The first time that I experienced a Diwali celebration I was surprised to see fireworks and lanterns in the streets of an urban city during the month of November. It was exciting to learn about the tradition of lighting diya oil lamps and gathering with friends and family to celebrate this festival of light. Students will enjoy learning about this cultural festival too. There are many visual arts activities that you can do for Hindu heritage month, including creating colourful rangoli designs, mehndi patterns, as well as designs for diya lamps.
Check out this resource about Diwali in both French and English.
We left off the school year with unsettling feelings due to the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves from children who attended residential schools in Canada. There were news reports of Canada Day events being cancelled and displays of solidarity being shown through pairs of shoes at the parliament buildings and at local landmarks to remember those children who died tragically.
As we slowly start to gear up for back to school, Orange Shirt Day and the Every Child Matters campaign will be the main theme for my lessons in September. A very useful resource for Orange Shirt Day in French is the Chaque Enfant Compte magazine produced by Histoire Canada. This resource is based on the seven teachings of love, truth, wisdom, humility, courage, respect, and honesty. There are suggested journalling topics as well, to help both you and your students along a journey of reconciliation.
I recommend the story book "I Am Not a Number" by Jenny Kay Dupuis and Kathy Kacer as well. This narrative tells the story of a young girl who attended residential school and whose father tried to hide her so that she did not have to return. It details the conditions of the residential schools and tells about how she missed her life back on the reserve. In French the story is called "Je ne suis pas un numéro".
Check out my lesson plans in English and French for this important story. I've included a KWL chart (SVA in French), analysis questions and a teacher's guide.
This year I created a new reading comprehension resource : Le festival de cerisiers en fleurs. It's an article to read about the cherry blossom festival in Japan, along with traditions, picnic foods and information about where the most cherry trees can be found.
I read this article with a few of my French classes early this spring, as the cherry trees blossomed quite early this year in Southern Japan in places like Kyoto. Students enjoyed reading about Japanese culture and learning about the tradition of Hanami.
I also found this painting tutorial online, which I plan to do with an eager group of students who are part of the French Club after school this year. This activity could tie in to school-wide activities for Asian Heritage Month celebrated throughout the month of May.
Winter has set in here in Canada with a big snow storm the past week. We are moving into our sixth month of virtual learning for some students in Ontario, for those who chose that option in September. Some students are starting to lose interest in online learning and are growing tired of all the screen time for school.
I will encourage students this month by using themes of celebration to break up the cold winter blahs and get them excited about virtual learning again (some students will be learning online until June!).
For February I am going to focus on Black History Month biographies, celebrating Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Valentine's Day and celebrating the Lunar New Year.
