Introduce your class to one of Canada’s most prominent Indigenous historical artifacts, the canoe! Sharing a Story: The Canoe , is a unique puzzle to share with your class. Produced under Indig
enous Affairs Canada, this puzzle is unlike traditional puzzles as its pieces do not have a specific order or placement that come together to make a scene. Instead, it is a free range puzzle that allows your class to put together their very own river full of canoes!
Since this puzzle goes against typical puzzle norms, there are many different ways this puzzle could benefit your Indigenous lessons. Introduce free play, problem solving, and creativity, into your classroom by using this activity kit as a way to encourage your class to think outside the box, providing them with the opportunity to create without direction. Another option could be to ask your students to create a scene and describe what it is they created, inspiring their own story-telling. Or encourage group work in your class by having each student contribute a piece to the puzzle, creating a scene by the whole class! Additionally, Sharing a Story: The Canoe could be incorporated into classroom story
time to assist students that may have troubles sitting still throughout story time, providing a way to occupy themselves without distracting classroom activities.
This puzzle could be introduced to grade 1-6 classrooms, depending on how you choose to frame the activity. The set contains 22 pieces and one leaflet providing historical context surrounding Indigenous uses of the canoe.
