Grove of Alders: a Portrait of a Langley Community
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1 Grove of Alders: A Portrait of a Langley Community A Grade One Social Studies Curriculum Plan By Sheryl Hagen Connectedness, Community, and a Sense of Place 2 Table of Contents Stage 1: Desired Learning Standards Thematic Statement 3 Desired Learning Standards 4 Balancing Intended Learning Outcomes 6 Stage 2: Evidence of Student Learning Assessment Strategies Chart 7 Assessing for Understanding 8 Evidence of Student Learning 10 Stage 3: Learning Plan Weekly Timeline 12 Learning Timeline 13 Curriculum Resources 42 Appendices: Appendix A: Learning Experience Plans 46 Appendix B; Handouts, Student Samples, and Assessment* 85 Appendix C: Unit Reflection 86 *Due to the size, Appendix B is in a separate document. 3 Thematic Statement We shape the local environment, and the local environment shapes who we are and how we live. * Students in grade one are just beginning to understand that where they live (the community) influences how they live. In the primary years, we are establishing caring attitudes about our classroom community, as well as the community in which we live. What children learn now about creating healthy communities will help to establish the foundation for critical thinking and lifelong learning. We are establishing a positive orientation towards school; therefore, it is important to teach children to think beyond the immediate goals. It is intended that students will think of themselves as historians, writers, artists, community builders, and caretakers of the environment. Over the course of three weeks, students will respond to inquiry questions that are intended to foster connectedness, community, and a sense of place. Students will explore community from the perspectives of both settlers and First Peoples; begin to recognize that relationships are reciprocal; and appreciate that the past is connected to the present. The unit is inspired by the First Peoples Principle that learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational (focused on connectedness, on reciprocal relationships, and a sense of place). The core competencies that will be supported in this unit are Communication through acquiring, interpreting, and presenting ideas, and Positive Personal and Cultural Identity through relationships and cultural contexts. The core competencies will be supported by the Big Ideas that people and the local environment have a reciprocal relationship, communities respect the interconnectedness of the local environment in order to be healthy, and memory and story connect us to our community. Throughout the unit, students will begin to realize the importance of the local environment to the culture and the people of the area. One important facet of understanding the local community is to truly appreciate that the Sto:lo people have lived in the area for millennia. Students will understand why we acknowledge the traditional unceded territory of the Kwantlen, Katzie, Matsqui, and Semiahmoo people at assemblies and gatherings. We will come to an understanding of connectedness by asking questions such as: How does the place in which I live affect who I am? What is my impact on the place in which I live? In what ways can I learn about the local community and the environment in which we exist? How can I use stories, memories, and photographs to understand my community’s past and present? How can I use stories to make connections to a sense of place? These essential questions will help us make new connections with our community and environment. The unit will begin on Hundreds Day as we brainstorm 100 Things That We Love about Langley. We will continue to build our understanding of the past through the use of story, from both the settler and Aboriginal perspectives. We will inquire what it might have been like to be a pioneer, and learn about some local pioneers. We will take advantage of story and discussion time, and learn about local plants and animals of the Fraser River. Students will take home a list of interview questions for an adult in their lives; students will be encouraged to interview multiple generations in order to get a different perspective on our connection to the past. We will study pictures of the community from the past and the present, make inferences, and reinforce sequencing skills. For the summative assessment task, we will build on the knowledge that we have gained, and utilize higher order thinking skills in order to compose a poem that reflects our connection to place, as well as devise a rubric for self-assessment. Students will be building skills and understandings that they can transfer to other academic areas and areas of their lives. 