Educator Resources

Unplug from technology and "plug in" to nature through the wonder of your senses.

The Book of Nature Connection is packed with fun activities for using all our senses to engage with nature in a deep and nourishing way.

From "extenda-ears" and acorn whistles to bird calls, camouflage games, and scent scavenger hunts, enjoy over 70 diverse, engaging, sensory activities for all ages that promote mindfulness and nature connection.

With activities grouped by the main senses – hearing, sight, smell, touch, and taste – plus sensory walks and group games, The Book of Nature Connection is both a powerful learning tool kit and the cure for sensory anesthesia brought on by screen time and lives lived indoors.

Whisper in birds, be dazzled by nature's kaleidoscope of colors, taste the freshness of each season, learn to savor the scented world of evergreens, hug a tree and feel the bark against your cheek. Spending time in nature with all senses tuned and primed helps us feel like we belong to the natural world – and in belonging, we come to feel more connected, nourished, and alive.

Ideal for educators, camp and youth leaders, caregivers and parents, and anyone looking to reconnect and become a nature sommelier!

Additional Information
128 pages | 7.50" x 9.00" | Colour photos throughout | Paperback 

This teacher lesson plan accompanies the book, The Corn Chief.

Synopsis of The Corn Chief:
With the wizened old chief set to step down, young Linny dreams of being chosen as his replacement. As she struggles to pass his test, Linny learns with the help of her family what it really takes to become chief...in the most unexpected way.

This story is told with the help of traditional corn husk dolls. Corn dolls protect the home, livestock, and personal wellness of the maker and their family. Corn husk dolls have been made in some Indigenous cultures since the beginning of corn agriculture more than one thousand years ago, and continue to be made today

Educator Information
Find the student resource here: The Corn Chief 

Includes comprehension questions, colouring pages, an exploration of leadership, and more.

Lesson plan written by an Indigenous teacher from Saskatchewan along with the author and Medicine Wheel Publishing Team.  It has been approved by author Karen Whetung. 

Additional Information
14 pages | 8.50" x 11.00" | Paper packet 

A guide for creatives to making impactful, socially engaged art projects.

Flash mobs come and go, but purposeful creativity can change communities. Are you a creative (aspiring or otherwise) who is curious about how you can apply your skills to activist, socially engaged art projects? Whether you paint, sew, sing, build, weld, or rhyme, The Creative Instigator's Handbook explores how to take that big project you've been dreaming about and actually make it happen.

In response to the challenging times that we live in, The Creative Instigator's Handbook will inspire readers to use their creativity to spur change in the world around them. Guiding readers through the various aspects of a project from ideation to final documentation, the book examines the relationship between creative leadership, community art projects, and social justice, and includes the perspectives of 23 creative instigators who have stretched the boundaries of what "art" should or shouldn't do.

The Creative Instigator's Handbook will appeal to creatives willing to expand their comfort zones by jumping into the fray and doing some outrageous, inspired rabble-rousing of their very own. Full-colour throughout.

Additional Information
272 pages | 8.50" x 8.00" | Paperback

This timely book offers a clear and structured method for integrating explicit phonics instruction into K–3 classrooms. An essential guide for teaching reading, the book is grounded in the cutting-edge, evidence-based science of reading. It provides a flexible and effective step-by-step progression that covers the essential phonics skills that teachers have been asking for, and addresses the needs of busy, diverse classrooms. This blueprint to effective instruction explores screening, assessment, and intervention, as well as working with English language learners. Tools for implementation include high-impact activities, lesson templates, word lists, phoneme-grapheme grids, word ladders, and more.

Additional Information
272 pages | 8.38" x 10.80" | Paperback

Troubling Truth and Reconciliation in Canadian Education offers a series of critical perspectives concerning reconciliation and reconciliatory efforts between Canadian and Indigenous peoples. Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars address both theoretical and practical aspects of troubling reconciliation in education across various contexts with significant diversity of thought, approach, and socio-political location. Throughout, the work challenges mainstream reconciliation discourses. This timely, unflinching analysis will be invaluable to scholars and students of Indigenous studies, sociology, and education.

