MR. Brewer
HUMANITIES - SOCIAL STUDIES/LANGUAGE ARTS
Homework assignment: Taken home Jan. 25, 2019. Due on Mon. Jan. 28.
This week students in 4A and 4B began to research about First Nations in Alberta. There are 46 First Nations group in Alberta and over 630 in all of Canada. 4A and 4B students were placed into groups of three to four students to research a number of questions concerning First Nations in Alberta. In February, groups will be presenting the information they learned to other groups in the class. Each small group researched a specific First Nation. These peoples live in all the various natural regions of Alberta that we researched last year such as the Canadian Shield, Boreal Forest, Grasslands and Parkland region. Students needed to find out where in the province the First Nation live, what their beliefs about the relationship between people and the land mean and what kinds of resources they use(d) in the regions where they live. These research questions were shared via Google docs. Each group had a Google doc that they used to collaboratively research their topic. Below is a picture of the heading on the document about the Stoney Nakoda First Nation. It shows the research questions, has some Internet links and associated page numbers from the text we use in class: Grade 4 introduces specific geographic skills through an examination of Alberta and its cultural and geographic diversity. Linkages to literature and the continued development of historical thinking are reinforced through stories and legends. In this week's class students heard two First Nations legendary stories. "Nanabosho: How the Turtle Got Its Shell" and "Raven's Greatest Creation". Raven's Greatest Creation was authored by David Bouchard. Nose Creek School was fortunate enough to host this author in a previous year. Here is the story we heard in class: www.youtube.com/watch?v=q58Qz1tRoIU We learned in class that legends often have an explanatory value. In class, we finished reading the novel 'Owls in the Family' this week. As we read the novel, students practiced a variety of reading comprehension skills such as predicting what will happen next in the story, identifying the narrator, visualizing scenes out of the novel and making inferences about the motivations of characters. Through this, students come to appreciate the artistry in texts and think about how they themselves might write about similar events. We drew pictures of scenes out of the story as a means of retelling events in the story through another medium. In class this week, we learned that author's use common 'red flag' words and phrases to heighten tension and make a story more exciting. As an example, the First Nations legend about Nanabosho and the turtle used the phrase, "All of the sudden" Some of the words and phrases we learned were:
This week we continued to discuss First Nations. Our focus was on learning about the teepee. In the homework assignment that was taken up in class on Monday, students discussed the picture of a teepee ring. Students felt that the rocks had been left in place so that First Nations people could come back to them from time to time and they mentioned that there was no actual teepee to be found because the teepee was biodegradable and would not have lasted over time in order for an archaeologist to find it. The hides that covered teepees were made beautiful with powerful and important symbols and colours. They were moveable dwellings, used to move from place to place to follow the buffalo herds. Students learned this week that the symbols used on Blackfoot teepees have/had strong significance for First Nations peoples. In our less this week Mr. Brewer showed a video about how tipis are erected and taught students about the symbolism used on teepees. Inside a teepee many items were created using the natural resources available to First Nations people. Buffalo-skin was used for bedding and bows were made from wood. Twelve to fifteen bison hides were used to cover the frame of a teepee. Students are encouraged to share their knowledge about this with parents/guardians. On Thursday, we created a model of a teepee that included traditional symbols. On Friday students brought home the model of a teepee. On Monday we had a spelling test. Included in our spelling list this week were many words related to our current study of First Nations. On Friday students continued reading from the novel Owls in the Family by Farley Mowat. We will complete this novel by the end of January.
This week we welcomed back grade four students for their first classes in 2019! In Humanities class, we began a brand new area of study! We started talking about which First Nations originally inhabited the different areas of the Alberta and how stories of Aboriginal peoples tell us about their beliefs regarding the relationship between people and the land. Students were shown following sculpture in class: The sculpture shown above was made by master carver Bill Reid whose mother was of the Haida First Nation. The title of this work is: Raven and the First Men. It shows in dramatic detail the Haida creation story. According to the story, the first people emerged from a gigantic clamshell on a beach. They got out with the help of Raven, the most powerful creature from myth time. Raven was wandering on the beach, when he heard noises coming from a clamshell. Raven looked more closely and saw that it was full of humans. In the coming days we will continue to hear about various creation stories and myths from long ago. Also during this week's lessons, students learned about a World Heritage site in Southern Alberta called Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump. In this place, people of the Blackfoot First Nation drove herds of buffalo over a steep cliff. By this means they were able to kill many of these animals in order to use their bodies for sustenance. The buffalo was the primary food of the Blackfoot people. In a video we viewed in class: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOvlK0NtICs, a cultural interpreter at the site explained that the buffalo helped his people to endure the cold winters. Buffalo hides were used for clothing, bedding, teepee covers and saddlebags. Bones were used as arrow shafts, needles and saddle horns. The meat was used as food like pemmican which could keep for a long time. In this week's spelling list there are many words relating to our current study such as: traditional, powwows, pemmican, bison and travois. Many natural resources like wood, stone, and of course buffalo, were used by the First Nations people. As we progress through this unit, we will continue to learn a great deal about the cultural practices and spiritual beliefs of First Nations people in Alberta. There is a spelling test next Tuesday and a homework assignment due. In 4B homeroom time this week students did some mathematics games. In 2019 Wednesdays and Thursdays will be devoted to math problem solving and numeracy. Parents/guardians are reminded of the forthcoming dates for Healthy Hunger lunches:
Students please do the following readings and answer the questions. This assignment is due on Tues. Jan. 15.
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