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Learning Commons
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Primarily, materials are located in the library shelves at these call number ranges:
| Call Number | Subject Heading |
|---|---|
| LB 1501 - 1547 | Primary Education |
| LB 2800 | Canadian Teachers |
| LC 65 - 245 | Social Aspects of Education |
| LC 1099 - 1099.5 | Inclusive Education |
| MT 918 - 948 | School Music |
| PC 2001 - 3761 | Learning & Teaching French |
| PZ 7 - 12 | Children's Fiction Picture Books |
Learning and Teaching Together : Weaving Indigenous Ways of Knowing Into Education
"This book introduces an indigenist approach to education. It recounts how pre-service teachers immersed in a crosscultural course in British Columbia began to practise Indigenous ways of knowing."
Music Composition in Contexts of Early Childhood
This book explores the narratives of a group of four-year-old children in a composition project in an Australian early learning centre. The participants, centre staff and a composer, Stephen Leek, contributed a number of music sessions for the children, including five original songs. The book showcases young children's communicative ability and sensitivity to wider issues. The staff in the centre have a strongly voiced philosophy that is enacted through arts-based pedagogy and incorporates significant themes including a respect for Aboriginal culture and custodial responsibility towards a sustainable future for the earth. Examples of adult and children's ideas are illustrated through music making, singing, dancing, words, drawings and paintings, which provide insights into a world where children are viewed as active citizens and the arts have rights. The book describes the context of the centre, the history of projects and details one project as an example of "lifeworthy learning".
No More 'How Long Does It Have to Be?': Fostering Independent Writers in Grades 3-8
In No More "How Long Does it Have to Be?": Fostering Independent Writers in Grades 3-8, author Jennifer Jacobson provides the inspiration and tools to shift from a teacher-directed writing program to a student-propelled workshop model. Drawing on a wealth of Writer's Workshop experience in upper elementary and middle school classrooms, Jacobson provides strategies to help you engage and support writers as they discover their voices and take charge of their own learning. Jacobson shares tips on how to establish the spaces, routines, and tone to run a highly productive writing time: Building classroom spaces conducive to practicing thoughtful, engaging writing Rolling out a streamlined sequence of varied writing activities Leading creative explorations of mentor texts Integrating the riches of mini-lessons, conferring, sharing, and publishing Building a workshop curriculum that aligns with your goals and rubrics As she clarifies misconceptions about writing and workshops, she serves up an immensely readable blend of activities, anecdotes, and advice that will energize and inspire your students.
No More 'I'm Done!':Fostering Independent Writers in the Primary Grades
No More "I'm Done!" guides teachers toward establishing a classroom environment and daily routines that will build student confidence.
Shifting the Balance, Grades K-2: 6 Ways to bring the Science of Reading Into the Blanced Literacy Classroom
The current emphasis on the body of research known as the "Science of Reading" has renewed the reading wars and raised challenging questions for balanced literacy teachers about the best way to teach reading. Instead of fueling the debate, Dr. Jan Burkins and Kari Yates immersed themselves in the research and produced Shifting the Balance, Grades K-2: 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Balanced Literacy Classroom. This best-selling guide is concise and practical, integrating effective reading strategies from each perspective. Every chapter of Shifting the Balance, Grades K-2 focuses on one of the six simple and scientifically sound shifts reading teachers can make to strengthen their approach to early reading instruction in these areas: Reading Comprehension Phonemic Awareness Phonics High-Frequency Words Cueing Systems Text Selection Practical Instruction for Primary Grades: Whether your students are just learning to read or building more advanced reading comprehensive skills, Shifting the Balance, K-2 is designed to help teachers meet the instructional needs of K-2 students. Six Manageable Shifts: Each chapter focuses on a key shift that helps educators understand common misconceptions and adjust their thinking around some common instructional practices that teachers have been using for decades. Evidence-Based Instruction: Burkins and Yates offer busy educators a blueprint for integrating finding from brain research, cognitive science, and child development into their daily instruction, while keeping meaningful experiences with books a priority. Classroom Applications: Shifting the Balance, K-2 is full of sample activities and classroom vignettes that paint a picture of what these shifts look like in action with roomful of learners. The book has already helped countless educators by taking the guesswork out of how to blend best practices with the latest research while keeping students at the forefront of reading instruction. "We've written this book to support you in making sound decisions anchored in the best of science, the truth of responsiveness, and a relentless focus on providing all children learning experiences saturated with meaning," the authors write.
