Tag Archives: Indigenous stories

M4P4: MathCatcher – Meet Small Number

“Mathematics Through Aboriginal Story Telling”

MathCatchers is an outreach program for educators and learners, encouraging numeracy through storytelling, pictures, and hands-on learning. They created a character named “Small Number” who ‘engage(s) Aboriginal learners in math and science through the use of First Nations imagery and storytelling.’ Through various videos, the opportunity for various discussions about anything from basic counting and pattern recognition to exponential growth and probability permutations and combinations. These videos will serve as a foundational part of my final project, with many Alberta curriculum pieces being tied to various sections of the video. I envision these videos being part of the regular classroom routine, with students constantly being brought back to the story and encouraged to dig deeper into the math and culture embedded within.

“The main character in our animations thus far is a boy called Small Number. He is a bright, playful kid, with the ability to recognize patterns and calculate quickly.”

M3P3: Indigenous Storywork Protocols

“Educating Heart, Mind, Body & Spirit”

I came across this site after reading about Dr. Jo-ann Archibald’s Indigenous Storywork framework. It shares various resources for educators but also for the public, and it also highlights and shows respect for the Elders who contributed to the website. The educator resources are not typical lesson plans, but rather they are a set of questions that create a framework Indigenous story telling; Dr. Archibald poses many questions that help guide and prepare educators for various protocols for using Indigenous stories. One important protocol she outlines is to acknowledge the storyteller, and the Indigenous culture from which the storyteller is a member, and then provides some contextual and cultural background for the story. This is a good entry point for me to be able to include Indigenous stories in my own teaching practice.

Module 3- Post 1: Show Me Your Math

As my research question narrows down to the indigeneity in the field of STEM, I have been looking particularly at how story could fit. There are many teachers who feel the Aboriginal perspective doesn’t fit into their curriculum because they “don’t teach that unit”. Rather than a “one and done” approach, I would like to look at how stories told from the Aboriginal perspective in the voices of First Nations peoples can be woven through our classroom work particularly in science and math.

Show Me Your Math is a site developed by Lisa Lunney Borden and supported by her doctoral research that highlights the Aboriginal perspective in math learning. It highlights inquiry learning for students related to math that begins with authentic artifacts and continues through the use of authentic voices in telling the stories of the artefacts and the related math. There are a lot of great ideas to take from here into our classrooms!

Mawkina’masultinej: Let’s Learn Together!

 

M3P5: Books to Build On: Indigenous Literature for Learning

This University of Calgary website, in combination with Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, offers a  curated list of Indigenous books suitable for all ages (from child to university student). As a bonus, they have also included lesson plans with most of the books. I considered my knowledge of Indigenous books suitable for my class to be well developed, and this resource offered new books to add. In particular, I like that it is not limited to social studies or language arts (where indigenous content is often included), but rather focuses on all the subject areas (including science, math, etc).

MOD #3 POST #3: Indigenous Storybooks

https://indigenousstorybooks.ca/

Indigenous Storybooks Canada is a website that provides stories written in Indigenous languages. Their goal is to provide resources written in Indigenous languages, as well as English, French, and immigrant languages. Those using this website can hear, see, and read the resources in various languages to support language development. They also have a resource page, sorted by languages, that provides additional curricular support and visual aids. The stories from the site are from the Little Cree Books project in Alberta and are open licensed.

Video introducing Indigenous Storybooks can be found here:

 

Holistic approach to Indigenous Integration M3P5

This resource from Alberta is specifically designed for teachers to help them incorporate a wide range of Indigenous ways of learning into their classrooms.  This is certainly coming from a more holistic approach as opposed to specific content connections which, as we’ve been learning, is more authentic.  I think, in terms of making teachers more comfortable trying some of these ways, this site does a great job.  They have a lot of text based descriptions of different options for classrooms, as well as a wide range of videos or audio from different sources to help teachers feel more comfortable.  A perfect example of this, which would certainly make me feel more confident trying this practice is the video of Judy Louis engaging a class in a circle story technique.  Seeing the technique in action with an authentic group of kids is so much better for a nervous teacher than just reading about possibilities they might encounter.  So overall, a great resource for what I’m trying to accomplish!

M1P4: Indigenous Cinema in the Classroom

“Our educational playlists are selections of films on themes that tie in with Canadian curricula and address the important issues of the day. Many of the playlists are also linked to our study guides.”

Within the “Indigenous Voices and Reconciliation” tab, some playlists that I have flagged for review are:

  • Indigenous Cinema in the Classroom Professional Learning for Educators
  • Indigenous Cinema in the Classroom (Ages 15+)
  • Indigenous Cinema in the Classroom (Ages 12-14)
  • Indigenous Cinema in the Classroom (Ages 6-11)

https://www.nfb.ca/education/educational-playlists/#indigenous-voices-and-reconciliation

M.1 P.3 The Canadian Mountain Network

“The Canadian Mountain Network (CMN) was established in 2019 to support the resilience and health of Canada’s mountain peoples and places through research partnerships based on Indigenous and Western ways of knowing that inform decision-making and action” (CMN, n.d.)

I found this website to be incredibly insightful with links to opportunities, research, events, news, knowledge, training, and a blog that uploads news articles, reports, special events, and podcasts. Below you can see the goals of The CNM, linked to the main website.

Canadian Mountain Podcast: Mountain research through Indigenous and Western knowledge systems

I enjoyed this podcast as it discusses the benefits of using both Indigenous and Western approaches to understanding mountains. This podcast hits especially close to home as it relates to the research my partner is currently doing, working closely with elders to embrace and engage with traditional forms of knowledge and learning where we live in Northern B.C.

References

Canadian Mountain Network. (n.d.). CMN Mountain Portal. https://canadianmountainnetwork.ca/

M1, P2: Recorded Stories: CBC Legends Project

This week I’ve started looking at how Indigenous stories have been recorded, digitized, and indexed. I came across the CBC Legends Project and was excited to listen to some recordings.

The CBC Radio’s Legends Project (2013) “compiles traditional oral stories, legends and histories of Canada’s Inuit and First Nations, gathered in communities across the country.”

However, I was initially so disappointed with the site. The first site I was directed to, CBC Aboriginal, was somewhat defunct. The site wasn’t displaying properly, it had not been maintained, and the recordings requiring installing Flash.

I reran my search and found the records on CBC Radio with a modern, pleasant display and the audio played well. It was clear and high quality.

The CBC changed their sub-site label from Aboriginal to Indigenous in 2016 and it looks like the first link was the previous, cached, iteration. It reflects poorly on repositories and archives when the site is poorly maintained, and the items are inaccessible. It does a disservice to the collections and the users. With the decision to record and make stories available, an organization needs to commit resources to maintain access and minimize digital obsolescence.  CBC did follow through but how many people will go back and try the search again? How many would assume the CBC did not invest in a long-term commitment?

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Radio. (2013, July 26). Legends of the Ahtahkakoop. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/legends-of-the-ahtahkakoop-1.2913531

M1, P1: On Including Indigenous Stories

In this video, Dr. Jo-Ann Archibald (Q’um Q’um Xiiem; Sto:lo Nation) introduces protocols, processes, and procedures for including Indigenous stories in a classroom and identifies questions educators should ask when including Indigenous stories. Some of the questions include:

What are some of the cultural protocols or guidelines for various stories?

What are some of the purposes of stories?

Who can tell the stories?

What types of stories exist in their communities?

How to use the stories?

These protocols could have implications in how repositories of oral traditions identify and annotate records, and could affect how they make them available.