Background information: Explanation of Terms and Process

Background Information

(Appendix) Explanation of Terms and Process

Talking Circles
(Four Worlds Development Project, 1988)

Talking circles foster respect, enhance self-concept, nurture a
sense of belonging and affirm identity.

Talking circles are most useful when:
• the topic has no right or wrong answer
• moral or ethical issues need to be addressed
• consensus is not required

Talking circles may also be useful to:
• introduce new ideas/concepts
• teach the significance of the circle for various Aboriginal cultures
• promote respect for the opinions and ideas of others
• develop a trusting environment where students feel free to
express feelings, ideas and thoughts
• develop listening and speaking skills in a safe, affirming environment
• respond to literature, other media or important issues

Guidelines for Talking Circle:

The group sits in a circle and each person has a turn to contribute.

An object (stone, stick or other) can be used to signify whose turn it is to speak.

The teacher facilitates by ensuring that guidelines are followed.

Direct comments to the question of issue, not to the comments made by another participant.

Avoid responding either negatively or positively to participants’ comments.

Silence is an acceptable response.

There must be no negative consequences, however subtle, for passing.

Show respect for others by listening when they speak.

Explain that self-putdowns or putdowns of others are unacceptable.

Ensure that everyone has a turn to speak.
The facilitator should model respectful listening and speaking by participating in the talking circle. The facilitator might also consider the size of the group. Small groups are preferable when students are uncomfortable speaking in a large group or when time constraints are an issue.

First Principles

What follows is a summary of some of the important teachings of the Sacred Tree.

Each one of the teachings is a gate opening onto a path. It is up to the traveler to step through the gate and begin the journey.

Wholeness

All things are interrelated. Everything in the universe is part of a single whole. Everything is connected in some way to everything else. We can understand something only if we can understand how it is connected to everything else.

Change

All of creation is constantly changing. Nothing stays the same except the fact that there are always cycles of change. One season follows the other. Human beings are born, live their lives, die and enter the spirit world. All things change.

There are two kinds of change. There is the coming together of things (development) and the coming apart of things (disintegration). Both of these kinds of change are necessary and are always connected to each other.

Changes happen in cycles or patterns. They are not accidental or without purpose.

Sometimes it is hard to see how a particular change is connected to everything else. This usually means that our ability to see is limited by the situation we are in.

The seen and the unseen.The physical world is real. The spiritual world is real. Yet, there are separate laws that govern each of them.

When we break the spiritual laws, it can affect the physical world. When we break the physical laws, it can affect the spiritual world.

A balanced life is one that honours the laws of both the physical world and the spiritual world.

Human beings are spiritual and physical.

Human beings can always acquire new gifts, but they must struggle to do so.
The timid person may become courageous. The weak person may become bold and strong. The insensitive person may learn to care for the feelings of others. The person who values only money and material things can begin to look inside and listen to his inner voice. When human beings develop new qualities, this process is called “development” or “true learning”.

There are four parts of “true learning”.
These fourparts of every person’s nature are shown in the four points of the Medicine Wheel.

These four parts of our being are developed through the use of volition, or will.

A person cannot learn in a totally whole and balanced way unless all four parts of his/her being have been involved in the process.

We develop the spiritual aspect of our nature in four related ways:
First, we have the capacity to respond to non-physical realities like dreams, visions, ideals, spiritual teachings, goals and thoughts.

Second, we have the capacity to understand that these non-physical realities can teach us about our own potential to do or be something more, or different, than we are now.

Third, we have it within us to express these dreams, visions, ideals, spiritual teachings and our own goals and thoughts by using symbols like language, mathematics and the arts.

Fourth, we have the capacity to use these symbols to guide our future actions. These acts will make it possible for us to “enter into” the vision, or goal we have set before ourselves in the form of symbols and thus develop our true potential.

We must become actively involved in the process of developing our own potential.

The doorway through which all must pass if they wish to become more or different than they are now, is the doorway of the will (volition). A person must decide to take the journey.

The path has never-ending patience. It will always be there for those who decide to travel it.

Anyone who sets out on the journey of self-development will be helped. There will be guides and teachers who will appear as well as spiritual protectors who will watch over the traveler. No test will be given that the traveler does not already have the strength to meet.

