Over the past couple of months, I had the wonderful opportunity to collaborate with other teacher candidates to create a TLCP plan, with a focus on inquiry. We explored the social studies curriculum and investigated how we could use the big ideas presented in the curriculum as a starting point for an inquiry cycle.  We chose to focus on the Grade 5 Curriculum, specifically strand A of the curriculum. Our big ideas were: How can resolutions to conflicts be achieved? What happens when groups have conflict? What role do different perspectives play when attempting to resolve conflict?

The main objective of this unit was for students to understand the perspectives of First Nations and European settlers in Canada, and to think critically about how our perspectives shape our understanding of issues in the past and present. Life in general is a series of pushes and pulls, of tension and conflict resolution. It is crucial for students to make personal connections to conflict management and communicating in interpersonal situations.  By thinking critically about conflict, students will be better able to face these challenges and create a positive learning environment in the classroom and the school community.

To create an Inquiry TLCP, we first chose our big ideas, then thought of how we could create a task for students to showcase their skills at the end of a unit. From there, we designed a lesson sequence that would allow students to develop the skills required to complete the culminating task. We also considered differentiation for all learners, and including experiences outside of the classroom to make the learning richer. Although we designed a lessons sequence, many of the lessons are open ended, to allow for inquiry, and student driven learning.

I was surprised by how easily a unit could come together once the big ideas had been determined. My biggest piece of advice would be to take time to flush out the big ideas for the unit, and consider what will create a meaningful and engaging experience for the students. I also highly encourage collaborating with other teachers to create an inquiry cycle. Two heads are better than one, three are better than two. The more ideas, the better. Identify your vision for the unit and then bounce ideas off one another.

Here is a link to the TLCP document we created, as well as other Brock Teacher Candidates TLCP. I hope that you can benefit from it in some way, and gain insight as to how you could incorporate some ideas into your classroom.

If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch!

Cross Curricular Connections

Within our unit, we will also be drawing from other Grade 5 curriculums to add depth to our lessons, and widen our understanding of the issues we are studying. Below is a Language Arts lesson that we will be integrating into our unit on perspectives, conflicts, and social justice. 

Here are the our lesson learning goals:
- I can understand stated and implied ideas in the text 

- I can clues from the text and my own background knowledge to make inferences 

- I can use my understanding of the main message in the text to extend the story

- I can think of a way to apply the main message of the text into my own life 

INTRODUCTION/ DEVELOP QUESTIONING:  

What is an enemy? How do we create an enemy?

In their writing journals, students will begin a quick write thinking of the questions above. 

Explain that today we will be looking at a text that talks about enemies.

Ask students to think of the overall message or big idea in the book as we are reading. 

CORE LEARNING: 

Read aloud of "The Enemy: A book about peace"

General classroom discussion of the book with a series of questions 

·      What did you think of the book?

·      What is the overall message or big idea in the book?

·      Has your opinion on what an enemy is changed at all?

·      Did anyone make a connection to the text?

·      How do you feel about the point of view the author chose to use?

·      What questions came to your mind as you listened?

Students will then write a continuation to the story

Writing prompts:

• Try to make it at least 4 sentences (or more)
• What happens once the bottles land in the holes?
• What does the enemy’s note say?
• What happens after they have read the notes?
• Do they go back home?
• If yes, what is it like?
• If no, then what?  

SHARING:

Students will have the opportunity to share their answers with the class.

CONSOLIDATION:

With their table group, students will write create a statement that gives an everyday application for the overall main message. They will then place this on a puzzle piece that creates a piece sign when all the pieces come together.    

The goal if this lesson is to prompt students to think critically about the concept of an "enemy" and how an enemy is created. Students will consider the various perspectives in the text to gain a better understanding of how different people can see the same event, but also the similarities between humans. This leads us back to our inquiry question... do conflicts have resolutions? Why might the same event have a different impact on different people?

Can't wait until we bring this lesson to life! 