Contributors: Daniela Bascuñán, Jennifer Brant, Liza Brechbill, Shawna Carroll, Frank Deer, George J. Sefa Dei (Nana Adusei Sefa Tweneboah), Lucy El-Sherif, Rachel yacaaʔał George, Celia Haig-Brown, Arlo Kempf, Jeannie Kerr, Ruth Green, David Newhouse, Amy Parent, Michelle Pidgeon, Robin Quantick, Jean-Paul Restoule, Toby Rollo, Mark Sinke, Sandra D. Styres, Lynne Wiltse, Dawn Zinga

Reviews
"This is crucially important work at this time, as universities, provincial education boards, and school districts grapple with their responses to the TRC. The contributors to Troubling Truth and Reconciliation in Canadian Education continue dialogues around reconciliation, decolonization, and Indigenization in schools at every level across Canada and offer real and actionable insights for educational leaders and teachers." - Shannon C. Leddy, University of British Columbia

"Troubling Truth and Reconciliation in Canadian Education is a significant contribution in this era of the post-TRC, the Calls to Action, the MMIWG inquiry report, and the ongoing difficulties and legacies of systemic racism/colonialism against Indigenous peoples in Canadian institutions." - Lisa Korteweg, Lakehead University

Educator Information
Table of Contents
vii Foreword
JAN HARE
xiii Acknowledgements
xv A Troubling Place to Start: Reconciliation in Collapse
ARLO KEMPF, SANDRA D. STYRES, LIZA BRECHBILL AND LUCY EL-SHERIF
I
Theoretical Perspectives on (Ir)reconciliation: Polishing the Silver Covenant Chain
1 | Discovering Truth in the Post-TRC Era: Morality and Spirituality Discourses in the Reconciliatory Journeys of Schools
FRANK DEER
2 | Indigenous Resiliency, Renewal, and Resurgence in Decolonizing Canadian Higher Education
MICHELLE PIDGEON
3 | Uncomfortable Realities: Reconciliation in Higher Education
DAWN ZINGA
4 | Contested Knowledges: Indigeneity, Resistance, and Black Theorizing in Academia
GEORGE J. SEFA DEI (NANA ADUSEI SEFA TWENEBOAH)
5 | Some of Us Are More Canadian Than Others: Pedagogies of Citizenship and Learning Racialized Settlerhood
LUCY EL-SHERIF AND MARK SINKE
6 | The Performativity of Reconciliation: Illusory Justice and the Site C Dam
RACHEL YACAAʔAŁ GEORGE
7 | Beyond Curricula: Colonial Pedagogies in Public Schooling
TOBY ROLLO
II
Reconceptualizing Reconciliation in Education: Teaching and Learning in Right Relation
8 | Reconciliation and Relational Ethics in Education
SANDRA D. STYRES AND ARLO KEMPF
9 | Exploring Tensions in Taking Up the Call for Reconciliation in Teacher Education
LYNNE WILTSE
10 | Troubling Trespass: Moving Settler Teachers Toward Decolonization
DANIELA BASCUÑÁN, MARK SINKE, SHAWNA M. CARROLL, AND JEAN-PAUL RESTOULE
11 | Talking It Through, Talking Through It: A Dialogue on Indigenizing Education
CELIA HAIG-BROWN AND RUTH GREEN
12 | Recalling the Spirit and Intent of Indigenous Literatures
JENNIFER BRANT
13 | Teaching Indigenous Studies in a Time of Reconciliation: An Anticolonial Approach Toward Postcolonial Awareness
DAVID NEWHOUSE AND ROBIN QUANTICK
14 | Contemporary Colonialism and Reconciliation in Higher Education: A Decolonial Response Through Relationality
JEANNIE KERR AND AMY PARENT
Contributors

Additional Information
328 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | Paperback

In May 2021, the world was shocked by news of the detection of 215 unmarked graves on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School (KIRS) in British Columbia, Canada. Ground-penetrating radar confirmed the deaths of students as young as three in the infamous residential school system, which systematically removed children from their families and brought them to the schools. At these Christian-run, government-supported institutions, they were subjected to physical, mental, and sexual abuse while their Indigenous languages and traditions were stifled and denounced. The egregious abuses suffered in residential schools across the continent caused - as the 2021 discoveries confirmed - death for too many and a multigenerational legacy of trauma for those who survived.