Teaching Twice-Exceptional Learners in Today's Classroom
Recognize and support twice-exceptional (2e) learners to help them succeed in school--and beyond. Twice-exceptional (2e) learners have often been misunderstood, disciplined, unchallenged, and left behind. Even as awareness of 2e learners has grown, educators are still in need of practical tools to recognize and support their twice-exceptional students. This book answers that need, providing teachers with accessible information about twice-exceptional diagnoses and suggested accommodations, modifications, and collaboration with other educational professionals. Dedicated to the needs of all 2e learners, the first part of the book covers identifying and understanding 2e students, strength-based instruction, motivation and self-regulation, and executive functioning skills. The second part details how gifted students are affected by another diagnosis, including: Specific learning disabilities ADHD Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Processing difficulties Anxiety-based diagnoses Depression and other mood disorders This book equips educators with information that will make it easier for them to advocate for their 2e students, including what they need to know about the individualized education plan (IEP) and Section 504 plan process. Special topics, such as gifted students with physical disabilities, students experiencing trauma, and gifted learners from diverse backgrounds, are also included. With Teaching Twice-Exceptional Learners in Today's Classroom, educators can better identify, support, and meet the needs of their 2e students.
What Can I Contribute to Meaningful Reconciliation?: Teaching and Learning About Residential Schools
What Can I Contribute to Meaningful Reconciliation? is a unit that explores the causes and consequences of residential schools in Canada. Developed in collaboration with Grand Erie District School Board, Six Nations of the Grand River’s Education Department, and the Mississaugas of New Credit, this resource supports educators and learners in using a critical-inquiry approach to develop deep understandings of some of the complex, challenging, and painful events that have affected the relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada. This resource invites thoughtful and reflective explorations that move us beyond understanding the past and into our roles and responsibilities in the present. Through a learning journey where carefully considered decisions and empathic engagements are nurtured, learners are encouraged to develop genuine commitments and engage in meaningful actions that contribute to reconciliation. Designed for grade six and up, the fully-developed lessons include briefing sheets, image sets, suggested resources, and blackline masters to support student thinking and learning about reconciliation.
All about SEMH: a Practical Guide for Primary Teachers
All About SEMH is an accessible and informative guide for primary school teachers, designed to increase their understanding of social, emotional and mental health needs and enhance their toolkit with practical, evidence-informed strategies to support children in their care.
Circle of Love
Everyone is welcome in the circle. In this warmhearted book, we join Molly at the Intertribal Community Center, where she introduces us to people she knows and loves: her grandmother and her grandmother's wife, her uncles and their baby, her cousins, and her treasured friends. They dance, sing, garden, learn, pray, and eat together. And tonight, they come together for a feast! Molly shares with the reader how each person makes her feel--and reminds us that love is love. Through tender prose and radiant artwork, author Monique Gray Smith (Cree/Lakota) and illustrator Nicole Neidhardt (Diné) show how there is always room for others in our lives. Circle of Love is a story celebrating family, friends, community, and, most of all, love. Includes an author's note, contextual notes, and glossary.
