Thursday, December 20, 2012

Finished Aboriginal Projects

I would like to display some of our finished projects from the grade 6 aboriginal peoples unit. Please see the blog entry entitled The Actual Assignment Pages to refresh your memory as to what the assignment entailed. Students were very enthusiastic about the assignment. They worked hard to complete the assignment and worked well together. Mrs. Camarda and myself worked hard to have to students conference with each other in order to ensure that each part of the assignment was completed. I have included samples of the students work below.

  1. The Cree - this is a power point presentation which has been uploaded to a Google drive file. 
  2. The following images display the models of traditional aboriginal wigwams, teepees, longhouses, etc.
Wigwam

A Salish house

A Longhouse

A teepee

Salish Longhouse

A Wigwam

The whole collection






The following images show some of the display boards that students created for their presentations.
A Story board for an Iroquois Creation Story


A presentation board on the Blackfoot

All about the Iroquois

A drawing of a teepee that explains different parts of the structure

All about the Salish
Mrs. Camarda and I consider the project to have been quite successful. The students have learned a great deal. They were able to be creative and  appeared to enjoy the work. They were enthusiastic and confident when they presented to their classmates. This is the first time that we have run this particular project with the students and Mrs. Camarda and I will discuss some things that we plan on changing in the future. This however is what teaching is all about. We learn just as much as the kids do each time we prepare and present a unit. Sometimes the manner in which a project is introduced is changed or the order in which the background information is changed. Each time a unit is taught there are always little changes or tweaks for the better. Teachers analyze and assess the effectiveness of a given unit and then work towards building it into something better each time it is taught. 

Monday, December 17, 2012

Shattered, by Eric Walters - The Culminating task!!!

I have recently begun collaborating with one of our grade 8 teachers on the unit design and culminating task for her novel study unit on the novel Shattered, by Eric Walters. Mrs. Naidu approached me a short while ago to discuss the design of her novel study. We discussed what she hoped to achieve with students as well as her main goals in using this particular novel. We worked on designing different comprehension activities for students to discuss and complete in class.

Here's the book trailer.


Mrs. Naidu wanted students to learn about social issues, to analyze a novel and discuss the themes presented within the novel. We found some graphic organizers that would assist the students in analyzing the novel and then we planned the culminating task.

A culminating task is an activity that wraps up the particular unit and requires students to utilize the skills they were taught as they read the novel. A culminating task should require students to think critically about themes and information and then display what they have learned for the teacher and their peers. Essentially, it is the grand finale of learning.

For the culminating task, we wanted to design a task where students had to think about social issues, charity organizations and then discuss these charities. We asked students to find and research a particular charity. They were asked to learn about the mission statement, volunteer opportunities and how the charity delivered its services to the public. Students were then asked to discuss and explain the charity utilizing the iPad  Students could choose from a variety of apps including educreations and explain a website. They were to record their opinions and thoughts about their selected charity.

Students were able to complete their research of the charity in one class and are currently working on writing out their thoughts on the charity and developing a script before they begin recording, filming, etc. their final presentation on the iPad.

I'll be back with more info later. :))))))


Monday, December 10, 2012

Gearing up for the Forest of Reading!!!

We are currently gearing up to kick off our Forest of Reading event in our school. Every year the Ontario Library Association hosts the Forest of Reading, which is a celebration of Canadian Authors. Our Forest of Reading program is funded through our chocolate fundraiser. Each year we use some of the fundraising money to purchase the books for students.

There are several different categories. Our school participates in Silver Birch FictionSilver Birch Non-FictionSilver Birch ExpressRed Maple FictionRed Maple Non-Fiction, and White Pine.
Here's an introductory video about the program.


Here's what kids have to say!!!


There are many ways that students can participate in the program, here at RHL. Students can read the books for sheer enjoyment and leave a quick note on our blog or on our comment board in the library. They can choose to participate in our book club which will run during the last half of period 2 on Thursdays. Students may wish to participate in our book reviews which will be posted (with parent permission) on this blog site. Students may also wish to participate in the Forest of Reading contest. The contest allows students to vote on and decide on the best books in the Forest of Reading this year. They must read at least 5 books from any one category in order to be eligible to participate in voting. The winners of the contest will be announced in the spring. We will have a Forest of Reading celebration at the end of the year which will recognize the success of our students.

Monday, December 3, 2012

Researching How Everyday Objects are Made

The grade 7 classes have just begun a new research project here in the library. Students are utilizing their knowledge of mixtures to help them research and understand how everyday items like toothpaste, soft drinks and steel are made. Students are required to research these items using both digital and print resources for information.

