Our Big Ideas...

We acknowledge that the land on which we gather to learn and play is the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam) People.

The First Peoples Principles of Learning provides an anchor to every day learning, giving students the opportunities to explore ideas and concepts while making connections to Indigenous communities and values. Common themes we made connections with included the water and life cycle. During our Indigenous provocations, we focused on the Curricular Competency of Creative Thinking and Communication by exploring the oral storytelling process. By reading the stories, having ongoing class discussions about creating awareness through making connections, we learn to transform the texts (while respecting and preserving the meaning and themes) by building and applying our own personal and group interpretations.

Throughout these discoveries, we grew a greater awareness and appreciation to the cultures, experiences, and stories that are shared with us. The books, "We Are Water Protectors" and "Salmon Boy" were core books that anchored our learning and the development of Social Awareness and Responsibility core competency. We built on our Critical and Reflective Thinking skills as we recognized and reflected on the present issues told through these stories, and how the outcomes are deeply rooted within the community and revolved around nature.

Throughout the course of the year, we have investigated the stages of the water cycle. We learned that even within the scientific lens, an Indigenous story is deeply rooted into this concept; it was one that highlighted the destruction of nature and wildlife with the installation of pipelines. More importantly, we must act as a people to protect the water by creating an awareness of these matters within our community.

Inspired by this beautiful story written by Carole Lindstrom, we were inspired to create our own versions through our interpretations, while respecting the realities and meaning of mni wiconi. Using our creating thinking, we adapted the story to represent our understanding of "Water as Life", researching the symbols within the story while making meaningful connections to present day water issues.