Connect with the land using our senses.
As a beginning to understanding the land acknowledgement and with a longer-term goal of developing school/personal land acknowledgements at a later date, a Grades 3/4 class began to look at what the land around their school meant to them.
The learners began by spending time out on the land (on the recess grounds and taking community walks around the school). Each learner was asked to lay/sit down, walk around on the land, and observe and reflect on what they saw, heard, felt, smelled, and tasted around them. This was done multiple times in different areas around the school and, after each time, learners returned to the classroom to work on vertical surfaces in random groupings (Thinking Classrooms style) to write, draw, and share what they observed while on the land.
They then gathered in a circle and shared similarities, differences, and any further reflections learners might have had about the experience or what they shared in groups. The teacher took pictures and video of their work in groups so that the class could look back at what they had shared each time. After this, learners were asked to think of a special spot on the land that meant something to them. Teachers and learners shared these spaces in a Sharing Circle, and teachers modelled this by sharing about spaces that were special to them and why. Some learner examples were a park that they played in, a beach that they visited, and a garden in their backyard.
In the following days, the teacher read picture books and shared art pieces that were chosen for their descriptive language and/or their art technique as a way to model how to use art and words to show their love for a place on the land. The teacher also read the book Fry Bread by Kevin Noble Maillard to encourage a conversation about things that are special to us (either culturally or spiritually) and about how the author used descriptive language to portray this. A list of descriptive words was gathered throughout these readings or discussions and posted on the whiteboard.
After many circles, discussions, and readings, learners were asked to think of their own special place on the land and to write a few sentences that described what this place looked like, sounded like, felt like, smelled like, and tasted like to them, using descriptive language. They were also asked to think and write about why this special place on the land was meaningful to them and how it had an impact on who they were or their identity. Some learners were offered sentence starters or a graphic organizer to help with this task. They then had opportunities to share their writing with the class or in small groups and gathered feedback from their classmates. They used this feedback to improve their writing.
Once drafts were completed, learners were then provided with watercolour paints and were asked to paint their special place on the land while considering what they wrote about. As they completed this process, they were invited to show their pieces to the class or in small groups to gather feedback once again. They then went back and used this feedback to look at their writing, making sure it matched their art and making any final changes.
Lastly, learners brainstormed ways in which they could share their art and writing with others in the school and made a list of options. Choices included a Google Slides presentation, posting in the school newsletter or on the school website, displaying their work on a centralized bulletin board in the school, or making a video. As learners completed this final step, the teacher supporting them with sharing their pieces in their preferred format.
