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MAKE BEATS. LEARN CODE. PROMOTE EQUITY.

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UPDATE WITH YOUR PHOTO AND DETAILS

Cheyenne Nichols

Grade 9 Robotics Teacher

Fort Saskatchewan High, Saskatchewan

C.Nichols@fshigh.ca

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WELCOME! BIENVENUE! TUNNGASUGIT!

Tânisi! Boozhoo

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Departments of education are adding more and more curriculum requirements related to coding and Indigenous in Canada

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Teachers like you are pros at dealing with curriculum changes

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But you only have so much time in the day to create content to meet those curriculum needs!

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Pre-created lessons make it easier to meet all your curriculum needs

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Your Voice is Power is a unique program that covers a variety of curriculum standards across

Arts
Media Arts
Social Studies
Science and Technology
Math
Career Education
First Nations, Metis and Inuit studies

Timing

Slide time- 60 seconds

Talking Points

This slide explains how Your Voice is Power is a solution to new curriculum requirements related to a number of topics. In particular it will help teachers meet curriculum requirements for technology and Indigenous related courses but it does in fact touch on requirements across a broad spectrum of courses.

You can show the teachers the curriculum mapping at Your Voice is Power | For Teachers | Curriculum Alignment (Curriculum Alignment (yourvoiceispower.ca)) . A link to the curriculum mapping is provided later in this presentation in the resources section.

PRO TIP: If you are using Your Voice is Power in one of your classes, consider adding a slide after this one listing the curriculum standards met in your course by Your Voice is Power. �

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MAKE BEATS. LEARN CODE. PROMOTE EQUITY.

RESOURCES

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MAKE BEATS. LEARN CODE. PROMOTE EQUITY.

Create a song using an online Digital Audio Workstation

No previous music experience required
Sound clips provided

Indigenous artists from across Canada
Black Hip-Hop artists

Option to record your own sound clips

Timing

Slide time- 1 – 3 minutes

Talking Points

This slide provides information on how Music (Make Beats) is included within the Your Voice is Power program

Your Voice is Power does not require students or teachers to have previous experience playing music or in music theory

A wide library of sound clips are provided that students remix to create their own songs. Since it’s origin Hip-Hop has been used by both Black and Indigenous communities so lyrics from any songs in the EarSketch library can contain great lyrics to talk about social injustice for any community facing social injustice. To enter the contest you are required to have at least one clip by one of the Indigenous artists.

Students can use the Digital Audio Workstation (EarSketch) to record sound clips up to 16 seconds long to include in their remixes.

PRO TIP: If one of the Indigenous artists comes from a community near where you teach or where your audience will teach, highlight that artist so the teachers are aware of the local relevance you could even play a clip from one of the songs.

Artists and songs in the library include

Indigenous artists

Dakota Bear - Saskatoon born now based out of Vancouver (https://www.dakotabear.ca/bio)

Song Freedom (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdZJaxBybTA)

Jayli Wolf Anishinaabe/Cree based out of Toronto (https://www.jayliwolf.com/)

Song Child of the Government (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5gqZV7OsCM)

Aysanabee Oji-Cree originally from Sandy Lake First Nation in Ontario (https://www.aysanabee.com/)

Song We Were Here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf12NEW8wPk)

Twin Flames (Jaaji is Inuk from Nunavik and Mohawk from Kahnawake, Chelsey June is Algonquin, Metis, Cree + Settler) (https://www.twinflamesmusic.com/ )

Song Omen (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YQFl_f6sm4)

Samian originally from Pikogan Quebec in Abitibi-Temascamingue – several of his texts are found in textbooks in Quebec (https://nikamowin.com/en/artist/samian)

Song Peuple Invincible (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOyq2LCT9Ss0)

Black Hip-Hop artists

Pharrell Williams (https://pharrellwilliams.com/)

Song Entrepeneur (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTOoY5MIkvM)

Common (https://www.thinkcommon.com/)

Song God is Love (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpR0D6g0k5I)

Ciara (https://www.officialciara.com/)

Song Set (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUPYYqkrMX0)

Alicia Keys (https://www.aliciakeys.com/)

Song UnderDog (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izyZLKIWGiA)

Khalid (https://www.khalidofficial.com/)

Song New Normal (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnULIl5GvkQ)

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MAKE BEATS. LEARN CODE. PROMOTE EQUITY.