The only way to fail the journey will be our own failure to follow the teachings of the Sacred Tree. (The Four Worlds Development Project, 1988, pp. 27-32)

Code of Ethics

Each morning when you wake up and each evening before sleeping, give thanks for the life within you, for all life, for the good things the Creator has given you and others and for the opportunity to grow a little more each day.

Give thanks for yesterday’s thoughts and actions and for the courage and strength to be a better person.

Ask for the things that will benefit everyone.

Respect. Respect means to feel or show honour or esteem for someone or something; to consider the well-being of, or to treat someone or something with deference or courtesy.

Showing respect is a basic law of life.

Treat every person, from the tiniest child to the oldest elder with respect at all times.

Special respect should be given to elders, parents, teachers and community leaders.

Don’t make anyone feel “put down” by you; avoid hurting other hearts as you would avoid a deadly poison.

Don’t touch anything that belongs to someone else (especially sacred objects) without permission, or an understanding between you.

Speak in a soft voice, especially when you are with elders, strangers or others who should be especially respected.

Never interrupt people who are having a conversation.

Respect the privacy of every person.

Never interfere with a person’s quiet moments or personal space.

Never walk between people who are having a conversation.

Do not speak about others in negative ways, whether they are present or not.

Treat the earth and all of her aspects as your mother.

Show deep respect for the mineral world, the plant world and the animal world.

Do nothing to pollute the air or the soil.

If others want to destroy our mother, rise up with wisdom to defend her.
Show deep respect for the beliefs and religions of others.

Listen with courtesy to what others say, even if you feel that what they are talking about is worthless.

Listen with your heart.

Respect the wisdom of the people in council.

Once you give an idea to a council or a meeting, it no longer belongs to you. It belongs to the people.

Respect demands that you listen carefully to the ideas of other people in council and that you do not insist that your idea is best.

You should freely support the ideas of others if they are true and good, even if those ideas are quite different from the ones you have contributed. The clash of ideas brings forth the spark of truth.

Once a council has decided something in unity, respect demands that no one speak secretly against what has been decided.

If the council has made an error, that error will become clear to everyone in its own time.

Be truthful at all times and under all conditions.

Always treat your guests with honour and consideration. Give your best food, your best blankets, the best part of the house and your best service to your guests.

The hurt of one is the hurt of all.

Receive strangers and outsiders with a loving heart and as a member of the human family.

All races and tribes in the world are like the different coloured flowers of one meadow. All are beautiful. As children of the Creator they must all be respected.

To serve others, to be of some use to family, community, nation or the world is one of the main purposes for which human beings have been created.

Do not fill yourself with your own affairs and forget your most important task.

True happiness comes only to those who dedicate their lives to the service of others.

Observe moderation and balance in all things.

Know those things that lead to your well-being and those things that lead to your destruction.

Listen to and follow the guidance given to your heart.

Expect guidance to come in many forms: in prayer, in dreams, in times of quiet aloneness and in the words and deeds of wise elders and friends.

(The Four Worlds Development Project, 1988, pp. 76-84)

Literacy Strategies (Appendix)
adapted from Think Literacy: A Cross Curricular Guide

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/studentsuccess/thinkliteracy/library.html

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/fre/studentsuccess/thinkliteracy

1. ANTICIPATION GUIDE

What is an anticipation guide?
A method by which students are asked to activate prior knowledge to the story we are about to read in order to generate interest.
An anticipation guide is a series of statements, usually between 5 and 10, to which students must respond individually before reading a certain text. The statements are designed in such a way as to activate thought about particular events, ideas, plots or issues that will be introduced in the text about to be read. Having students engage in these thoughts before reading prepares them to read as more active participants. They get a sense of the major ideas they will encounter in the text and they have an opportunity to reflect and respond to these ideas individually before being influenced by the group.

It explains connections between prior knowledge and experiences and a variety of appropriate text, shares responses, identifies key elements of fiction (plot, characterization, setting), mood, descriptive language and common figures of speech (simile, metaphor, personification), etc.

2. THINK ALOUD

This strategy is useful so that students are able to create a picture in “my mind about what I am reading”. It creates visual, auditory or other sensory connections and helps deepen understanding. Additionally, it also helps to draw inferences, help make critical judgements and make unique interpretations.

