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Heart Berry Bling

Elementary

Description

Maggie is excited to visit her Granny, whose home is filled with colourful beads, family photos and stories. Forced to leave her community under the Indian Act, after marrying a non-status man, Granny stayed connected to her Anishinaabe identity through beading. Teaching this art to her young grandaughter becomes especially meaningful when Maggie chooses to make strawberry earrings and Granny shares her "strawberry teachings" about the heart-shaped fruit that grows close to the ground and stays rooted to the land. As Maggie learns that perserverance is part of the beading journey, she understands that all challenges can be overcome with patience and love. This touching story raises student awareness of the impacts of discrimination, the importance of sharing knowledge and Indigenous connections to their land and communities while encouraging all of us to live with respect, peace, truth and joy.

General Assessment

Recommendation of how and where to use it

This book develops reading and vocabulary skills in Grade K-3 students while they also explore the message behind the story about discrimination and how policies like the "Indian Act" contributed to the separation of Indigenous families and communities. The story and accompanying teacher's guide connect to Social Studies and Indigenous Studies concepts related to cultural diversity and the importance of Indigenous storytelling and art in affirming identity and expressing First Nations experiences and values. The key theme of the resilience of First Nations women in the face of gender discrimination encourages students to understand how respect, reciprocity and equality contribute to social justice.

A classroom action project could extend the learning by combining cultural understanding with hands-on science. Students might collaborate with a local Indigenous Elder or Knowledge Keeper to create and grow a small outdoor strawberry garden on school grounds. They could design plant markers featuring messages from the "strawberry teachings", deepening their connection to Indigenous knowledge. The project could culminate in a "Heart Berry Celebration" which invites First Nations community members to bless the garden, share teachings of gratitude for the natural world and join students in reflecting on human and environmental stewardship.

Relevant Curriculum Units

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        • Citizenship: Understanding local, national, and global issues empowers individual and collective action toward an inclusive society.
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        • Stories can be understood from different perspectives
      • Social Studies
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        • Global Indigenous Peoples: Learning about indigenous peoples nurtures awareness and respect for diversity.
        • Global Indigenous Peoples: Indigenous knowledge is continues to be shared through oral history, traditions, and collective memory.
        • Global Indigenous Peoples: Indigenous nations throughout the world value the well-being of the self, the land, spirits, and ancestors
        • Global Indigenous Peoples: People from diverse cultures and societies share some common experiences and aspects of life.
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  • Saskatchewan
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    • Kindergarten
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • English/Language Arts
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Curiosity and wonder lead us to new discoveries about ourselves and the world around us.
        • Everyone has a unique story to share
        • Stories and other texts can be shared through pictures and words
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Our communities are diverse and made of individuals who have a lot in commo
        • Identity and Families
    • Grade 1
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • English/Language Arts
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Curiosity and wonder lead us to new discoveries about ourselves and the world around us
        • Everyone has a unique story to share.
        • Stories and other texts can be shared through pictures and words
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Local Communities: Healthy communities recognize and respect the diversity of individuals and care for the local environmen
    • Grade 2
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • English/Language Arts
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Curiosity and wonder lead us to new discoveries about ourselves and the world around us
        • Everyone has a unique story to share.
        • Stories and other texts connect us to ourselves, our families, and our communities
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Regional and Global Communities: Canada is made up of many diverse regions and communities
    • Grade 3
      • Step 3Select a subject
      • English/Language Arts
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Curiosity and wonder lead us to new discoveries about ourselves and the world around us.
        • Stories and other texts help us learn about ourselves, our families, and our communities
        • Stories can be understood from different perspectives
      • Social Studies
        • Step 4Relevant matches
        • Global Indigenous Peoples: Learning about indigenous peoples nurtures multicultural awareness and respect for diversity.
        • Global Indigenous Peoples: Indigenous knowledge is passed down through oral history, traditions, and collective memory.
        • Global Indigenous Peoples:Indigenous societies throughout the world value the well-being of the self, the land, spirits, and ancestors

Themes Addressed

Indigenous Knowledge (3)

  • Etuaptmumk/Two-Eyed Seeing
  • Rituals, Spirituality and Worldviews
  • TEK -- Traditional Ecological Knowledge

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