Sharing our Reconciliation Journey

With gratitude, we are pleased to share this learning story from Jacqueline at William Watson Elementary. A beautiful Hearts & Hands pin is on its way to Jacqueline who wrote:   

In term 1 our focus for subject integration (Social Studies, Math 6, ADST and reading and writing) was Truth and Reconciliation. We studied books written about Residential Schools, including but not limited to I am Not a Number, Lucy & Lola, When I Was Eight and others. Students created Spindle Whorl designs in Math for our transformations unit, inspired by Susan Point and we learned how to weave on a cardboard loom, inspired by the weaving traditions of the Coast Salish peoples.  

For writing, we studied the painting, The Scream by Kent Monkman and wrote from the perspective of one of the people in the image. Lastly, to culminate our learning about Residential Schools and the 60s Scoop, we were inspired by the Witness Blanket by Carey Newman to create our own Witness Blanket.  

My students created images and objects reflecting on what impacted them most. For our acts of Reconciliation, we learned about the 94 Calls to Action and presented our priority list for getting these enacted. For our last act of Reconciliation in term 1, we invited other classes to tour our room and shared our learning. My students transformed their learning and became the teachers of other students which was very impactful for all of us.