Grade 4 Early Societies Unit Plan!

Raphael. "School of Athens." 1509-1511. Apostolic Palace,
Vatican City.

Have I got a treat for you! As our final assignment for the Social Studies course at Brock University, my group members and I have compiled a 12 lesson unit plan for the Grade 4 Early Societies strand. Most of these lessons are longer than one hour, so will provide your students with weeks, even a couple months (depending on how you organize the class schedule) of fun and exploration of world civilizations. You can access the unit plan and the links to the individual lessons here.

The Big Idea for the unit is: how has the environment impacted the development of societies? This unit plan is strongly influenced by the ideas of Jared Diamond from Guns, Germs, and Steel fame. For those unfamiliar with Diamond's work, the Reader's Digest version of his thesis is that gaps in power and technology between civilizations is influenced by environmental differences. Students will have opportunities to explore this idea through a variety of assignments that involve collaboration, technology, integrate other subjects such as Language or the Arts, and allow students to choose their own adventure through inquiry projects.

There are so many fascinating civilizations to study that our group tried to pick societies from multiple continents so students would not have a purely Eurocentric exposure to early societies. We chose to do lessons on Egypt, Greece, Mayans, Medieval England, and Medieval China.

Our culminating assignment will also knock yours (and hopefully your students') socks off. Students get to create their own civilization!! Based on everything they've learned about ancient and medieval societies, they can take the best and leave out the worst of these societies. So many fun questions they'll get to consider! What continent will their civilization be on? How important will art, culture, or trade be to the civilization? What sort of government will it have? I kind of want to do one for fun!

Will your students choose to make a democracy or become a
despot?

Please feel free to contact me if you use any of the lessons or if you make any changes to the lessons for your own classroom. I am always learning and on the hunt for ways to be a better teacher and give students a better learning experience!

8P10 Course Reflection: The Benefits of Self-Reflection and Blended Learning

"We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us."
--Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time 


This has been a very eventful semester for me as I've been working like a madwoman to get my ducks in a row before my son was born on the 12th. By and large I accomplished my goal of getting all the major assignments done ahead of time, it's just small things such as this blog post/course reflection that I have to take care of now. My ability to get things done ahead of time was helped quite a bit by the blended learning of this and some of my other courses.

Since Cooper was born, I've been thinking a lot about accessibility. Armed with a stroller, I have a newfound appreciation for any store or establishment that has a ramp! Blended learning and a tech-friendly classroom is my academic ramp because it allows me to participate when my health and familial responsibilities make it difficult for me to physically be in class. I think blended learning could serve the same purpose in a Junior/Intermediate classroom.

Now, it is unlikely that any student in a J/I class is going to have a baby to take care of, but there are many other reasons why a student may need to video conference into class or do their learning at their own pace online. Maybe they get injured while playing sports or have to get their appendix removed. A classroom where the teacher uploads assignments and course material online would give those students the opportunity to keep up with their homework.

For students that struggle with participating in class, perhaps due to shyness or because it takes them longer than average to collect their thoughts, having a forum set up where they can add their thoughts gives those students a chance to make their voice heard, but in a way that might be more comfortable for them because they can save their responses, edit them, or completely rewrite them until they're perfect.

Equity and Inclusive Education applied to the Social Studies Classroom

"It is never too late to give up your prejudices."

--Henry David Thoreau, Walden 

"Christian, Jew, Muslim, shaman, Zorastrian, stone, ground, mountain, river, each has a secret way of being with the Mystery, unique and not to be judged."

--Rumi

This almost goes without saying, but people like it when they can relate to their environments and what they're learning. Inclusive education can heighten student and even parent engagement and a good teacher should be trying to get to know their students and their students' backgrounds anyways. I love incorporating things into the classroom that I know about students e.g. making reference to jokes or music they like or acknowledging their background. For example, if I know that many of my students are Muslim, I know not to bring any gelatin or Jello products as treats because they are not halal. 

