The Flood of 2013: A Summer of Angry Rivers in Southern Alberta The book The Flood of 2013: A Summer of Angry

Rivers in Southern Alberta is a great resource to explore local issues that young students can connect with. This book could be used to develop historical and geographical thinking with conversation around what areas were flooded, why those areas? Has Alberta had terrible flooding before? What can we do to help people affected by the flood? What has been done? This could be used across grade levels, at grade one focusing more on the community aspect, general outcome 1.2 (Alberta Education, 2005, 2006, 2007, pp. 11) and at grade six exploring the political ramifications of a natural disaster such as this (Alberta Education, 2005, 2006, 2007, pp. 11). Discussion could be focused on politics and decision making, looking at ideas the students have around crisis response and what decisions were made in practice, and other political consequences such as effects on the housing market. At all ages this book could be used to facilitate a discussion about citizenship and encourage students to become active and responsible citizens. This could also give students an opportunity to tell their own stories about how their lives may have been affected by the flood.

Resources: Alberta Education (2005, 2006, 2007) Programs of Study: Social Studies Kindergarten to Grade 6. Retrieved on March 10, 2014, from: http://education.alberta.ca/teachers/program/socialstudies/programs.aspx Calgary Herald (2013) The Flood of 2013: A Summer of Angry Rivers in Southern Alberta. Vancouver, Canada: Greystone Books. Greystone Books (publisher). (2013). The Flood of 2013: A Summer of Angry Rivers in Southern Alberta [front cover], retrieved on March 8, 2014 from: http://www.greystonebooks.com/book_details.php?isbn_upc=9781771640305