Coaching for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Belonging in Early Childhood
As early childhood learning environments grow more and more diverse, schools and programs must address inequitable practices and policies so that every child learns, belongs, and thrives. The practical solutions programs need are in this groundbreaking book, the first guide to coaching early childhood educators in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Belonging (DEIAB) practices. Expertly converting theory into concrete action steps, this book is a reader‐friendly, step‐by‐step guide to launching transformative DEIAB work--or expanding the work your program or school is already doing. You'll discover how to coach early childhood educators in creating an equity‐focused classroom culture, providing them with guidance on instructional delivery, curriculum content, and teaching materials. You'll learn how to advance multicultural education by implementing big‐picture changes to program policies, hiring practices, and marketing materials. Throughout the book, an illuminating case study traces the progress and setbacks of a sample program as they use an equity‐based lens to enhance their learning environments and teaching practices. An essential professional development resource for school and program leaders and an ideal textbook for early education courses, this timely book will help you empower educators to ensure equity, access, and belonging for all children and families. Learn How To: Use the invaluable Anti‐Ism Scale to assess your program's current status and monitor growthRecognize your program's "hidden curriculum"--biases embedded in policies, practices, and materialsIdentify how the intersectionality of social identities influence each person's experiences, both positively and negativelyCreate an effective action plan to coach educators on a journey toward greater equality and inclusionPut your DEIAB plan into action through book studies, Equity and Diversity Workgroups, and other team learning opportunitiesImplement structural changes to support a multicultural curriculum, diverse staffing, and policies that uplift everyoneOvercome obstacles to DEIAB work, from communication blocks to staff and community resistanceEnsure continuous growth and improvement through ongoing assessment and reflection
The Land Knows Me: A Nature Walk Exploring Indigenous Wisdom
Through the Squamish language and cultural traditions, learn about Indigenous plant relationships and how we are all connected to nature through plant-based foods, medicines, and materials. The best way to learn about plants is through observing and interacting with living examples. Join Held by the Land author Leigh Joseph and her children in The Land Knows Me, an educational, hands-on journey to discover all the wonderful uses and gifts of the plants around us. Through the Indigenous traditions of Squamish culture you'll learn how to ground yourself on the land, how to introduce yourself in the Squamish language to your plant relatives, and the many teachings about plants, cultural stories, and learnings related to the flora seen on your walk. This essential and colorful introduction to Indigenous plant knowledge includes informative sidebars, reflection questions, and plant names in both Squamish and English so children can learn a new language. The Land Knows Me concludes with a 15 plant profile directory featuring detailed plant illustrations and kid-friendly botanical drawings to aid in learning about the many great uses for plants and the native history behind them. You'll meet plants like: Ḵwiĺayus (kw-ill-eye-os), Red-Flowering Currant, Ribes sanguineum Ḵ'emeláý (k-em-ill-eye), Bigleaf Maple, Acer macrophyllum Séliýaý (s-elle-ee-eye), Oregon Grape, Mahonia nervosa Xápaýay (hey-pie-eye), Western Red Cedar, Thuja plicata Ḵwe7úpaý (kw-oh-pa-eye), Pacific Crabapple, Malus fusca And more! The directory also includes important safety and proper harvesting information for parents who are looking for more opportunities to educate and engage with kids while getting to know the secrets of the land around us. Including mindfulness activities, how-to crafts, and yummy treats, The Land Knows Me calls you back again and again to learn something new with each engaging read! Follow the stream, cross the field, and step into a forest full of rich, botanical diversity rooted in history and tradition.
Me and My Sit Spot
What is a sit spot and how does it help nurture our relationship with the land? Developing this nature routine for yourself and your learners leads to so many possibilities for learning about our land and how we fit into it. Where is your sit spot?
The Power of Our Words
Use your language--words, tone, pacing--to build classroom communities where students feel safe, respected, and excited about learning. Packed with vivid classroom examples and charts of sample language.
q̓apkiǂ Ktunaxa V: To tell Someone Everything
A history of the Ktunaxa Nation, its lands and its people, created by and featuring members of the Ktunaxa Nation. With beautiful photographs, interviews, stories and context, it is a must read for everyone living on Ktunaxa land.
