David Kawapit's Journey of Nishiyuu

I (Dawn, the teacher) was at an in-service in Halifax when I saw the news clip speaking of David Kawapit and his journey from Northern Quebec to Ottawa. I was moved to tears as this quiet, shy, big-smiling Cree boy reminded me so much of a student in our class. I immediately knew that his story would resonate with my students.

We had talked about Idle No More before in class; it was a very abstract concept for many. David's journey seemed like a more tangible connection to the message of Idle No More. So, I had them look through newspaper articles covering David's journey. The questioned how fair his treatment was as he reached the Peace Tower in Ottawa. They spoke of his commitment, how he is an inspiration. They looked at his route on Google Earth and Google maps, marveling at the distance. Then they dug deeper into his story; each group being responsible for an aspect of the "underlying" story.

Here are their snippets of the background story.
Here is the work they are so proud of!

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Please share David's story through our eyes.
Please be inspired.
And if you can make this post reach David Kawapit, please share it with him.

-- Grade 5/6 class

Looking at the Night Sky

As part of our science unit on Space and the Planets, we're beginning to explore vocabulary associated with these topics and also some cultural beliefs.

Here are the vocabulary graphic organizers we created. Using an organizer like this helps us to keep track of the information we researched. Students used dictionaries, books from the classroom science library or the internet to gather the information on the word they were assigned.




As this unit continues, we are also looking at understanding the sky, stars, and constellations. Students are reminded to use these websites to guide their nightly sky viewing:

http://www.astronomynovascotia.ca/
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/ataglance
http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/visible-planets-tonight-mars-jupiter-venus-saturn-mercury

Be sure to check the nightly forecast to see if it is going to be clear enough to view the stars:
http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/city/pages/ns-31_metric_e.html

We are also lucky to have a Mi'kmaq elder coming into our class this week to share Mi'kmaq beliefs about the stars and space. Here is the Mi'kmaq tale of Muin and the Seven Bird Hunters, which we are exploring in class:



Stay tuned for more information about this topic!

Our first Skype meeting of 2012-2013

As part of the Global Read Aloud, our class was asked to link up with a 5th grade class in Portland, Maine. Mrs. Smith introduced their class which has students from all over the world!
We also shared our ideas about the book we're both reading, The One and Only Ivan.
We sang O Canada for them; they said the Pledge of Allegiance for us! It was pretty neat! Various students also shared greetings in many languages including Gaelic, Mi'kmaq, Arabic, Afrikaans, etc.
There were some really neat similarities in our schools: both our classrooms overlook water; their school is located on a peninsula like ours. But the similarities ended there as they were amazed that our whole school population is about 1/4 of their school's population, which only serves K-5!

Following our 1/2 hr chat, we decided we'd become "pen pals" through the safe online educational site, Edmodo. This fits in PERFECTLY with our upcoming exploration of cultural regions as part of social studies!

Here are some shots of the experience:

Skyping with Mrs. Smith's class in Portland, ME

Our Important Book

As part of our "setting the stage" for a new school year, we read a book aloud called "The Important Book".

As a follow up activity, the students were asked to each create their own page of an important book.

Have a look at this great collective work!



I'm so proud of these guys!

Great work so far this year!

Keep it up!

Prejudice Is Something We Can Do Without :: a poem by Rita Joe

Scroll through our thoughts on this poem by the famous Mi'kmaq poet, Rita Joe.