Black Excellence Day: Innovators in Focus

Hello, Grade 7s!

This week, we started learning about Black Excellence Day, which will be observed next week (January 15th). This day is one opportunity to learn about, acknowledge, and amplify the stories of innovators from Black communities in Canada and globally!

One of the first changemakers we learned about was Stevie Wonder. His music career has spanned decades, and his messages of hope, equality, and love have been heard around the world! Stevie Wonder is also an inspiring person to learn about not only because of his talents in singing, piano-playing, and songwriting, but because he learned all these skills as a blind person. Stevie Wonder has even collaborated with contemporary artists like Ariana Grande.

Please feel free to watch the videos below… you will likely recognize the songs!

Some possible discussion questions:

-Have you ever heard of Stevie Wonder before? Do you recognize his music?

-Why do you think his career has lasted so long? Why does his music still appeal to modern audiences?

-Who are some other notable musicians from Black communities? Who else might we learn about?

Out of My Mind: A Film Adaptation

We have officially finished our first read-aloud, Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper! This is ideal timing, since there is a film adaptation being released this month!

The film version of the story stars Phoebe-Rae Taylor, an actress who also has cerebral palsy (just like Melody does in the novel). Melody’s internal voice is played by Jennifer Aniston. Take a look at the trailer, below, and see what parts of the novel seem to have made it into the film (and what, perhaps, has been changed!):

Remembrance Day: Exploring Canada’s ‘Hidden’ Heroes

As we prepare for our Remembrance Day assembly on Friday, our class has been exploring the ‘hidden heroes’ of Canada’s military in World Ward II. Have you ever heard of the Cree Code Talkers? These were members of the Indigenous community who translated messages from English into Cree as a way to protected confidential information. This way, if anyone else was listening in, they couldn’t crack the code! The Code Talkers were only one example of the thousands of Indigenous people who served in Canada’s military during both World Wars. Yet, once they returned from battle, Indigenous veterans faced racism and prejudiced laws that did not afford them the same supports and rights as other veterans. Even today, we discussed how often these heroes are often still left out of history textbooks, movies, books, and media. As part of our effort to learn more, our class is presenting some information about Indigenous military members on Indigenous Veterans Day (November 8th).

Feel free to watch the video(s) below to learn more about the Code Talkers, and Indigenous military members (both past and present):

Behind the Scenes: Animating Over the Garden Wall

Have you ever wondered how animations are made? In Over the Garden Wall, they used many different techniques to create their animation. One scene in particular required many tests and tweaks… the Highwayman’s song! Feel free to check out the video below to watch the process of creating this scene:

Over the Garden Wall: Summarizing and Analyzing

As we prepare for Halloween and the ‘spooky season’, our class is exploring the mini-series “Over the Garden Wall”! We have been working to develop our skills in creating detailed summaries (including setting, plot events, characters, etc.) and beginning to craft our abilities in analyzing (noticing symbolism, creating theories, deep-diving into characters). This show is also loaded full of interesting imagery, spooky lore, and nods to fairy tales.

Over the Garden Wall (TV Mini Series 2014) - IMDb

We are currently exploring episodes 3 and episode 4, and watching Wirt, Greg, and Beatrice make their way through The Unknown.

Stay tuned for more information and extra content!

-Ms. Ward

October 6th is World Cerebral Palsy Day

As part of our novel study, we have been learning about cerebral palsy. The protagonist in the book Out of my Mind, Melody Brooks, is a young girl with cerebral palsy. For some people, having cerebral palsy can impact their mobility, muscular function, and speech.

On October 6th, many people observed World Cerebral Palsy Day which aims to raise awareness around this condition. Did you know that it is estimated that over 760,000 people globally have cerebral palsy?

Check out the video below to watch a video where children interview Carolyn, an authour and activist with cerebral palsy:

Please note: while the children in the video have been given permission to ask questions about Carolyn’s medical history, we should always be mindful to not ask people with disabilities about their diagnoses. While some people may feel comfortable sharing, many may not, so we want to be respectful!

