Search for Resources

The Elders are Watching

Elementary, Middle

Description

Art and poetry combine in this powerful book that delivers an important message about human relationships with nature.   As the elders watch the rampant destruction of natural resources through activities like mining, logging and over harvest they despair at the toll humans are taking on the land.  The only way to stop the devastation is to urge young people to change the future by protecting the integral connections between man and the Earth which provide us with so much.

General Assessment

Recommendation of how and where to use it

This book supports curriculum outcomes related to indigenous relationships with the land, traditions and culture, and needs versus wants.  The book also provides an introduction to outdoor activities where students are studying traditional uses of native plants, ecosystems and healthy environments.

A main feature of the book is the indigenous art work.  This could form the basis of a cross-curricular action project where students use visual art to express their own values and beliefs about the natural world.  The art work could become a gallery wall that highlights First Nations traditional ecological knowledge and storytelling.

Relevant Curriculum Units

The following tool will allow you to explore the relevant curriculum matches for this resource. To start, select a province listed below.

  • Step 1Select a province
  • Alberta
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 6
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Science
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Living Systems: Understandings of the living world, Earth, and space are deepened through investigating natural systems and their interactions
  • British Columbia
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 4
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • English/Language Arts
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Exploring stories and other texts helps us understand ourselves and make connections to others and to the world
        • Questioning what we hear, read, and view contributes to our ability to be educated and engaged citizens.
        • Texts can be understood from different perspectives
    • Grade 5
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • English/Language Arts
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Exploring stories and other texts helps us understand ourselves and make connections to others and to the world
        • Questioning what we hear, read, and view contributes to our ability to be educated and engaged citizens
        • Texts can be understood from different perspectives.
    • Grade 6
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • English/Language Arts
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Exploring stories and other texts helps us understand ourselves and make connections to others and to the world
  • Manitoba
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 4
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Indigenous Languages and Cultures
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Cultural and Linguistic Diversity: Other Cultures: Connections and Influences
        • Cultural and Linguistic Diversity: Specific Aboriginal Culture
        • Language Use in Context: Within the Community
    • Grade 5
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Indigenous Languages and Cultures
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Cultural and Linguistic Diversity: Other Cultures: Connections and Influences
        • Cultural and Linguistic Diversity: Specific Aboriginal Culture
        • Language Use in Context: Within the Community
    • Grade 6
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Indigenous Languages and Cultures
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Cultural and Linguistic Diversity: Other Cultures: Connections and Influences
        • Cultural and Linguistic Diversity: Specific Aboriginal Culture
  • New Brunswick
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 4
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • Science
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Properties and Uses of Earth Materials: Learning and Living Sustainably
  • Northwest Territories
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 4
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • English/Language Arts
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Questioning what we hear, read, and view contributes to our ability to be educated and engaged citizens.
        • Texts can be understood from different perspectives
      • Indigenous Languages and Cultures
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Dene Kede: The People
    • Grade 5
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • English/Language Arts
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Exploring stories and other texts helps us understand ourselves and make connections to others and to the world
        • Questioning what we hear, read, and view contributes to our ability to be educated and engaged citizens
        • Texts can be understood from different perspectives.
      • Indigenous Languages and Cultures
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Dene Kede: The People
    • Grade 6
  • Nunavut
  • Yukon Territory
    • Step 2Select a grade level
    • Grade 4
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • English/Language Arts
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Exploring stories and other texts helps us understand ourselves and make connections to others and to the world
        • Questioning what we hear, read, and view contributes to our ability to be educated and engaged citizens.
        • Texts can be understood from different perspectives
    • Grade 5
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • English/Language Arts
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Exploring stories and other texts helps us understand ourselves and make connections to others and to the world
        • Questioning what we hear, read, and view contributes to our ability to be educated and engaged citizens
        • Texts can be understood from different perspectives.
    • Grade 6
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • English/Language Arts
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Exploring stories and other texts helps us understand ourselves and make connections to others and to the world

Themes Addressed

Indigenous Knowledge (2)

  • Rituals, Spirituality and Worldviews
  • TEK -- Traditional Ecological Knowledge