When I reflected on teaching Indigenous education in a kindergarten class, I realized I wanted it to be as ingrained into my daily teaching practice as possible. What started as a one-off oral storytelling lesson, grew into a month-long unit where students learned all story structure aspects of the curriculum through building with manipulatives and using oral language skills to express their creativity.
My Pinewood class welcomed caterpillars to their classroom during my second week of practicum! To prepare for our guests, we learned all about the lifecycle of a butterfly and the students showed their learning through an art piece. I was so impressed by the class’s ability to follow all the steps in this lesson independently and it made for a beautiful bulletin board.
During this practicum, my coaching teacher introduced me to the book “SPARK! Quick Writes to Kindle Hearts and Minds in Elementary Classrooms” by Paula Bourque. It became our routine to complete a “Quick Write” every Friday morning. After providing time for a soft start to the day, students gathered around the carpet with a notebook and pencil in hand and I provided a prompt for the session. My absolute favourite prompt was a “first line” where the first line of a published novel was given and the students had 15 minutes to write a short story starting with that line.
Through this lesson, I not only got students thinking creatively (setting a tone for the rest of the day), but I also provided “author sharing time”. Any student who wished to was welcome to read their creation to the class and their peers supported them through active listening and clapping after each person shared. It was amazing to watch students build confidence and skills in presenting and reading out loud through the repetition of “quick writes” lessons.
The students also loved to hear my “quick write” as I joined the students writing about each prompt. I always asked the students if they would like to hear my creation at the end of author sharing time and they always answered with an astounding “Yes!”. Sharing my own story allowed students to connect with me as conversations blossomed as I welcomed their input on where my story could go if we had more time to write.
After spending 3 classes learning about the ways energy from natural resources can be converted to electricity, students had the opportunity to design their own wind turbines. Each design followed a set of criteria which was laid out prior to the start of building time. Wind turbines were tested with a blow dryer and a small cup of weights on a string (showing the amount of power each design was capable of producing).
This lesson engaged all students, including those who tended to take a back seat during hands-on lessons!
I absolutely loved the “Creative Thinking” duo-tangs used in a grade 2 class I had the opportunity to observe. Each page gives students the opportunity to stretch their thinking, encouraging abstract thought and creativity both through art and writing.
During my first semester as a teacher candidate, I had the opportunity to reflect on the importance of the First People’s Principles. Diving deep into one allowed me to understand how much can be unpacked when looking at each principle.