Canada Jays – Creating Circles of Friendship across the Land

In 2019-20, the Kids’ Guide to Canada team has begun a brand new Social Studies and Literacy activity: creating CIRCLES of FRIENDSHIP and LEARNING across the country.

GOALS:

• To help students develop greater intercultural understanding, empathy, and respect, especially for Indigenous cultures (TRC 63.3)
• To create a Social Studies learning resource for K-8 classes created BY Canadian students and FOR Canadian students.
• To increase experiential connections-based learning across Canada, and to support teachers learning the skills to do this safely and effectively
• To model use of the Kids’ Guide map as a learning tool

We are sending hand-sewn Canada Jays on journeys from class to class creating small circles of friendship and learning across the land. Canada Jays are not the official bird of Canada, but they live in all 13 provinces and territories, and they represent the spirit of adventure very well.  Each Circle of Friendship contains from five to eight Grade 3-8 classes, each class residing in a different province or territory in Canada.  

Each class’s participation typically involves 1-2 weeks when the Canada Jay “flies in” to their “airbnb classroom“, looking for help in exploring and learning about the local community.

While the Canada Jay is visiting with them, the students are asked to introduce him or her to the sites and sounds and smells of their local neighbourhood community – those that are important to the students!

At the end of the Canada Jay’s visit, students are asked to share the jay’s adventures on his online travel diary through

• photographs
• stories
• artwork 
• interviews
• news reports
• short video clips
• slide-shows
• or whatever suits the students and curriculum

NOTE: For STUDENT SAFETY , students do not have accounts and cannot post online. Only the classroom teacher can upload student works to the CJ’s travel diary online.  

Wherever possible, short 10-15 minute live student webcasts will be hosted by the national Kids’ Guide team, allowing students in each class to share the Jays’ discoveries and adventures while in their home community. These webcasts will be recorded and can be viewed by all K-8 classes across Canada.      

The Kids’ Guide to Canada team will also maintain a map of each Canada Jay’s travels, allowing students to track each Jay’s journey and adventures across this huge country we now call Canada.  

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Teachers can receive automatic notifications of the Jays’ travels and class webcasts with their free registration in the Kids’ Guide project:

REGISTER  HERE

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Teachers from * outside the southern Ontario* area can apply to have your students participate in one of the circles, by sending an email to . akgtcanada@gmail.com . As soon as we have 5-7 classes from different areas across the country, we will create a new circle and contact you.    

* Unfortunately, we have a waiting list of southern Ontario schools wishing to participate in this activity. This list will open again in September of 2020.

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