The Ontario Equity document states that when students see themselves reflected in their studies, they are more likely to stay engaged and find school relevant. Learning about different cultures around the world and in Canada through the Social Studies curriculum can help students feel more connected to the world around them. Taking care to acknowledge the many groups that contributed to the formation of Canada can help students see that the multiculturalism they may take for granted had not always been present in Canada. 

It was through the efforts of many diverse individuals and groups that gave us all the privileges we experience now as Canadians. Teaching students that Canadian culture is complex and varied rather than homogenous can also give students a greater appreciation for others who may be Canadian, but express it differently than they do. Developing empathy for others is part of the “Attributes” section of the Citizenship Education Framework, and inclusive education can aid in its development.

Even if you teach in a school where the population is homogenous, such as in a rural area, it is still important to acknowledge and teach about Canada's diversity. Why? Well, on the off chance those students ever leave that community, say for postsecondary education or to travel, they will still be familiar with cultural diversity and sensitivity.

How Could This be Incorporated into a Social Studies Unit?

I think inclusive education could be integrated into the Grade 6 unit “Communities in Canada, Past and Present” because one of main objectives of the unit is to look at different groups that contributed (and continue to contribute) to Canada’s identity in the past and present. A1.2. requires students to evaluate the contributions of various ethnic and religious groups in the formation of the Canadian identity and of course, the A2 Inquiry expectations will allow students to investigate cultural groups in Canada further. 

Depending on how the teacher wanted to organize the unit, the student may be able to do a project on an ethnic or religious group of their choosing (maybe even their own if they desired) to learn about how community members before them influenced the life they have today. Not only that, but their investigations about why certain groups chose to immigrate to Canada gives students a greater global consciousness and can help them relate these situations to modern events e.g. Syrian refugees coming to Canada.  

Primary Documents in the Social Studies Classroom: Not just for scholars anymore!

Whether this is accurate or not, whenever I think of a historian, I can't help but think of a man or woman in a tweed suit, with big glasses poring carefully over yellowed documents in the backroom of some library or government office, using tweezers to turn the pages so as not to disrupt the integrity of the primary sources they're investigating. However, thanks to an increasing amount of resources being put online and the increased knowledge of restoration and preservation of artifacts, you don't need that PhD and tweed suit to investigate the past in a hands on way! Students, even students as young as primary grades can have encounters with the past through primary documents.

Primary documents are an interesting and fun way to make history come alive for students. Rather than reading about events that happened through a textbook (and thus a historian’s interpretation of that event), students can piece together for themselves what happened and even assess multiple resources about the same event to try to find “the truth” or at the very least figuring out what most likely happened. 

Why Should Students Read Primary Documents? 

Primary documents help students develop the ability to analyze the value of resources, asking questions like: what is a credible source? Is this document written by a credible source? What does the author have to gain (if anything) by producing this document? Considering the vast amount of content students must parse everyday in the Internet-age, being confident in assessing primary documents is a useful skill (especially considering so many "studies" put online that are neither peer-reviewed, nor properly executed).

Primary documents also allow students to work on essential language arts reading strategies, such as making inferences, predictions, and connections. In a textbook, the author will usually explain an event explicitly and lay out step-by-step how various groups may have been affected. While it is useful to have that clarity, primary documents can be used in conjunction with the textbooks for students to compare and contrast the official narrative of the textbook with the narrative they read in primary documents.  

How Could Primary Documents be Incorporated into a Unit? 

How I would like to incorporate primary documents into a social studies unit in a classroom of my own would be through early explorer narratives and diaries for the Grade 5 “First Nations and Europeans in New France and Early Canada” strand. Looking at excerpts from the diaries of Cartier and Champlain can give a more insight into how rough the journeys across the Atlantic really were, and can give an interesting view of the European perspective of first contacts with the First Nations. 

I think of that exchange between Iroquois chief Donnacona and Cartier after Cartier and his men had erected a cross claiming the land for France as a good excerpt to read. Cartier’s account is far from an objective account, and students can have the opportunity to compare and contrast the description of this exchange in their textbook and in Cartier’s diary. They can also develop their predicting, inferencing, and empathy in imagining what they perspective looked and felt like to Donnacona. 

