A Kids’ Guide to Canada – By Kids, For Kids
Un guide du Canada – par des enfants, pour des enfants
Canadian elementary school teachers:
Have you been wondering how your students could celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday in a way that was both educational AND meaningful to the kids?
How about challenging your students to use their personal genius and create some real Canadian history?
A Kids’ Guide to Canada invites all JK-8 classes in Canada to investigate the land and people of the local school community and then to create introductions of these to teach the 5 million children across the country. By contributing hand-crafted and digital artifacts of their own design about topics important in their daily lives, students from across Canada are about to co-create the very first multi-lingual interactive guide to Canada which has been created BY kids and FOR kids.
The project is…
* no-cost
* entirely voluntary
* cross-curricular
* open-ended
* multi-lingual (French, English, and Indigenous languages)
* inclusive of all cultures, languages, special needs, and school systems
It capitalizes on…
* Student interests and talents
* Critical Thinking about Canada at 150
* Rich tasks for an authentic audience
* Inquiry-based learning
* Curriculum connections
* Creativity and Innovation
* Connected learning and digital citizenship
* Innovative collaborations
* Outdoor & experiential learning
* Character Education, Learning Skills, and 21st Century Skills
The project begins by challenging students to investigate their own identity, to wonder what they would like the children of Canada to know about growing up in their community, and to realize what talents they have to introduce them. Only the classroom teacher will have the ability to post their students’ community introductions to an interactive map of Canada donated to the project by ESRI Canada – not students. Both students and the public will then be able to click on any location and discover the information about that community created by the local school children.
The last part of the project involves teachers using a new registry created on the Digital Human Library to find and connect with other classes across the vast physical and mutlicultural landscape we call Canada. Through this new registry, our children have an unprecedented opportunity to meet and get to know their peers, to learn to work and play together, and to truly help to create a new culture of mutual understanding, empathy and respect.
Inquiry and authentic audience, collaborating to create a Canadian first, building new values and relationships for the next 150 years, discovering children truly matter – if you are a Canadian elementary school teacher, please have your students join in!
10 Different Ways Canadian JK-8 Teachers Can Get Involved Right Now:
1 READ the full A Kids’ Guide Website for information
2 SIGN UP on the Mailing List to get regular updates and early notification of official registration opening
3 CONTRIBUTE photographs of your students to the Promotional Video
4 START NOW with your students to LEARN ABOUT and RECORD EVENTS in your home community (generally, the area within your school catchment area)
5 LEARN about the cultures of people who live in your own area with your students.
6 FOLLOW the PROJECT on Twitter or Facebook, and share the project with your colleagues, family, and friends
7 PROMOTE the PROJECT within your school, family of schools, school district, Trustees, your Teachers’ Union/ Federation, friends, family, etc.
8 OFFER TO HELP your provincial committee or the national organizing team by contacting akgtcanada@gmail.com
9 SIGN UP on the Digital Human Library to begin connecting your class with other classes and experts on different topics.
10 READ the Truth & Reconciliation Summary Report and its Calls to Action
This post is also available in: Français (French)