The students were taught about mixtures during class time. They were required to read about mixtures from the textbooks, teacher notes and videos. Students then completed questions on mixtures and ensured they understood the content through class discussions. The students then chose a topic and read through the assignment page.The science teachers and I then booked the classes into the library for an introduction to research and then time for researching. Students were given three periods to complete research and to start building the digital presentation of their work.

The important part of this project was to create a framework from which students could organize their thoughts and ideas about the project. When the students came to the library to begin their research we discussed the importance of being focused on what they needed to find. I first talked with the kids about the important piece of understanding we wanted them to gain from this project. The kids were quite perceptive and they were able to conclude that we wanted them to understand how classroom notes and information could be used in the real world. We wanted students to see a practical application for the use of mixtures.

We then set up a framework for understanding the content and got the kids thinking about what they needed to learn. We had students create a KWL chart which stands for "I know", "I want to know" and "I Learned". We established prior knowledge with the kids. We had them assess their understanding of the item they were researching to find out if they knew a lot about the subject or very little. This is the "I know" part of the learning. We then had them think about their items and come up with things they wanted to know about their topic. In other words where were their gaps in knowledge and which parts of the research did they really need to focus on?

Our next step was have students peruse and scan the print resources available in the library. They discovered that there was an awful lot of information in the books and a lot of it was easier to find that information from the internet. Kids started putting information down in the "I Learned" section of their chart. As they did this they discovered that they had more questions they needed to ask. The students showed that they were thinking about what they were reading by adding in new questions and crossing out ones for which they had found the information.  

We also directed students to our Library eResources. The Peel Board has paid for and provides students with access to a wide range of digital resources including encyclopaedias, dictionaries and catalogues. The students were introduced to Britannica Online and began their online research from this site. 

During the second period of their research students we began with a quick discussion about goals and plans for that particular period. We asked students to look at the assignment page assess what was most important to complete that period and to have a quick discussion with us about their plans. Hopefully, this continued to provide students with a framework from which to work and got them thinking about staying focused on the topic at hand. Students were enthusiastic about the project and I had several of them in today working during the lunch on the completion of their research. They are just beginning to build their digital presentations.

Students were told they could use either Prezi, Frames 4 or Powerepoint to help build their presentations. We asked them to utilize the program they were most comfortable using. I plan on posting some of their work once it is completed. 

Friday, November 30, 2012

The Hobbit

So I'm perhaps a little crazy but we have decided to take the students of Lagerquist to the movies to the view Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit".  We're taking about 300 kids to the movies. (You have no idea how many paper cuts I have from opening permission form envelopes:))
I've included the trailer here.

We're very excited about this trip. The students will have the theatre to themselves as this is a private viewing and if they want they can pre-purchase popcorn and a drink. Many of the students have become very enthusiastic about the story and have started to take an interest in the books. I hope to accomplish two things with this trip.

The first is to spark an interest in classic fantasy novels. The second is to expose a generation of kids to these great stories and even if they don't read the books hopefully this will show kids what these stories are all about and their importance to the fantasy genre. 

Having read all of the books I want to offer some advice to students. Tolkien wrote complex and challenging novels that require a reader to really think and pay attention to characters and plot. Many students will find the novels challenging to get through, but that's okay. Nothing worthwhile should be easy to get. Otherwise we might not appreciate it importance.

  1. Both "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" can be heavy reading. Don't expect to get through it all in a weekend.
  2. There are a lot of characters and historical stories within the book. Skip parts if you need to. You can always come back and reread sections later.
  3. It doesn't hurt to watch the movies before reading the book. "The Lord of the Rings" movies offer a pretty good summary of the story and very little is different from the book.
  4. Talk to others about the books and see what they think and  what they understand about the story.
  5. These are important books that reflect a grim time in history. (WWII)

AND FINALLY!!!!!!!

The Lord of the Rings really did mark the beginnings of a new type of fantasy/adventure novel. There wasn't anything like them before this. Tolkien marked the way for new authors and new ideas. 

"The Hunger Games" series 
wouldn't exist without novels like "The Lord of the Rings" series. 
Just take a look at these images and compare them.  Well done Tolkien!!!