Lifespans and Lifetimes:

What do you think are the longest living species on Earth? You might be surprised to learn that humans have much shorter lifespans than many other animals! We began discussing the shortest, and longest, average lifespans for different organisms. We also brainstormed what factors, such as access to food and a safe environment, could influence or change the lifespan of people and animals.

Feel free to click the link below to learn about some of the longest living creatures (that we know about):

Lifespans and Lifetimes

We looked at a local example of long-living species… the white sturgeon! These massive fish often swim the Fraser River, and can live to be over 100 years old! However, their species has often been threatened by humans (environmental, overfishing, etc.). Now, many people are working together to try and protect these sturgeon, so that they might live into the next century and beyond!

TALE OF A GREAT WHITE FISH |Maggie de Vries

Our First Novel Study: Out of My Mind

We have officially begun our first novel study… Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper! This realistic-fiction book follows Melody, a child with cerebral palsy who is non-verbal. Despite her many interests, talents, and skills, Melody is unable to communicate her thoughts and feelings to those around her due to a lack of assistive technology.

Lochdale’s speech-language therapist, Ms. Filippelli, came in to our class to teach us about different forms of communication. We began to learn about how assistive technology, such as communication or “core” boards, can create a ‘voice’ for those who are non-speaking. We discussed why some people may not use verbal communication, or may be more comfortable with communicating in other ways.

Feel free to watch the video below for an interview with Ben, who is a non-speaking person who uses assistive technology. In the video, he explains how using an iPad or ‘core board’ helps him to feel less ‘trapped’ inside his head.

Please note: the video contains a brief mention of people protesting against gun violence.

Accessibility in Schools:

Our class has been discussing how schools have changed in the past 100 years, and how they might look 100 years in the future. We have been brainstorming how schools can increase and improve student engagement and success. One factor that we are examining is how accessible a school is. Accessibility means that all students and staff, regardless of their strengths or challenges, have equitable access to resources and equal chance at being successful. One key way to support everyone, especially those with diverse needs and disabilities, is to understand Assistive Technology (AT). AT can help folks with disabilities perform everyday tasks with increased independence, can help with social connections, and can support their success at work and at school.

Today, we explored how accessible our own school is for people who use mobility devices. This could be someone who uses assistive technology such as a wheelchair, someone using a walker, or someone using crutches. Feel free to click the link below for our PowerPoint of key terms:

Accessibility in Focus

We also listened to a TED talk by Jane Velkovski, a young activist who speaks up about the importance of AT. We learned that while 1 billion people need AT, over 90% of people do not have regular access to AT. You can watch this TED talk below:

Some questions to consider at home:

-what examples of Assistive Technology (AT) have you seen?

-what are some ways we can make schools more accessible to folks who use mobility devices?

-what can be done, on a local and global level, for the 9 out of ever 10 people who do not have regular access to AT?

School Lunch Programs: Pros and Cons

Have you ever attended a school with a Lunch program? In class today, we discussed the possible positive and negatives of school-wide Lunch programs. We learned about a young photojournalist named Martha, who began a blog called Never Seconds in 2009 to document what she (and her friends) were being served for lunch every day. You can access her the archive of her blog here: https://neverseconds.blogspot.com/

Never Seconds :: LocalFoody Blog

Image description: a slice of pizza, a muffin, a small amount of corn, and an unidentified fried item (fish stick?) are placed sloppily on a lunch tray.

We discussed how, for many people, a school Lunch or Breakfast program may be their only access to a consistent, nutritionally balanced meal for a variety of reasons (food insecurity, affordability, time constraints, etc.). Our concerns, however, were that many of the meals being served to Martha (and to many students across the world) were not nutritionally-balanced, were unappetizing, and were not a correct serving size.

What are your experiences with a school Lunch program? Do you think that all schools should have them?

Feel free to watch the video below, of how an amazing crew of “Lunch ladies” feed over 400 students a day at a middle school in New York City: