Week 1

Central Theme:
Guiding Questions:
Discipline
Visual Arts

English Language Arts

Global citizenship
What does it mean to be part of a global community?
Learning Tasks
How does emotion affect artistic work?
How can we interpret emotion and experiece into artwork?
Students will be shown videos and news reports of Hurricane Matthew and its
devastating impact. After watching video learners will have a discussion in small groups
about what devastation due to natural disaster means for the community, surviors, and
world. Students will share their discussion with the class.
Students will then engage with a presentation about colour theory, and how colours can
be utilized to invoke emotion and enrich viewer experience. Afterwards learners will
watch demonstrations of various markmaking techniques to consider how the elements
of principals of design (e.g. line) can be varied to also portray a certain emotion or
effect.
Learners will recieve a variety of different mediums and be asked to engage in active
exploration of colours, markmaking, and imagery based on how they felt watching the
videos and through discussion.
Over the course of the week students will alternate between exploring markmaking and
mediums in art, and discussing their development of imagery to reflect their emotional
interpretation.
On the final class of the week students will write a one page reflection about what they
learned through their exploration.

What is a graphic novel?

How is a graphic novel different from a comic strip or a regular novel?
What are the pros/cons about a graphic novel?
Students will begin reading "The Outside Circle" by Patti LaBoucane-Benson The
teacher will then discuss the elements that make up the graphic novel, which will
include art, layout and text. As a class, students will discuss how to read a graphic
novel, and explore where our eyes take us from image to image and from word bubble
to word bubble. Upon reading the book together as a class, the teacher will discuss
what some of the problems seen in the community are in the book, such as violence,
crime, and alcoholism. Afterwards, students will compare and contrast whether these
issues are also seen in their communities. Students will then research the difference
between the name Aboriginals and First Nations and define them. After doing so,
students will break up into groups and look at different phrases from the book. The
groups will conduct online research to find out what these phrases mean to the
Aboriginal People, and also discuss how the choice of words creates a certain tone in
the book. At the end of each class, students will complete exit cards as formative
assessment and to track their understanding of course concepts.

Mathematics

What is the meaning of community in Aboriginal culture?

What is the meaning of circle in Aboriginal culture?
What are some Mathematical properties of a circle?
Teacher will introduce the meaning of community in Aboriginal culture.
In Aboriginal culture, the community can be viewed as a concentric circle.
(Family Extended family Band Tribe or Nation Confederacies)
In a small group, students will discuss about some examples of circles used in
Aboriginal culture such as Tepees, Igloos, medicine wheels, dream catchers, etc.
Students will learn about the shape of circle and its properties in mathematical
concepts. They will learn the relationships among radius, diameter and circumference
relating circumference to pi. Also, students will learn how to construct circles with a
given radius or diameter. Later in the week, students will solve problems involving the
radii, diameters and circumferences of circles.

Social Studies

What does community mean to you?

What makes a community?
Students will break into small groups and are tasked with writing words that come to
mind when they think of community on sticky notes. They will then categorize the notes
from all groups as a larger class by grouping similar ideas together and forming a living
mind map around the central idea of community. The class will then engage in thought
provoking discussion about what makes a community.
After the activity and discussion (for the rest of the week), students will be asked to
(individually) design a similar map (although more creative) about the different elements
of the Canadian community. They are to create a mind map of the greater Canadian
community, that considers the 5 Ws (who, what, when, where, why). This learning
artifact should also be visually appealing and creative; thus, representation can be in
many forms (digital, painting, 3D, ect) as outlined in the following rubric. They should
also consider the points brought forward in the initial class discussion of community.

ELL and Differentiation

What makes a hero?

What are the cultural elements of a hero?
During the first week, the teacher will spend time talking to students about the cultural
elements of a hero. Five elements that make up a hero will be discussed, which will
include: bravery/courage, destined to face danger, undergoing a challenge that will
change him/her, skill in the face of adversity, and sacrifice for the sake of others.
Students will then discuss the components on how to read a graphic novel with
students, which will introduce them to their novel study "The Outside Circle" by Patti
LaBoucane-Benson. Additionally, students will also be also be introduced to the topic of
Indingeous peoples, specifically those in Canada. Students will be asked to record their
responses in their journals, and as a class, these responses will be shared with other
students. As the graphic novel is read and studied, students will receive a worksheet
each time a chapter is finished to see their comprehension of cultural motifs and track
their progress. Students will also complete exit cards to receive feedback on learning
needs and assess knowledge of concepts.