Use Python code to add the sound clips and create your song

No previous coding experience required
Coding is done using EarSketch
All you need is a browser
Option to code in blockly

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MAKE BEATS. LEARN CODE. PROMOTE EQUITY.

Use your song to express your voice on social justice for Indigenous in Canada after you learn about

Social justice vocabulary
The history of music as a voice of social justice
Injustices faced by Indigenous in Canada

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MAKE BEATS. LEARN CODE. PROMOTE EQUITY.

RESOURCES

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All students can experience success creating a song with mastery of a single Python command.
Lots of code examples provided for students to use as a starting point if needed

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Students interested in coding can:

add custom functions to their code
add special effects such as fade out, echos

Students with a passion for social justice or a passion for expressing their own voice with words can:

Write and record their own lyrics (16 second clips)

Students with a passion for music can:

Build longer songs with more musical layers

Timing

Slide time- 1-3 minutes seconds

Talking Points

Many teachers have shared with us is that they appreciate how Your Voice is Power has a high ceiling so gifted students or students already comfortable with coding have many options at their fingertips to keep them engaged

�Challenge your coders to

Write well structured code using custom functions, parameters, comments, loops and variables appropriately
Add special effects using setEffect to change volume levels or add a chorus or echo effect
Try to figure out how to stretch or slice a sound
Try to figure out how to create their own beat instead of an existing drum or bass line using loops and a sound they like

Challenge students with a passion for social justice to

Write and record their own lyrics
Research, reflect on, and represent the specific message of their song

Challenge students with a passion for music to

Build a longer more complex song (the competition allows entries up to 3 minutes long).
Musically inclined students will likely end up wanting to learn some of the other coding functions like setEffect or createSlice because they will want to modify existing sound clips to get the song they want.
Record themselves singing or playing an instrument (a recorded clip can be up to 16 seconds long)

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Encourage students to enter the annual competition

2 prizes of $5000 + Additional smaller prizes
Deadline June 30, 2025

Have students create posters, art work, or web pages to complement or elaborate on their songs
Invite guest speakers from local Indigenous communities
Collaborate across courses with other teachers
Host a showcase so students can share their songs
You might be eligible for the $1,000 Teacher prize!

Timing

Slide time- 1-3 minutes seconds

Talking Points

For teachers who want to take Your Voice is Power to the next level, we’ve seen incredible creativity across Canada!

Examples include

Encouraging students to meet all the requirements to enter the song in the competition (Checklist provided in Module 8 of teacher and student guides) which requires meeting certain coding and musical requirements
Encouraging students to enter their song in the competition, there are multiple honourable mention prizes awarded in addition to the grand prize of $5000 so there is a reasonable chance of winning a prize if a student puts effort into a song and submits it to the competition.
Create posters, art work or web pages to share and expand on the message in their songs
Invite guest speakers from your local Indigenous community to provide context on social injustice faced in your region
Collaborate with other teachers… cover the coding in one class and the music or social justice in another. (look at examples of teacher winners from 2024 or 2023 https://www.yourvoiceispower.ca/winner-and-judges/2024-winners)
Give students a chance to share their songs with others by playing them on the school intercom or hosting a showcase.

Yes there is a teacher prize of $1,000. Any teacher whose class submits 5 or more entries is eligible to win.

PRO TIP: If you have an example of how you got creative with the Your Voice is Power program now is a good time to share that story, if any of your students have entered the competition and won a prize, you can share that story as well.

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RESOURCES

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Resources for you, the teacher (French & English)

All resources available at YourVoiceIsPower.ca

EarSketch online coding platform
Slides with presenter notes (Google Doc)
Teacher/Solution Guide (Google Doc)
Curriculum Mapping
Video coding tutorials and code examples
PD videos on Music, Social Justice & Coding topics

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Resources for your students (French & English)

All resources available at YourVoiceIsPower.ca

EarSketch online coding platform
Student Workbook - Writing activities (online and printable versions)
Student Workbook - Coding activities
Video coding tutorials and code examples
Online course materials

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MAKE BEATS. LEARN CODE. PROMOTE EQUITY.

RESOURCES

yourvoiceispower.ca

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To get a copy of this slide deck visit

YourVoiceIsPower.ca | For Teachers | Teacher Training

THANK YOU! MERCI! NAKURMIK!

HAY-HAY! Miigwech!