This teacher's guide serves as a companion to the book The Water Walker. The guide provides a number of learning opportunities with the Ojibwe language, social activism, character education and social studies. Also included are discussion starters and primers for reading the book with students. The guide also suggests a variety of different ways students can respond to the book through the arts, sciences, social studies and language arts. Included is a suggestion for an action project related to the theme of protecting water.
This resource would be beneficial for book talk and activities related to Earth Day, World Oceans Day or International Fresh Water Day. It could also be useful during a discussion of the water cycle or similar topics.
The following tool will allow you to explore the relevant curriculum matches for this resource. To start, select a province listed below.
Principle | Rating | Explanation |
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Consideration of Alternative Perspectives | Good | With the help of this guide, the students are exposed to different points of view of water and its importance in our lives and the traditional lives of the Ojibwe people. |
Consideration of Alternative Perspectives:
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Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions | Good | The message is clear throughout the teacher's guide and the book that we are dependent on water and that the focus cannot be on just the economic factors but that socially and environmentally water is key to all life. |
Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions: Effectively addresses the environmental, economic and social dimensions of the issue(s) being explored.
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Respects Complexity | Very Good | Through the discussion questions provided the teacher and students can get a clear understanding of the issue of the need to protect the water. |
Respects Complexity: The complexity of the problems/issues being discussed is respected. | ||
Acting on Learning | Good | The final activity in the teacher's guide encourages the students to make a plan of action in order to protect the water. The teacher is encouraged to revisit the plans regularly. |
Acting on Learning: Learning moves from understanding issues to working towards positive change — in personal lifestyle, in school, in the community, or for the planet
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Values Education | Good | The students are asked to assess what specific actions they will take to make a difference in order to protect water. This gives them an opportunity to express their values and link their actions to their values. |
Values Education: Students are explicitly provided with opportunities to identify, clarify and express their own beliefs/values. | ||
Empathy & Respect for Humans | Poor/Not considered | This is not the focus of this lesson plan. |
Empathy & Respect for Humans: Empathy and respect are fostered for diverse groups of humans (including different genders, ethnic groups, sexual preferences, etc.). | ||
Personal Affinity with Earth | Very Good | |
Personal Affinity with Earth: Encourages a personal affinity with -the natural world.
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Locally-Focused Learning | Very Good | As the focus of the guide is to protect water, this can be made relevant to the lives of any student regardless of where they live. |
Locally-Focused Learning: Includes learning experiences that take advantage of issues/elements within the local community.
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Past, Present & Future | Good | This guide helps to promote the idea of students as agents of change which leads to a positive view of the future based on the difference they can make. |
Past, Present & Future: Promotes an understanding of the past, a sense of the present, and a positive vision for the future. |
Principle | Rating | Explanation |
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Open-Ended Instruction | Good | The activities in the teacher's guide are mainly discussion questions or activity suggestions that are open-ended and allow the students to express themselves and their beliefs. |
Open-Ended Instruction
: Lessons are structured so that multiple/complex answers are possible; students are not steered toward one 'right' answer. | ||
Integrated Learning | Satisfactory | Content areas from Social Studies, Science, Visual Arts and Language Arts are touched upon in the activities. |
Integrated Learning: Learning brings together content and skills from more than one subject area
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Inquiry Learning | Good | The activities allow a lot of freedom on the part of the teacher and the students to decide how they would like to proceed. |
Inquiry Learning: Learning is directed by questions, problems, or challenges that students work to address.
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Differentiated Instruction | Good | Unfortunately, there are no suggestions or strategies for learners who may be having difficulties. |
Differentiated Instruction: Activities address a range of student learning styles, abilities and readiness.
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Experiential Learning | Good | |
Experiential Learning: Authentic learning experiences are provided
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Cooperative Learning | Satisfactory | |
Cooperative Learning: Group and cooperative learning strategies are a priority.
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Assessment & Evaluation | Poor/Not considered | Unfortunately, there are no tools for assessment or suggestions on how to assess the students and their work. |
Assessment & Evaluation: Tools are provided that help students and teachers to capture formative and summative information about students' learning and performance. These tools may include reflection questions, checklists, rubrics, etc. | ||
Peer Teaching | Poor/Not considered | The activities are open-ended; therefore, the teacher has the flexibility to provide opportunities for the students to work together, etc. if they so choose. |
Peer Teaching: Provides opportunities for students to actively present their knowledge and skills to peers and/or act as teachers and mentors.
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Case Studies | Very Good | Within the teacher's guide, there are links to YouTube videos that share information of the water walks that have taken place. This allows the students to see authentic action being taken. |
Case Studies: Relevant case studies are included. Case studies are thorough descriptions of real events from real situations that students use to explore concepts in an authentic context. | ||
Locus of Control | Very Good | The activities in the teacher's guide are open-ended and this allows the students to have more control over the content and medium they wish to work. |
Locus of Control: Meaningful opportunities are provided for students to choose elements of program content, the medium in which they wish to work, and/or to go deeper into a chosen issue. |