Talk soon,

Miss Vessio 

Social Justice in Our Unit

Within our unit, the students will have many opportunities to consider issues that revolve around social justice, to be better informed and become contributing citizens of the world. By looking at the conflicts between the First Nations and the Europeans, students will better understand how to think critically of the various perspectives within the conflicts. Students will also be able to apply these perspectives to issues and conflicts within their own lives such as environmental issues like climate change, or social issues such as bullying.  This will help students develop their sense of identity to better understand their role in problem solving, and develop the skills they need to communicate their ideas and decisions about significant developments, events, and issues. 

There are various tools and resources available to facilitate our learning and make it more authentic! 

This resource created by ETFO, provides great lesson ideas, for integrating social justice into the curriculum.  For example, for grade 5, it suggests writing pen-pal letters to First Nations, Metis, or Inuit students to learn more about their lives, where they live, and what they do for fun.

This resource is geared towards educators who are implementing inquiry projects in their classroom. It provides some great tips on how to make inquiry an equitable process for all students. 

A Glimpse Into Our Unit

Since my last post on our social studies unit, we have made some progress, and our big ideas have evolved along the way! While we will still be focusing on perspectives, we will be applying our understanding of perspectives to conflicts, and conflict resolution.  Our new big ideas are the following:

What happens when individuals or groups have a conflict?
What is the result for each side?
Do conflicts have resolutions?

By applying our understanding of perspectives to conflicts, students will be able to think critically about conflicts that have occurred in the past, and apply their understanding to conflicts in the world today, and in their personal lives.

One of our focuses will be to look at conflicts that occur within the school community.  As we discuss these issues, we will also look at the various perspectives within it.  The purpose of this is to get students to think about conflicts that are relevant to them, right now. Creating modern day parallels will facilitate their understanding of conflicts that have occurred throughout history.  While doing so, we will also be emphasizing the importance of critical literacy, and considering alternate and diverse perspectives.

The curriculum expectations that we will be focusing on are:

·      A1.1 describe some of the positive and negative consequences of contact between First Nations and Europeans in New France

·      A1.3 explain some of the ways in which interactions between and among First Nations and Europeans in New France are connected to issues in present-day Canada

·      A2.1 formulate questions to guide investigations into aspects of the interactions among and between First Nations and Europeans in Canada prior to 1713, from the perspectives of the various groups involved

With these in mind, we have also created our learning goals to help us understand what we are trying to get out of our next few lessons:

• I can explain three traits that describe the First Nations and Europeans in New France
• I can tell why and how people in First Nation and European settlers’ communities interacted with each other
• I can create a question to help me better understand the conflict between the First Nations and the Europeans
• I can explain how the issues between the First Nations and Europeans are similar or different to issues or conflicts today

Here is our lesson overview:  

OVERVIEW: Whole Class Activity / Introduction

Students will brainstorm a list of the various groups living in Canada during the 16th and 17th centuries, emphasizing the groups living in the area known as New France. From maps of the time period, students will identify where the groups lived.

Students will participate in a “culture game.” Students will be assigned fictional and contrasting cultural criteria (e.g., in Culture A, you are forbidden to look others in the eye when you greet them; in Culture B, you must shake hands while looking others in the eye in greeting). Students will interact with each other using their assigned cultural criteria. 

Following the game, we will engage in a discussion about the students’ experiences as they interacted with one another. We will discuss how what they learned could be applied to real-life situations where individuals of different cultures interact.

As whole group and in a discussion format, students will then share their thoughts regarding what a conflict is, and the consequences of conflicts in their own lives. 

Ex: get in a fight with a sibling, loss of a privilege 

DEVELOP QUESTIONING / INQUIRY QUESTIONS: Small Group Inquiry

In groups of 3–5, students will investigate positive and negative consequences of interactions between one of the First Nations and one of the settler communities in New France.

Students will look at images of the time period and generate questions about the images.  
Students will also use the available print and non-print resources (including maps). They  will identify and record information about the two groups of communities in a google doc provided by the teacher.

They will consider the social and environmental responsibilities, economic consequences, relationships, and interrelationships.

Groups will share their findings with another group, explaining their findings and giving feedback on the clarity of information to one another. Each group will revisit their organizer and makes changes based on the peer group feedback.

SHARING: Whole Class / Identifying Common Information from Inquiry

As a class, examine information the groups recorded on their organizers. Record the positive and negative consequences that were common in all group findings.

