Our classroom was a sea of orange today as we learned about Canadian history through "Orange Shirt Day." The kiddos and I started the day off by watching a short video explaining why we all wear an orange shirt. Here it is: Shortly after, we read a story called, "Phyllis' Orange Shirt" by Phyllis Webstad (also in the video) to further our understanding of Residential Schools and the effect they had on First Nation children. At the beginning of the story, I presented each kiddo with a nice big, beautiful, orange, paper heart. Throughout the story, I asked them to identify unkind events in the story by crumpling a piece of the heart up to help understand that those actions were hurtful and can make people feel small. By the end of the story, the heart was shriveled up into a ball. The kiddos were very empathetic of Phyllis and other children who had to attend residential schools. They identified how she must have felt when her orange shirt was taken away, sleeping in a bed that was not hers and not being able to see her family for over 300 sleeps. At the end of the story, I challenged the kiddos to try and open their heart back up slowly and carefully. I asked them to try their best to make it look exactly the same as when I first handed it to them at the beginning of the story. Some children tried to pull the crinkles out and others used the floor to make it flat again. We discussed the differences between the heart at the beginning and the end of the story. I explained that although we tried to make it look the same, it never will be. This is why we need to treat all people with respect and embrace their unique and special abilities. We promised to work together to use kind words and help one another to create a more positive future! These little people are already so empathetic, loving and caring. They have all the capabilities of changing the world and are on their way already! You will find the crinkled heart in their back pack. Please take some time tonight to review why we wear an orange t-shirt and remind them of the following:
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July 2020
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