Critical and Reflective Thinking

Illustration Elements

Illustration Éléments

Illustration Sub-competencies
Critical and Reflective Thinking
Communicating

Context

Students in a class decided to participate in a Model UN debate. They vote to debate gun control in the United States as they have been shocked and horrified at the gun incidents and gun-related fatality statistics in the United States, especially school shootings.

As this issue does not involve different countries,the committee chosen was the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) rather than the United Nations, and delegates represented the different states rather than countries. Students representing the honorable dais stressed the importance of collaboration and conversation with regards to socially-charged topics such as the one at hand. The delegates (i.e. students representing individual American states) motioned to discuss topics such as gun-free zones, police brutality, school shootings, raising the legal age, and hunting.

After an intense two-day debate, the delegates began drafting their resolution papers. However, none of the three resolution papers reached a simple majority and, therefore, none were passed. In an official MUN debate, the committee would have to begin the debate all over again, but this was not pursued in the classroom.

Illustration

Activity Photo

Gun Control Debate

Student Work and Reflection

This student work sample is from the student delegate representing Minnesota. They also completed a self-assessment after the debate.

Teacher Reflection

The students enjoyed role modeling the UN debating process and developed research, negotiation, and collaboration skills. It was clear that the more in-depth background research they did, the better they debated. However, students struggled to represent perspectives they did not personally agree with.

The students wished they had come up with a resolution that passed but lacked some of the necessary negotiation strategies for this to occur. For example, the different alliance “blocks” could have aligned themselves more to one another to bring about a resolution paper.  

 

Profiles
PROFILE FOUR

 I can gather and combine new evidence with what I already know to develop reasoned conclusions, judgments, or plans.

I can use what I know and observe to identify problems and ask questions. I explore and engage with materials and sources. I can develop or adapt criteria, check information, assess my thinking, and develop reasoned conclusions, judgments, or plans. I consider more than one way to proceed and make choices based on my reasoning and what I am trying to do. I can assess my own efforts and experiences and identify new goals. I give, receive, and act on constructive feedback.

PROFILE FIVE

I can evaluate and use well-chosen evidence to develop interpretations; identify alternatives, perspectives, and implications; and make judgments. I can examine and adjust my thinking.

I can ask questions and offer judgments, conclusions, and interpretations supported by evidence I or others have gathered. I am flexible and open-minded; I can explain more than one perspective and consider implications. I can gather, select, evaluate, and synthesize information. I consider alternative approaches and make strategic choices. I take risks and recognize that I may not be immediately successful. I examine my thinking, seek feedback, reassess my work, and adjust.  I represent my learning and my goals and connect these with my previous experiences. I accept constructive feedback and use it to move forward.

PROFILE SIX

I communicate, creating an intentional impact, in well-constructed forms that are effective in terms of my audience and purpose.

I contribute purposefully to discussions and conversations. I synthesize, deepen and transform my own and others’ thinking. I can weave multiple messages into my communications; I understand that my audience will use their own knowledge and experiences in making meaning. I show understanding and control of the forms and technologies I use; I can assess audience response and draw on a repertoire of strategies to increase my intended impact. I can acquire, critically analyse, and integrate well-chosen information from a range of sources.

Illustration Elements

Illustration Éléments

Illustration Sub-competencies
Collaborating
Communicating
Critical and Reflective Thinking

Context

The class was learning about habitats and what animals need to survive. Students were encouraged to work with a partner to create a habitat for an animal of the Pacific Northwest using loose parts found in the classroom. Their habitats needed to include the features necessary for the animal’s survival (e.g., food, water, shelter, space).

Illustration

Student Work

Photo of student work

Teacher Reflection

I observed:

  • Students being patient and taking turns.
  • Students thoughtfully contributing to the project.
  • Students changing their minds and explaining why.
  • Students helping one another.
  • Students being flexible and compromising.
  • A few students finding it difficult to compromise with their partner.

I heard things like:

  • Do you want to make a habitat for a rabbit?
  • Let’s use blue gems for the water.
  • What can we use for carrots?
  • Can you help me hold this?
  • I like the flowers on the tree.
  • It’s ok.  We can fix it.
  • I think it would work better with a cardboard tube.
  • Where should we put the rabbit?
Profiles
PROFILE TWO

In familiar situations, I cooperate with others for specific purposes.

I contribute during group activities, cooperate with others, and listen respectfully to their ideas. I can work with others for a specific purpose.

