We have just completed our unit on historical fiction and graphic novels!
Students were tasked with completing their own research on the different Indigenous peoples of Canada, and they used that information to create the setting of their stories. Then, they brainstormed different problems and solutions that were authentic to the time period they were researching. I co-planned this unit with our school's Teacher Librarian, and together we helped students find resources in books, online, and from our local museum. In addition to developing their research and writing skills, students developed digital and technological literacy. We talked about how to find images that we have permission to use, how kids can access safe search engines, and they learned how to combine StoryboardThat with Sway to create a beautiful digital graphic novel.
It's important to acknowledge the diversity that exists within the Indigenous communities of Canada, and the students took a lot of care to make sure that the facts they learned were specific to the people they wanted to know more about. The students learned about languages, traditional hunting and weapons, clothing, cultural celebrations, and spirituality. We made sure that we made distinctions among Cree, Iroquois, Blackfoot, and Inuit people, for example. The students were able to learn a lot from each other by discussing the similarities and differences among Indigenous people. We discussed how to respectfully represent Indigenous people: the students know that headdresses are a symbol of respect of responsibility within a community, and they know that headdresses are not fashion accessories. We used StoryboardThat to create these graphic novels, but we acknowledge that this platform has limitations in terms of how we can represent people and not all representations are completely accurate. It is my hope that this project promotes reconciliation within our community by "implementing...curriculum and learning resources on Aboriginal peoples in Canadian history" and by "building student capacity for intercultural understanding, empathy, and mutual respect" (Truth and Reconciliation Commission: Calls to Action).