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Slide Notes

My approach to Place-Based Education incorporates three main tenets:

A) art and design instruction to increase creativity and self-regulation.

B) field trips into local nature settings, or to community resources, as a way to increase relevancy to daily life within our city.

C) the use of technology tools for researching, recording, presenting, and sharing student learning.



This HaikuDeck was created as a final vision project for a UBC online course, LIBE477, in November and early December, 2015.

It was created by me, Christopher Hunt, Teacher-Librarian at Sardis Elementary School, in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada.



SOME ASIDES:
(Note: one oddity of using images offered within HaikuDeck, is that I can find no way to know or include attribution references to the photographer...but they are images provided freely within a HD/Flickr partnership)

(Photos from outside HaikuDeck options will have credits attached)

(Originally, I tried to include References/Works Cited in the slides, but it got cumbersome, so I decided to append Bibliographies to the final slide)
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Placed-Based Education (CHWK)

Place-Based Education, the Sardis Elementary version, in Chilliwack, making use of art and design skills and tech tools lessons to increase self-regulation, connection, relevance, and buy-in.

PRESENTATION OUTLINE

PLACE-BASED EDUCATION

A General Approach Applied to a Specific Place (Chilliwack, B.C.)
My approach to Place-Based Education incorporates three main tenets:

A) art and design instruction to increase creativity and self-regulation.

B) field trips into local nature settings, or to community resources, as a way to increase relevancy to daily life within our city.

C) the use of technology tools for researching, recording, presenting, and sharing student learning.



This HaikuDeck was created as a final vision project for a UBC online course, LIBE477, in November and early December, 2015.

It was created by me, Christopher Hunt, Teacher-Librarian at Sardis Elementary School, in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada.



SOME ASIDES:
(Note: one oddity of using images offered within HaikuDeck, is that I can find no way to know or include attribution references to the photographer...but they are images provided freely within a HD/Flickr partnership)

(Photos from outside HaikuDeck options will have credits attached)

(Originally, I tried to include References/Works Cited in the slides, but it got cumbersome, so I decided to append Bibliographies to the final slide)
Photo by sinnettc

ART, PAGE LAYOUT, DESIGN:

WE SHOULD WORK THEM INTO EVERY LESSON...
Experimenting with page layout considerations gives students more creative expression in their work...everyone's looks different!

Even note-taking and mind mapping are all about layout and design—whether we use pencil and paper or tech tools to do it.

Creating art work as a regular part of lessons in various subjects increases self-regulation.

Follow this link for more information:
http://www.haikudeck.com/p/823df4e062

MORE LOCAL FIELD TRIPS.

WHY?
Getting out into nature can be a way to get students to practice self-regulation.

Studying your local area is a good way to increase "buy-in" or attention because the learning is relevant to their daily lives.

Focusing on a local area can make students more aware of what they have to be thankful for, and what should be protected, as well as acting to change local issues that need fixing.




An aside:
For an ever-expanding list of "Self-Regulation" books (though not with a nature connection in most cases), go to my Sardis Elem online catalogue and do a subject search for that topic.
http://destiny.sd33.bc.ca
Photo by Olof S

USE TECH TOOLS

TO RESEARCH AND RECORD INFO; TO PRESENT AND SHARE LEARNING
"Digital citizenship"
is a term meaning that to be successful in the rapidly changing world, people will need to know how to find information online effectively and safely, how to interact online responsibly and politely, and how to connect, collaborate, and share learning with others in a digital format. Although important, I won't deal with many of these aspects here.

These digital citizen skills are also referred to as
"21st Century Literacies."

For more on these Literacies and why we should embrace technology tools follow this link:
http://www.haikudeck.com/p/b588c9389c


My main approaches in further slides on tech tool usage are...
—as presentation tools to demonstrate learning.
—as a way of increasing oral language sharing.
—as an extension of art skills into digital formats.
—and as an easy method of sharing learning with
others via links to final presentations created
within apps and websites.

NATURE WALK COLLAGES

A WALKING FIELD TRIP TO A LOCAL PARK
We are lucky enough to have a local park that is only a five-minute walk from our school. It is a great chance to get kids into urban nature and study and celebrate the place in which we live.

View this link to see a Nature Walk Collage lesson created using the PicCollage app:

http://pic-collage.com/_GKjVLV5q


Consider:
before going on your nature walk, read some mindfulness books with your class, like this one:
http://www.littlepicklepress.com/book-review-what-does-it-mean-to-be-presen...



Photo credit: Aerial photo of Sardis Park from City of Chilliwack via
http://www.homesinchilliwack.com/sardis-park

Untitled Slide

The social studies curriculum in the primary grades ask students to examine local community members, services, and changes that have occurred over time. Also, comparing various communities and cultures from different places.

