Ms. Watt's Class

This week we’ll be learning more about the cedar tree ~ the “tree of life”! Indigenous people used each part of this incredible tree – roots, bark, wood, and branches – to make canoes, Bighouses, totem poles, storage and cooking boxes, baskets, mats, clothing and cedar bark regalia…making life much easier for their communities.

TUESDAY
Read through the 4 sections of the Cedar Tree of Life for West Coast Peoples.
Complete the Tree of Life Questions and email the answers to Mr. Ewert.
You can also visit SFU’s Archaeology and Ethnology site to learn more about the cedar tree and its importance in the lives of many indigenous people HERE.

THURSDAY
Watch two wonderful videos on the cedar tree.
~ Totem poles and the great cedar trees they are made from HERE
~ The Importance of Cedar to Coastal First Nations HERE
Create an Expand-A-Word piece of poetry about Cedar Trees and email it to Mr. Ewert.

In Expand-A-Word poetry the poet writes about a particular item in a five-line, free-verse poem.

DESCRIPTION
First Line: Name the item
Second Line: Describe and rename the item
Third Line: Where item can be found
Fourth Line: What can be done with the item
Fifth Line: How the poet feels about the item
EXAMPLES
Click HERE and HERE for a couple examples of Expand-A-Word poetry on trees.
ROUGH COPY
Write your rough copy using this Expand-A-Word Rough Draft.
GOOD COPY
Write your good copy using this Cedar Poem Good Copy.

Mr. Ewert and I were so lucky to be part of a very important message to all of you, can you find us?! Have a wonderful long weekend Division 8 🙂
Click on the photo for a closer look. 

I am so enjoying seeing everyone’s totem poles! Keep on sending them and I’ll keep posting as I receive them. Everyone is matching themselves to their animal really well! Click HERE to see the animals!

Tuesday
Read through the 2 page article on Totem Pole Colours. Which colours and their meaning relate to your animal? Using only the colours listed on the chart, colour in your totem pole animal using markers or pencil crayons. You may also use brown in some spaces to represent the uncoloured cedar of the totem pole.
After you’re done colouring, please cut out your totem pole animal.

Thursday
Our last step will be writing 3 sentences about your animal using the the Totem Pole Writing template.
I am a __ because a __ is __.
e.g. I am a beaver because a beaver is a builder and family and home are very important to them.
I ____. (What do you do that is similar to your animal?)
e.g. I love building things at home with my LEGO set and magnetic blocks. I also love to be with my family during special occasions like holidays and birthdays.
I used __ because ____.
I used green because it symbolizes the earth and tress that a beaver uses to build its dam. I also used blue because it symbolizes the water of the lakes and rivers that the beaver builds its dam in. I left parts of the beaver brown to represent the colour of its fur.
Complete your good copy using the sentence frame HERE.

When working carefully through this activity for 20-30 minutes a day on Tuesday and Thursday, it should take you 2 or 3 days to complete it thoughtfully. If you are finished early, please feel free to create an animal to represent a family member. Take a picture of both your animal and the writing and email it to me!

This week we’ll be working on a totem pole animal that represents ourselves.
Totem Poles tell the story of the person who made them.
Every animal carved into a pole and the colour chosen have a different and very important meaning.
Tuesday
Let’s start by reading through a two page article on Totem Poles.
Afterwards, answer questions on the article TOTEM POLES.

While thinking about what animal has similar characteristics as you, read about 6 different animals that were commonly used in Totems Pole HERE (Totem Pole Symbols pdf).
What animal are you like? Are you powerful like a bear? A builder like a beaver? A leader like an eagle? A trickster like a wolf?
Or, if you don’t connect with one of these 6 animals, which animal are you like? Are you jumpy and like swimming like a frog? Are you shy like a turtle? Are you loyal and like playing like a dog? Are you independent and watchful like a cat? Are you gentle, kind and caring like a deer? Are you intelligent and a risk taker like an eagle?

Thursday
There are 5 pages of examples of different animals to look through for design ideas before starting.
Using an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper, draw a large head of your animal (some animals may need the whole body). It is important to fill as much of the page as possible.
Totem pole art uses lines around lines and shapes inside any empty space (but not too many!).
When finished drawing, there should be large spaces, of different shape and size, to be filled in with colour.
~ to be continued next week ~