Category: Social Studies

This week students had the privilege of learning about wild, native, and medicinal plants from Lori Synder, a First Nations Métis herbalist and educator. It was a rich learning experience and we are inspired by her teachings. We are also very excited about transforming our garden/outdoor classroom, making it a more diverse space where students can gather and learn more about native plants and indigenous ways of knowing and doing. As the season change and new plants are added, take time to observe, witness, and listen to what the garden is offering us.

In addition, students wore orange shirts throughout the week and explored age-appropriate lessons and had discussions about the meaning behind wearing orange shirts. This generation of children will have a far greater understanding of the history of residential schools, their negative impact, and the importance of reconciliation as we look critically at our country’s history and strive to do better. Tomorrow could be an opportunity to ask your children about what they have learned from their sessions with Lori and Mme Heardman this week.

After reading “The Great Realization” by Tomos Robert the students create a similar poem on their own global issue. They worked in pairs to create a 6 stanza poem with A, A, B, B or A, B, A, B rhyming scheme.

Below are the poems they created.
Student Poems

Today we went on a virtual field trip to the Bank of Canada we learned about money, trade, different forms of money, bartering and much more. Here is everything we learned today with the Bank of Canada.

Why do we use money?

1. As a Tool for Trade

2. To Set value (to know how much things cost)

3. To Save (Save up for needs/wants/emergencies)

What makes good money? Good moneys is…

1. Durable
2. Portable
3. Divisible
4. Rare but not too rare
5. Difficult to counterfeit

What is Dentalium?

• Sea shells used 200,000 years ago to trade
• Found on the coastline of the Pacific Ocean
• To retrieve you must dive for it
• Also used for decorations or jewelry

Which Canadian coin has a beaver?

Answer: The 5 cent coin

What are our bank notes made of?

• Bank notes used to be made out of paper but now they are made of polymer
• Polymer is hard to counterfeit because it’s made in a lab
• Polymer bills are recyclable when bills are taken out of circulation

Who is on the 10$ bill?

Viola Desmond

• First women to appear on a bill in Canada other than the Queen
• First person of color to appear on a Canadian bill
• Viola Desmond is a  Canadian human rights/social justice activist
• She is also a Business woman/Entrepreneur and opened a beauty school in the 40’s

Why do coins have different images/shapes/colors?

To easily differentiate them.

Money/Trade

• Money takes different shapes/ forms
• Money is a tool that we use to trade

What is Bartering?

Barter – Trading objects without getting something new.  It is obtaining a need or want by exchanging with someone else.

The cons of trying to Barter

• could be counterfeit
• sometimes its not a fair trade
• determining value/fairness can be hard
• money helps us determine value when trading
• finding someone to trade with can be difficult

Products vs Services

Products – grow it, build it or make it

Services – action someone does for us

Blogpost Written By: A.W

This week in class we’ve been learning about the harmful effects of residential schools and past government policy.  We’ve discussed the meaning of reconciliation and have learned that reconciliation “is the reestablishment of broken relations, or forging of positive accord where there has been discord.” We’ve all learned what it means to be an ally and have identified ways we can resolve differences and build a path forward. In doing so we explored the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s 94 Calls to Action.  Afterwards we identified calls to action that resonated with us and discussed why they are an important part of the reconciliation process. As Justice Murray Sinclair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission said, “education brought us here, education will help us get away from this.” By educating ourselves on Canada’s past wrongdoings we can ensure we do not repeat these same mistakes in the future and work toward building mutually respectful relationships with our indigenous communities in Canada.

Links to Student Presentations on our Burnaby North Seymour Candidates:

Liberal Party

Conservative Party

People’s Party

NDP

Green Party

This year students from Divisions 1 through 5 researched about historically significant people, places, and events in Canada.  They used inquiry processes to ask questions; gather, interpret, and analyze ideas; draw conclusions and make ethical judgements about events, decisions, and actions; and used technology and design skills to communicate their findings to their audience.

To view their Heritage Minutes click here: https://sd41-my.sharepoint.com/:v:/g/personal/e19647_burnabyschools_ca/Ee-07KMR10lOklG9vyWxo4cBho8fV3IUlMMjiNCnfmHONg?e=z7TQe7

To view their posters and see who the award recipients were click here: https://sd41-my.sharepoint.com/:v:/g/personal/e19647_burnabyschools_ca/EVtGXh4xhQ9IhAwjp2p0KSIBa_0sgIYatIJO0djgaO_QEA?e=u5PgMr

Students did an excellent job and we learned lots from their presentations.  Well done everyone!

In class this week we discussed the devastating impacts, past and present, of the residential school system in Canada.

We offer our deepest condolences to all Indigenous families and communities affected by the trauma and tragedy of the residential school system, then and now.

While we cannot change the past, we do have a responsibility for the present. With knowledge and mutual respect we can bring about changes for a brighter future.

Today we had a virtual field trip to the Legislature. We explored the Parliament Buildings and learned about their design, history and use. We learned about important symbols of the Legislative Assembly and discussed significant historical, political and social events in B.C. and how they relate to the Legislative Assembly.

We learned that the Legislative Assembly is made up of many people and learned more about the work they do and the roles they play. We also learned more about how a bill becomes law.

For homework students are encouraged to complete the participant survey below:

Survey – Participant

This book “Let’s Talk About Race” Written by Julis Lester and Illustrated By Karen Barbour was a springboard for our in-class discussions about race, racism, discrimination, stereotypes, and inequality.  In the book Julius Lester describes how our lives are stories and the differences are merely in the details and that beneath our skin we are all the same.  Questions students were asked to consider and discuss were:

• Does your story begin when you were born? Why or why not?
• What makes up your story? …
• Is skin colour a part of your story?
• How does the color of your skin affect you?
• What is an important part of your story?
• The author says, “race is a story.” What does he mean by this?

Following this activity students then examined the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s and listened to one his his most famous speeches, which he delivered to a quarter of a million people in 1963 in Washington, DC. In his speech Dr. Martin Luther King Jr said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Students were then asked to discuss whether or not his dream has been fulfilled yet and compose an essay with evidence to support their claims.  Many students agreed that while progress has been made with regards to eliminating racism. discrimination, and inequality more still needs to be done to achieve his dream.

To celebrate Remembrance Day, we made acrostic poems, paintings of poppies and a wreath of poppies for Remembrance Day Ceremony. To make the wreath we cut egg cartons into poppy shapes, painted them red, added red, black and green tissue paper.  Once the poppies were complete we assembled them on to a piece of red card stock to form the wreath. To make the paintings we created a prototype of our design, drew them again on watercolour paper and painted them with watercolour paint.  These pieces of art were then put on display with our Remembrance Day poetry.

Written By: L.C and G.G