PROFILE THREE

I communicate purposefully using forms and strategies I have practiced.

I participate in conversations for a variety of purposes (e.g., to connect, help, be friendly, learn/share). I listen and respond to others.  I can consider my purpose when I am choosing a form and content. I can communicate clearly about topics I know and understand well, using forms and strategies I have practiced. I gather and present basic information I need.

PROFILE THREE

I can ask questions and consider options. I can use my observations, experience, and imagination to draw conclusions and make judgments.

I can ask open-ended questions, explore, and gather information. I experiment purposefully to develop options. I can contribute to and use criteria. I use observation, experience, and imagination to draw conclusions, make judgments, and ask new questions. I can describe my thinking and how it is changing.  I can establish goals individually and with others. I can connect my learning to my experiences and efforts and goals. I give and receive constructive feedback.

Illustration Elements

Illustration Éléments

Illustration Sub-competencies
Collaborating
Critical and Reflective Thinking
Social Awareness and Responsibility

Context

Four years earlier, the student read the novel "Fatty Legs" by Christy Jordan-Fenton and was inspired to read more books that told the story of First Peoples experience in Canada. Her teacher recommended "Indian Horse" by Richard Wagamese and this book transformed the student’s thinking. She continued to seek out stories of Indigenous Canadians and her interest to learn more was fostered by her parents. She attended presentations by Indigenous experts and activists, including a colloquium with Wab Kinew and she was persistent in searching for information about the injustices felt by Indigenous Canadians.

As the student listened and built her understanding, she also spoke to others about what she was learning. In a conversation with a family friend, she discovered that an awareness initiative about Residential Schools and Indigenous injustice was already growing in Canadian schools. Orange Shirt Day wasn’t a part of her school yet, but because it was already an established day and other schools were doing it successfully, she felt it was possible to make it a part of her own school culture.

The student recognized that there was limited awareness of Canadian Indigenous injustice at her own school and she felt empowered to create change. She approached her school counsellor, her leadership teacher, and her principal. She showed them examples of Orange Shirt Day from other schools within her school district and expressed her belief that their school needed to do this. Everyone was in full support of her ideas. 

The student recognized that she was going to need help to make things happen. She is not Indigenous, and she did not have experience in organizing school-wide events. She spoke with Indigenous activist Phillis Webstad, who is the spokesperson for Orange Shirt Day, and she sought ongoing advice from her leadership teacher and school principal. She understood that she wouldn’t be able to take this on by herself, so she recruited a team that was willing to help organize the event. 

Leading up to Orange Shirt Day, she set and adjusted goals based on the advice of her experts. She listened carefully to the feedback she was receiving and created actions that were attainable for everyone involved. She spoke at a staff meeting and provided resources to get the teachers involved. With her team, she worked to promote Orange Shirt Day throughout the school by selling t-shirts and speaking in classrooms about the event.

Illustration

Student Reflection

The student wrote a reflection on the process of organizing an Orange Shirt Day. She also wrote an acrostic poem after this experience self-assessing her core competency in Communication.

Teacher Reflection

On Orange Shirt Day, many students wore an Orange t-shirt to school and the student felt that there was increased awareness of the legacy of Residential Schools among her peers. The students who worked on her team also became more passionate about raising awareness about the legacy of Residential Schools. The event also received media coverage. Although she is proud of her accomplishments, she recognizes that there is still opportunity to grow. She continues to be active in raising awareness about Indigenous injustice issues and she looks forward to the next school year where she can build on the momentum in making Orange Shirt Day an important part of the school culture.

Profiles
PROFILE SIX

I can connect my group with other groups and broader networks for various purposes.

I can step outside of my comfort zone to develop working relationships with unfamiliar groups. I develop and coordinate networking partnerships beyond and in service of the group.  I demonstrate my commitment to the group’s purpose by taking on different roles as needed. I acknowledge different perspectives and seek out and create space for missing or marginalized voices. I summarize key themes to identify commonalities and focus on deepening or transforming our collective thinking and actions. I recognize when wisdom and strategies from others are needed and access these to address complex goals. I help create connections with other groups or networks to further our common goals to further our impact.

PROFILE SIX

I can examine evidence from various perspectives to analyze and make well-supported judgments and interpretations about complex issues.

