- Photo Stories and Calendars (see Visual Projects) – Literacy group members
could create a family photo story calendar. Adults and older children could
write stories to go along with photographs of themselves doing something
special. Younger children could orally tell the story they want to go with their
photograph and someone can write it for them. Group members could include
old photographs and get stories and photographs from grandparents or other
relatives. An Inuktitut or Inuinnaqtun calendar in people’s homes will allow
children to see more Inuktitut print in their environment. Families can read
the stories or text on the calendar together. Children will recognize the names
of the days and months in Inuktitut because they will see it every day.
- Textile Art (see Visual Projects) – Make this a mother-and-daughter project or
a grandmother-mother-and-daughter project. Literacy group members can
invite their daughters (or mothers) to be involved in the process from the very
beginning. Schedule a time for the mother-and-daughter project after school
two or three times a week. Mother and daughter teams can listen to a story
together, and create a written story and a piece of textile art together based
on the story. Hold a show or special event where people can see the work of
these mother-and-daughter teams.
or...
- Create a family quilt – Literacy group members could collect pieces of fabric
from clothing belonging to people in their family – special pieces of clothing
that remind everyone of that person. Someone may have a piece of the parka
that their child wore at age three; and a piece of material from a wedding
dress; and a piece of the skin of their son’s caribou parka that he wore when
he first went out hunting with his dad. Collect stories of all these pieces of
fabric. Create a wall hanging or quilt with these pieces of fabric; write up the
stories and display them together with the textile art.
- Books (see Writing Projects) – Hold an after school program run by literacy
group members. Children could research and write their own family stories.
Have children read the book written by the literacy group and create visual
projects, videos, demonstrations or plays based on the book.
- Storytelling on the Radio (see Oral Projects) – An excellent intergenerational
literacy program. Families can listen to the stories together on the radio and
follow along on a printed copy of the story together.
- Talking Books (see Oral Projects) – Families can enjoy talking books together
for pleasure or for reading practice. Group members’ children could come to
the literacy program once a week or twice a week to read talking books with
their parents. Hold sessions for younger children using the children’s talking
books and for older children using magazine and newspaper articles or Elders’
stories.
- Family Trees (see Visual Projects) – Families could work together to create a
family history and a family tree. Provide time after school two or three times
a week for children to come to the literacy program to work on the project
with their parents. Invite group members’ parents and other Elders to the
literacy program. Hold family potluck dinners or other events during which
family groups can work together on their projects. If the projects are displayed
in a public place, it will add to the amount of Inuktitut or Inuinnaqtun in the
environment. This reinforces for children the value of their language and
allows them to absorb interesting and personally relevant information in their
language.