As IB learners we strive to be balanced. We understand the importance of balancing different aspects of our lives—intellectual, physical, and emotional—to achieve well-being for ourselves and others. We recognize our interdependence with other people and with the world in which we live.

This IB learner profile is one of 10 attributes recognized and valued by IB World Schools. We believe these attributes, and others like them, can help individuals and groups become responsible members of local, national and global communities

-The International Baccalaureate Association

IBO.org

• Create a daily schedule that includes time for school work, outside physical activity, arts and music, rest, and balanced meals.
• Allow time for a variety of activities daily with your children (school activities, indoor play, outside play, active play, and quiet activities)
• Model doing a little bit of everything for your child.
• Praise your child for demonstrating a balanced lifestyle.
• Visit many different places to learn: libraries, museums, nature trails and nature preserves, parks, or Historical Parks.
• Explore different hobbies: yoga, jogging, knitting, cards, marbles, or collecting stickers.

K-W-L charts are graphic organizers that help students organize information before, during, and after a unit or a lesson. They can be used to engage students in a new topic, activate prior knowledge, share unit objectives, and monitor students' learning. This helps students develop metacognition which is thinking about your own thinking.

You can do this for concepts you are learning at school or topics related to your interests or hobbies.

This story is about a goose named Petunia who discovers a book and assumes that by carrying it around, she will become wise. She proudly dispenses advice to the other animals on the farm, believing she knows everything. However, her misguided wisdom leads to humorous and sometimes disastrous results. The story highlights the importance of knowledge and the dangers of pretending to know more than one actually does.

Remind children of the assumptions both Petunia and her friends made. Then ask:

• Should Petunia have assumed that she would be wise just by holding the book?
• What should she have done instead?
• Should Petunia's friends have assumed that just because she looked wise and held a book that she was really was wise? What should they have thought instead?

As children discuss these questions, emphasize the importance of seeking information and asking questions before making assumptions about things.

Health: First Aid

Many of the animals in the story end up with bandages for their bruises. Craft some bandages for pretend play.

This story offers a look at the life of migrant workers through a child's eyes.

Emma Turner loves books and dreams of one day having the store-bought kind, but the Turners are migrant workers and money is tight. That means "no extras," so Emma must be content to make her own stories and books. Emma has a plan, though – she's going to save all the money she earns picking apples and put it in Mama's hard-times jar. Then there will surely be enough for extras. But when Mama tells Emma that this year she has to go to school instead of to work, it spoils everything. Now she will never own a store-bought book! But school turns out to have a wonderful surprise in store for Emma.

Based on Ethel Footman Smothers' childhood, the story is brought to life with lush acrylic paintings, giving us a touching portrait of a book-hungry child.

Explain to your students that responsibility literally means "the ability to respond." Ask them to find spots in the book to which Emma has to respond. Find out how well they think she does at taking responsibility.

• How does Emma respond to her family's situation that allows for "no extras?"
• How does Emma respond to having to work by picking apples?
• How does she respond when she has to go to school instead of work?
• How does Emma respond when she lands in a school where she's a minority?
• How does she respond to the books in her new school's library?
• How does Emma respond when Mama uncovers the books at her house?
• Was Emma stealing or just borrowing the books? Should she be punished? Why or why not?

Home Connection

Make a family responsibility chart to see how responsibilities are balanced in the household.

Research one of these famous trailblazers and examine the way that they were able to exemplify the attribute of balance in a positive way.

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