Honouring and Caring for Water

Core Competencies 

Communication 

• Focusing on intent and purpose 
• Connecting and engaging with others 

Thinking 

• Reflecting and assessing 
• Creating and innovating 

Personal and Social 

• Understanding relationships and cultural contexts 
• Recognizing personal values and choices 
• Contributing to community and caring for the environment

Arts Education K-3

Big Ideas

• People create art to express who they are as individuals and community. (K-Gr.1)
• Engagement in thearts creates opportunities for inquiry through purposeful play. (K-Gr.1)
• Creative expression develops our unique identity and voice. (Gr.2)
• Creative experiences involve an interplay between exploration, inquiry, and purposeful choice. (Gr.3)

Content

• elements in the art specifically: visual arts: (K-Gr.3)
  • elements of design:line,shape,texture, colour
  • principles of design:pattern,repetition
• processes, materials, movements,technologies, tools and techniques to support arts activities (K-Gr.3)
• symbolism as expressions of meaning (K-Gr.2)
• personal and collective responsibility associated with creating, experiencing, or sharing in a safe learning environment (K-Gr.2)
• image development strategies (Gr.3)
• symbolism as ways of creating and representing meaning (Gr.3)

Curricular Competency

Exploring and Creating

• Exploreelements, processes, materials, movements, technologies, tools, and techniques of the arts (K-Gr.2)
• Create artistic works collaboratively and as an individual, using ideas inspired by imagination, inquiry, experimentation, andpurposeful play (K-Gr.3)
• Explore artistic expressions of themselves and community throughcreative processes (K-Gr1)
• Explore personal experience, community, and culture through arts activities (Gr.2)
• Explore identity, place, culture, and belonging through arts experiences (Gr.3)
• Explore relationships among cultures, communities, and the arts (Gr.3)

Reasoning and reflecting

• Develop processes and technical skills in a variety of art forms to nurture motivation, development, and imagination (K-2)
• Connect knowledge and skills from other areas of learning in planning, creating, and interpreting works for art (Gr.3)

Communication and documenting

• Interpret how symbols are used through the arts (K-1)
• Interpret symbolism and how it can be used to express meaning through the arts (Gr.2)
• Interpret and communicate ideas using symbolism in the arts (Gr.3)
• Express feelings, ideas, stories, observations, and experiences through the arts (K-Gr.3)

Language Arts K-3

Big Ideas 

• Language andstory can be a source of creativity and joy. (K
• Stories and other texts can be shared through pictures and words. (K-Gr.2)
• Through listening and speaking, we connect with others and share our world. (K-Gr.2)
• Stories and other texts help us learn about ourselves,our families, and our communities. (Gr.3)

Content 

• Structure of story (K)
• Elements of story (Gr.1-
• Literary elements and devices (K-Gr
• Oral language strategies (Gr.1-
• Concepts of print (K-Gr.1)
• The relationship between reading, writing and oral language (K-Gr.1)

Curriculum Competency

Comprehend and connect 

• Use developmentally appropriatereading, listening, and viewing strategies to make meaning (K-Gr.3)
• Engage actively as listeners, viewers, and readers, as appropriate, to develop understanding of self, identity, and community (K-Gr.3)
• Recognize the importance ofstory in personal, family, and community identity (K-Gr.1)
• Recognize the structure and elements of story  (Gr.2-Gr.3)
• Use personal experience and knowledge to connect tostories and other texts to make meaning (K-Gr.3)
• Show awareness of howstory in First Peoples cultures connects people to family and community (Gr.1-Gr.3)
• Develop awareness of how story in First Peoples cultures connects people to land (Gr.3)

Create and communicate

• Exchange ideas and perspectives to build shared understanding (K-Gr.3)
• Use language to identify, create, and share ideas, feelings, opinions, and preferences (K-Gr.2)
• Communicate using sentences and most conventions of Canadian spelling, grammar, and punctuation (Gr.3)

Social Studies K-3

Big Ideas 

• Our communities are diverse and made of individuals who have a lot in common. (K)
• We shape the local environment, and the local environment shapes who we are and how we live. (Gr.1)
• Healthy communities recognize and respect the diversity of individuals and care for the local environment. (Gr.1)
• Learning about Indigenous peoples nurtures multicultural awareness and respect for diversity (Gr.3)
• Indigenous societies throughout the world value the well-being of the self, the land, spirits, and ancestors (Gr.3)

Content 

• Rights, roles, and responsibilities of individuals and groups (K
• People, places, and events in the local community, and in local First Peoples communities (K)
• Diverse cultures, backgrounds, and perspectives within the local and other communities (Gr.1)
• Relationships between a community and its environment (Gr.1)
• Relationships between people and the environment in different communities (Gr.2)
• Diverse features of the environment in other parts of Canada and the world (Gr.2)
• Cultural characteristics and ways of life of local First Peoples and global Indigenous peoples (Gr.3)
• Oral history, traditional stories, and artifacts as evidence about past First Peoples culture (Gr.3)
• Relationship between humans and their environment (Gr3)

Curriculum Competency

• Explain the significance of personal or local events, objects, people, or places (significance) (K-Gr.1)
• Explain why people, events, or places are significant to various individuals and groups (Gr.2-Gr.3)
• Acknowledge different perspectives on people, places, issues, or events in their lives (perspective) (K-Gr.1)
• Explain why people's belief, values, worldviews, experiences, and roles give them different perspectives on people, places, issues, or events (perspective) (Gr.2-Gr.3)

Assessments

• Assess students’ listening and engagement 
• Assess students’ interpretation of water’s importance 
• Assess students’ focus and creative expression 
• Assess students’ ability and willingness to participate in group activities and sharing

Obtaining The Water Walker 

If you are unable to obtain The Water Walker book from your school or local library and prefer to have a physical book. Please reach out to the Schools Team and we can provide you with a hard copy of this book.

Indigenous knowledges 

The Indigenous knowledge shared in this activity was written by an Indigenous person and embedded with cultural knowledge from other Indigenous sources. This information is to offer insight into ways Indigenous people connect to land and water while engaging with curriculum connections. 

Resources on Indigenous Connections to Water 

Water Protectors: Indigenous-Led Initiatives Safeguarding Canada's Waterways in a Changing Climate - Indigenous Climate Hub
Indigenous Water Guardians Stories — Land Needs Guardians

About the Artist

The art design on the worksheet and slideshow in this activity was done my Indigenous artist Kelli Clifton. Kelli Clifton was born and raised in Kxeen (Prince Rupert), British Columbia and is Ts’msyen from the community of Txałgiiw (Hartley Bay). Clifton is both an artist and educator who dedicates her time to learning and teaching Sm’algyax, which is the traditional language of the Ts’msyen peoples. She often incorporates Sm’algyax within her artwork, hoping to inspire others to learn their Indigenous languages.