Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation
by Monique Gray Smith
Description:
Publisher's description (Orca Book Publishers, 2017):
Canada's relationship with its Indigenous people has suffered as a result of both the residential school system and the lack of understanding of the historical and current impact of those schools. Healing and repairing that relationship requires education, awareness and increased understanding of the legacy and the impacts still being felt by Survivors and their families. Guided by acclaimed Indigenous author Monique Gray Smith, readers will learn about the lives of Survivors and listen to allies who are putting the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into action.
Author biography (Orca Book Publishers, translated):
Of mixed heritage (Cree and Scottish), Monique Gray Smith is a successf author and speaker who has won numerous prizes. Her works cater to a diversity of audiences, subjects, and emotions. Throughout her writing, themes emerge including love as a pathway toward healing. Her books include Speaking our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation, J’ai le coeur rempli de bonheur, Tu es là pour moi, Lucy and Lola, Tilly: A Story of Hope and Resilience, Tilly and the Crazy Eights, Nous sommes gentils et J’espère. Monique also adapted Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer for young adults. She lives with her family on the ancestral territory of the Lək̓ʷəŋən and WSÁNEĆ peoples.
Resource format: Picturebook
Age recommendation: Grade 4 -8
Keywords: residential school, survivors, allies, Truth and Reconciliation, TRC Calls to Action
Year of publication: 2017
Publisher information: Orca Book Publishers
Teaching and Learning Ideas
Our team collaborated with new teachers, alumni of the Werklund School of Education’s Bachelor of Education program, to create teaching and learning plans for texts in this website. With audiences ranging from Pre-Kindergarten to Post-Secondary, lesson plans across this resource address a wide range of school subject areas, inclusive approaches, and Indigenous education topics, such as the revitalization of Indigenous languages. As this website was designed with Undergraduate Programs in Education instructors, as well as teachers in mind, connections to UPE courses have been flagged on each lesson plan. These lessons are intended as a starting place for educators, to help you envision ways in which you might bring Indigenous literatures, as well as ways of knowing, being, and doing, into your teaching contexts. Please adapt, use, and share these lessons in ways that are generative for your teaching practice. We offer our sincere thanks to the dozens of new teachers who gifted us with these creative ideas!
Speaking Our Truth: A journey towards reconciliation in the classroom Grades 7-12 Lesson
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