I can determine my own framework and criteria for tasks that involve critical thinking. I can compile evidence and draw reasoned conclusions. I consider perspectives that do not fit with my understandings. I am open-minded and patient, taking the time to explore, discover, and understand. I make choices that will help me create my intended impact on an audience or situation. I can place my work and that of others in a broader context. I can connect the results of my inquiries and analyses to action. I can articulate a keen awareness of my strengths, my aspirations and how my experiences and contexts affect my frameworks and criteria. I offer detailed analysis, using specific terminology, of my progress, work and goals.

PROFILE SIX

I can initiate positive, sustainable change for others and the environment

I build and sustain positive relationships with diverse people, including people from different generations.  I show empathy for others and adjust my behaviour to accommodate their needs. I advocate and take thoughtful actions to influence positive, sustainable change in my community and in the natural world. I can analyze complex social or environmental issues from multiple perspectives and understand how I am situated in types of privilege. I take action to support diversity and defend human rights, and can identify how diversity is beneficial for my communities.

Illustration Elements

Illustration Éléments

Illustration Sub-competencies
Critical and Reflective Thinking
Communicating

Context

Students were asked to imagine themselves in 5 years, 10 years, and 15 years, and to think about a career they might want to pursue. They were asked to identify different jobs within their chosen career path. After selecting the job that excited them the most, students researched the education and training required, the skills and competencies needed to be successful in the field, and what a day in the life in their chosen job might look like. Students were asked to make booklets to summarize what they learned and to create a comic strip to represent the “day in the life” part of the task.

Illustration

Student Work Sample

Profiles
PROFILE THREE

I can ask questions and consider options. I can use my observations, experience, and imagination to draw conclusions and make judgments.

I can ask open-ended questions, explore, and gather information. I experiment purposefully to develop options. I can contribute to and use criteria. I use observation, experience, and imagination to draw conclusions, make judgments, and ask new questions. I can describe my thinking and how it is changing.  I can establish goals individually and with others. I can connect my learning with my experiences, efforts, and goals. I give and receive constructive feedback.

PROFILE FOUR

I communicate clearly and purposefully, using a variety of forms and strategies appropriately.

I share my ideas and try to connect them to others’ ideas. I am an active listener—I make connections and ask clarifying and extending questions when appropriate. I can plan ways to make my message clear and engaging for my audience and create communications that focus on a variety of purposes and audiences. I acquire the information I need for specific tasks and for my own interests and present it clearly.

Illustration Elements

Illustration Éléments

Illustration Sub-competencies
Critical and Reflective Thinking
Creative Thinking
Communicating

Context

Students were engaged in a free inquiry project. They chose their own essential question, the authentic product they would develop, and the resources they would use. Students developed their own criteria and rubric to self-assess their work and identified the curricular content and core competencies they thought were relevant to their work.

This student decided to explore her artistic abilities through this inquiry. Her essential question was: How do artists best express how they think or feel? She kept an inquiry journal as she worked and competed a reflection form with teacher prompts at the end of the inquiry.

A few months after this assignment was completed, she wrote a myth and created a book illustrated in watercolours. 

Illustration

Samples Student Work

Artist pictureArtist picture

 

Student Reflection

 

Profiles
PROFILE FIVE

I can evaluate and use well-chosen evidence to develop interpretations; identify alternatives, perspectives, and implications; and make judgments. I can examine and adjust my thinking.

I can ask questions and offer judgments, conclusions, and interpretations supported by evidence I or others have gathered. I am flexible and open-minded; I can explain more than one perspective and consider implications. I can gather, select, evaluate, and synthesize information. I consider alternative approaches and make strategic choices. I take risks and recognize that I may not be immediately successful. I examine my thinking, seek feedback, reassess my work, and adjust. I represent my learning and my goals and connect these to my previous experiences. I accept constructive feedback and use it to move forward.

 

PROFILE FOUR

I can get new ideas or reinterpret others’ ideas in novel ways.

I get ideas that are new to my peers. My creative ideas are often a form of self-expression for me. I have deliberate strategies for quieting my conscious mind (e.g., walking away for a while, doing something relaxing, being deliberately playful), so that I can be more creative. I use my experiences with various steps and attempts to direct my future work.

PROFILE FIVE

I communicate confidently, using forms and strategies that show attention to my audience and purpose.           

