Language: Oral Communication |
| Our Community Circle around our Island School experiences. An opportunity for an oral communication. |
Social Studies
Our entry point for Social Studies will begin with recognizing the Indigenous roots of our city.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/new-street-signs-put-toronto-s-indigenous-history-front-and-centre-1.3771548
Close to our school is Davenport Road. It sure looks a lot different now:
http://www.blogto.com/city/2013/09/what_davenport_road_used_to_look_like_in_toronto/
If we want to dig a little deeper, we can discover the Indigenous roots of Davenport Road:
http://heritagetoronto.org/the-davenport-trail/
It is also important to recognize that there is not just one First Nations person in Canada. Similarly, there is no one African person, since Africa is a continent made up of many nations. I would like to order this map to use in class from this Kansas City artist, Aaron Carapella, and researcher is based:
http://www.tribalnationsmaps.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html
While teaching Grade 7 History and Geography last year, I wanted the students to understand that Canada was a colonial nation; both the French and British had their eyes on this nation and the potential it served.
Before Europeans colonized various parts of the world, there were Indigenous nations in many locations. The maps, created by Aaron, highlight the names of these nations.
In this famous painting, based on the historical records of Jacques Cartier's early travels on Indigenous lands, Cartier is seen erecting a cross as a symbol of the French making a claim to the land:
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| http://www.uppercanadahistory.ca/finna/finna1.html |
So, there you have a very abridged version of a small portion of European settlement in Canada.
Now, where does that leave you?
In Grade 6, one of the components of the Social Studies curriculum is the theme of Heritage and Identity: Communities in Canada, Past and Present. To see yourself as part of History, and to understand why it is important to study the subject, you will embark on an inquiry based project to see how you fit in to the mosaic of our nation.
Speaking of a mosaic, here is something I found, while putting together this post, by the Photographer, Tim Van Horn.
One word, which relates to this exploration, which I thought needed clarification, is ethnicity. Often it is thought to refer to people who are not White or non-European. Even the concept of what White is undefinable and complex. On the World Wall I came up with this definition:
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| http://caribbeanpot.com/curry-chicken-with-chickpeas-potato-channa-and-aloo/ |
Math: Multiplication
In addition to doing the Community Circle on the experiences at the Island School, I also wanted to get a sense of what it was about Multiplication and Division that was most challenging. I posted to links to timed activities that they can do for practice and a link to a list of apps that could be purchased for phones.
There is a lot in Math which relies on the foundation of being able to multiply and I am hoping it is something we can successfully get through of, this year. On the side of the page are a list of links. I added two that are timed exercises, similar to what we have been doing in class.
Homework
Math Test (1 digit x 1 digit multiplication) moved to Friday
Rough copy of "I am" poem link for a sample: http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson391/I-am-poem.pdf
A video to provoke some thought on how we learn and the effort it requires.
A video to provoke some thought on how we learn and the effort it requires.
