Tag Archives: primary students

M4 P5: Molly of Denali

From Pocahontas to Peter Pan, cartoons have misrepresented Indigenous Peoples by making them look “different” and part of the “Other” by following the stereotypes given to Indigenous Peoples. In 2019, PBS introduced their new show called Molly of Denali which follows Molly, an Alaskan Native living in the fictional village of Qyah. The show gives a more modern and accurate representation of Indigenous Peoples in Alaska and has helped Indigenous children feel “seen” as there is someone on television and YouTube that looks like them and that they can relate to. The show addresses stereotypes and culture educates children on those issues through engaging content.

The episode below called “Culture Clash” is a prime example of how the show accomplishes this. This show would be a great resource to show clips of to younger students as the content and language is appropriate and the right fit for their age.

Module 4 – Post 4 – Reconciliation Activities for Children

This resource provides reconciliation activities for children that educators can do with their class. This guide starts off with introducing reconciliation, the definition, how to learn from Indigenous people, some protocols for inviting Elders into the classroom, how to communicate with parents, a sample letter for educators to send home to parents, and the activity outline that has five activities.

The five activities that are provided in this resource are the medicine wheel, the blanket exercise, memories, keeping promises, and Shannon’s dream. I like how these activities are laid out with an introduction, objectives, information about the activity and why it is important, what the teacher needs to prepare for the activity, alternatives to the activity and how to do it, and even a handout to send to parents. These would be excellent activities to do with my Kindergarten class as they would be able to learn about reconciliation, residential schools, Indigenous spirituality and culture, the relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, learning about treaties, and about the inequalities in education.

Module 3 – Post 1 – The Secret Path

Gord Downie’s The Secret Path is an animated film with music that visually describes Chanie Wenjack’s story escaping residential school. Chanie does not make it home as he dies while attempting to walk over 400 miles to his family. Depending on the students in your class, you could show this if you believe it to be suitable. From 2:38 – 46:12 this film can be shown all at once or in chapters depending on the age of the students and their ability to sit still. This film can show students the story and experience of one child who was forced into the residential school system. This film is even beneficial for adults who are unaware of what children faced during their time at residential schools. Lesson plans on The Secret Path film can help to engage students and teachers in Reconciliation.

This website has lesson plans for primary, intermediate, and high school students. For my classroom, I would use the two lesson plans (When We Are Alone and The Best Part of Me) as I usually teach Kindergarten and Grade 1. With these lessons, students do not have to watch the film if you believe it would not be suitable for them, however, there are pictures that can be viewed instead or you could pause the film at any point to discuss what they see.

As well, in addition or even separate from watching the film, teachers could describe Chanie’s Life Journey through an interactive story map which describes who Chanie was, a short Heritage Minute of Chanie’s story by Historica Canada, an interactive map of where his home and school were, and clips from the The Secret Path film.

Additional information of The Secret Path can be found on this website.

Math Catcher Outreach Program and Resources

Module 1, Post 4

This website promotes math and science to elementary and high school students with a focus on story-telling and hands-on activities. The Math Catcher program is based in BC and was inspired over a decade ago to help improve the math completion rates of Indigenous learners. The program offers teacher training workshops, school visits, student summer camps, and instructional activities. There is an excellent collection of video stories that follow the antics of a 5-year-old boy, Small Number, and his mathematically themed adventures – and they have been translated into different Aboriginal languages also. Although the site suggests targeting an audience up to grade 12, the materials it offers are primarily elementary in nature. The Summer Math Camp Program appears to have ended in 2018 – it hosted grade 9 – 11 Aboriginal students in math and science day camps at SFU.

Math Catcher: Mathematics Through Aboriginal Storytellling. (n.d.). Home. http://mathcatcher.irmacs.sfu.ca/

Module 1: Post 1 – Medicine Wheel Education

Medicine Wheel Education is a great resource that provides educators with storybook titles that can be bought online or in bookstores. All of these books are from Indigenous authors telling their stories. The authors are Phyllis Webstad, David Bouchard, Theresa “Corky” Larsen-Jonasson, Kevin Locke, Kung Jaadee, Trudy Spiller, and Juliana Armstrong. I recently purchased some of these books to add to my classroom collection: Trudy’s Healing Stone, The Hoop Dancer’s Teaching, Phyllis’s Orange Shirt, The Circle of Caring and Sharing, and The Eagle Feather. These books are fantastic for primary students to learn about Indigenous stories in a way that is simplistic for little minds. If you create an account with this website, scroll to the bottom and click “printable activities.” There are activities that teachers can do with their students as an elaboration or continuation for the storybook after reading the book to the class. For only $5/month or $50/year, you can have the books read by the authors, interactive lesson plans, and additional activities that can be used. This is such a small price to pay to support Indigenous authors and the sharing of their stories.

Source: Retrieved from Medicine Wheel Education website