Grade 9-12 Full Water Curriculum
Spending time outdoors allows us to develop an understanding of the natural environment and ourselves. When we advocate for the well-being of others, it connects us to the land and our community.
Please review full curriculum in the PDF at the bottom of the page to gain full understanding of the lesson and activity.
Activity: Core Competency – Personal Awareness & Responsibility
Grades: 9-12 (adaptable for Gr. 6-8)
Subjects: Physical and Health Education (Grades 6–10), Outdoor Education (Grades 11–12)
Number of Lessons/Time: 2-3 Lessons
captikʷł Teaching Opportunity
One of the many lessons in qwʕay snk̓lip Blue Coyote is about the importance of water and how it is healing. The goal of this activity is to start a discussion about mental wellness and resilience. It challenges students to look inward and share their perspectives with their peers.
What To Do
- Watch captikʷł is Medicine by Madeline Terbasket
- As a class, analyze and discuss some of the lessons that are taught in Coyote and Eagle (be true to yourself). It’s okay to make mistakes. Allow your foxes to support you, etc.
- Read Blue Coyote out loud to the class.
- As you read, have students draw images. The goal is to create visual reflection. Use the Reflection Wheel to guide their reflections. Read for 20 minutes each class.
- Brainstorm some guiding questions/ideas for each reflection prompt on the wheel. Example:
a. Think: What does this captikʷł lesson make you think of (self connection)?
b. Hear: List key words that come to you.
c. Taste: What does Coyote taste? What do you taste?
d. See: What images come to mind as you listen, etc.?
*Move your class outside if possible, and sit on the grass or near a water source while you read.
- After you finish reading, allow students some extra time to finish their visual reflections.
- Host a gallery walk, get up and move! Ask students to look for similarities and differences in their visual reflections.
- Sit in a circle and ask the class “How can we use the lessons in this captikwł to help us fight our own monsters?”
- Read this passage from Blue Coyote to the class “He listened to the flowing water. It splashed against the rocks, swirled around, and continued its course downstream. ‘The water is so resilient,̕ he thought, ‘no matter what stands in its path, it keeps flowing.̕ He wished to be more like the water. He wanted to be able to work through his problems and his fears and keep moving forward.”
- Prompts: Students can respond orally or written: What do you do when you feel like Coyote? What are some ways we can overcome our fears? What is the importance of water in Blue Coyote? How and who does water heal? How can we use or turn to water to support our mental wellness?
- Use FoundryBC or other mental health resources to facilitate conversations and learning.