In discussions and conversations, I am focused and help to build and extend understanding. I am an engaged listener; I ask thought-provoking questions when appropriate and integrate new information. I can create a wide range of effective communications that feature powerful images and words, and I identify ways to change my communications to make them effective for different audiences. I use my understanding of the role and impact of story to engage my audiences in making meaning. I acquire information about complex and specialized topics from various sources, synthesize it, and present it with thoughtful analysis.

Illustration Elements

Illustration Éléments

Illustration Sub-competencies
Critical and Reflective Thinking
Communication
Personal Awareness and Responsibility

Context

This school has a STEM program designed to break down the traditional silos between learning areas by having students engage in hands-on, project-based learning using real-world problems to activate curricular and core competencies.

For many years, the teacher has given a final exam that involves a series of problem-solving challenges that span the topics covered. While this exam provided the teacher with information about student understanding, he felt it did not fully capture his students’ complex and highly personalized learning experiences. He was considering another approach for his final exam when he was inspired by a webinar, “Who Gets In? The Truths and Myths of how Canadian Universities Make Admission Decision”.

In the webinar, Andrew Arida, Deputy Registrar of Enrollment of UBC, discusses how post-secondary admission has changed. Arida explains that it is no longer enough for students to just excel on content heavy exams. It is now vital for them to be able to speak effectively about their personal learning experiences. The teacher decided that his new final exam would provide students with the opportunity to communicate their learning with voice and substance.

Students were asked to watch a video clip where Arida presented an example of a student reflecting honestly on their learning experiences and predicting what might lie ahead for them. Rather than focusing solely on content knowledge, the student in the video explores the questions: Where am I? Where am I going? How will I get there?

Students were then asked to think about their experiences over the year with Physics and Mathematics in the STEM program. The teacher gave them guiding questions such as:

  • What is physics/mathematics?
  • After completing seven projects, do you see any common threads that help you understand how physics/mathematics works?
  • What is unique about this type of study?
  • What was your favourite physics/mathematics moment? How might it be useful in your future?

Students were asked to compile their thoughts into a 4-5 minute video reflection on their learning in the program.

Illustration

Student Work Sample

Profiles
PROFILE SIX

I can examine evidence from various perspectives to analyze and make well-supported judgments about and interpretations of about complex issues.

I can determine my own framework and criteria for tasks that involve critical thinking. I can compile evidence and draw reasoned conclusions. I consider perspectives that do not fit with my understandings. I am open-minded and patient, taking the time to explore, discover, and understand. I make choices that will help me create my intended impact on an audience or situation. I can place my work and that of others in a broader context. I can connect the results of my inquiries and analyses with action. I can articulate a keen awareness of my strengths, my aspirations and how my experiences and contexts affect my frameworks and criteria. I can offer detailed analysis, using specific terminology, of my progress, work and goals.

PROFILE FIVE

I communicate confidently, using forms and strategies that show attention to my audience and purpose.

In discussions and conversations, I am focused and help to build and extend understanding. I am an engaged listener; I ask thought-provoking questions when appropriate and integrate new information. I can create a wide range of communications that feature powerful images and words, and I identify ways to change communications to make them effective for different audiences. I use my understanding of the role and impact of story to engage my audiences in making meaning. I acquire information about complex and specialized topics from various sources, synthesize it, and present it with thoughtful analysis.

PROFILE FOUR

I can recognize my strengths and take responsibility for using strategies to focus, manage stress, and accomplish my goals.

I  advocate for myself and my ideas;  I accept myself. I am willing to engage with ideas or information that is challenging for me. I can be focused and determined. I can set realistic goals, use strategies to accomplish them, and persevere with challenging tasks. I can tell when I am becoming angry, upset, or frustrated, and I have strategies to calm myself.  I can make choices that benefit my well-being and keep me safe in the communities I belong to.

Illustration Elements

Illustration Éléments

Illustration Sub-competencies
Critical and Reflective Thinking

Context

The Teacher’s Voice

I took my class to volunteer at a local urban mission (a non-profit organization located in an area of high poverty, homelessness, substance abuse and crime). This student knew that he would be writing a reflective paragraph in class the next day, but the experience had such impact on him that he felt a need to do a think-aloud reflection at home that evening and to capture it on video for classmates.

Illustration

Student Reflection Video

Teacher Reflection

I observed a change in perspective in this student after he volunteered at the urban mission.  He became more aware that people who are homeless are not always sad. They laugh, socialize, develop close relationships with one another, and care about each other. He now has a very different perspective.