Examples:
I visualized…
I could see (smell, hear, taste)…
I could picture…
I’m guessing that…
I predict…
It would be better if…
I really liked how…
If I were the main character…
What I didn’t like was…

3. HOT SEAT STRATEGY

Using the Hot Seat strategy motivates students tot thoroughly understand a text. The teacher assumes the role of a character in a narrative selection, a historical figure in an expository text, or a subject from a scientific study such as an aortic valve, a maple tree, a planet or a cumulus cloud. After the teacher’s portrayal, a student assumes the same role. Using the information already studied, the students can examine and evaluate the actions, feelings and motivations of a character or subject.

Procedure

To begin with, the teacher assumes the role of a character or subject and sits in front of the class in a specially designated chair called the Hot Seat.

Next the students are invited to ask questions of the guest in the “Hot Seat”. In the beginning it may be necessary to start the question-asking session by saying, “I am Albert Einstein. Do you have any questions for me?” Or, “I am a rose bush. I live in the rose garden at the White House. What do you want to know?”

After the students have become familiar with this format, divide them into pairs or small groups of 4 or 6. Assign one person to take the Hot Seat and proceed as described in #2 above. Students are encouraged to ask questions that provide insight into motivation, feelings or actions.

Finally, whole group “Hot Seat” can be played. The class chooses someone who has done well in the small group setting. This person goes in front of the room and takes questions from the class. It is important before doing this that time be allowed for both the “Hot Seat” character and the class to have ample time to research the character or subject.

Example Questions

How would you have changed the ending of this story?
Why did you decide to get involved in…?
How did you think up your inventions?
How do you think you have changed the world?

4. GRAFFITI

Graffiti is a collaborative learning strategy that can be used before or after an assigned reading. Here you can see how it might be used after reading. The strategy involves students working in groups to generate and record ideas on chart paper. The teacher sets up as many chart pages as there are groups. On each chart page, the teacher writes a topic related to the assigned reading. The groups travel in rotation from chart to chart, writing responses to the topic and to the comments previously written by other groups.

Purpose

Provide an opportunity for students to make a personal connection to a topic or unit of work by expressing their opinions, demonstrating their understanding of the assigned text and making connections to their prior knowledge and experience.

Procedure for Groups

Form groups of 5 students each.

In each group, assign each student a number from 1 to 5. (Tell the students that they will not know the role for their number until later and that the roles will change. They are all accountable for the work in the group).

Give each group a colour name (i.e. red, blue, black, green, orange, brown) and a marker of that colour. The group will keep that marker as they move to a different chart page and topic.

Give each group a piece of chart paper with a topic already written at the top.

Tell the students that they will have about 3 minutes to write their group’s responses to the topic on the first piece of chart paper. Number 1 will be the recorder when the group is at the first chart; Number 2 will be the recorder when they rotate to the second chart. And so on.

As the first 3-minute time limit approaches, tell the students, “When I give the signal, finish your last word, leave your chart page where it is and move on to the next chart page. Be sure to take your marker and give it to the new recorder in your group. You will have 2-3 minutes to read the responses at the next chart page and add comments, question marks, disagreements and additional comments.

As the students return to the chart page where they first started (their colour marker will be the first one on the page), tell them, “Prepare to report on the information by reading it carefully and decide what is most important to tell the whole class. I will choose a reporter and a displayer when the time comes to report. Everyone should be ready to take on these roles”.

5. I READ / I THINK / THEREFORE

Reacting to Reading:
Readers draw conclusions based on the ideas and information that they read from one or more sources. Providing a graphic organizer before reading helps students to organize their thinking during reading in order to analyze, make references and draw conclusions after reading.

Purpose
Actively use prior knowledge and experiences when reading. Read and respond to the important concepts and issues in the course, making inferences and drawing conclusions. This graphic organizer helps students to organize their thinking while they are reading or conducting research that will require them to make inferences and draw conclusions.

Procedure
In column 1 (I Read), students record the relevant information from the text.

In column 2 (I Think), students record what they know about that information and what they think it means.

In the bottom row (Therefore), students record their conclusions based on all of the information gathered and their prior knowledge.

Encourage students to use their real-life experiences as models for drawing conclusions

How did this alter what you knew about the topic?

Record your thinking about and responses to the text.

Now have the students write a summary, complete a graphic organizer, create a sketch or orally retell the information to yourself or a friend.