Week 2
Central Theme:
Guiding Questions:
Discipline

Global citizenship
What does it mean to be part of a global community?
Learning Tasks

Visual Arts

How can we use cultural mark making to develop our artwork?

What role does community and culture play in art?
Learners will examine and discuss in groups artworks from Calgarian artists to find
defining principals. Students will then examine and discuss Haitian artwork leading to a
compare and contrast activity in small groups.
As a class learners will brainstorm a list of defining characteristics considering the
elements and principals of design. Through the generation of this list students will
consider how the geographic location of the artist plays a role in artistic development.
After this discussion students will choose a characteristic of each community and
develop an artwork that considers the emotion of last weeks lesson, but also features
the design elements of both communities.
At the end of the week students who are interested may submit their artworks created
in the last two weeks to be considered for the invitations, and programs for The
Celebration of Learning.
Students will reflect on how their artwork was or was not enhanced by exploring these
characteristics during the Weekly Reflection. Students will also reflect on how their
artwork is influenced by their geographic location and community.

English Language Arts

How do characters change over time?

What role does time play in character development/change?
How does the graphic novel show how time has passed?
During this week, students will focus on character development in the novel. Students
will be broken into groups to discuss different characters in the book, and will be asked
questions such as: Based on some of Peters remarks, how would you characterize
him? Students will then fill out a worksheet with 3 columns and write out how Pete, the
main character, changes throughout the story. A character analysis worksheet will also
be handed out to write quotes that they feel are important from the story and describe
Petes character. Students will then analyze why Pete changes and record these
events. For the formal assessment component, students will write a letter to their
personal hero. In this letter, they will have to name three things that they like about their
hero and explain why they like these three characteristics. Then, students will tell the
hero what characteristics have inspired the student to be just like the hero and what the
student doing is doing or working on to have the same characteristics as that hero.

Mathematics

How much area is affected by Hurricane Matthew?

Students will learn how to find the area of circles.
Students will form a group, and they will research to get a satellite image of Hurricane
Matthew.
Students will determine how much area was affected by Hurricane Matthew by
Recognizing (visualizing) a shape of circle in Hurricane Matthew
Identifying the radius of circle

Social Studies

How does immigration affect community?

What is the Canadian community and how has it changed overtime?
Is the Canadian community better or worse today? Support answer.Review and
discuss the Canadian perspective of community and how that has changed overtime
(exit slip for one class this week - short reflection of one immigration movement in
Canada and how it has shaped/impacted communities. As the students have learned
about confederation and Canadian history, they will be asked to write two journal
entries (pre and post confederation) from an Aboriginal perspective about community at
the given time. These journal entries should reflect how the Aboriginal community
changed/stayed the same before and after confederation.

ELL and Differentiation

Do we need heroes to make the world a better place?

During the second week, students will continue to read the book. The graphic novel will
be read as a class, so the teacher may discuss some of the unfamiliar words and have
those words used for a spelling test and dictation (formal assessment). Students will be
expected to work on grammar, puncuation, syntax, etc. Assessments will include these
common vocabulary words found in the novel. Additionally, students will also partake in
Kahoot quizzes online, which will be used as formative assessment to see how well
students are keeping up with concepts from the novel study. Students will also work
with quotes from the book and make a poster representing the quotes importance. To
cater towards learner differentiation, students will also be allowed to complete this
activity online (in a blog post format). Students may use Weebly, Google docs,
PowerPoint, etc. to complete their work, as long as the link or file is sent to the teacher.
This project will be designed for the students to understand why some of the issues in
the book are important, and they will have a week to work on the poster/online project.
During this week, students will also watch the film Spider-Man in class, and apply the
five cultural elements of a hero to assess the character.