Profiles
PROFILE FIVE

I can evaluate and use well-chosen evidence to develop interpretations; identify alternatives, perspectives, and implications; and make judgments. I can examine and adjust my thinking.

I can ask questions and offer judgments, conclusions, and interpretations supported by evidence I or others have gathered. I am flexible and open-minded; I can explain more than one perspective and consider implications. I can gather, select, evaluate, and synthesize information. I consider alternative approaches and make strategic choices. I take risks and recognize that I may not be immediately successful. I examine my thinking, seek feedback, reassess my work, and adjust. I represent my learning and my goals and connect these to my previous experiences. I accept constructive feedback and use it to move forward.

PROFILE SIX

I can examine evidence from various perspectives to analyze and make well-supported judgments about and interpretations of complex issues.

I can determine my own framework and criteria for tasks that involve critical thinking. I can compile evidence and draw reasoned conclusions. I consider perspectives that do not fit with my understandings. I am open-minded and patient, taking the time to explore, discover, and understand. I make choices that will help me create my intended impact on an audience or situation. I can place my work and that of others in a broader context. I can connect the results of my inquiries and analyses to action. I can articulate a keen awareness of my strengths, my aspirations and how my experiences and contexts affect my frameworks and criteria. I can offer detailed analysis, using specific terminology, of my progress, work and goals.

Illustration Elements

Illustration Éléments

Illustration Sub-competencies
Critical and Reflective Thinking
Personal Awareness and Responsibility
Social Awareness and Responsibility

Context

The Teacher’s Voice

After initially asking my students to conduct an in-person interview of an elder from the community, I realized I needed to make some adjustments to ensure that every student was successful. I decided to expand the project to include “older adults from the community” as it was difficult to connect an elder with all 28 of my students.

Several students also asked me if they could interview their grandparents or great-grandparents (often overseas) via a telephone call or video chat, and I instantly realized that I could never say no. We need to meet our students where they are, especially in ways they are enthusiastic for. If they were in a space or place in their lives where they are seeking to build stronger connections with elders in their own families, I wanted to encourage that. 

The First Peoples Principles of Learning were intuitively embedded in this lesson. For example:

  • Learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational (focused on connectedness, on reciprocal relationships, and a sense of place).
  • Learning involves generational roles and responsibilities.
  • Learning is embedded in memory, history, and story.

Student feedback on this assignment was very positive, and they noted that the interviews were very special and valuable to them. There was a strong sense of personal awareness, and their post-interview reflections proved to be an invaluable and integral part of the process.

Note: Interview questions work best when collaboratively created by students, alongside teacher guidance. An additional source of interview questions:

https://legacyproject.org/guides/lifeintquestions.pdf

Illustration

Student Reflection

When this project was first introduced, I did not immediately have someone in mind to interview. I felt insecure about not having any blood relatives here in Canada. I use the word blood relative because in creating this video, my understanding of the word family was more so crystallized.

For eleven years, my family lived in the house next door to Sandra. Growing up, my interactions with Sandra and her late husband, James, felt familiar and an ordinary part of everyday life. Walking home from school, James would be mowing both our front lawns and Sandra would be out front calling out for their cat. She would always be so kind and inquisitive about where I was in life and how I was doing in school.

When I asked to interview her for this project, she was more than eager in inviting me to her home and indulging me in her life’s journey. Interviewing Sandra turned into this amazing conversation where I learned so much about someone experiencing a completely different stage of her life, as well as someone who had grown up in a time unrecognizable to me, both socially and culturally. And yet, as Sandra told me about her thoughts from when she was a youth, I recognized similar thoughts in myself. I began to understand that there can exist common worries between people of different generations.

Sandra expresses in the video, that she is still unaware of her purpose in life; a feeling that I myself am familiar with. In interviewing Sandra and finding understanding and compassion within myself, I recognized the values of social responsibility and diverse relationships. I distinctly remember one afternoon arriving home from school, I was alarmed at the sound of my mom crying. I walked to the door to find Sandra crying in her arms. I remember always feeling so angry about James’ passing; how such a terrible thing could happen to two beautiful people. Hearing Sandra express her outlook on the intensity of losing a loved one, allowed me to appreciate a different perspective of life. 

One of the questions that I asked was what advice Sandra would give her young self. I resonated greatly with her response, that she would reassure herself that she is stronger and better than she feels. I felt this echo within me, as if Sandra’s growth and experience was a familiarity in my own struggles with identity. I realized from this project, that all those years of casual interaction and everyday conversation with Sandra was what built this familial comfort that I feel today. I feel a sense of warmth when I think about how people of different generations and different cultures can discover a sense of family and home from each other. 

