Last week, the Grades 4-7 students were fortunate enough to have in Mr. Kevin Modeste from the New Democratic Party (NDP) to share his knowledge and personal experience about the Canadian government. Guest speakers are an important factor in student learning as it encourages them to make that connection of what they are learning in their research to the real world. Children get the opportunity to analyze the perspective of the speaker by getting a glimpse into their everyday life.
Mr. Modeste had provided just the atmosphere for the Grades 4 through 7 to engage in discussion and gain a whole different viewpoint on our investigative research topic. Some of the questions that he courteously took the time to discuss included:
- What type of democracy do we live in?
- What are the 3 levels of government?
- Is everything around us related to politics? How so?
- How does the Canadian government operate?
- How old do you have to be the Prime Minister of Canada? Are there any other requirements?
As a form of consolidation, students and teachers then had the chance to participate in a knowledge building circle where everyone had the equal opportunity to learn from, and contribute to each other’s understanding.
It was a wonderful learning experience and we are very thankful that Mr. Modeste had taken the time to come in to Richland to share his personal experience with our school.