Week 3
Central Theme:
Guiding Questions:
Discipline

Global citizenship
What does it mean to be part of a global community?
Learning Tasks

Visual Arts

How can we use emotion and cultural mark making to express ourselves through
art?
Learners will spend one class participating in independant research to invesitgate
factors in our community, and a community in Haiti. After a period of independant
exploration students will work with a partner to identify themes of community in both
cultures considering the question: What defines a community? Students will be guided
to explore if a community is a geographic space or a group of people. Students will be
ask to consider how Calgary's floods affected our community, and compare their
experience to how Hurricane Matthew has devastated Haiti.
Mid-way through the week all the artworks submitted for consideration for the invitations
and programs of The Celebration of Learning will be displayed throughout the room.
Students will fill out an Exit Response Card on Wednesday with their votes for the top 5
images to be used in the media for the event.
In the last half of the week learners will begin designing an artwork considering
community, cultural mark making, and emotion. Students will produce a Connecting
Communities Artwork. In this peice students will consider line, colour, and balance, as
well as cultural mark making to show how communities can be connected globally.
At the end of the week students will meet in small groups to talk about how their
experience has led to this artwork and recieve peer-based feedback.
During the Weekly Reflection learners will consider how they defined community, how
natural disaster affects community, and how we can express community through art.

English Language Arts

Can someone ordinary without special powers be considered a hero?
Can heroism also include personal strengths such as resiliency?
During this week, students will watch a documentary called "The Secret Path" by Gord
Downie. This film tells the story of an Aboriginal student who walked 400 miles to
return back to his family, and died in the process. It will highlight the dark history of
Canada, which used residential schools to keep students apart from their families. After
watching the novel, students will write whether or not they believe the Aboriginal student
is a hero, and how this story relates to the previous ones, such as "The Outside Circle"
and "Spider-Man." Students will learn to link various characters together and will record
their thoughts and perceptions in their journals, which will be shared as a class.
Students will then work on summative assessment, which will be a final project based
on the novel. The project will be called "Humans of The Outside Circle." For this final
assignment, students' task will be to create a Humans of The Outside Circle project
that will utilize both visual literacy (pictures) and written text to convey their thoughts.
Students will be expected to incorporate themes such as personal identity, collective
identity, conflicting identities, altruism, etc. which have been explored in class. In this
project, students will pretend that they are famous photographers in the graphic novel,
and have been given a chance to interview them for a project. Students will choose
three characters from the novel, draw pictures of them, and write about their conflicts
with individual and collective identity. This is very much like what Brandon does from
Humans of New York, so they may keep those posts in mind for a frame of reference.
Students will be given a list of questions to ask or reflect upon, and will pick the three
they would like to use for the interview.

Mathematics

What are costs of natural disasters on global and immediate economy?Students

will learn how to measure the central tendency (mean, median, mode) and range of
data. They will also learn how to determine the most appropriate measures of central
tendency to report findings.
In groups, students will research costs of the natural disaster.
They will collect, display and analyze data for
Human Impacts
Physical Impacts
Others
By Hurricane Matthew in Haiti.

Social Studies

What does it mean to be part of a global community?

How do communities overcome disaster?
Students will be shown examples [hurricane Matthew/Calgary flood] (using film, news
clip, article, ect.) of disasters affecting communities (hurricane and aboriginal
assimilation etc.) and will engage in discussion about how the community was affected
and how they dealt with the sudden change. They will then be asked to find their own
event (current or historical) where a community experienced or endured some sort of
disaster or encountered some kind of rapid change. They will need to somehow
engagingly highlight their findings (using guided questions) and present it to the class

ELL and Differentiation

Does your community have heroes?

How do heroes make you feel?
How does the documentary relate to the concept of heroes?
During this week, students will continue reading the graphic novel and will also watch a
film called "The Secret Path" by Gord Downie to further examine the different types of
heroes one may encounter. Students will be asked to compare the main character, an
Aboriginal student trying to make his way home to his family, to previous characters
such as Spider-Man or Peter. Students will be asked to examine whether special
abilities or powers are required for one to become a hero. Students will note the
differences between the characters, and will also be able to see that personal strengths
and abilities can also make a hero. Students will record their responses in their
journals, and will also participate in a "Think, Pair, Share" activity with classmates to
discuss their thoughts. Students will receive feedback on their writing, as this activity
will track student progress and help target benchmarks such as vocabulary, syntax,
grammar, etc. Additionally, students will partake in another Kahoot activity which will
examine their understanding of the graphic novel and film study. Students will also be
introduced to their final project, "Humans of Calgary," which will focus on people the
students believe are personal heroes to them. They will connect concepts from the
graphic novel to their assignment. Students will be assigned to interview 2 other people
regarding the flood in Calgary. Students can either take a photo and write captions
underneath, or make a video. Flexibility will be given in order to cater to learner
differentiation.