6. VENN DIAGRAMS

Purpose:

To enhance understanding by means of comparisons,
To foster students’ abilities to make connections between texts
To encourage thoughtful reflection and categorization

Procedure:

Students look for contrasts and comparisons as they read or after they have read.

Students work in small groups of 2 or 3, brainstorming and then drawing a Venn diagram together.

Class shares and discusses the diagrams and expands on the ideas within the circles. A logical assignment is a comparison/contrast paper using the Venn diagram as a base.

7. R.A.F.T STRATEGY

R – Role            (Who or what are you?)
A – Audience     (To whom or what are you talking?)
F – Form           (What form will your talk assume?)
T – Topic           (What are you talking about?)

Putting a RAFT together

1. Establish your topic by considering what important ideas or information you want students to show that they can process through their writing.

2. Determine the role of the speaker and the audience for whom this is intended.

3. Determine the format that will best allow the students to communicate the information (letter, speech, advice column, diary, script, news article, travel brochure, thank you note, editorial, instructions, book review, obituary, etc.).

4. Determine the structure/form of the presentation by adding a strong verb to the topic (persuade, explain, sequence, compare and contrast, describe, etc.).

Suggestions:

1. Consider tying a writing mini-lesson to your RAFT assignment. Consider your assignment and determine which of the following 6 traits is a good fit for the lesson: ideas, organization, voice, sentence fluency, word choice and conventions.

2. Structure your assessment to show student knowledge of the topic and/or the trait you are stressing.

3. The RAFT provides the outline of the assignment. Teachers should feel free to add any other guidelines to the assignment as they see fit (i.e. write 3 paragraphs, define an ecosystem, begin with an introduction of yourself, include a drawing, etc.).

Please Note: The resources section is to be translated

First Nations Storytelling Resources

Web Sites:
http://www.civilization.ca/aborig/storytel/indexeng.html
http://www.civilization.ca/aborig/aborige.asp

http://www.civilization.ca/orch/www06c_e.html
http://cado.ayn.ca/fn_storytellers.asp

http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ks/pdf/e_cover.pdf

http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/DE/resources/firstnationsliterature/Storytelling.html

http://website.nbm-mnb.ca/Koluskap/English/index.php
http://www.native-art-in-canada.com/

http://www.schoolnet.ca/aboriginal/e/teachings_e.asp
http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/resdocs/bcfns/bcfns_biblio.pdf

http://www.stf.sk.ca/teaching_res/library/prof_res_ser/biblio/pdf/Aboriginal_Resource_List.pdf

http://mmf.mb.ca/publications/bibliography.for.metis.researchers.pdf.

VIDEO

First Nations: The Circle Unbroken. National Film Board 1993. Topics Included:

Cree Hunters, Quebec Dams
Hunters and Bombers
Kwa’Nu’te’
The Last Mooseskin Boat
Magic in the Sky
Potlatch
Standing Alone
Time Immemorial
Uranium
Voyage of Rediscovery

ABORIGINAL BOOKSELLERS

www.goodminds.com

Ontario Ministry of Education
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/

Ontario Ministry of Education: Curriculum Documents
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculm/secondary/grades.html

Ontario Ministry of Education: Think Literacy Library
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/studentsuccess/thinkliteracy/library.html

ABORIGINAL AUTHORS / ARTISTS / ATHLETES / ROLE MODELS

Freda Ahenakew
Randy Lundy
Jeanette Armstrong
Janice Acoose
Adam Beach
Maria Campbell
Constance Dieter
Beth Cuthand
Patricia Monture-Angus
Stan Cuthand
Leah Dorion
Beatrice Culleton- Moisoner
Calvin Racette
Sherry Farrel-Racette
Susan Aglukark
Connie Fife
John Kim Bell
Chief Dan George
Gordon Tootoosis
Thompson Highway
Dr. Allen Sapp
Rita Joe

Rita Bouvier
Basil Johnston
Lenore Keeshig-Tobias
Brian Maracle
Thomas King
Ted Nolan
Daniel David Moses
Bryan Trottier
Penny Petrone
Tantoo Cardinal
Dan Prouty
Robbie Robertson
Buffy Sainte-Marie
Ruby Slipperjack
Richard Wagamese
Bernelda Wheeler
Jordan Wheeler
Marilyn Dumont
Gregory Schofield
Drew Hayden Taylor