Upper Pine Elementary – Jr. Secondary School SD#60 Peace River North

School Name: Upper Pine Elementary – Junior Secondary School

School District: SD#60 Peace River North

Inquiry Team Members: Susan Gilmour: sgilmour@prn.bc.ca, Tracey Sawchuk: tsawchuk@prn.bc.ca

Inquiry Team Contact Email: sgilmour@prn.bc.ca

Type of Inquiry: NOIIE

Focus Addressed: Using the new Early Learning Framework section “Communication and Literacies”, we will be examining the pathway “culture, family, traditions and knowledge” in both Early Learning settings and K/3 classrooms.

We were wondering what opportunities were provided that incorporate play and other hands on ways, to engage students in oral storytelling to connect to self, family and culture. Sparking our curiosity were two separate interests. One was the development of the revised BC Early Learning Framework now extending to age 8. This impacts not only the Early Learning transition to Kindergarten, but now influences student learning to grade 3. The second was one team member’s course work in Early Literacy development. The value of oral language was discussed extensively, as it relates to all aspects of literacy development

Inquiry Story: Once our case study was submitted in mid December, Tracey and I, both together and individually, took advantage of a number of professional learning opportunities in January and February. From involvement with the CCRR Playful Story Retelling and Network night, to attending POPEY and Indigenous Oral storytelling workshops and various meetings with Early Learning partners, to completing a Early Childhood Literacy course, we gathered resources that would serve us well through the inquiry process. Using this information to clarify our thinking around our inquiry, we developed our 4 key questions for learners, determined which groups would be represented within the students chosen (ELL, Indigenous, Female, Male), and decided on the tool to capture the students’ answers. As well, we were able to collaborate a few times with educators to discuss the advantages of developing oral language through play.

We had planned to interview students after spring break in April, however school closures prevented us from completing our SCAN. Once schools reopen in the new school year, we will have a better idea which students will be attending regularly and determine which ones to interview. We should have this process completed by October. We look forward to attending the next District NOIIE meeting, sharing our interview results and determining the FOCUS of our inquiry. We will be in a much better place to move forward with our inquiry in the new school year. We look forward to completing the spiral of inquiry to examine the value of, and engagement of, students in playful storytelling.

Leave a Reply