There are a number of core competencies that I feel like I grew within, as a result of this assignment. For example, personal awareness and responsibility, as well as the impact of social responsibility (building relationships and valuing diversity). Another competency I found familiarity with through this project is building and sustaining relationships with diverse people, including people from different generations.

Activity Video

Profiles
PROFILE FIVE

I recognize my value and advocate for my rights. I take responsibility for my choices, my actions, and my achievements.

I have valuable ideas to share. I am willing to explore controversial issues, and I can imagine and work toward change in myself and in the world.  I can set priorities; implement, monitor, and adjust a plan; and assess the results. I take responsibility for my learning, seeking help as I need it. I use strategies for working toward a healthy and balanced lifestyle, for dealing with emotional challenges, and for finding peace in stressful times. I know how to find the social support I need.

PROFILE SIX

I can identify my strengths and limits, find internal motivation, and act on opportunities for self-growth. I take responsibility for making ethical decisions.

I am aware of my personal journey and reflect on my experiences as a way of enhancing my well-being and dealing with challenges. I can advocate for myself in stressful situations. I can take the initiative to inform myself about controversial issues and take ethical positions. I take ownership of my goals, learning, and behaviour.  I act on what is best, over time, in terms of my goals and aspirations. I recognize the implications of my choices and consult with others who may be affected by my  decisions.. I can identify my potential as a leader in the communities I belong to. I sustain a healthy and balanced lifestyle.

PROFILE FIVE

I can advocate and take action for my communities and the natural world. I expect to make a difference.

I am aware of how others may feel and take steps to help them feel included. I maintain relationships with people from different generations. I work to make positive change in the communities I belong to and the natural environment. I can clarify problems or issues, generate multiple strategies, weigh consequences, compromise to meet the needs of others, and evaluate actions. I value differences; I appreciate that each person has unique gifts. I use respectful and inclusive language and behaviour, including in social media. I can advocate for others.

PROFILE SIX

I can initiate positive, sustainable change for others and the environment

I build and sustain positive relationships with diverse people, including people from different generations.  I show empathy for others and adjust my behaviour to accommodate their needs. I advocate and take thoughtful actions to influence positive, sustainable change in my community and in the natural world. I can analyze complex social or environmental issues from multiple perspectives and understand how I am situated in types of privilege. I act to support diversity and defend human rights and can identify how diversity is beneficial for the communities I belong to.

PROFILE FIVE

I can evaluate and use well-chosen evidence to develop interpretations; identify alternatives, perspectives, and implications; and make judgments. I can examine and adjust my thinking.

I can ask questions and offer judgments, conclusions, and interpretations supported by evidence I or others have gathered. I am flexible and open-minded; I can explain more than one perspective and consider implications. I can gather, select, evaluate, and synthesize information. I consider alternative approaches and make strategic choices. I take risks and recognize that I may not be immediately successful. I examine my thinking, seek feedback, reassess my work, and adjust.  I represent my learning and my goals and connect these to my previous experiences. I accept constructive feedback and use it to move forward.

Illustration Elements

Illustration Éléments

Illustration Sub-competencies
Critical and Reflective Thinking
Social Awareness and Responsibility
Communicating

Context

The Teacher’s Voice

Students in my classroom are often asked to consider social issues, particularly with reference to valuing diversity. This lesson was designed to prompt students to question what they hear, read and view, and to consider ways to overcome phobias, including homophobia, transphobia and biphobia.

Students investigated a specific phobia (e.g., arachnophobia; ophiophobia), researched physical and emotional reactions, and created a caricature. After sharing their representations of phobias, they discussed and reflected on reactions to SOGI. They considered:

  • Key understandings they developed
  • What they would like others to understand
  • How their learning connected to Social Awareness and Responsibility

A detailed lesson plan, Inquiry Lesson: Exploring Phobias, is available at the website below as part of a collection of SOGI resources.

http://www.lostboysconsulting.ca/sd-41/

Illustration

Student Work Sample

Student Reflection

 

Profiles
PROFILE FIVE

I can evaluate and use well-chosen evidence to develop interpretations; identify alternatives, perspectives, and implications; and make judgments. I can examine and adjust my thinking.

