You Hold Me Up – Monique Grey-Smith
Kindergarten/Grade One Literacy and Physical/Health Education Lesson
Learning Standards:
What Students will Understand (the Big
Ideas):
Everyone has a unique story to
share.(English Language Arts or ELA)
Stories and other texts helps us learn about
ourselves and our families. (ELA)
Language and story can be a source of
creativity and joy. (ELA)
Learning about ourselves and others helps us
develop a positive attitude and caring
behaviours which helps us build healthy
relationships. (Physical and Health Education
or PHE)
What students will be able to Do (Curricular Competencies):
I can use sources of information and prior knowledge to make meaning. (ELA)
I can use developmentally appropriate reading, listening, and viewing strategies to make
meaning. (ELA)
We can engage actively as listeners, viewers, and readers, as appropriate, to develop
understanding of self, identity, and community. (ELA)
I can use personal experience and knowledge to connect to stories and other texts to make
meaning. (ELA)
I can show awareness of how story in First Peoples cultures connects people to family
and community. (ELA)
I can identify caring behaviours among classmates and within families. (PHE)
I can identify and describe practices that promote mental well-being. (PHE)
I can identify personal skills, interests, and preferences. (PHE)
What Students will Know (Content):
Vocabulary to talk about texts (ELA)
Metacognitive strategies (ELA)
Caring behaviours in groups and families (PHE)
Emotions and their causes and effects (PHE)
Core Competencies:
Social Awareness & Responsibility:
o In familiar settings, I can interact with others and my surroundings respectfully
o I can interact with others and the environment respectfully and thoughtfully
o I can take purposeful action to support others and the environment.
First Peoples Principles:
Learning ultimately supports the well-being of the self, the family, the community, the
land, the spirts, and the ancestors.
Assessment:
Check in for understanding by asking questions throughout the lesson, make note of those
who may not be understanding. Provide additional examples to those that need it.
Use checklist at end of lesson
The project created at the end will show if students understand the ideas explored in the
lesson.
Adaptations:
book chosen uses simple language with pictures to explain what is happening
discuss the text while reading
check in for understanding
Use simple language
Present information orally, in writing and through pictures
Allow for multiple way to show understanding
Provide additional support where needed
Use Google Translate
Encourage discussion in First Language
Materials:
A copy of You Hold Me Up by Monique Grey Smith
Chart paper
Writing drawing tools
Loose parts
Musical instruments
Activity (may take place over multiple days):
1. Before starting the lesson place this book in a special place in the classroom. Make sure it
is in a place that honours it. This will help build excitement around the book and will
increase student motivation to read/listen to this book.
2. Tell the students that you will be reading them a story today written by a First Nations
author. Talk about how there are two sets of words on each page, one is English and one
is Cree which is a language spoken by some of the First Nations people who we share
land with today.
3. Explain that the book we are going to read today is all about the different actions can take
to make the people around us feel better or happy.
4. Ask: What is something that makes you feel happy? Provide a visual of a happy face to
help support all learners.
5. Ask: What are things that others can do to make you feel happy? Loved? Accepted?
6. Read the story to the class. Ask questions about the pictures (what the peoples doing,
who do you think that is) while reading. At the end of each page ask if the action
described on that page would make the students feel happy.
7. Act out some of the pages. Have the students laugh together. Ask: “How did laughing
make you feel?”. Have the class sing together. Ask “How does it make you feel when you
sing?”. Use some drums to make music. Ask: “How did you feel when you were playing
with the drums?”.
8. As a class make a “I feel held up when…” chart write and draw the ideas given by the
class. Put a happy face at the top of the chart to support all learners. Making a chart
allows for oral discussion but it will also represent the information in a written and visual
way. Allow peers to discuss in their first language if possible, this could be with
classmates or others you have invited into the classroom.
9. Have students create a representation of something they can do to “Hold Someone Up”. It
can be drawing, writing, painting, talking to an adult who can scribe or they can even use
loose parts to build a picture or tell their story. Students could even make up a song or
dance to express their ideas.
10. Model ways this could be done and show examples of finished work.
11. Give the class time to discuss possible ideas for their creations.
12. Allow students to work in pairs. Match up students who do not appear to have a plan with
students who have a plan.
13. Use the art pieces, writing or take pictures of creations to make a class collage which can
be displayed on a bulletin board. Make the board interactive and allow additions to be
made if students come up with new ideas.
14. Create a digital book or slide show of the creations.
Summative Assessment:
Use the checklist or one similar for summative assessment. You can meet individually with the
students to ask questions, review work completed during the lessons or review observational
notes that were taken to complete this checklist.
Name:_____________________________
Curricular Competency Emerging Developing Applying Extending
I can use sources of information and prior
knowledge to make meaning.
We can engage actively as listeners,
viewers, and readers, as appropriate, to
develop understanding of self, identity, and
community
I can use personal experience and
knowledge to connect to stories and other
texts to make meaning
I can show awareness of how story in First
Peoples cultures connects people to family
and community
I can identify caring behaviours among
classmates and within families.
I can identify and describe practices that
promote mental well-being
I can identify personal skills, interests, and
preferences
Additional Comments:
References:
Building Studnet Success- B.C.’s New Curriculum: https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/
First Nations Education Steering Committee (2012) In Our Words: Brining Authentic First
Peoples Content to the K-3 Classroom,
www.fnesc.ca/wp/wp-content/.../06/PUB-LFP-K-3-In-our-Own-Words-for-Web.pdf
Grey Smith, M. (2017) You Hold Me Up. Orca Book Publishers
