QEP Connections

Children at this age need to be engaged with the learning of the three sisters, but from more of an experiential place. IT is a great opportunity to explore with them the ways in which the 3 sisters feel, look and can be used as other than just food. This unit definitely hits on the experience of physical and motor development.

At this stage, engaging with the work of cornhusk dolls opens the door to begin to think about the parts of the plants as they exist ( husks, stems, seeds, etc) and the importance of how we can use every part of the plant. Creating the faceless corn husk dolls asks us to be cross curricular and to engage inthinking about the process of story telling and what we can learn from different stories.

At 4th grade, we are really engaging into the story aspect of the learning around 3 sisters and other Indigneous stories. This is an opportunity to connect with students the functions of stories as well as asking them to produce some following a similar process. It allows for creativity while engaging with learning new genres.

Directly from QEP for Geography

• Assessment of traces left by our society & territory

• Establishment of the geographic historical contexts in society

• Making connections between characteristics of the society and the organization of it's territory 

Students are extending their learning about plants and fruits from a science perspective but are also considering the ways in which society and territory can impact the experience of what foods you know and consume. There will be a lot of new learning for the students since their experience is limited to their current geography, and not of those who live inthe north where the landscape is vastly different and comes with a different history.

This is a beautiful cross-curricular opportunity because a unit on moon phases allows for many different entry points across all of these elements in the QEP.

Food Sovereingty and Reconnecting to Planting

Environmental Technology: Views of sustainable development potential effects and limis of effects of technology innovations on the environment ( green economy focused on technology innovation), degrowth, green capitalism, energy transition, etc.

Indigenous Cultures: Indigenous art, languages and ways of life; connections with the land; assertion of identity; etc.

Caring Practices: 

Care: Recognition of vulnerability and dependence on others caring practices and upkeep of life, companionship, upkeep and repair of the material environment, attention and sensitivity, place of care in the public space and in politics.

Altruism: Empathy, compassion, otherness, concern, etc

Environmentalism:  Protection of nature, animals and biodiversity, adapting to climate changes, ecological practices, especially those related to food supply and lifestyle

In the QEP, the competencies of debate can encompass anything, and so this is an opportunity for students to engage in learning about debate while also participating in an activity that is related to the season as well as conversations on the effects of colonization and reconciliation.

At this stage, students can begin to engage in the social justice aspects of their leanring journey and think about the impact that their creation of documents can have for other people. This aligns perfectly, I find with the requirements from the QEP and can be extended into the bigger needs of research and essay writing that come later in the years.