Origin Stories

The artifact we wish to share comes from our Origin Stories unit. We chose to do an origin stories unit as a spin off of the Memoirs unit other grade 8 classes at our school run.  We have been doing lots of work with students about the importance of where they come from and their ancestry.  As part of the lead up into our slam poetry, we felt it was important for students to first understand where they come from.

Beginning this unit, students read one of our local origin stories (Saanich Flood Story) as well as several memoirs of Indigenous peoples from the book Island Kids by Tara Saracuse.  Students then worked on elements of story with the end goal of writing their own Origin Story.

Students began by answering 8 of the Questions for a Memoirist document.

We created an origin stories planning sheet where students could reflect on their origin story.  Here is a students example.




As well, students were provided a origin story plot diagram for their planning.  On the Origin stories planning sheet we focused on the centre circle describing who the writer (student) is and where they come from. We chose to frame their origin stories like this to layer indigenous culture into their origin stories as well as to ground their stories.


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