Tag: lesson plans

Shared Learnings (M2-2)

http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/abed/shared.pdf

As I mentioned in my previous post, Shared Learnings is a document that was published in 2006 by the British Columbia Ministry of Education.  The purpose of Shared Learnings is to assist teachers in the incorporation of B.C. Aboriginal content in various K-10 subject areas.  It is the goal of the Ministry and document collaborators that through the resources presented in this document, teachers will feel more comfortable in including aboriginal content in their program, and in turn, aboriginal and non-aboriginal learners alike will become engaged with the content, developing an understanding of and appreciation for traditional knowledge.

The resource is divided up into sections based on grade level and subdivided by subject area.  In addition to providing curricular connections, Shared Learnings provides resource lists in each section, instructional strategies, ideas for projects and activities, sample lesson plans, ideas for planning and implementing your program, as well as strategies for discussing sensitive issues.

Shared Learnings, in my experience, is a resource that is widely unknown to practicing B.C. teachers, and upon stumbling across this resource again myself, I am reminded that I need to go through it again to see how I can improve my practice.  In my experience, many teachers often push aside aboriginal content in favour of the need to “meet literacy or numeracy outcomes”.  Through the use of Shared Learnings as a starting point, I think that B.C. teachers can in fact guide students toward meeting all outcomes, through the incorporation of traditional aboriginal content, rather than in addition to exploring aboriginal content.

SD #71’s Index of Websites by, for and about Aboriginal Peoples (M2-1)

http://sd71.bc.ca/Sd71/Edulinks/firstnat/index.htm

This page, a subpage of the B.C. School District #70 (Comox Valley) website, outlines some online resources pertaining to aboriginal education, political and historical information, as well as sites for aboriginal youth.  The site is a good starting point for researching aboriginal issues in Canada, and all links are current and functional.

Perhaps one of the most useful points for educators might be the lesson plan section.  Here, I found a project created by a team of middle school teachers from all over Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast called “Social Justice through Literature Written by Aboriginal Authors”.  In the activities and lessons that are presented here, students are encouraged to think critically about aboriginal values and history through a social justice lens.  The literature that is used in the lessons is referenced for the most part, but teachers could likely adapt the lessons to use local stories and work.

The project is designed as an extension to a document published by the B.C. Ministry of Education in 2006 called Shared Learnings, a document created in order to help facilitate the incorporation of B.C. aboriginal knowledge into the K-10 classroom.  Lessons are also laid out with direct reference to the B.C. Prescribed Learning Outcomes for Language Arts and Social Studies 6-8.  Finding this project was timely for me, as our local union embarks on the creation of a Social Justice committee.  With the relatively recent creation of the Social Justice 12 course in B.C., I believe it is imperative that middle and elementary schools follow suit.

Module 2 Weblog Entry #2 by Dilip Verma

The Four Directions Teachings website

Web Site URL: http://www.fourdirectionsteachings.com/

The Four Directions Teachings site is a very professional project. This Canadian site receives money from the Department of Cultural Heritage. It is a beautifully produced resource for incorporating native knowledge in the classroom. It aims to protect and promote indigenous knowledge. The site mixes audio teachings by elders and beautiful flash videos. The site is an example of how with careful research and consulting a high quality product is possible. Careful consideration has even been given to the interface that aims to “replicate the fundamental flow of movement and interconnectivity of the indigenous experience.”

The site also provides downloadable lesson plans that aim to take maximum advantage of the oral teachings included in the site. The lesson plans are designed to incorporate the holistic nature of indigenous teaching methodologies, incorporating the idea of multi disciplinary learning and the medicine wheel. The four sections of the wheel incorporate the idea of Native Learning styles the spiritual, emotional, mental and physical aspects of the learning process, and each lesson plan aims to use and balance all four parts.

The teacher’s resources include learning activities (lesson plans) for each of the tribes represented for incorporating the audio material provided by the elders into the classroom at different educational levels.

I really recommend that anyone who has the time looks at the site and reads the teacher’s resource document at http://www.fourdirectionsteachings.com/Teacher_Resource_Kit.pdf

Spam prevention powered by Akismet