"Hey, you don't mind if we set up a giant cross and kidnap your sons do you?"
First encounter 1534. Retrieved from
https://jacquescartier1534.wordpress.com/first-encounter-with-people-in-1534/

There are also other interesting (read: depressing and appalling) sections of the journal that describe Iroquois people being kidnapped to be taken to France to show the King what Cartier had discovered. If students read that and then read how those situations are described in textbooks and official narratives, which mention nothing of forcible seizure and make it appear like Iroquois trotted happily onto Cartier's boat, waving goodbye to their family, excited for the adventure, it will certainly be food for thought. There's a link to the journal here, but there are also nicer translations available in print form. 

These narratives can be linked to Language Arts, looking at both reading texts and media literacy. Explorer narratives and adventure novels were historically very popular genres with strict conventions that portrayed aboriginal peoples in specific ways. This can be an introduction into the portrayal of aboriginals and other minorities in the media historically and today if you chose to use social studies as a starting point for conversations in other subjects.  

Let me know ways you'd like to use primary documents in the classroom or how your students feel about these more hands-on historical investigations!

Environmental Education in Ontario Social Studies

"The frog does not drink up the pond in which it lives."
--Proverb

Environmental education in the social studies is increasingly essential given recent developments in climate change research and the difficulty in distributing resources to an ever-growing global population. Students need to develop green habits that they can share with others and carry on into adulthood. 

Environmental education gives students a greater connection to local and global communities, helping increase their sense of place and involvement. It enhances critical-thinking and problem-solving skills in the process. Environmental education is linked with field work, which develops valuable skills and can be connected with other disciplines, giving students a more interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary education. With the proper educational framework, students can move from awareness to action in regards to caring for the environment. 

Environmental education is also beneficial because it has connections to other ministry initiatives, such as the inclusion of aboriginal history and culture into the curriculum. It also is in alignment with Foundations for a Healthy School framework, which emphasizes a healthy physical environment and supportive social environment for successful learning. On average, children like to be helpful and feel like their actions are important, and by having them participate in environmental initiatives in the school and the larger community, it can give a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction that they are making a positive impact in the world.

What Might it look like in a Classroom?

Environmental education and field study could be aligned with the grade 7 Geography curriculum through the A2 inquiry expectations, where students must “guide investigations into the impact of natural events and/or human activities that change the physical environment.” Students could look at their local community and investigate through analyzing maps, climate graphs, and census data how the environment has changed in their local community over time, and how these changes occurred e.g. did the building of a dam change the local habitat, has there been a decrease in availability of arable land due to new housing developments, etc. 

Apart from developing their data analysis and spatial skills, this inquiry could be supplemented with visits to various natural habitats or historic sites in the area to compare and contrast how humans lived in this area before and how they live now. This incorporates many skills and concepts of both Geography and even History, while addressing Environmental education in a hands-on way. 

Remember too that Environmental education allows a great cross-curricular opportunity with Science, as Environmental education and stewardship is a major component of the Ontario Science curriculum as well. There are many ways to bring up the environment when teaching students, we do all live on Earth so it's kind of hard to avoid really. Any of the Social Studies strands could theoretically involve Environmental education; it's just time to get creative and see what you can do to incorporate those values and concepts. 

Financial Literacy: One of the most important things we can teach our students

"There is money; spend it; spend it; spend more; spend all I have."

--Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor

“Financial literacy is critical to the prosperity and well-being of Canadians. It is more than a nice-to-have skill. It is a necessity in today’s world.”

--The Task Force on Financial Literacy

When I was old enough to start receiving an allowance, my father gave me three little boxes of varying sizes. The largest box was for Long-Term Savings. That was for big, more expensive things that may take several months or even a year to save for. The medium-sized box was for Short-Term Savings. That was for toys or books that I might be able to get after saving for a few weeks or months at the most. The tiniest box was Mad Money, which 98% of the time went to purchasing the chocolate bar or candy I was allowed to have once a week. 

