Spring is just around the corner, and we are well into the second semester. Looking forward to spring, we will be embarking upon Genius Hour and continuing with our "Grow Your Own Society" project, among other smaller lessons and learning experiences. There will be a Genius Hour package to introduce this exciting adventure and I will post a separate entry dedicated to GH. 7B and 7C have had the opportunity to collaborate with 7D and 7E as Mrs. Sawicki and I have been team teaching parts of the Society project. Our goal with this project-based learning experience is to share examples from the rich history of Canada's development as a nation and encourage critical and creative thinking.
For the society project, students have been challenged to develop a society from the ground up, having landed in an unknown land and figuring out how to first meet basic needs, which places them in a similar position to the early European explorers and settlers. As the project develops, students are tasked with understanding and applying the cornerstones of a society beyond basic needs: values and beliefs, rules and decision-making and roles. Using a mini-lesson format, students will learn about and revisit important moments, people and stages in the growth of Canada as a country, starting with early contact and moving towards Confederation. Along the way, students will be faced with decisions and challenges as they move their societies forward. The "Grow Your Own Society" project covers 7.1 of the Social Studies 7 curriculum as well as all five general outcomes from English Language Arts. Beyond the specific Leander outcomes in Social Studies, the project also targets the dimensions of thinking.
I am both a visual and auditory learner, but one of the most compelling ways to summarize the Social Studies curriculum is the visual that accompanies the explanation of the content:
You will see that the "big ideas" in the centre were the focus of our first semester, as we explored our personal and Canadian identities in the context of modern Canada. Citizenship and identity continue to be our overarching ideas as these two big ideas permeate Social Studies from kindergarten to grade twelve. As we move outward from the centre, you will see increasing specificity. As students move forward with their Society projects, you will see that time and again, these ideas will be revisited as they explore and wrestle with these ideas. In grade seven, the specific outcomes focus directly on Canada before and after Confederation. We are taking another look at the fur trade and are comparing the French and British exploration and colonization of the New World, as well as the impacts on the indigenous peoples. There will be adaptation, bloodshed, conflict and competition for resources. If your student hasn't already mentioned the Society project, ask them what their tribe has decided to name their society and what their form of decision-making is as well as their survival plan. I hope you are as intrigued and proud of their thinking as we are!