Starting with the local is a great idea, and then move outward....

Most towns have an official flag and coat of arms, even if you were previously aware of them.

Looking at the symbols that were chosen for those emblems can tell the viewer an awful lot about the community's values and history.

A sample lesson link based on the Chilliwack flag and coat of arms:
http://get-puppet.com/v/H8J4RU6MZ2U?autoplay=true

NATURE ART

IN SITU INSTALLATIONS
The Latin "in situ" essentially means "on site," and is a delightful bit of syntactic pomposity (like this whole sentence) to teach young students.

An art "installation" is a work of art that takes up more of the gallery space than just hanging on the wall or sitting on a pedestal. Often it is a bit more interactive.

In situ nature art installations are works of art created out in a natural setting, using only natural materials found on the ground in the immediate area.

Go to a nearby walking trail, forest, beach, etc. Spend some time appreciating this local treasure. Do some sketching, and some scouting for, and collecting of natural materials. Plan the work of art.

Ideally, the work of art is non-representational, and doesn't involve text or keyboard symbols, etc. It's just something beautiful or intriguing created with found objects.

Most importantly, it is left behind, in situ, for random passersby to witness. Relatively quickly, it will return to being detritus that rots away.

To lessen the transient nature of the artwork, the students can snap photos of it with iPads, etc, in order to make digital artwork documenting the original creations.

A link to some great student examples of nature art:
http://www.nearbynature.org/photo-album/school-nature-walks/School-Nature-A...

At this point, I don't have examples to show for my school—our first Nature Art Installation Field Trip won't occur till two weeks from now. We will be going to the Peach Creek Loop of the Vedder River Rotary Trail, and then to the Heron Reserve, to create various in situ works. The students will use iPad to photograph/document their installations in progress and completed. When we return to school, they will create digital collages of their process using the PicCollage app.


Photo credit: right: A Leaf Nest, left on a path by a fellow participant in a nature art workshop at the PITA Conference two years ago.

GR.4 S.S. — LOCAL ABORIGINAL CULTURE

STUDYING STÓ:LŌ CULTURE VIA GUIDED DRAWING
Grade 4 Social Studies involves taking a look at Aboriginal/First Nations cultures within Canada.

In terms of the chronology of Canadian history, it makes sense to look at traditional aboriginal cultures, and then head into early European exploration, Contact, the fur trade, and so on.

It is impossible to do justice to a comprehensive study of aboriginal groups throughout Canada in a few months, so I tend to do enough to solidify the idea that these groups have been, and still are, incredibly diverse in terms of cultural languages, foods, ways of dressing, housing, technologies, beliefs, and so on.

From there, I believe it is best to do an in-depth study of the local Aboriginal group: the Stó:lō Nation, in Chilliwack. This local focus increases the relevance for all students in the class, but serves to honor the many Stó:lō students I teach—and who join in to teach us first hand.

I do much of the teaching about traditional Stó:lō culture using guided drawing art lessons informed by learning done during field trips and pro-d at the Stó Nation site.

Here is a link to info about my methods for note- taking and sketching on traditional Stó:lō culture with a focus on tools, technologies, and transportation—plus, making an unfolding booklet to store work in.
http://get-puppet.com/v/K19qHpGOx7U?autoplay=true

(PS—the folder shown in the video link above was inspired by a Foldables workshop I once attended...)

DEEPENING THE STUDY OF LOCAL STÓ:LŌ CULTURE

INTERACTING WITH VIRTUAL AND PHYSICAL ARTIFACTS
Later in the year, all Gr 4 students in the District take field trips to the Longhouse Extension Program, which is a fabulous day of learning.

It inspired me to create a follow-up field trip that combines an iPad app with hands-on exploration and sketch book art—all in a treasure hunt format inside the Stó:lō Research and Resource Management Centre.

I called it the Stó:lō Aurasma App Project.

Link to the project explanation/description:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Uh3ExDljmEU6c0e0X2BPIKNjhWwuqvsw7etM8De...


Simon Fraser University has created an incredible virtual Stó:lō village,
A Journey Into Time Immemorial,
that provides an amazing opportunity to delve deeper into the study of our local Aboriginal history.

http://www.sfu.museum/time/en/flash/


This year, I am making better use of this virtual field trip by having students go beyond simply exploring the online village. I am having them apply the sketching, info finding, note-taking, and design skills taught to them. They must explore the village, choose a tool/technology to research within the site and our Library resources, then record notes on what they find, and include sketches of the artifacts.



Stó:lō Nation logo and SRRMC building picture credits: found on www.stolonation.bc.ca
and www.chilliwacktoday.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/src-render.jpg

CHANGES IN OUR COMMUNITY OVER TIME

Comparing archive photos of the past to present realities.
Like the study of community symbols, this project looks at the primary curriculum around values and changes in the local community. And it involves creating digital art.

