In Grade 4, as a part of our “Where we are in place and time” unit of inquiry, students have been inquiring into human movement over time and in different places, and how it shapes individuals and societies. We have delved into why, how, and where did early humans move. We have inquired into the age of discovery, and colonization. We have also experienced being explorers during our PHE camping trip, watched a documentary about and spoken to a real life explorer!
This week, I devised a learning engagement for the students to experience the “push factors” of migration. The Grade 4 community were forced to become refugees because our classroom was colonized! We only had 30 seconds to gather the supplies that we could, and leave! We were traveling around the school with our backpacks, a yellow box of supplies, and some beanbags. We set up camp on the playground, only to be pushed out of there. We were constantly asked to show proper paperwork for being where we were. We had an offer of refuge, but only for 3 out of the 12 students. The whole class refused that offer! We were generously offered temporary “learning homes” in different classrooms, but we constantly had to move because all learning spaces were someone else’s “learning homes”. We spent 4 days living the lives of refugees! Ultimately, we held a summit with the colonizers to come to a resolution today. We are happy to report that the summit was a success and that we have our learning home back!
Ms. Jyoti
Grade 4 Teacher
