Traditional Stories of Aboriginal Peoples

The Relationship Between Humans and Their Environment

Agenda

● Story: The Elders are Watching by

David Bouchard and Roy Henry

Vickers

● Group Activity

● Lesson Debrief

Story

The Elders Are Watching. By David Bouchard and Roy Henry Vickers.

Questions During Reading.Read The Elders are Watching in three chunks to students. Pages 8-22 -What are some of the worries and concerns that the elders have with the people of the land?Pages 24-40 What do the elders say the people promised to do?Pages 42-55 What have the people done that is making the elders smile?

Look to the mountain

Eagles's Moon

Old Town

A Meeting Of Chiefs

Chinook

Meares Island

Chief's Dream

Siwash Rock

Guiding Questions

What are the elders watching and why?

What do we learn from Aboriginal stories about our relationship with the environment?

Group Activity● Groups of 3● Create an art piece that represents an

aspect or scene in nature● Take photo and transfer image to

Chatterpix Kids● Use the App to create a voice message

with words/images that you learned from the poem and that tries to answer the guiding question

AssessmentClass generated rubric on oral presentation● assessing their oral skills when

presenting in front of the class and their voice within the app

● creating rubric together helps the students have joint ownership of the project

Links to the CurriculumBig Ideas

● Different environmental features present people with different challenges and opportunities

● Cultural knowledge can be passed down through oral history, traditions and collective memory

Curricular competencies● use Social Studies inquiry processes (ask questions, gather, interpret and analyze

ideas and communicate findings and decisions)● explain how and why people, events and places are significant

Concepts and content● traditional stories and the nature of the relationship between humans and their

environment● the impact of environment on cultural characteristics and ways of life in indigenous

societies

Misconceptions

● Students don’t have grandparents or an elder to connect with and therefore don’t feel they have someone to learn from.

● Students can learn from other people in their life.

● Students may feel their actions have no impact on the environment.

Adaptations

● Students with fine motor difficulties have the option of drawing an image on the iPad using Apps such as Draw & Tell

● Take photos of images they want to incorporate from

real life or websites such as Morguefile

● Use of Boardmaker and Clicker to develop a story

ConclusionExtensions● Written composition to show how your personal

choices affect the environment. Use evidence from the poem

● Write to explain a lesson you have learned from an Elder in your life

● “My Heart Soars” poem by Chief Dan George● Chatterpix Kids beyond this project