"Tsquelmucwilc" (pronounced cha-CAL-mux-weel) is a Secwepemc phrase loosely translated as "We return to being human again." Tsqelmucwilc is the story of those who survived the Kamloops Indian Residential School, based on the 1988 book Resistance and Renewal, a groundbreaking history of the school - and the first book on residential schools ever published in Canada. Tsqelmucwilc includes the original text as well as new material by the original book's author, Celia Haig-Brown; essays by Secwepemc poet and KIRS survivor Garry Gottfriedson and Nuu-chah-nulth elder and residential school survivor Randy Fred; and first-hand reminiscences by other survivors of KIRS, as well as their children, on their experience and the impact of their trauma throughout their lives.

Read both within and outside the context of the grim 2021 discoveries, Tsqelmucwilc is a tragic story in the history of Indigenous peoples of the indignities suffered at the hands of their colonizers, but it is equally a remarkable tale of Indigenous survival, resilience, and courage.

Additional Information
240 pages | 6.00" x 8.00" | B&W photos throughout | Paperback

Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars forward child welfare issues currently impacting Indigenous children in Canada.

Developed by the Prairie Child Welfare Consortium, this edited collection brings together accomplished Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars from the prairie provinces to forward critical research about a range of contemporary child welfare issues currently impacting Indigenous children in Canada.
 
Centering Indigenous knowledge and working to decolonize child welfare, contributors address the over-representation of Indigenous children in the child welfare system, the un-met recommendations of the TRC, the connections between colonialism and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, the impact of Bill C-92, and more.
 
Contributors include: Jason Albert, Dorothy Badry, Cindy Blackstock, Elder Mae Louise Campbell, Peter Choate, Linda Dano-Chartrand, Michael Doyle, Koren Lightning Earle, Arlene Eaton Erickson, Yahya El-Lahib, Hadley Friedland,  Don Fuchs, Del Graff, Jennifer Hedges, Bernadette Iahtail, Jennifer King, Brittany Mathews, Eveline Milliken, Kelly Provost—Ekkinnasoyii (Sparks in a Fire), Christina Tortorelli, Gabrielle Lindstrom Tsapinaki, Susannah Walker, and Robyn Williams

Reviews
“A great contribution for all of us who conduct research, teach, and work directly in the field of Indigenous child welfare practice.”—Jeannine Carrière, author of Calling Our Families Home: Métis Peoples’ Experiences with Child Welfare

Additional Information
288 pages | 5.00" x 7.50" | Paperback

How can Indigenous knowledge systems inform our teaching practices and enhance education? How do we create an education system that embodies an anti-racist approach and equity for all learners?

This powerful and engaging resource is for non-Indigenous educators who want to learn more, are new to these conversations, or want to deepen their learning.

Some educators may come to this work with some trepidation. You may feel that you are not equipped to engage in Indigenous education, reconciliation, or anti-racism work. You may be anxious about perpetuating misconceptions or stereotypes, making mistakes, or giving offence. In these chapters, I invite you to take a walk and have a conversation with a good mind and a good heart.

With over two decades in Indigenous education, author Jo Chrona encourages readers to acknowledge and challenge assumptions, reflect on their own experiences, and envision a more equitable education system for all. Each chapter includes:

• reflection questions to help process the ideas in each chapter
  suggestions for taking action in both personal and professional spheres of influence
• recommended resources to read, watch, or listen to for further learning
• personal reflections and anecdotes from the author on her own learning journey
• voices of non-Indigenous educators who share their learning and model how to move into, and sit, in places of unknowing and discomfort, so we can examine our own biases and engage in this work in a good way

Grounded in the First Peoples Principles of Learning, this comprehensive guide builds on Chrona’s own experiences in British Columbia’s education system to explore how to shape anti-racist and equitable education systems for all.

Perfect for reading on your own or with your professional learning community!

