Writing Project - First Peoples' Journal Entry - Final Draft Due Nov. 8

In room 15 we have been working hard on a research and writing assignment connected to our Social Studies study of the First Peoples'. We are writing a journal entry imagining ourselves as one of the Indigenous Peoples who lived in what is now Canada before contact with Europeans.

The final draft to submit for final editing (not published copy) of our journal entries is due Nov. 8th. Grade 4 students need to write at least one paragraph (of 10 sentences or more) and Grade 5 students are expected to write 3 paragraphs or more.

Students have always been welcome to work on these journals at home and are encouraged to do so if they believe they will need more than the scheduled class time to finish by Nov. 8.
We are now in our last week of class time to work on our journals. Our class will have one hour to work on our journal entries this week and 30 minutes on Monday, Nov. 7.

If you would like to support your child with working on this assignment at home, please read the following information, use the files included at the bottom of this post if the papers are not at home, and contact Miss Cichosz with any questions.

Background Information:
Over this unit of study, we have explored some theories put forward by scientists and Indigenous Peoples' stories of origin about how First Peoples' came to live in what is now Canada (and more broadly: North America). Our class has also been learning about how to survive in an environment that does not have the luxuries to which we are accustomed, such as elecricity, grocery stores, and running water. We have been using books in the classroom to read about Indigenous Peoples' traditional ways of life all over North America while thinking critically about our reading. While our journal entries are set in the past, we are learning that Indigenous Peoples' have shaped our present and will be learning more about these concepts further into our unit. We have also been focusing on writing quality through lessons and conferences with Miss Cichosz because we are writing for readers.

Journal Information:
Each journal entry is about a typical day in the life of an imagined Indigenous Person, before European contact, written as if each student were living through that day (first person narration using, "I"), including how we depend on the environment to survive and how we can solve a challenge to our survival, such as lack of food or clean water, inclement weather, or dangerous animals.


The steps we need to take to complete our journals include:
1. Reading and research
2. Planning our story using credible information (using the journal planner is recommended)
3. Writing our first draft (including a title, beginning, middle, and end, and a survival challenge that is resolved in a satisfying way for the reader)
4. Revising our draft which could include multiple drafts (versions) of our writing and conferencing with Miss Cichosz (for clarity, powerful words, organization, etc.)
5. Editing our journal
* Editing starts with a self-edit. The author edits his/her journal using the editing checklist using a coloured pencil crayon and initials the top of the first page in his/her colour.
* Editing continues with 3 peer edits. Each peer edits the author's work in a different colour using the editing checklist and initials the top of the first page.
* The different colours and initials help the teacher know who completed each edit, so students can be held responsible for their work. We underline words we don't know how to spell and look them up at the end of the editing process.
6. Submitting the final draft for final editing by Miss Cichosz or an adult helper (due Nov. 8)
7. Publishing (making an attractive copy for the reader)


Assessing our Journal Entry:
We agreed on a rubric to assess our journal entries and an editing checklist to use when editing our journals (by ourselves and three other students). You can find, download, and print these helpful documents at home by clicking the file titles below. The journal planner includes a website that can be used for research and books can also be borrowed from Miss Cichosz.



Journal Planner and Research Website


Journal Rubric


Editing Checklist