Beaver Preparation Unit Grade Five
Lesson Plans
Rationale
Education is defined in the dictionary as the knowledge, skill, and development gained from study or training. I believe that in order for students to retain the knowledge, skills and development the learning must be made relevant. Therefore, it is my belief that it is necessary to integrate the goals of the contemporary curriculum with traditional education. By doing this, education will be meaningful and thus aid in the understanding and retention of information.
In addition to blending the two educational goals, elders will teach the students and thus foster and develop the student / elder relationship. At the same time traditional ways and language will be passed down.
Advance Preparation There are several things that are to be done in advance in order to complete this unit.
1) Arrangements need to be made with the elders outlining what should be taught in the unit and an understanding on how it will be taught must be reached.
2) Journals need to be made. The cover sheet has been included in the journals lesson plan. The cover sheet is photocopied on construction paper and then laminated for the cover of the journal. A piece of plain construction paper is then laminated for the back of the journal. I inserted 5 pieces of paper in each journal and then bound them using the coil machine.
3) Beaver posters for bulletin board displays should also be prepared. Some sample pictures have been provided in this unit.
4) Photocopying the necessary information, worksheets and assignments must also be done to complete the activities.
Unit Evaluation
Upon completion of the Beaver Unit I began to critically assess the learning that took place during that week. I was pleased with the results.
For the first two days, the students listened to the elders, researched information and read legends about the beaver. On the third day, when we watched elder Irene McDougall skin the beaver the students constantly watched for parts of the beaver that we had studied and asked very relevant questions about the beaver based on what we had learned. It is clear through this, that the order in which the information was presented was beneficial to the students and helped them to understand and question the information.
The journal writing was also very helpful to the students because it gave them a chance to reflect on what they had just learned. As a group we, then shared what we had learned and then discussed what we enjoyed the most during the unit . The journal was an excellent way of keeping a log book.
The art activity of making a lodge and dam was a great success. The students really enjoyed collecting the necessary items to make the lodge. By making the lodge it really reinforced what the beavers use to make their lodge, how they collect the material and what parts of the body they use. The students were very excited about this project. Although the project was very messy and took the entire morning, the learning and enjoyment that came out of this project, would definitely warrant that it be done in the future years.
The students also seemed to enjoy the Language Arts activities that were done in this unit. They were very interested in the story "Why the Beaver has a Flat Tail" and enjoyed making the story pyramids.
Something that I would like to see done the next time this unit is done to find ways to keep students involved when the elders are skinning the beaver. It is a very long process and it seemed at times the students were not paying attention. I think it would be a good idea that when we skin the beaver, we set a few stations that the students can rotate to see. Perhaps one of the elders can talk about any beaver related trapping stories or any legends that he may know. A teacher can read a beaver related story and do a short group activity with the students. Both of these centers could be going on while the other elder skins the beaver. The students would rotate around the centers to keep them involved and learning for the whole hour and a half. At the end of the skinning however, all the students could gather around the beaver to listen again to what the elders had to say to conclude.
Overall, the students and teacher learned a lot about the beaver and enjoyed it very much. The student identified that working with the elders to skin the beaver, making the lodges, the journals and the researched paper were their favorite activities. During the summary of the unit, one student raised his hand and asked "What animals are we going to be doing next?". Obviously the students are interested in the animals and the traditions that accompany them. Thus I think that it would be beneficial for elders, teachers and staff members to work together to create more of the traditional units.
Elder Activities for the Traditional Unit on the Beaver Lesson 1: Elder Jonah McDougall will tell about the history and importance of the beaver. He will demonstrate how to set up traps and talk about his experiences trapping and hunting.
Lesson 2: The elders will tell students about the beaver-- its home, what it eats and how to survives.
Lesson 3: Elder Irene McDougall will demonstrate the skinning of the beaver.She will explain how to conserve the meat and fur for further use and point out different organs and what they are used for.
Lesson 4: Elders Jonah and Irene McDougall will show students how to dry up the beaver fur, the different ways one can do this and how long it takes for the fur to dry. The elders will also explain what is needed to complete this process.
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