Join our team!
ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE
IB PRIMARY YEARS PROGRAM?
We're looking for collaborators to join our Star Character Series team!
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What's in it for you?
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a farther reach to support more children with your ideas published in a book available around the world
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your name on the cover of one of the Star Character Series activity books
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author price discounts on unlimited copies of your book, which you can resell for profit
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a free digital pdf of your book to share as you please
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individual chapter files you can sell in your own Teachers Pay Teachers online store
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your own author page on the Liv & Blue website, where you can showcase other credits and sell other products
Your name here!
Why we created the
Star Character Series
The IB Learner Profile is a complex concept which students will not digest if the attributes are reserved for last-minute cameo appearances at the end of a reporting period. In order to develop a panoramic vision of the IB Learner Profile, students need regular exposure to the attributes in multiple contexts.
Here are some statistics on curricular requirements that primary teachers in some schools need to cover in one school year:
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6 PYP subject areas
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25 sub-strands
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60 conceptual understandings
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238 learning outcomes
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6 units of inquiry
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6 transdisciplinary themes
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6 central ideas
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12-24 lines of inquiry
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8 key concepts
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Looking at the 238 learning outcomes alone, a teacher has just enough contact time to unpack, inquire into, assess and move on from about one learning outcome every day. (Forget about everything else in the list above.)
Students need more meaningful opportunities to
engage with authentic character development experiences.
How we created the
Star Character Series
Combination is a trademark of transdisciplinary learning. Creating a resource that infuses PYP subject area learning outcomes into experiences with the IB Learner Profile not only honors the IB’s mission to develop internationally-minded people with a transdisciplinary approach, but it also saves time and pulls character development up to center stage.
After deciding that combining character development activities with required academic learning outcomes would give teachers and students time and opportunity to engage with the Learner Profile, we reviewed the learning outcomes, scope and sequences and other elements of national and international curricula from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and the International Baccalaureate Organization to create a set of academic subjects and sub-strands to serve as the Table of Contents in each Star Character Series activity book.
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For better differentiation and promoting student agency, we doubled the sub-strands so each page spread would have two opportunities for students to choose from: the left page is widely approachable, while the right page offers a more demanding challenge. We finally used the learning outcomes of the sub-strands from the various curricula to guide our creativity for developing and designing activities that would provide students with two learning experiences simultaneously: (1) knowledge development of a specific sub-strand and (2) engagement with the featured character attribute.
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Below are the chapter title pages from Becoming Even More Courageous. We invite you to click on any chapter and explore which sub-strands will be included in every other book in the Star Character Series, in addition to getting a feel for how the different activities are organized, directions are authored, and pages are designed.
We're looking for your support with planning
rough draft ideas and directions for 152 activities
included in any given activity book in the series.
How you can join the
Star Character Series
We're looking for individuals who are creative, collaborative and committed to completing a project. After signing on to a specific character trait book, we would keep in touch as you use one of our templates to draft activities and directions. Once all of your activities are finalized, we will begin the designing process and publish your book.
In a nutshell we imagine our collaboration with you would go something like this:
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You reach out to us expressing interest in collaborating on one of the books in the Star Character Series
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We jump for joy and email you back with a meeting request to get to know one another better
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After chatting we all agree on​​​​​
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which character attribute you will plan 152 full page activities for
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a rough timeline of completion of the drafting phase, designing phase, and publishing phase
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author & publisher rights that make everyone jump for joy
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We send you our template and you begin your magic
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You finish your magic and send it to us so we can begin our magic
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We finish a publication draft and share it with you for collaborative finalization of the book
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Our collaborative book is published and we all celebrate making a difference in kids' lives around the world
How does one plan 152 activities for a Star Character book?
We've outlined the 3 basic steps below in further detail:
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1. Search and Study
2. Mix and Match
3. Rinse and Repeat
STEP 1: Search and Study
Choose your favorite IB Learner Profile attribute and study it. Below are links to just a few resources about the attributes. Definitions, synonyms, antonyms, images and teaching ideas are different angles from which to look at these concepts. Exposure to an attribute from multiple perspectives will give you a wider range of springboards from which to launch creative transdisciplinary activities.
IB Learner Profile Attributes
communicator
knowledgeable
principled
risk-taker
inquirer
open-minded
reflective
thinker
STEP 2: Mix and Match
Choose your favorite PYP subject area and pull out its corresponding PYP Scope and Sequence. Read each learning outcome through the lens of your attribute and ask yourself what links can be made between the two. Jot down the link in the language of activity directions. (*You don't have to limit this to the learning outcomes. You can also look at conceptual understandings, or take out your units of inquiry and mix and match with your lines of inquiry!)
PYP Subject Area Scope and Sequences
Example 1: Motivate Your Motors
Risk-taker (trying new things)
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PSPE Active Living Phase 1 Learning Outcome #6: develop a range of fine and gross motor skills
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Directions: Your body needs regular movement, including exercises in both gross and fine motor skills. Gross motor skills involve your whole body, arms, or legs, while fine motor skills involve your hands and fingers. From the lists below choose 1 gross motor and 1 fine motor activity that you would like to become better at. Spend 20 minutes practicing these activities 4 times each week for 2 weeks.
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Example 2: Instanalysis
Inquirer (questioning critically)
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Language Viewing and Presenting Phase 5 Learning Outcome #1: view and critically analyse a range of visual texts, communicating understanding through oral, written and visual media
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Directions: The term FAKE NEWS is pretty popular these days, but fake news has been around since there’s been news. The news comes from people reporting stories, and people embellish, leave out details, and sometimes downright lie! This is why it’s so important to inquire into the news you receive to determine how “true” or “fake” the news is. This is especially important because many people receive 100% of their news from social media. Have a look at the Instagram message below. What is your first impression of this message?