Sir Ken Robinson and a Really Great Talk from TED

I wanted to include this TED talk here. It's got a lot of great points in it and Robinson explains a great deal. I really think he has hit the nail on the head. Robinson identifies the importance of tapping into and finding people's talents. Many people go through life not finding or utilizing their talents. Robinson sights the current format of schooling actually hinders many people from succeeding in their talents.
And high among them is education, because education, in a way, dislocates very many people from their natural talents. And human resources are like natural resources; they're often buried deep. You have to go looking for them, they're not just lying around on the surface. You have to create the circumstances where they show themselves.

I take this to mean that we as teachers should be trying to dig down and find out what the talents of our students are. It's not easy to find it and honestly, I've failed with many students but I have succeeded with many as well and seen them do very well. It's a struggle for sure and one that if you work too hard it can certainly drain you. Even small successes should be acknowledged.

In this next section Robinson begins to discuss the need for changes to the education system.
 What we need -- and the word's been used many times during the course of the past few days --is not evolution, but a revolution in education. This has to be transformed into something else.One of the real challenges is to innovate fundamentally in education. Innovation is hard because it means doing something that people don't find very easy, for the most part. It means challenging what we take for granted, things that we think are obvious. The great problem for reform or transformation is the tyranny of common sense; things that people think, "Well, it can't be done any other way because that's the way it's done." 
We've had the same format of education for the last two hundred or so years and nothing has changed really.  This is a serious issue, our society is considerably different than it used to be. School should reflect that change and reflect our society more accurately.

I won't go through the whole talk but he's certainly worth watching, listening to and thinking about. I don't agree with everything that's said but.... There's an awful lot of ideas here in these talks for everyone to think about. I hope that I encourage the talents of my students.

I would love to hear other people's comments about this talk and what they might like to see in education.  

Friday, November 23, 2012

School Library Staffing is on the Decline

In an earlier entry I discussed staffing and formulas used to decide just how much staffing a school library receives  The reality is that funding for school libraries is in heavy decline. Funding for libraries has been decreasing. Statistics and many different studies say this is a bad thing. A recent article by CBC News discussed a report by People for Education. The report discusses the decline of school libraries and the important role libraries play in student success.
The report by the group People for Education found 56 per cent of Ontario elementary schools in 2010 have at least one full- or part-time teacher-librarian, an accredited teacher who has library training. That's down from 80 per cent in the 1997/1998 school year, according to the report, which was released Monday morning.
Meanwhile, 66 per cent of secondary schools across the province have at least one teacher-librarian, down from 78 per cent in 2000/2001, when the group first started tracking data for high schools. CBC News
Libraries play an important role within the school. It offers a place for work to be completed, literacy to be encouraged and perhaps its most important role is as a support resource role for teachers. Quite often I meet with teachers to discuss teaching strategies and ideas for promoting literacy and content understanding, in their students.

Annie Kidder from People for Education also sites the importance of Libraries in helping to improve student achievement.

Teacher-librarians play an important role in helping children find information, evaluate and thinking critically about it and then applying it, said Annie Kidder, the executive director of the group in an interview.
"These kinds of skills that sort of help kids in what we are calling these days the knowledge economy are incredibly important," she said.   

When I first arrived at Lagerquist,  9 years ago, as a classroom teacher we had a full time Librarian who supported teachers through many different initiatives including the Forest of Reading and a research skills program. She was reduced to 80% the following year and then as years passed the job was again reduced to 50%. It was only this past year that the allocation was increased due to the arrival of grade 6 students at our school.

The state of our library is pretty good all things considered. We have new computer and work tables as well as well as Wi-Fi and a full computer lab available right in the library. We have a supportive principal who believes in the importance of a library and she has given me a lot of freedom to encourage use of the library. Students are free to visit during the day to complete work and to utilize technology. We are extremely short on books though. We're about 1000 titles short for a school our size but fundraising efforts are helping this. Visit our adopt a school site. I enjoy having the library open as much as possible in order to help students and teachers. I notice an excitement in the kids when we discuss books and kids are flocking to the technology we are offering students in the library.

There are many schools that can't say they have this much, I know that but this doesn't mean we can't keep building towards something even better. This is my goal to build up the library to make it the hub of the school.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Generosity and Support for Libraries

I want to thank everyone who came to our fundraiser last night at Chapters. The support was fantastic. Over 50 families came to Chapters night and helped support our library. This of course doesn't include the number of teachers who came over with their families to help support the library. I'm honored truly honored. Thank you!!!

Now to the good news. WE RAISED OVER 400$ LAST NIGHT!! That's incredible. It will make such a difference to our library. An extra 400$ means more books, more variety, more reading, more literacy and in general smarter kids.