Using the Chilliwack Museum and Archives online photo collection, we are able to pare the place-based study right down to our local neighbourhood of Sardis.

The students are given lessons on how to use the PicCollage app, and on how to find images from the Archives collection. The app allows for many different design choices, and it requires the kids to consider font choices, color, and the placement and layout of images and text within a set grid.

We create PicCollages showing local Sardis area buildings and landscapes from the late 1800s into the mid 1900s.
http://pic-collage.com/_LtB1xTOg


Then we make PicCollages showing photos of those same places today—often by heading out the school doors to snap those photos.
http://pic-collage.com/_pYoWgPUY


Afterward we do some comparison writing about changes over time, perhaps considering the negatives and positives of those changes.


(PS—sorry about the poor quality of the pics in the links above...had to resort to blown up photo of small size print outs of PicCollages created last year...no longer had live links available)

GR 4/5 S.S. MACRO TO MICRO:

  • Cdn History: The Fur Trade
  • Local History: The Fur Trade at Fort Langley
  • Canadian History: Building the Transcontinental Railroad
  • Local History: The Othello Tunnels in Hope
  • B.C. History: The Gold Rushes
  • Local History: Hell's Gate and the Fraser River Gold Rush
After the focus on local First Nations, the curriculum necessitates moving outward to examining early European exploration of North America.

However, when it comes to the broad topics within Canadian and provincial history, studying the fur trade, gold rush, and railroad building years, it is easy to again narrow down to a local focus closer to life here in Chilliwack...

Fur Trade in Fort Langley...

Gold Rush on the Fraser River, in Hope,
at Hell's Gate...

Railroad building at the Othello Tunnels in Hope.

My teaching focuses on the sites when teaching these topics. We continue to incorporate art into every lesson as much as possible. We work in tech tools whenever useful. But the next step is to get out of the school and actually go on field trips to visit the sites mentioned.
Photo by Cam in Van

MAPPING SKILLS MADE LOCALLY RELEVANT:

The Cardinal Directions and Landmarks in the Landscape
One could argue that the skill of needing to read road maps is largely disappearing due to GPS navigation...

However, all of us still need to be able to understand and use maps in some way...from trail map signs when we go out hiking, to you-are-here maps in the mall (blech!), and so on...

No matter what, it is always vital to have an understanding of your location in space, to be able to get your bearings, to know which direction to turn in in order to find your way about.

A great way to make that skill most relevant and useful is to get outside and make note of what local landmarks are located in each of the cardinal directions. Kids can snap photos or make drawings of what they see to the north, south, west, and east.

http://pic-collage.com/_EoUA83UA

It also helps that we refer to wings of our school as the north hallway, and so on.
Photo by mwcarruthers

Various other Place-Based learning examples at Sardis Elementary include...

Various other Place-Based learning examples at Sardis Elementary include...

-Salmon raising & release
-The Green Team initiatives to reduce, reuse, recycle
-Yukon Dan: Gold Panning in the Classroom
-The courtyard garden
-Regular clean-up of Sardis Park
-Great Blue Heron Reserve field trips
-Cheam Wetlands field trips
-Other things I'm sure I'm forgetting...
-New PBE ideas we will soon come up with...

IN CLOSING...
I hope this slideshow helps you include more locally-focussed Place-Based Education in your teaching in your classroom or Library, within your school, in and around your hometown, and throughout your region.



FYI:
The Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve website:
http://chilliwackblueheron.com

Information about The Cheam Lake Wetlands can be found here:
http://www.vancouvertrails.com/trails/cheam-lake-wetlands/
And also here:
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/documents/wldviewing/birdlistcheamlakewetlands...

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BIBLIOGRAPHIES of Works and Resources mentioned in this presentation:


Apps used:

Aurasma. https://www.aurasma.com : HP Aurasma, 2011. Web, and mobile application.

HaikuDeck. https://www.haikudeck.com : Giant Thinkwell, Inc., 2015. Mobile application.

PicCollage. http://pic-collage.com : Cardinal Blue Software, 2015. Mobile application.

Shadow Puppet. http://get-puppet.co : Shadow Puppet, 2014. Mobile application.

Works Cited document link:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxpAhtVJe4zLcUJGNWduNkd2ZFU

Other references:

Centre, Simon. 'A Journey Into Time Immemorial'. Sfu.museum. N.p., 2015. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.

Firstvoices.com,. 'Firstvoices: Halq'eméylem Community Portal'. N.p., 2015. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.

Foldables.wikispaces.com,. 'Foldables - Foldables'. N.p., 2015. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.

"NCTE Framework for 21st Century Curriculum and Assessment." NCTE Comprehensive News. National Council of Teachers of English (USA). Web. 19 Sept. 2015. .