It was up to me how I divvied up my allowance, but for say a $10 allowance the breakdown usually went as follows:

Mad Money: $2

Short-Term: $5

Long-Term: $3

My father is a highly intelligent man and is financially-savvy; he gets it from his mother, my Nana, who is a shrewd investor. In my life now, even though I am not an expert, I have a healthy respect for saving, investing, and planning my finances. I have a couple points to my story:

1. It is important to teach children these skills while they're young

2. Not everyone has the same access to financial literacy and education at home, which is why we need it in our schools. 

This brief video from EduGains highlights some key points of financial literacy in Ontario classrooms. Financial literacy is something that should undeniably be part of the Ontario curriculum. I can hardly think of a more useful skill for helping prepare students for lives as independent adults than the principles of budgeting, saving, insurance, taxes, etc. As the EduGains video on Financial Literacy Highlights for Educators states, every aspect of life involves money and finances at some level. 

Financial literacy can be incorporated into any subject, as finances and spending relate to so many different topics, and students can communicate their understanding in so many different ways (write about it, act it out, draw it). Becoming financially literate is also helpful in developing critical thinking, decision-making, and consumer awareness. An indirect benefit of teaching financial literacy is that it helps students understand the importance of being lifelong learners, as their teachers may be learning aspects of financial literacy along with them. Financial literacy also helps students develop compassion. They can learn that not everyone earns the same amount of money or has the same access to resources as they do, which can give them a greater appreciation of what they have, and greater empathy for those that have less.  

How Could We Incorporate Financial Literacy Into the Classroom? 

It would be possible to incorporate financial literacy into the grade 7 “Natural Resources Around the World” unit. I’m thinking specifically through expectation B3.2 which requires students to “describe ways in which people use the natural environment, including specific elements within it, to meet their needs and wants.” This provides teachers with an opportunity to open up a conversation about needs and wants in spending and resource allocation, applying it on both a micro and macro level through thinking about individual and national needs and wants. Extending that further could be B3.4, where students must “describe the perspectives of different groups regarding the use of the natural environment to meet human needs.” It would be important and in some cases mind-blowing for students to understand that not every society is consumer-driven like Western society.

This is just one example, but financial literacy can become part of lessons for many subjects, including Math, Art, Social Studies, etc. What is a way you would incorporate it into your classroom?

Fun Canadian Heritage Grade 6 Inquiry Lesson Plan: Embrace the Chaos

Vassily Kandinsky (1913) Composition VII. [oil on canvas]
Treyakov Gallery, Moscow. 

"One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star."
--Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra 

Night and day. Yin and yang. Apollonian and Dionysian. Order and Chaos. We as humans love our binaries and dichotomies. The longer you live and the more you study though, you come to realize that you don't need to pick between one or the other, because often it is in finding balance between two seemingly oppositional ideas that we attain harmony. It is no different in a classroom.

Yes, of course teachers should have control over their classroom. Teachers are there to help focus and guide students, to make sure they are learning the curriculum, and perhaps turning into responsible, kind citizens along the way. But a little bit of messiness or chaos in the classroom can be a good thing, and in fact can allow students to reach creative heights they may not have achieved on their own. Inquiry based learning allows students to craft their own topics and present information in their own way (depending on how the teacher is organizing the inquiry). While this seems like a great idea in theory, it can also get a little messy, as my Brock teacher education group discovered while presenting our lesson plan demonstration.

You can read the full plan in a link below, but here's a brief summary of the lesson:

Subject: Social Studies
Grade: 6
Topic: Canadian Identity

Minds On: (5 Minutes)

• Propose inquiry question on Linoit: When you hear the phrase “Canadian Identity” what questions come to mind? What questions do you think others may have about the concept of Canadian Identity? e.g. someone from a different region of Canada or different country than you

• Have students access Linoit on their individual devices.
• As a class brainstorm some major concepts and ideas that come to mind

Action: (10 Minutes)

• Assign each table group a column in the Google Doc chart
• Have each group pick an idea from the Linoit word wall
• Use the brainstormed ideas and concepts as prompts for further questioning
• Have students ask as many questions as they can in ten minutes
• Encourage students to take ideas further and draw deeper connections

Consolidation: (10 Minutes)

• Have each table group explain why they chose their line of questioning
• Have students review the responses of the whole class
• Are there any responses they feel stand out?