Resurgence
★ Starred selection for CCBC's Best Books Ideal for Teachers 2023! Resurgence is an inspiring collection of contemporary Indigenous poetry, art, and narratives that guides K-12 educators in bridging existing curricula with Indigenous voices and pedagogies. In this first book in the Footbridge Series, we invite you to walk with us as we seek to: connect peoples and places link truth and reconciliation as ongoing processes symbolize the risk and urgency of this work for both Indigenous and settler educators engage tensions highlight the importance of balance, both of ideas and within ourselves Through critical engagement with each contributor's work, experienced educators Christine M'Lot and Katya Adamov Ferguson support readers in connecting with Indigenous narratives and perspectives, bringing Indigenous works into the classroom, and creating more equitable and sustainable teaching practices. In this resource, you will find: diverse Indigenous voices, perspectives, and art forms from a variety of nations and locations valuable concepts and methods that can be applied to the classroom and beyond practical action steps and resources for educators, parents, librarians, and administrators Use this book as a springboard for your own learning journey or as a lively prompt for dialogue within your professional learning community.
Righting Canada's Wrongs: Indigenous Studies Guide
The Righting Canada's Wrongs Indigenous Studies set series is devoted to the exploration of racist and discriminatory government policies and actions against Indigenous peoples through our history, the fight for acknowledgement and justice and the eventual apologies and restitution of subsequent governments. The books in this series make a valuable addition to any classroom or library looking for kid-friendly and appealing resources on Indigenous Studies and equal rights in Canada. The engaging and curriculum-based lessons in this Resource Guide will help students to further understand some of the important events in Canada's history that helped shape our current multicultural society. Educators will find support for teaching about Canada's past and ongoing treatment of Indigenous Peoples and how to approach the topic of, colonization, racism and discrimination. As well, students will learn about the important cultures and traditions that have continued in the face of colonization.--Publisher's description.
The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World
An Instant New York Times Bestseller From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Braiding Sweetgrass, a bold and inspiring vision for how to orient our lives around gratitude, reciprocity, and community, based on the lessons of the natural world. As Indigenous scientist and author of Braiding Sweetgrass Robin Wall Kimmerer harvests serviceberries alongside the birds, she considers the ethic of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy. How, she asks, can we learn from Indigenous wisdom and the plant world to reimagine what we value most? Our economy is rooted in scarcity, competition, and the hoarding of resources, and we have surrendered our values to a system that actively harms what we love. Meanwhile, the serviceberry's relationship with the natural world is an embodiment of reciprocity, interconnectedness, and gratitude. The tree distributes its wealth--its abundance of sweet, juicy berries--to meet the needs of its natural community. And this distribution ensures its own survival. As Kimmerer explains, "Serviceberries show us another model, one based upon reciprocity, where wealth comes from the quality of your relationships, not from the illusion of self-sufficiency." As Elizabeth Gilbert writes, Robin Wall Kimmerer is "a great teacher, and her words are a hymn of love to the world." The Serviceberry is an antidote to the broken relationships and misguided goals of our times, and a reminder that "hoarding won't save us, all flourishing is mutual." Robin Wall Kimmerer is donating her advance payments from this book as a reciprocal gift, back to the land, for land protection, restoration, and justice.
Shifting the Balance, Grades 3-5: 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading Into the Upper Elementary Classroom
In this much anticipated follow-up to their groundbreaking book, Shifting the Balance: 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Balanced Literacy Classroom, authors Jan Burkins and Kari Yates, together with co-author Katie Cunningham, extend the conversation in Shifting the Balance, Grades 3-5: 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Upper Elementary Classroom. This new text is built in mind specifically for grades 3-5 teachers around best practices for the intermediate classroom. Shifting the Balance, Grades 3-5 introduces six more shifts across individual chapters that: Zoom in on a common (but not-as helpful-as-we-had-hoped) practice to reconsider Untangle a number of "misunderstandings" that have likely contributed to the use of the common practice Propose a more science-aligned shift to the current practice Provide solid scientific research to support the revised practice Offer a collection of high-leverage, easy-to-implement instructional routines to support the shift to more brain-friendly instruction The authors offer a refreshing approach that is respectful, accessible, and practical - grounded in an earnest commitment to building a bridge between research and classroom practice. As with the first Shifting the Balance, they aim to keep students at the forefront of reading instruction.