I can ask questions and offer judgments, conclusions, and interpretations supported by evidence I or others have gathered. I am flexible and open-minded; I can explain more than one perspective and consider implications. I can gather, select, evaluate, and synthesize information. I consider alternative approaches and make strategic choices. I take risks and recognize that I may not be immediately successful. I examine my thinking, seek feedback, reassess my work, and adjust.  I represent my learning and my goals and connect these with my previous experiences. I accept constructive feedback and use it to move forward.

PROFILE THREE

I can interact with others and the environment respectfully and thoughtfully.

I can build and sustain relationships and share my feelings. I contribute to group activities that make my classroom, school, community, or natural world a better place. I can identify different perspectives on an issue, clarify problems, consider alternatives, and evaluate strategies. I can demonstrate respectful and inclusive behaviour with people I know. I can explain why something is fair or unfair.

PROFILE FOUR

I can take purposeful action to support others and the environment.

I can build relationships and be a thoughtful and supportive friend. I can identify ways my actions and the actions of others affect my community and the natural environment. I look for ways to make my classroom, school, community, or natural world a better place and identify small things I can do that could make a difference. I demonstrate respectful and inclusive behaviour in a variety of settings, and I recognize that everyone has something to offer.

PROFILE THREE

I communicate purposefully, using forms and strategies I have practiced.

I participate in conversations for a variety of purposes (e.g., to connect, help, be friendly, learn and share). I listen and respond to others. I can consider my purpose when I am choosing a form and content. I can communicate clearly about topics I know and understand well, using forms and strategies I have practiced. I gather the basic information I need and present it.

Illustration Elements

Illustration Éléments

Illustration Sub-competencies
Communicating
Critical and Reflective Thinking
Positive Personal and Cultural Identity

Context

The Teacher’s Voice

After some deep thinking into what makes a family, students began to compare their families with families around the world. How are they the same and how are they different? We then asked our families to help us to learn more about where our families came from before we arrived in Canada. Here is our Learning Story.

Illustration

Learning Story

What is a family?

  • Do all families look the same?
  • What do families need to be a family?
  • Can friends be in a family?
  • Do families need to live together in the same house?

 

Are there different types of families?We have decided to explore the question, “What is a family?” After talking about communities and thinking deeply about who makes up a community, how people treat each other in a community and what are important places in a community, we found that many of our ideas about families were the same as our ideas about a community. This led us to the question, “Are we a family in our classroom?”

One student called out, “We are a school family!” This was an interesting discovery and changed the direction of our thinking. First, the students thought that families had to live together in homes. But when one student shared a personal story about her dad living in another country, we decided that families don’t have to all live in the same house. So, we created a list of criteria to decide what is a family.

 

What is a family?The criteria is…

  • Families make smart choices.
  • Families kiss each other.
  • Families are kind to each other.
  • Families are like a community.
  • Families play games together.
  • Families spend time together.
  • Families support each other.

All these ideas came before the final idea for our criteria…love. We decided that families must love each other but since we can have school families, work families and friend families, we added love or really like each other.

 

Who is in a family?Only after these two lists were complete did anyone think about specific people. being in a community. Immediately, students named, mom and dad and brother and sister but adding more distant family members took a little more thought. Finally, we were happy with our lists.

We ended our discussion with a conversation about how our families are the same and how are they different from our friends and neighbours families. This led us to think about our “world family” from our list. How are families the same or different around the world? What do families eat? What do families wear? Where do families live? How do children in families go to school? Does everyone go to school?

 

Sample Student Work and Video Reflections

Students reflected on their own families through artwork and video interviews.

Profiles
PROFILE TWO

I can use evidence to make simple judgments.

I can ask questions, make predictions, and use my senses to gather information. I can explore with a purpose in mind and use what I learn. I can tell or show something about my thinking. I can contribute to and use simple criteria. I can find some evidence and make judgments. I can reflect on my work and experiences and tell others something I learned.

PROFILE TWO

I am aware of different aspects of myself. I can identity people, places, and things that are important to me.

With some help, I can identify some of my attributes. I can identify objects or images that represent things that are important to me, and explain what I like and dislike. I can describe my family, home, and/or community (people and/or place).

PROFILE TWO

In familiar settings, I communicate with peers and adults.

I talk and listen to people I know. I can communicate for a purpose. I can understand and share basic information about topics that are important to me, and answer simple, direct questions about my activities and experiences.

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