Educator Information
Table of Contents

1 Where Do We Begin? Setting Up Our Space in A Good Way

• Situating Ourselves
• An Invitation
• Some Structural Guidance as You Read
• Discomfort: Moving Through the Fear of Making Mistakes
• Taking Responsibility

2 Indigenous Education Is Not Multicultural Education

• Defining Indigenous Education
• Culturally Responsive Education and Beyond

3 Yes, You Have a Role: Reconciliation Through Education

• Our Collective Responsibility
• This Is Not “Just History”; This Is Now
• Colonization Past and Present
• Reconciliation Through Education
• A Vision of a System

4 So, Let’s Talk About the R Word

• Begin With Honesty
• Becoming Anti-Racist in Canada
• Investigating Our Own Biases and Assumptions
• How We Define Racism Matters
• Relational Racism
• Systemic Racism
• Learning and Growing

5 An Indigenous-Informed Pedagogy: The First Peoples Principles of Learning

• Moving From “Learning About” to “Learning From”
• How Were the FPPL Identified?
• What Is Important to Know About the FPPL?
• A Closer Look at Each Principle
• Current Contexts

6 Authentic Indigenous Resources

• Voice and Representation
• Authentic Resource Evaluation Criteria
• Collaborative Development of Local First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Resources

7 A Story of One System: Indigenous Education in British Columbia

• On a Learning Journey
• The Power of Indigenous Advocacy and United Voice
• Government Commitments and Obligations
• Bumpy Paths

8 Now What?

• Next Steps
• Final Thoughts: Working in Relation

References

Additional Information
232 pages | 7.00" x 9.00" | Paperback

Tsilhqút’ín or Tsinlhqút’ín, also known as Chilcotin, is a northern Athabaskan language spoken by the people of the Chilco River (Tsilhqóx) in Interior British Columbia. This language is spoken by approximately 2,000 adults in six reserves, and both spoken and written forms are taught as part of school curricula. Until now, the literature on Tsilhqút’ín contained very little description of the language. With forty-seven consonants and six vowels plus tone, the phonological system is notoriously complex.

This book is the first comprehensive grammar of Tsilhqu´t’i´n. It covers all aspects of linguistic structure -- phonology, morphology, and syntax -- including negation and questions. Also included are three stories passed down by Tsilhqút’ín elders Helena Myers (translated by Maria Myers), William Myers, and Mabel Alphonse (translated by Bella Alphonse), which are annotated with linguistic analysis. The product of decades of work by linguist Eung-Do Cook, A Tsilhqút’ín Grammar makes an important contribution to the ongoing documentation of Athabaskan languages.

This book will be relevant to scholars of Tsilhqút’ín and of other Athabaskan languages, linguists in a range of topics (phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics, as well as comparative and historical linguistics), and members of the Tsilhqút’ín First Nations.

Educator Information
Includes Indigenous contributions. 

Table of Contents

Abbreviations and Symbols

Introduction

1 Sound System and Orthography

2 Words and Their Categories

3 Organization of the Verb

4 Theme Categories and Other Verb Classes

5 Simple Sentences

6 Complex Sentences

7 Movement and Other Syntactic Rules

8 Negation

9 Questions

10 Reference to Third Person and Morphosyntactic Problems

Appendix: Three Annotated Texts

References Cited

Additional Information
670 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | Paperback

Authenticity Note: Because of the story contributions from Tsilhqút’ín elders, this book has received our Authentic Indigenous Text label.  But, the author, linguist Eung-Do Cook, is not Indigenous.  It is up to readers to determine if this will work as an authentic resource for their purposes.

Based on what we now know about reading, this practical book offers strategies in a consistent format that is easy for teachers to incorporate into their daily instruction. This grab-bag of classroom-tested activities allows teachers to choose what they need to meet the diverse needs of students from first to eighth grade. These strategies guide students through the reading process and build important comprehension skills through reading, talk, art, drama and more. These innovative ways to use the best children’s books inspire students to become enthusiastic and avid readers and to take the first giant step into becoming lifelong readers.

Educator Information
A grab-bag of ready-to-use strategies that promote a love of reading.

Shows how to use the best children's books in classrooms in new and innovative ways.