Reflection

So seems like a decent plan in theory right? Its execution was a little rockier. First, our links didn't work, so there needed to be troubleshooting and some stalling on our part. This can happen in any classroom in any subject, so I'm not overly concerned about that. It is more something that you need to keep in mind when incorporating technology into your lesson. Teachers need to be simultaneously positive and cynical (or perhaps a more apt term would be realistic?). Positive in overall attitude, but cynical in that you need to plan expecting for something to go wrong, and then make a plan B (or C, D, E). We should've done some more tests of the links before presentation time, but it all worked out in the end anyway so I guess it's not as bad as it could have been.

Another thing I would change in doing the lesson again is providing a way through the discussion to hold students accountable for their contributions to the brainstorm. This could be accomplished through having students add their initials when they post, or if we were using a Google doc, to be logged into their Google account so teachers can track who made what contribution. This reduces the chances of the smart-alecks of the class adding silly, inappropriate, or merely unproductive questions to the brainstorm (as we received many contributions that were, uh, let's just say less than ideal). 

Finally, another change I would make would be to incorporate more modeled examples into the lesson. For example, before filling in the Google doc, I would show students that they are supposed to pick a vertical, rather than horizontal column to fill in with information. Many students are highly visual in their learning and if you merely show them what the work should look like, it will reduce the amount of confusion and follow-up questions. 

Apart from that though, I think the lesson went fairly well, if it was a bit sloppy in execution. But hey, that's a beast you just have to wrestle with when you're using inquiry in the classroom.

You can access the Google doc for the lesson plan here. Feel free to use or change how you see fit, but I just ask if you make any adjustments to it, let me know so I can try those changes out too!

Inquiring Minds Want to Know: Why We Should Have Inquiry-based Learning in Social Studies

"Oyster with Pearls." Photo.
Retrieved from http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/does-every-oyster-have-a-pearl/

"Why then, the world's mine oyster!"

--Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor

"Inquiry-based learning" is a phrase thrown around in educational theory and policy with increasing regularity. Is it really all it's cracked up to be? I'm going to say a big yes to that. Inquiry-based learning is something that would be a great addition to any classroom, but is not without its challenges. In this post, I'm going to share some challenges and benefits of incorporating inquiry-based learning into the classroom. 

Make Sure You're Well Prepared

Initially there is a lot of legwork the teacher has to do to prepare the students for the more independent work they must do as part of their projects. The teacher needs to model many different formats of presenting knowledge e.g. how to make a Prezi, how to summarize effectively, how to use iMovie, etc. Once that initial stage is finished though, the teacher’s job is much more as a facilitator than a lecturer. 

42, or the Answer to the Ultimate Question

Remember in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series how the answer to life, the universe, and everything was 42, but nobody knew what the question was? Finding the right question can be the hardest part of inquiry (or life, the universe, and everything, really). Educators must make sure students are asking appropriate questions in their projects. A question that is too broad or specific could end up causing frustration and difficulties for the student in conducting their investigation. There needs to be a fine balance between student ideas and teacher guidance to find good inquiry questions. 

Down the Internet Rabbit-hole

Another challenge may be student supervision and keeping them on task (how much of a challenge this is depends on your individual class). Because the students have free reign in terms of how they use their research time, some of the less focused students in the class may turn off track, so it is up to the teacher to be diligent in keeping everyone using their class time effectively.  

Freeeedommm!!

I am a big fan of inquiry-based learning and think that the pros certainly outweigh any cons of this teaching method. First, it gives students much greater freedom to explore their own interests and develop their own passions. Through becoming better acquainted with a topic, they may even find something that becomes a lifelong interest, or even a career.