Sitting With Nature: An Educator's Guide to Sit Spots
This handy resource book for primary and intermediate level educators includes 20 weeks’ worth of themed sit spot activities for students of all ages. It also includes additional downloadable resources – to explore outdoor learning with students all year-long and in all weather conditions.
STEM by Design
The second edition of this practical, how-to guide from expert STEM teacher Anne Jolly reveals the secrets behind designing projects that involve students in using science, math, and technology to engineer solutions for real-world problems. Fully revised and updated from the first edition, each chapter is packed with tools and strategies to help you design and lead exciting STEM projects and lessons and help your students grow into creative thinkers, innovators, and collaborators prepared for life in the 21st century. You'll learn how to: Select engaging and relevant STEM challenges. Design your own STEM projects using the engineering design process and other acknowledged STEM criteria. Convert existing lessons into quality STEM projects. Include students of different ethnicities and other underrepresented children. Build students' abilities to work successfully in teams and practice important life skills. Integrate technology into your projects in authentic ways. Assess students' understanding of STEM concepts and procedures, problem-solving progress, and level of engagement in the project. Involve students in assessing and adjusting their own progress throughout the project. Throughout this user-friendly book you'll find design tools such as checklists, activities, and assessments to aid you in designing and adapting energizing STEM lessons with your students in Grades 4-8. These tools, as well as other teacher resources, are also available as free downloads from the book website, www.stem-by-design.com.
Teaching Art Creatively
Teaching Art Creatively is packed with ideas and inspiration to enrich teachers' knowledge and understanding of art and design in the primary classroom. It is underpinned by the latest research and theory, with contemporary practice at the forefront. Expert authors focus on diverse approaches that start with children¿s own ideas about themselves as artists. With an emphasis on recognising the value of children¿s art and how to support children¿s creative and artistic processes, key topics explored include: Improving your own creativity, competence and confidence Helping children become independent artists Starting points and imaginative contexts for art and design Individual, group and whole class work Art inside and outside the classroom How to develop visual literacy The value of working alongside artists The contribution of art and design to children¿s overall creative development. Teaching Art Creatively offers a new model of visual arts education in the primary years. Illustrated throughout with examples of exciting projects, children¿s work and case studies of good practice, it will be essential reading for every professional who wishes to embed creative approaches to teaching in their classroom.
Teaching Music to Students with Differences and Disabilities
The latest edition of the landmark text Teaching Music to Students with Differences and Disabilities: A Label-Free Approach--designed for music education faculty, in-service music administrators, in-service music teachers, and preservice music teachers--offers a comprehensive manual and reference guide that introduces those in the field of music education to best practices when teaching music to students with differences and disabilities. Acclaimed pedagogues and clinicians Alice Hammel and Ryan Hourigan addresses a variety of topics such as research-based strategies for methods courses, practical approaches for in-service music educators, and professional development grounded in research, special education law, and best practice. Like previous editions, a core focus this book is that a student with differences and disabilities is an individual who deserves a music education that is free of labels. This philosophical premise of a label-free approach is centered in the preservation of the individual personhood of each student. Through this approach, music educators will be able to gain and advocate for support, understand their rights and responsibilities, and offer an affective and effective music education for students with and without disabilities. This includes learning strategies for effective collaboration with special educators, teacher educators, and classroom teachers. The authors also include curriculum development ideas, lesson plan strategies, observation strategies (methods classroom), and practical ideas (methods classroom).
