Math with Context: Resources for Grade 8/9 First Nations Students
As some may know, much of my experience teaching the last two years has been with First Nation students. I arrived at my teaching assignment with some knowledge of First Nation themes and curriculum, but in my mind I thought, "I'm teaching a Math curriculum, how different could that look from what I learned growing up and in teacher's college?" I admit that I had little conception as to how much context can affect our students in every subject, including math.
I'd like to share a resource that I found very helpful when ensuring that what I was teaching reflected the realities of my students. Although this is a document developed in British Columbia, many First Nations in Ontario share similar themes and connections. A few examples of overarching themes and how they can be integrated culturally with math are:
- Hunting/Fishing: Statistics, Rates and Ratios, Percentages
- Food and Nutrition: Percentage, Fractions
- Mapping/Directions/Travel: Pythagoreon Thereom, Proportional Reasoning, Surface Area, Volume
- Traditional Games: Data Presentation, Chance and Probability
There are worksheets and lesson plans in the above document. These documents can be wonderful additions to our current units, not only for First Nation students, but for all Canadian students looking to broaden their knowledge of Aboriginal culture and themes. Often we teach math as a "standalone" subject, but I think any opportunity to reach all students is valuable and should be utilized.
This is looks like fantastic resource! Unfortunately I have not had much opportunity to experience and explore Aboriginal culture, and especially not in terms of how to integrate it into the curriculum. The examples you provided are so interesting; I never would have thought of relating hunting and fishing to statistics and rates of change for instance. Another example that stood out to me from flipping through the document was using Pythagorean theorem for Totem poles. These examples provide an excellent springboard for coming up with other culturally relevant activities. I also agree that it is a great curriculum addition for non-Aboriginal students (and teachers such as myself) as well, to become better educated and familiar with aspects of Aboriginal culture.
ReplyDeleteI think there are huge benefits in being able to make any curriculum culturally relevant to any student demographic. I found this document for Ontario titled "Culturally Responsive Pedagogy". It's pretty general, outlining some of the underlying theories behind it and general approaches. So while not as effective as your document, it may provide a decent starting point?
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/cbs_responsivepedagogy.pdf
Great document about not only educating about First Nations but also helping Aboriginal students feel comfortable and make connections to math. Connecting is very important. Students learning to understand how relationships among procedures and concepts also helps develop understanding. The more connections students make, the deeper the understanding. Also,”making connections between the mathematics they study and its applications in their everyday lives helps students see the usefulness and relevance of mathematics beyond the classroom.” (http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/secondary/math910curr.pdf)
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