Thanks so much everyone.

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Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Questions and Answers about Staffing the Library here at Lagerquist

Currently, here at Lagerquist our library is staffed for 80% of the day. I am a part time teacher/librarian. I want to make it clear that this is not about me bargaining for a full time position. In fact I dropped down to 80% 4 years ago in order to take care of my young family. Should our library be staffed full time. Yes! I believe it should but this of course is not in my power to change. This is blog is about giving clear information about how much our library is available to students under our current staffing allotment. 





Why is our Library not open full time?
The amount of staffing for each school library is based on student population. Here at Lagerquist our student population is approximately 650 students. As such, we fall into the 80% staffed library formula. If we were to have less students our library staffing would diminish. If we had more students our library staffing would increase.

How does one calculate the amount of time the library is staffed in a day cycle formula?
Here at Lagerquist our cycle has 24 instructional blocks which works out to 4 periods per day on a 6 day cycle. An 80% allotment means the Library has 15 periods available as teaching/staffed period and 3 periods for teacher planning time, totalling 18 periods out of 24. 

What does this look like in terms of open library doors? 
On paper the library is open from 9am to 1:30pm daily. I do not close the library for my planning times, in reality I don't take them. I also staff the library beyond my allotted contract. Our library does not close at 1:30pm I stay for an extra half hour daily in order to keep the space open for as long as possible. 

This means the library is open as much as possible which I feel is extremely important to the success of a library, in the school environment. Students need to be able to drop in and utilize the resources in the library when they need them. Students have not perfected the idea of planning ahead and working within a time frame. Plus you never know when you might need something. 

What services does the Library offer? 
One of the services I offer is Study Hall which I run on my own and of my own volition. I open the library for 3 lunch hours a week in order for students to have access to computers and workspaces they may not have at home. They use the time to finish up homework, to exchange books, to read quietly, to study for tests, to utilize items they cannot sign out like class reserved print resources, Ipads or netbooks. The rule of Study Hall is you must be working on something. Students use Study Hall regularly I often have between 30 and 40 students in the library on an given lunch hour.

Is Study Hall considered a part of the 80% staffing? 
No it is not. Study Hall is an extra that I run because I feel it is important and in reality a part of the unwritten job description of a library. Libraries should be open and available to students when they need it. 

Hopefully, this gives you a better picture of how much our library is open and available to students. In upcoming blogs I will discuss more of the programs we offer, how study hall works and it's benefits, the Forest of Reading program will begin running in the near future and lots of other activities that will occur here in the library.    

Monday, November 19, 2012

An Update on the Aboriginal Peoples project





Students are working well on the project and seem to be enjoying the activity. They are productive and are starting to produce some amazing work. I've included some images here of their work in progress.






So far students have utilized the web and a variety of books to search for information, make notes and begin work on their final product. We have taught students to look for info in the books by utilizing the table of contents and the index. They have been quite successful at finding infomation in the text sources we've given them.

The hardest part of the whole project for students seems to have been skimming through internet information to find what they need. Students look for websites that will discuss exactly the information they need. They struggle with the idea that a website might be a site that contains information about Iroquois but that it will be broken down into subsections.

One young lady was rather frustrated that there were no sites that specifically discussed the types of tools used to build longhouses. It took a while to explain to her that she needed to scroll through the site on the Iroquois and find a section about the longhouse and that if she read that section she would find out how they built longhouses. Students seem to have a need for the information to pop up instantly. The hardest part of all of this is teaching them to research not expect the answers to be there at their beck and call.
         
How do you battle that? How do you get a student to start researching properly?

The answer is simple. You really have to reinforce the concept of skim and scan. You also have to be extremely patient. I have found that time and time again I will say to the same students.
"Slow down read the site carefully. The information is there hiding and you have to search for it. Research is like a scavenger hunt. The answers aren't obvious. If they were there would be no challenge to the whole task." 
Learning to research is like learning to walk. First you crawl, then you stumble and fall, but if you keep trying you start to walk and then  run. Research is the same way. It takes for ever to find the info you're looking for. Then you have to read through a site and discover it might not be what you were looking for but then when you find what you need the whole project moves at great speed. The kids will get it we just have to be patient and guide them.

