Northern Oral Language and Writing Through Play

Welcome/Ahaaw

Between 2013-2026, the Northern Oral Language and Writing through Play (NOW Play) partnership brought together early childhood educators, teachers, parents/caregivers and community members from remote northern Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, along with university researchers in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and Sweden, in collaborative action research teams that developed the teaching resources and articles found on this website. 

On this website, you will find assessment tools, teachers’ resources that describe teaching approaches, along with evidence of student learning and teachers’ reflections, as well as links to published articles; all intended to support educators in:

  • improving Indigenous children’s educational achievement and enhancing their Indigenous language and cultural knowledge;
  • supporting and assessing young children’s language and writing through play-based, culturally-appropriate teaching approaches and assessment tools 

Land Acknowledgment

We wish to acknowledge that our NOW Play project operates on the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the Anishinabek Nation and the Huron-Wendat Nation, who have been the stewards of this land from time immemorial. As Treaty 13 members with the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, we have shared responsibility to sustain, respect and care for the land and to live in a good way with First Nation, Inuit and Métis communities who continue to thrive and work towards a better future. \