Grade 5 Best Practices - Integrating Social, Art and Writing Through Culture

TQS - 5. A teacher develops and applies foundational knowledge about First Nations, Métis and Inuit for the benefit of all students.

c) using the programs of study to provide opportunities for all students to develop a knowledge and understanding of, and respect for, the histories, cultures, languages, contributions, perspectives, experiences and contemporary contexts of First Nations, Métis and Inuit

3. A teacher applies a current and comprehensive repertoire of effective planning, instruction, and assessment practices to meet the learning needs of every student.

a. incorporate a range of instructional strategies, including the appropriate use(s) of digital technology, according to the context, content, desired outcomes and the learning needs of students

Using the upcoming TQS, I wanted to address the standards above and how I have and will continue to implement them in my daily practice.

This new school year has been a very big transition for all of us. Between the physical moving into a new physical space and the pedagogical moving of implementing a schoolwide Guided Reading program, I know that I have felt very overwhelmed and wonder how I will “cover it all” when it comes to the curriculum.

One of the ways that I have found that helps me cover our very broad curriculum is integration. I love to find connections not only between subject areas but also finding themes that I can use to weave the curriculum together. My students find a lot more meaning and they are more engaged when I have interdisciplinary projects.

Last year, I was able to fulfill a project that I had thought of many years ago. Grade 5 Social Studies is a very dense curriculum. We study the history of Canada from Pre-Colonialism all the way through to Confederation, to the influence of the Famous Five and NWMP to the influence of geography of the Canadian Regions on where and how people live and we also cover Indigenous groups across Canada and their impact on our history and culture.

It’s a lot of curriculum. And it can be very dry.

Last year, for Canadian Regions topic, I decided to integrate art into the lessons. We studied the geography, the resources and the people. We also looked at the Group of Seven and the artwork they created that is so representative of Canadian geography. Students were assigned a region and they had to find an image that represented their region. We created multiple rough drafts on paper. I gave constant feedback for improvement as they worked. Eventually, students moved to fabric markers and fabric squares that they used to depict their final pieces of art. Once those were completed, my mother (who is a wonderful seamstress) took the fabric art pieces and created a quilt.

This year, I wanted to teach another idea that I had been thinking of for many years as well. Again, Social and Art became the focus.

Grade 5 Social Topic 2 is titled “Histories and Stories of Ways of Life in Canada”. This topic focuses heavily on the history and culture of Indigenous groups across Canada. Using a research activity from Black Gold Regional Schools, I tweaked the project to have students research five groups across Canada. 

Students use the following website http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/index.html to research the group assigned to them. They collect information about the food, ceremonies and beliefs, tools, shelter, family structure and transportation. The five groups we are collecting research on are the Arctic People, the Northwest Coastal People, the Plains People, the Eastern Woodland Hunters and the Eastern Woodland Farmers. The latter two became the focus for the Art portion of this unit.

Using Norval Morrisseau as an inspiration, we read his biography and studied his paintings which are in the Eastern Woodland Style. These paintings have been called Spirit Paintings and X-Ray Paintings. They are a simple style with vibrant colours but there is purpose to everything within the picture. Circles can represent the heart, the mind, the soul of the animal or creature. Lines trailing from the creatures can represent the spirit.

Taking this understanding of the style, we are currently creating sketches of an animal that we feel connection to. Students will create rough copies until they have taken their art to a level that they are content with. Then we will begin to paint our creations. As we work on this portion of the project, I am also introducing a writing element to the project. Students will create their own origin legend for the creature they are painting.

When we are done this project, students will have crossed three different subject areas and multiple objectives will have been met. Because schedules can be a struggle, I do not feel the need to contain my Art or Writing or Social to a specific block during a week. Basically, my Literacy, Art and Social times are all up for grabs which allows me the time to spend on this project so students can create quality work that is meaningful to them.

The last piece in the puzzle that I need - the bulletin boards to be installed in my room so that we can display our work.