What Is The Story In History?

Jennifer Johnson-George, 2006 Governor General Award Recipient

Intended Age/ Subject Area

Grade One and Two
Social Studies, History, Language Arts, Technology, Art, Music

Concepts

This was a year long cross-curricular inquiry. It is an extension of a previous year long inquiry with the same group of students that was titled “What Stories Do We Have To Tell?” The previous inquiry involved the students in a rigorous and authentic look into the stories of their families and the disappearing stories of their province. Due to the depth of their work this year, and it’s well rooted connection to last year, it makes sense to present the lesson plan as a series of large task questions. The following tasks are what guided our inquiry this year.

Task #1

What Marks My Place In History?

The students explore what marks a person and a place. Integration of character education and virtues into language arts and art lessons explore what makes them unique individuals with unique talents and characteristics.

From there the students will investigate what marks their community and their culture. Just as fingerprints mark each of us as unique individuals, so do certain traditions, customs and celebrations mark our unique cultures.

Oil pastel virtue portraits will display their personal virtues while a photo and story collage will represent themselves, their community and their culture.

Task #2

What is the Story in the History of the Stampede and Treaty Seven?

A place that marks Calgary to the world is the Calgary Stampede Grounds.

• • Whose prints were on that piece of land before it became the home of the “Largest Outdoor Show on Earth”?
• • What is the relationship between the Treaty Seven Nations and the Calgary Stampede?
• • How are the “fingerprints” of the Natives preserved and respected at the Calgary Stampede?

As the students will explore the connection between the Treaty Seven Nations and the Province of Alberta, they will discover that their story and their fingerprints run deep.

Through 5 separate visits to the Stampede Grounds with children from a partnering Aboriginal School the students will recognize how Aboriginal communities are integral to Canada’s character and how they have contributed to the origin and evolution of our community over time.

With the telling of their story and a mixing of their young generation with ours, the students will leave new prints that will bridge the gap of understanding between their past and our future.

Immersing them in the work through the study of artifacts, murals, music, dance and the stories of Elders, along with the tasks of constructing a real Tipi and roasting bannock on a stick over an open fire will allow the students a unique look at Native culture.

The students will study Native quotes and proverbs and through them will make connections to our virtue study. How do our virtues and the Medicine wheel connect? How does the Native’s connection to the circle relate to our life and our virtues?

How this work evolved:
This unique learning experience took my students and I from a space of notions into a new space of knowing. Through this inquiry my students and I developed new habits of mind that we will carry with us forever. They worked to create a website that is part of Our Roots Canada titled “Calgary Stampede and Treaty 7 Nations – A Historical Perspective” which won first place in the 2006 SigTel On Line Learning Award. They feel empowered to be able to share their knowledge with others in such a profound and meaningful way. Please have a look at their three websites.

• http://www.galileo.org/stampedeschool/
• http://www.galileo.org/schools/district-cbe/princeofwales/albertastories/
• http://www.galileo.org/schools/district-cbe/princeofwales/stories/

Task #3 How can Song Tell a Story and Preserve a Legacy?

Working with a local singer/songwriter, the children will compose an original song that encompasses all of the learning that has occurred for them over the past 6 months to year and a half. They have grown to appreciate how the Native people use song to tell stories and preserve legends.

By composing an original piece of music and recording it with an accomplished local “Cowboy Singer” they will create something that will tell their story for years to come. (listen to the song on their “Alberta Stories” website)

Task #4 How do Communities Preserve History?

A 5 day visit to the Glenbow Museum with Chevron Open Minds will frame this study. Children will learn how history is preserved for future generations. They will explore in greater depth the historical preservation of the Blackfoot culture. Do we honor their culture in the way we display their artifacts in Canadian museums? What goes into a museum? If a child were creating a museum for children would the museum look different than if it were created by an adult?

How this work evolved:
The students became interested in a Canadian Aboriginal Artist Norval Morrisseau after finding a newspaper article regarding his solo exhibit at the National Gallery in Ottawa. They corresponded with the National Gallery and with the Glenbow Museum. They visited the 5th floor art storage of the Glenbow to see the collection of Morrisseau art. Passionate to share his story, they implored the Glenbow to set up a Morrisseau exhibit. This resulted in the student’s artwork being displayed alongside a real Morrisseau painting in a 6 month exhibit.

Research and correspondence with Mr. Morrisseau led to a collaboratively written biography. The students began by writing independent stories about Morrisseau that they then combined with those of two or three peers. From there we dissected their small group stories into individual sentences that were pieced back together like a puzzle in a “shared writing” type lesson. This final class collaborative Morrisseau biography (see attached) is a new way of looking at elements of story and shared writing. This final version has been sent to Mr. Morrisseau for review and approval.

I hope that the above task descriptions enable you to see the bigger picture of the scope and authenticity of the work. These tasks are umbrellas that house many projects and mini lessons in order to move the work of the students forward in real and rigorous ways.

Resources

• • Historical artifacts, museum kits from the Glenbow
• • Native cooking – bannock, buffalo and deer jerky, mint tea
• • Native dancers and drummers
• • Numerous Elders from the Treaty 7 Nations, Country singer Tim Hus
• • Digital cameras and video cameras
• • Life size tipi
• • Our Roots On-line resources
• • Fiction and non-fiction books
• • Sketchbooks, student portfolios
• • Water colours, oil pastels, sketching pencils

About The Educator

Jennifer Johnson-George is a grade one/two teacher at Prince of Wales School in Calgary, Alberta. Students in her class are engaged in independent, small and large group inquiries that encourage them to explore "action plans" that will drive their learning forward in personal and authentic ways. She believes passionately about honouring student voice as evidenced by the “real life” and “hard fun” work she engages her students in.

Jennifer co-presented with Judy Martin from Galileo Educational Network at the 2006 Society for Integration of Technology Conference in Orlando, Florida. They are also co-presenting at the International Imagination Conference in Vancouver BC in July 2006.

Jennifer's creative cross-curricular program design and integration of technology into her inquiries awarded her a semi-finalist position for the 2005 Governor General's Award for Teaching Excellence in Canadian History. She was awarded first place in the 2006 SigTel On-line Learning Award and she is currently nominated for the 2006 Prime Ministers Award for Excellence in Teaching.