Friday, November 16, 2012

Chapters Night

I'm very excited for next Tuesday night. Chapters will be hosting a fundraiser for us and helping to support us as we build the library collection. On Tuesday the 20th, the Chapters at the corner of Bovaird and Hurontario, in Brampton will host an artwork display by our students. Families are invited to visit the display and to purchase items from the store. 15% of the sales from that evening will be donated to Lagerquist in the form of a Chapters gift card. This is so important for us we really need to build up our collection. Here's the link to our adopt a school . This site gives all the information about our library collection, its age and our need to build the collection we have. Families can also purchase e-gift cards from the site that will also contribute to donations from Chapters.


Hopefully, lots of families will come out that night and help support the library and the work we're doing. I've been going over the artwork and it's fantastic. I'm sure parents will be impressed with the quality of work we'll put on display that night.

See everyone there!

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Dare Arts and Aboriginal Schools

Dare Arts And the Dare to Draw Program

This year R.H. Lagerquist students participated in the Dare to Draw program. The program is aimed at teaching students social awareness and giving them an opportunity to help others out through art. 
Dare Arts has paired with Aboriginal schools in northern Ontario in the hopes of raising awareness about the condition of these schools. Here's a description of the program borrowed from their website.


In the ‘DARE to Draw Attention’ program, children are dared to create original darearts cards in their schools to draw attention to serious issues affecting children. The kids choose their medium - from paint, pencil crayons, pastels to a variety of other mediums. They then sell their cards at a suggested donation of $5 each. Schools are given the option to sell the cards themselves, holding onto $2 per card to help support their own activities, or to return the cards to darearts to be sold to individuals and corporations.
We have displayed and sold our cards during open house night and also during parent/teacher interview night. I've taken some photos of our cards and the display boards students made. Students are very excited about the project and have been very enthusiastic about getting their parents to purchase their artwork and make then into real artists who sell their work. Thanks to everyone who bought cards I will let you know when the large display happens with all the other schools here in Ontario.






Canadian Geographic recently covered the school and housing crisis facing nothern reserves.



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Wednesday, November 14, 2012

What Does a Teacher/Librarian Actually Do?

What Does a Teacher/Librarian actually Do?

Good question! 
A lot of people ask me that and some people make assumptions about the job. Others just have no clue and well lots of people don't like libraries so they don't care. They see the stereotypical library where the librarian is crabby, grumpy and insists on complete silence.

Kind of like the image you see here.

This is the way lots of people picture us. Talk about  stereotypes.


Television shows and movies enforce this stereotype. If you have the time there's a whole you tube series on librarian stereotypes. You can find the link to the first movie in the series right here.

So lets dispel some myths. Lets talk about what I really do. In another entry I'll discuss the grand vision for this library. So let's stay focused on the job itself, at least for today. Please keep in mind that there is a significant difference between Teacher/Librarians and Public Librarians. Teacher/Librarians are teachers who operate libraries located in schools and have a teaching degree with a Library qualification. Public Librarians have library sciences training from a college or university. My list discusses the role of the Teacher/Librarian. Depending on the person and the school this list may vary. The list is a description of what I do on a daily basis others may have different items on their list but it would be similar to my own. 
  1. Keep staff up to date with available programs for student learning.
  2. Run library orientations, at the start of the year in order to familiarize students with the resources available. 
  3. Collaborate with teachers and help them to build research unit for students.
  4. Manage the library collection. This includes purchasing, weeding out damaged or out of date books.
  5. Create and implement programs which promote literacy like the Forest of Reading program.  
  6. Provide assistance to teachers when planning units.
  7. Provide staff with resources for the classroom.
  8. Provide a schedule of available times for book exchange, teaching periods, etc.
  9. Work with teachers to coordinate optimal use of library time.
  10. Run a library leaders program that involves students in the maintenance of the library collection.
  11. Instruct students on techniques for successful research projects.
  12. Consulting with teachers in order to provide teachers with materials for their classrooms. (For example, I recently put together a collection of Gothic novels and Frankenstein resources. A teacher is planning on using these resources for her novel study unit.)
  13. Keep the printers supplied with paper.
  14. Manage overdue lists. This includes following up with students at the end of the year and getting them to pay, for or replace lost and damaged items.
  15. Maintain the library lab which is usually a bank of 25 to 30 computers. This includes calling techs. for repairs and managing the network. (note: not all librarians have this added position. Some libraries don't have labs)
  16. Catalogue and shelve library materials. 
  17. Provide work spaces for students to complete work.
  18. Assist students with finding resources within the library and on the web.
  19. The list is endless I'm pretty sure I could list 50 more things but I'll stop here before this entry gets too long. 