Efficient Use of Limited Instructional Time

It allows teachers to be able to cover a large amount of curriculum material in a short period of time. Rather than trying to teach every little detail of the events and society in New France, by splitting the class up into various topics, each group or student can become an expert on a certain facet of the main concept and together the class can pool their knowledge at the end of the inquiry.           

It's Perfect for Differentiated Instruction

Inquiry- or project-based learning is much more accommodating to differentiated instruction. Rather than the traditional test-taking environment, where only a certain type of student is able to thrive, inquiry gives students the opportunity to play to their strengths. A student that is proficient in public speaking can shine when they give a presentation, in a way they might not have if the teacher had made them write an essay. ELL students can represent ideas visually instead of having to rely on writing they may not be confident with.

Develop Teamwork Skills While Learning

The last benefit I want to mention is the importance of collaboration in inquiry-based learning. Figuring out how to operate cohesively as a team is a skill that students will require no matter where life takes them (unless they are going to become a hermit, but that is unlikely). The projects help teach students leadership, how to delegate tasks, work equitably, and have fun with their friends as they’re learning. 

What has been your experiences with inquiry- and project-based learning? Inquiring minds want to know... (sorry I had to add that in once more...because puns and wordplay fill the void in my heart) 

A Step in the Right Direction: OTF "How Big is your Ecological Footprint?" Lesson Plan Review

So once we've all recovered from the collective groan and eyeroll caused by my punny title, let's start thinking about some of the goals we have for Ontario Social Studies lessons right now. Educators should strive for lessons that utilize inquiry or research (important 21st century skills that put the power of learning into the students' hands), field study when applicable (let's get up out of our seat and into the community please!), and innovative. 

The Ontario curriculum has a specific meaning in mind for "innovative"lessons. Lessons that use innovation allow students not only to make up their own ideas, inventions, or products, but use them in some way in the "real world". For example, if students make a design for a memorial for Hamilton Aboriginal war veterans, then they would actually submit that proposal design to the government rather than putting it up in the classroom and letting it collect dust. 

I found a lesson through the Ontario Teachers Federation that I deem to be innovative. You can access that lesson, and similar ones for other grades here. Below is a pretty chart, an overview of the lesson, and then my two cents on the matter. 

Name/Class section	Laura McClelland/003
Grade level/Strand	Grade 7/Natural Resources Around the World: Use and Sustainability
Topic	How Big is your Footprint?
Overall Expectation	Analyze aspects of extraction/harvesting and use of natural resources in different regions and assess ways of preserving them
Related concept of Social Studies, Historical or Geographic Thinking	Spatial Significance, Interrelationships
Big Idea	There is a relationship between Earth’s physical features and the distribution of natural resources and how people use them. The ways in which people extract and harvest natural resources can have social, political, and environmental consequences.
Framing Question to Foster Inquiry	Why might it be easier for some countries to extract and use natural resources in a sustainable way? Is the extractions and use of fossil fuels sustainable? What are some of the ways in which different countries are practising environmental stewardship?
Knowledge and Skills Categories Addressed	Knowledge, Thinking, Communication, and Application
Assessment Strategies	Minds On Assessment for Learning: student responses during discussions -are they able to articulate ideas around finite resources? -can students make links between finite land and the need to ensure we share equally and/or need to make sure there are limits to consumption -can students make connections back to the story of stuff, the cycle of consumption Activity Assessment for Learning: observation/notes during discussions -are students able to provide clear and realistic connections between consuming products that come from large distances and the size of their own ecological footprint? Consolidation Assessment for Learning: student-teacher conference regarding My Ecological Footprint -consider students’ ability to identify examples which create their ecological footprint -students’ ability to determine solutions/actions which reduce their ecological footprint
Materials and Resources	Apple and knife, use of available technologies e.g. computer, projector/screen, access to park/large field, chart paper, sheets “Ecological Footprint,” “My Ecological Footprint,” and “Ecological Footprint Resource.”

