I had a large group of students today, almost a full class. All the educators reading this will know how rare it is to have a full class. I wasn’t going to do two days of worms in a row, but since so many were absent yesterday and word traveled fast, I wanted to encourage the enthusiasm and expand their thinking!
The students came up with questions that they want to find answers to while we study worms.
1) Do moosewag (worm) need aki (soil) to survive? (Like a giigoonh (fish) in nibi (water)
2) What do moosewag wiisin? (eat)
3) How fast do they grow?
4) Do they need nibi to live?
5) Where do they poop?
6) Will they help our plants grow?
Meet my 1/2 students! (Some of them you met yesterday)
Tanner: This was Tanner’s first day with the worms but he had heard about them from his friends. While at recess we collected some miigiwewin (Ojibwe for gifts) and was very excited to give them to his new wiijiwaaganag (friends). He found some really neat asin (stone/rocks) that were a great addition to the habitat.
The word friend in Ojibwe is a tough one because there are different words for a male friend and female friend.
A male friend is called a niijii while a female friend is called a niijikwe.
Anthony: Anthony is the newest student to our class. I sometimes wonder if he thinks we are all a little crazy, but he is starting to find his voice and loved the moosewag.
Mackenzie: Mackenzie is the twin sister of Mackayla. She has such an amazing personality and it always eager to learn more Ojibwe words and explore her Native Culture. She made a friend to keep the moosewag company while we aren’t at school.
Reece and Mackayla: These students were so excited to see the moosewag today! They were also helping each other and sharing their knowledge from yesterday with others. They said next time they want to try and race the moosewag.
Everyone is definitely looking forward to learning more and being able to share their knowledge with others. They are also very conscience of the environment and taking care of nature and living things.
In the Ojibwe language some words are described as animate or inanimate. Something that is animate is described as something that is alive, has a heartbeat or can move on it’s own. The opposite is inanimate things that are not alive, have no heartbeat and cannot move on their own. For example: a moose (worm) is considered animate but asin (stone/rock) is inanimate.
Ojibwe vocabulary today:
asin – rock/stone
moose – worm
moosewag – more than one worm
miigiwewin – a gift
wiijiwaaganag – friends
aki – soil/earth
nibi – water
wiisin – eat
giigoonh – fish
Northern Nightcrawlers 