I would like to end this entry with a different image of a librarian. 

For orientation this year, I created an avatar of myself and posted it for kids to view. I used a website called The Hero Factory. The kids thought it was pretty funny and wanted to know how to use the site. Some have since made characters and are using these characters for creative writing projects. 

Gone (I hope) are the days of the stiff, unforgiving, cranky, nerdy librarian. I want everyone to view the library space as a hub of activity in which the space reflects the needs of the student body. The library should encourage students to read for pleasure and for learning. 

I want students here researching, practicing drama skits, utlizing technology to build a presentation for class, and 100 other things. 

This library and many others like it should be a place where kids love to learn. 



Tuesday, November 13, 2012

The Actual Assignment pages.

Yesterday I posted a description of a collaborative project that I completed with some grade 6  students and their teacher Mrs. Camarda.

Today I've pasted in the assignment pages for our First Nations Assignment so that you can see the roles that we supplied to the kids. Hopefully, this gives you an idea of the structure we have created for this assignment. Please see the Two Heads are Better than One post for more info on the assignment.


Aboriginal Unit:  Culminating Task

You will be placed into groups.  Each group will have the task of researching one of the following Aboriginal Groups:     

Cree (Subarctic Region)
·         Haida (Northwest Coast Region)
·         Interior Salish (Plateau Region)
·         Inuit (Arctic Region)
·         Iroqouis (Eastern Woodlands)
·         Blackfoot  (Plains)

As a group you will need to complete the following tasks that will be presented at our Potlatch at the end of this unit.

Task 1
Find a myth/story from the group that you are studying.  Create a four square sketch of the stories important scenes. 
Write a paragraph on why this story would be important to your tribes culture and what message or lesson your group thinks it is trying to teach.

Task 2
Research the art and culture of your tribe.  Look at the fact sheet provided and decide on an individual and art form that you would like to research and describe in your report.

Task 3
Describe the lifestyle that was lived by these tribes before contact with the Europeans.  Look at the fact sheet provided for key words that you could use to begin your research.  Look at what their homes looked like, what tools they used to gather food and survive the harsh climate, how they travelled or transported goods.

Task 4
As a group, once you have researched your tribe, you will come together and design a flag that represents the people of your tribe.  Also, you will need to share a dish during the potlatch that you think best represents these people that you can share with the rest of the class.

That was page 1. Here's page 2.


The Story Teller  Checklist


1.       Your task is to find 2 myths from the particular tribe you are researching. 
2.      Create a four square sketch for each story. 
These should be drawn neatly and coloured in.        

3.       Write one paragraph on the importance of one of these stories. 
What is the main idea of the story?
What is the theme? 
In your opinion, how do you think this story was used by the tribe in
order to help them survive?                                      

Cultural Attaché


1.       Research an art or musical style from the particular tribe you are researching.

2.       Find 2 examples of your art or musical form.  This can be a photo, a music video
or an audio file.

3.       Create a paragraph about the artist who created these pieces of art work.
Who is the artist?
When did they begin drawing/singing/sculpting, etc?
Where did they learn this art form?
What type of message are they trying to send with their art?
What is your opinion of this art form.  Do you like it?  Why/Why not? 


Life and Style Reporter A

1.       Research what it was like to live like the tribe you are researching.
Start with researching the types of homes they lived in.  Ask for a
“Constructing a Model of an Early First Nation Home”  Sheet  from Mrs. Camarda.


2.      Create a good copy drawing or a 3-D model.

3.       Write a paragraph describing the home.
What tools and materials were used for construction?
What items could be found inside the home?
Who was in charge of the home and what were their jobs? (ex. Mom’s were in
Charge of cooking meals, dad’s hunting and gathering food.)



Life and Style Reporter B


1.       Research the clothing that the tribe you are looking at wore. 

2.       In a paragraph, describe what they wore on an everyday basis and if
there were any pieces of clothing used for special occasions or ceremonies.

3.       Provide at least two examples of everyday wear and two examples of
ceremonial dress.

The Food Critic

1.       It is your task to find any interesting facts about how the tribe you are
researching found their food source. 

2.       Write a paragraph about how they were able to feed their tribe.  Think about the following questions.
How did they find food?  Were they farmers, fishers, hunters, etc?
How did they prepare their food to eat?
What tools did they use to prepare their food or kill it?
3.       Provide at least three pictures of how they found and prepared their food.

Hope this gives a good idea about what the project was all about.