Concepts Addressed

What concepts of Disciplinary Thinking are addressed in this lesson?	Spatial Significance, Interrelationships
Where does this activity fit within the Citizenship Framework?	This activity fits well with the Active Participation section of the Framework, with a focus on influence and stewardship.
How does this lesson connect to current events and issues?	Reducing one’s eco-footprint is always a timely issue, but with the relatively recent Liberal win in the Federal Election, there is going to be an increased focus on the environment and climate change in Canada. Why not bring this issue up with your students, who may have seen interviews or commercials on TV regarding the renewed Canadian focus on the environment, and preserving our vast, but finite, natural resources?
Note whether this lesson provides an opportunity for field study?	This lesson allows for some field study, as it requires students to go outside and measure what a hectare is, but it is not an extensive part of the lesson.
What are the opportunities for cross-curricular and integrated learning	This lesson integrates expectations from Language (Media Literacy and Oral and Visual Communication), Math (Data Management, and Science and Technology
Note whether this lesson provides an opportunity to integrate environmental education?	Yes, to a large extent. This lesson is all about gaining spatial perspective when considering the Ecological Footprint and what can be done as alternatives to reduce that footprint and thus reduce our environmental impact.
Note whether this lesson provides an opportunity to address healthy relationships?	There is quite a bit of discussion in large and small groups, as well as with partners, which gives educators an opportunity to model and encourage appropriate behaviours for sharing ideas in the classroom respectfully.
Note whether this lesson provides an opportunity to address equity and inclusive classroom?	This lesson does not necessarily include much material from other cultures, religions, etc., but instead focuses on the individual student’s ecological footprint. But it is inclusive in that the students are reflected in the curriculum, their local community is considered and the broader environment is connected to both their community and themselves.
Note whether this lesson provides an opportunity to integrate financial literacy?	It would be possible to integrate information about how being green can save you money e.g. save money on hydro bill by turning off lights when not using the room
Note whether this lesson provides an opportunity to address 21st century skills?	This lesson addresses the skills problem solving, collaboration, and communication.

Lesson Review

            According to 21CLD Learning Activity Rubric’s criteria for innovation, this Ecological Footprint lesson is innovative. The last part of the lesson involves students being presented with a problem (their own Ecological Footprint) and then asks them to think up solutions to this problem that they could realistically enact in their lives. The problem is of course a real-world problem as it is directly based on the students’ lives, and they are required to innovate because beyond thinking up solutions or strategies to reducing their ecological footprint, students must actually utilize those strategies at home.

Although the innovation element of the lesson is small and deeply personal, I still think these types of innovative lessons are important and necessary. Many students (and adults too) often feel a sense of apathy or despair when faced with social problems because of how atomized Western societies are. Everything seems so large, that many people think, “I’m just one person, I can’t do anything so why bother?” without realizing that every movement, every change starts with one person and it is through the actions of many individuals that positive changes can occur. This lesson emphasizes the notion that what a student does individually matters. They can help create a greener community today, not through having a lot of resources, or a lot of education, but through making small changes right in their own lifestyles. Small daily changes can make a huge impact, maybe even more of an impact than some sort of grander gesture, like writing a letter to the Environment Minister (although it couldn’t hurt to do that too).  

This lesson is useful because it shows students in very visual ways the impact that humans have on the environment, first through the apple and then through the hectare measurement. It also has a good mixture of large group discussion, small group problem-solving, and individual reflection. The variety will help students stay interested and engaged. If I were to incorporate this lesson into part of a mini-unit or unit, I would probably have a follow-up, or some reflections ready for the students to do so they can think about the efforts they’re making to reduce their ecological footprint at home (and to remind them to actually do it!). I would also probably compare and contrast Western consumption with consumption and environmental impact of other cultures so students can see that the way we live is not only quite different from many areas around the globe, but also comes at a terrible cost for certain countries. We are able to live like kings because other regions struggle. This would be a sobering but incredibly important realization for students to make.