4 Desired Learning Intentions Core Competencies/Transferable Knowledge and Skills The Core Competencies that will be supported throughout this unit are: Communication – Acquire, Interpret, and Present* Positive Personal and Cultural Identity – Relationships and Cultural Contexts* The Core Competencies will be supported throughout the unit by encouraging students to acquire, interpret, and present ideas regarding relationships that positively contribute to the community, while being respectful of cultural contexts. Throughout the unit, students will reflect on their learning and make their own inquiries as they learn foundational skills in the area of Social Studies that they can transfer and use in other areas of the curriculum. Student Friendly: I can make connections with the place in which I live. I can write an acrostic poem about my community. Students will achieve the Core Competencies of Communication (acquire, interpret, and present*) and Positive Personal and Cultural Identity (relationships and cultural contexts*) through a logical progression from lower order to higher order thinking skills. Students will begin to understand that there are different ways of knowing, as they learn Social Studies skills such as cause and consequence, inquiry processes, effective questions, sequencing, and the significance of events. Students will develop their higher-order thinking skills as they synthesize the knowledge and skills they have acquired in order to compose an acrostic poem, artwork, and self-assessment rubric that evokes their sense of connectedness, community, and sense of place. Students will self-assess the Core Competencies by: Core Competency Assessment (AS) Frequency and Times I can make connections Teacher will evaluate (FOR) at the beginning. Students will evaluate with the place in which I their connection (AS) in the middle through discussion. Students will live. evaluate their connections (AS) at the end using a rubric. I can write an acrostic poem Students will self-evaluate (AS) at the end of the unit in the summative about my community. task project when students complete a rubric after writing one acrostic poem. Big Ideas The Big Ideas that are supported in this unit are: We shape the local environment, and the local environment shapes who we are and how we live. * Healthy communities recognize and respect the interconnectedness of the people, the animals, and the land in order to care about the local environment. Memory and story connect us to a sense of place: to the past, to the present, and to our community. (FPPL) First Peoples Principles of Learning The guiding values expressed in this unit by the First Peoples Principles of Learning are: Learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational (focused on connectedness, on reciprocal relationships, and a sense of place). Learning recognizes the role of Indigenous knowledge. Learning is embedded in memory, history, and story. *Denotes a direct quotation from the BC Curriculum 5 Desired Learning Intentions Continued Meaning Acquisition of Learning Standards Enduring Understandings Essential Curriculum Content: Students will understand Questions Competencies Students will know how that… Students will keep Students will be able to… considering… to… EU1: EQ1: -Recognize causes and K1: Recognize that There is a reciprocal How does the place consequences of when the pioneers relationship between the in which I live affect events, decisions, or came, the Indigenous local environment and the who I am? developments in their people had lived here people who live here. lives (cause and for thousands of years. EQ2: What is my consequence)* Student Friendly: impact on the place I can understand that my in which I live? community is part of who I am, and I am part of my community. EU2: EQ3: -Use Social Studies K2: Healthy communities are In what ways can I inquiry processes and Make sense of the interconnected, and consist learn about the local skills to ask questions; different sources of of diverse people who care community and the gather, interpret, and information and for the community and for environment in analyze ideas; and different ways of the environment. which we exist? communicate findings knowing. and decisions* Student Friendly: I can care about my -Ask questions, make environment and my inferences, and draw community. conclusions about the content and features of different types of sources* EU3: EQ4: How can I use -Explain the K3: Teaching through the use stories, memories, significance of personal Recognize that maps of stories, memories, and and photographs to or local events, objects, are used to represent images helps the different understand my people, or places* real places. generations in my community’s past community to connect to a and present? -sequence objects, sense of place. images, or events, and distinguish between Student Friendly: EQ5: How can I use what has changed and K4: I can use memories, stories to make what has stayed the Express the significance photographs, and stories to connections to a same* of some of the pioneers help me connect with my sense of place? in the Aldergrove and community. Langley area. *Indicates a reference to the BC Curriculum 6 Balancing Intended Learning Outcomes Students will be able… To Know how To Value… To Do… To Create… To Reason… to… K1: V1: D1: Compare C1: R1: Discuss the Acknowledge To value the old and new Create a visual different ways that when the history and pictures of timeline for and reasons pioneers came, heritage of the locations in your important why the the Indigenous Sto:lo people.