Week 4
Central Theme:
Guiding Questions:
Discipline

Global citizenship
What does it mean to be part of a global community?
Student Tasks

Visual Arts

How can art help bring a community together?

How can we use artwork to express global community?After recieving peerfeedback on their artwork last week students will continue to develop their pieces
independantly. Observation and questioning will help to scaffold student learning as
they consider design descisions during artistic development.
At the end of the week students will arrange into small groups with their finished
artwork. Students will recieve peer-feedback to inform the artistic process.
Learners will reflect on what elements of this project they may want to incorporate into
future works, consider emotion, cultural mark making, and community identity.
As the Week ends students will select an artwork from the four weeks of this inquiry.
While students will be encouraged to consider the Connecting Communities artwork,
they may choose one of the artworks exploring emotion or cultural mark making from
Week One or Two as The Celebration of Learning will show the overall process of
student development of knowledge throughout the inquiry.

English Language Arts

What role does literature play in shaping identity, and how does it connect with
the human condition?
How do internal and external challenges change an individual?
During this week, students will be introduced to the list of questions that they must
select from. These questions will include:
Who am I and what culture or background do I come from?
As an individual, what role do I play in society?
How is my identity formed and shaped by life experiences?
To what extent do internal factors (i.e. family, culture) actively play a role in my identity?
Why is the theme of bravery in the face of difficulties mentioned in the text? What point
is the author trying to make?
What makes a hero?
How do conformity and societal expectations impact ones identity?
How does an individual connect with his/her authentic self in a society that categorizes
individuals and attempts to define them?
Students will also be given assignment critera, which will be as follows:
Your interview with the character must address three of the above questions, and keep
in mind that you are putting yourself in their shoes. Think about how they view their own
identity, and what internal conflicts they may deal with. Captions for each character
should be approximately 750 words long, and can also be typed up on a computer.
Alternatively, if you would like to be creative and make a video project instead, you are
free to do so, as long as you address the same questions and select three characters.
You can work in groups and have classmates direct or act as the characters.
Students will also be required to look at the rubric and self-assess their learning. They
will also be given the opportunity to receive peer feedback.

Mathematics

Celebration of Learning
Students will review the mathematical concepts on circle and its properties as well as
on data analysis involving mean, median and mode. In groups, students will gather all
researched information during the Week 2 & 3 to make a poster which will be exhibited
during the celebration of learning. Students will be given options to make a poster such
that they can either make a handmade poster or use a computer to design their poster.
Students will make a connection between Mathematics and real world and fosters a
sense of global citizenship.

Social Studies

What makes a good question?

Students will watch a short video about the hilarity in teachers asking students vague
questions [insert website]. The clever/funny responses to test questions will stimulate
conversation as to what makes a good question.The class will discuss why some of the
questions the teachers asked were not successful and how we could make them better.
After informing the students as to who some of the guests/speakers will be, they will be
asked to develop strong questions for guests at the celebration.They will need to
individually come up with three good questions and share them with a partner. After
sharing, they will each provide each other with critical and constructive feedback, make
improvements, and repeat the process with a different partner. Changes and edits
should be clearly marked, as the sheet of questions will be used as an exit slip at the
end of class for assessment of learning.
Students will get their pages back and share their strongest questions with the larger
class. The class will then select the top 5 using a critical elimination process.

ELL and Differentiation

What are the different types of heroes?

Can someone such as yourself become a hero in your community?
During this final week, students will continue working on their "Humans of Calgary"
assignment, which will ask them to interview at least two different people and get their
experiences regarding the flood. Students will be asking questions about heroism, and
ask the people they are interviewing who was a personal hero to them during the flood.
Students will be expected to tie in these experiences with characters from the novel or
film study, and will be evaluated on creativity, spelling, grammar, punctuation, syntax,
etc. Students will also be asked to give a brief 3-5 minute presentation on their projects,
which will be used to evaluate their spoken literacy skills, which is a component of the
ELL benchmarks. Additionally, during this final "Celebration of Learning" activity, efforts
will be made to bring in Mayor Naheed Nenshi and other organizations such as the Red
Cross.