Illustrates how to balance great books that matter with screen time.

Additional Information
160 pages | 8.38" x 10.88"

Teacher lesson plans and resources that accompany the book Beyond the Orange Shirt Story.

Beyond the Orange Shirt Story is a unique collection of truths, as told by Phyllis Webstad's family and others, that will give readers an up-close look at what life was like before, during, and after their Residential School experiences. In this book, Survivors and Intergenerational Survivors share their stories authentically and in their own words. Phyllis Webstad is a Residential School Survivor and founder of the Orange Shirt Day movement. Phyllis has carefully selected stories to help Canadians educate themselves and gain a deeper understanding of the impacts of the Residential School System. Readers of this book will become more aware of a number of challenges faced by many Indigenous peoples in Canada. With this awareness comes learning and unlearning, understanding, acceptance, and change. Phyllis's hope is that all Canadians honour the lives and experiences of Survivors and their families as we go Beyond the Orange Shirt Story.

Educator Information
License allows the use of this lesson plan within a single school. It can be copied and shared within one school but is not to be shared beyond that.

Teacher lesson plans and resources that accompany the book Beyond the Orange Shirt Story.

Recommended for use with ages 12+.

Additional Information
15 pages | 8.50" x 11.00" 

Plan de leçon de l'enseignant qui accompagne le livre, C'est ce qu'on m'a dit, comprend les questions de compréhension, les activités de groupe, la recherche de mots est finalement les pages de couleurs, etc.

Educator Information
This resource is recommended for teaching ages 6 to 8.

The accompanying student resource for this work is available here: C'est ce qu'on m'a dit 

This lesson plan is also available in English: This Is What I've Been Told Teacher Lesson Plan

Additional Information
12 pages | 8.50" x 11.00" | B&W Illustrations 

This remarkable book shows teachers how to stop working harder and start working smarter. It describes a shift from “teach-test-move-on” to “teach-connect-apply” to optimize student learning. This valuable resource provides teachers with an understanding of simple, manageable and sustainable strategies to immediately change their approach. These strategies build on helping students retain math concepts so they can apply them in novel situations down the road. The focus is on supporting teachers in framing instruction so that students strengthen their understanding and can remember and apply learning. Making Math Stick is a game-changer that champions durable learning for all students.

Educator Information
Strengthens math instruction to take students beyond exams to deeper learning in K to 8 classrooms. 

This book encourages instruction that helps students recall and apply math concepts.

Additional Information
144 pages | 8.38" x 10.88" | Paperback 

This is the Teacher Lesson Plan that accompanies the book Meet Your Family. Includes comprehension questions, group activities, wordsearch, colouring pages etc. Mother Earth, we come from her, we go to her, without her we wouldn't be here, she gives all of us life and because of her we are all one family. In many segments of Indigenous life we speak of Mother Earth, Father Sky, Grandfather Sun, and Grandmother Moon.

Meet Your Family is a rhythmic poem that will enlighten readers on how to view these important figures and share a greater concept of seeing the world as our natural family. Meet Your Family is presented in both English and Ojibway. An additional softcover book written in Ojibway with a phonetics guide is included inside this hardcover book.

Educator Information
Includes:

– Brainstorming Activity

– Letter Writing

– Comprehension Questions

– Colouring

– Crossword Puzzle

– Word Search

The license allows the use of this lesson plan within a single school. It can be copied and shared within one school but is not to be shared beyond that.

The student resource is available here: Meet Your Family / Gikenim Giniigi'igoog

Additional Information
12 pages | 8.50" x 11.00" | b&w illustrations 

A collection of authentic Orange Shirt Day books from the founder of the Orange Shirt Day movement, Phyllis Webstad. Package includes four books and three accompanying lesson plans, The Orange Shirt Story, Phyllis's Orange Shirt, Orange Shirt Day and Beyond the Orange Shirt Story.

Educator Information
Includes picture books for children, as well as books for young adults.  Review individual titles for more information about each include:

• The Orange Shirt Story
• Phyllis's Orange Shirt
• Orange Shirt Day
• Beyond the Orange Shirt Story

Additional Information
9.00" x 12.00"