CONSOLIDATION: 

Students will apply their understanding of conflicts during the 16^th and 17^th century to conflicts of today or in their own lives. Ex: Environmental implications: Consider attitudes or perspectives on obtaining trade goods from natural resources. What has stayed the same and what has changed?

A Letter to Parents, Families, and Students

Miss Vessio's Social Studies Class 

Dear parents, families, and students,

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit my blog! I hope you are as excited as I am to start a new school year. Before getting into the details of the social studies program that we will be exploring, I would like to share a little bit about myself. I have recently completed my Bachelor of Education at Brock University, where I had the chance to work with both junior and intermediate grades. On a more personal level, my passions include languages, art, sports, and working towards a more sustainable tomorrow. 

In the social studies classroom, our overall program goal will be to help students explore, and think critically about the world around them. Critical thinking is the process of thinking about ideas or situations, in order to understand them completely, and to understand their implications. The purpose is to guide students towards a sense of empowerment, so that they feel more connected to the world around them. Students will be engaged in real-life problems to develop the necessary skills to challenge the current norms in society, and promote change. We will be looking at issues that are relevant in the students' lives, to promote engagement and motivation in the social studies classroom. 

Ultimately, students will gain a better understanding of who they are, who they want to become, and the society they want to live in! Of course, all of our work will stem from the Ontario Social Studies Curriculum, which can be found HERE. 

The first unit that we will be diving into will last about six weeks, and will be focused on First Nations and Europeans in New France and Early Canada. We will be focusing on perspectives. In our current world, understanding how perspective shapes our lives will help students gain a better understanding of who they are, and how they can impact their community. 

The big ideas (questions that will be guiding our entire unit) will be: 

Why might the same event have a different impact on different people?

Why is it important to understand that people have different perspectives?

The overall expectations for this unit from the Grade 5 curriculum will be:  

A1. Analyse some key short- and long-term consequences of interactions among and between First Nations and European explorers and settlers in New France prior to 1713.

A2. Use the social studies inquiry process to investigate aspects of interactions among and between First Nations and Europeans in Canada prior to1713 from the perspectives of the various groups involved students will learn about key characteristics of various First Nations and European settler communities in New France up to 1713. 

Stay tuned to learn more about our big idea, and the next steps of our inquiry unit.  If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to contact me. I can also be reached on my professional twitter account @genevievessio 

I look forward to working with you all this year!

Best wishes,

Miss Vessio

Social Studies: Shaping How Students See Themselves, How They See The World.

The Ontario Social Studies curriculum has recently undergone multiple changes. Within the 2013 curriculum update, there are three fundamental principles that set the stage for the entire social studies curriculum. These three principles are vision, goals, and citizen framework. By looking at each aspect individually, we can gain a greater understanding of why they were built into the new curriculum. In addition, the Ministry has also reduced the number of expectations in the curriculum, in order to allow more in depth analysis of the content.

Vision: The vision for the Ontario Social studies curriculum is to "enable students to become responsible, active citizens within the diverse communities to which they belong. As well as becoming critically thoughtful and informed citizens who value an inclusive society, students will have the skills they need to solve problems and communicate ideas and decisions about significant developments, events, and issues".

The main purpose of this vision is to promote critical thinking through inquiry-based learning. 

Goals: The three main goals of the new social studies curriculum are to prompt students to

• Develop a sense of time
• Develop a sense of place 
• Understand who they are, and who others are

Citizenship education: The purpose of the citizen education framework is to help students build an inclusive and integrated approach to citizenship.

What does it mean to be a responsible, active citizen in the classroom community? Beyond the school community?

The focus on inquiry within the new social studies curriculum allows for the inclusion of various exciting resources. For example, this website called Breathing Earth, can be used as a starting point to spark student curiosity in relation to population issues, as well as environmental concerns related to CO2 emissions and climate change.

The main goal is to prompt students to think about how this relates to them. Why should they care?

What is the impact of these factors?

What can we do about it?

What happens if we don't do anything?

With open ended questions, the inquiry process can be altered depending on what students are most interested in, and passionate about. The possibilities are endless.

For more details, read on: http://bit.ly/17W0tM6