There are changes that I would make to this lesson if I were to use it in my own classroom to suit my style and personality, but overall, it is innovative and does address (or can address) the vision and many elements of the Geography curriculum. It gives educators quite a bit to work with and provides students with variety in their activities, assessment, and social interaction in the classroom.   

Connecting the UN Sustainable Development Goals to the Ontario Social Studies Curriculum: A First Attempt

Even if you don't read or watch the news on a regular basis, you must have a vague notion in your head that "something's gotta give." We eat too much, or in most places not enough, or not enough of the right stuff. It's possible to buy that cute t-shirt with the cat driving a car for $5 because the woman who made it works for pennies an hour. A man's chance for financial freedom and social mobility are ruined because of a mistake he made in early life and a prison-industrial complex that has no interest in rehabilitation or providing post-incarceration job opportunities.

What I'm trying to say is there is a lot that needs to be changed.

The UN happens to agree. Their 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda has 17 goals they wish to implement to help eradicate poverty, protect the planet, and promote human dignity (to name a few). The goals fall under five main headings: People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace, and Partnership. For a full description, check out the UN site here.

These are relevant issues that should be discussed and researched in the Social Studies classroom. Wouldn't it be great if there was a way to link these goals to the Ontario Social Studies curriculum? At Brock University, we've started to do just that.

My Social Studies class, helmed by Dr. Branigan-Pipe have mapped the Ontario curriculum to match with the five UN categories mentioned above. Not every strand or every grade relates to all the categories; we've found that certain grades seems to correspond very strongly to one set of goals in particular e.g. Planet. This is by no means exhaustive, there may be more curriculum expectations that relate to each of the topics, but this gives a starting point to open up discussion and inquiry in the classroom on UN Sustainable Development.

Let me know what you think of the curriculum map or if you find any creative ways to interweave Sustainable Development and Social Studies in your classroom!

Teaching Social Studies: The Start of my Journey

An iconic image of Romanticism, but for our purposes, he is also a student of
Social Studies, about to embark on his journey.
Friedrich, Caspar David. "Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog." 1818
Oil on canvas. Kunsthalle Hamberg, Germany.

“That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach.”
--Aldous Huxley, Collected Essays

"Context is all."
--Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale

An incalculable number of decisions, chemical reactions, and chance occurrences has  lead you and I to where we are today. To think that we are somehow divorced from all the tendrils and strings that make the world the way it is, that we are somehow individual, atomized, unique, is to have a narrow and honestly less full life experience. As a teacher candidate and future Social Studies teacher, I hope to help my students see the way they are connected to the past, present, and future, not only of Canada, but of the entire world. Sounds ambitious, but I think a healthy dose of idealism keeps my standards high and my mind active. 

As a student, teacher, and lover of literature, I understand perhaps better than some how essential it is to gain proper context. We are all products of our histories and in order to conduct a rigorous analysis of a text, one must have a proper understanding of the time and place in which it was crafted. Let's use Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal as an example. To properly understand what is at work in this text, it is important to have a basic idea of satire, if you knew it was Juvenalian satire, even better. It would also be useful to know a bit about English discrimination and attitudes towards both the Irish and the poor in general in the 18th century. Finally, understanding that the moral philosophy of utilitarianism was popular at the time Swift was writing would make his arguments that much more entertaining, as he uses much of the same reasoning as our good friend Jeremy Bentham, but uses that logic to argue that eating children is a viable solution to poverty. Without that background, a reader might think that Swift was a baby-eating villain, but with that knowledge, it is clear he's quite clever and rather funny. Beyond pure enjoyment, a reader can now also make connections to modern day, looking at the use of current satire, or the politics and policies surrounding poverty, the list goes on. 

I look forward to sharing my thoughts and what I'm going to learn in the coming weeks about teaching Social Studies. The idea of Inquiry-based Learning that the Ontario curriculum focuses on is of particular interest to me. Much better than just reading a textbook and answering questions like I did when I was in school.