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Intermediate – Middle School

The Confederation Debates: Alberta Intermediate Mini-Unit

This mini-unit for intermediate/senior-level classes helps students to understand and analyze the key ideas and challenges that preceded the creation of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The first section deals with the debates in the provincial and/or federal legislatures, while the second section addresses more specifically founding treaty negotiations with the First Nations. Each section can be taught independently.
Sample page of quotations from Frederick W.A.G. Haultain

A brief biography of Sir...
Elementary – Primary
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Gabriel Kreiner

ACCENT on Heritage

http://accent-patrimoine.ca/en/home/(Link redirects you, so open it in a new tab to keep the Education Portal open.)

An interactive bilingual platform centered on cultural and historical aspects of Alberta’s Francophone heritage.
ACCENT on Heritage banière.PNG 1.21 MB
Indigenous History

Storybook Legends


Overview


This project is designed to be an introduction to mythology utilizing local history and culture. The project will involve elders telling local legends to students and then collaborating with students on producing a storybook with illustrations of the legend as told to them by the elders. This project demonstrates the traditional working relationship of First Nations people – elders sharing their wisdom with the students in turn interpreting the history and culture taught to them. The...

Six-String Nation Guitar


Overview


Inspired by the Six String Nation Guitar, students will produce something (quilt, boat, sculpture) made up of significant historical materials in their locale. Students are to document their research and produce a visual documentary that tells the story of their product.

Aims


Students will use the following skills in this project

  • Story-telling/creating a narrative
  • Research skills
  • Critical judgment
  • Creativity
  • Synthesis
  • Cooperation
  • Interviewing
  • Film-Production

Background


CBC radio...
Indigenous History

Thompson (Nlaka'pamux) Indigenous people and Wild Vegetation


Overview


The students will study the relationship between the Thompson (Nlaka'pamux) Indigenous people of the Nicola Valley in British Columbia and how they used local vegetation in their daily lives prior to the evolution of European goods within their society.

This lesson is designed around a localized area in BC, but teachers can re-conceptualize to make the lesson applicable in any locale.

Aims


The student will develop an understanding of how the Thompson Indigenous people of the Nicola...

Pauline Johnson


Overview


This lesson is based on viewing the Pauline Johnson biography from The Canadians series. Pauline Johnson astounded audiences all over the world with her performances of poetry, comedy, and plays. The daughter of an Indigenous-Canadian father and an American mother, Johnson did not embody the stereotype of a Mohawk woman in the early nineteenth century.

Aims


In the following activities, students will learn about Pauline Johnson by researching the connections between her life and...

Mi'kmaq Storytelling


Overview


To have students demonstrate an understanding of the importance of oral tradition and beliefs in early Mi'kmaq society.

Aims


To have students create their own belief story and petroglyph.

Background


As part of the social studies curriculum students should develop an understanding of the traditional ways of life and beliefs of the Mi'kmaq. They will work to create a story that might be told by the early Mi'kmaq people in order to gain a greater understanding of the importance of the...

Forgotten Soldiers


Overview


Aboriginal people sacrificed much during the two World Wars, both at home and in Europe, all the while they weren’t considered “people” in the eyes of Canadian law. Students will explore the issues facing Aboriginal people during the Great War and the Second World War and collaborate to create a PowerPoint or PhotoStory presentation for the school Remembrance Day Assembly.

Aims


It is expected that the student will:

- apply critical thinking (including questioning, comparing,...
Indigenous History

Elders Collage


Overview


Trigger Event:

Show the Heritage Minute titled The Peacemaker to lead to a discussion of elders – their qualities and their personal stories. Pose the question: Who are our elders?

Aims


Students will be able to:

- research and represent their personal heritage
- understand symbolism and how it is used by different peoples to represent their identities, using models from First Nations culture
- develop and practise interview skills
- explore personal narratives in order to understand...

Exploring Aboriginal Homes and Architecture


Overview


Students will explore different types of First Nations and Aboriginal architecture and submit a model to a simulated archictectural firm.

Aims


Students will:

- Understand the transition of housing from pre-contact to today and the role government has played
- Describe practices and beliefs that reflect First Peoples’ connections to the land and the natural environment
- Compare daily life in First Peoples communities
- Appreciate and value the cultures and traditions of First Nations...

If These Walls Could Talk: History as a lens to the past


Overview

During this unit of study, students will explore the individuals who made significant contributions to our history and the Canadian identity. This project could also be completed using provincial histories and identities.

The students will research Indigenous peoples and past explorers using multi-media (online resources and informational texts). They are expected to use this research to make a wall of a related structure, create a voice of the structure and present that to the class....

Interview with a Historical Figure from New France


Overview


This lesson will guide students as they learn about a significant number of concepts and facts related to New France through the study of an historical figure.

Aims


This lesson is based on an interview format, with open-ended questions and detailed, full-sentence answers, a portrait of the person, a drawn geographical map, and a timeline (indicating important dates in the person's life and important dates in the corresponding history of the country).

Background


All too often, research...

History is not Dead: Historical Context Lesson Plan Template


Overview


“What's the point of studying that? That's the past. That has nothing to do with my life.” Students often speak of history as a dead subject, a collection of past events with no bearing on the present and even less on the future. This lesson intends to engage students in historical thinking: consider significance, analyze evidence, assess continuity and change, examine cause and consequence, consider historical perspective and form moral judgment. Ultimately, they will produce their...

Flashes in Time: Explorer Tableaux


Overview


Students will, after researching background information on early exploration of Canada (Cabot, Cartier, Champlain, Frobisher and Hudson), role play/create tableaux based on situations in which contact was made between the explorers and Indigenous people.

Aims


Main objectives of the project: Through role playing of historical situations (and creation of representative tableaux), students will demonstrate an understanding of how contact between people in Canada’s early history resulted...

Jay Silverheels


Overview

This lesson is based on viewing the Jay Silverheels biography from The Canadians series. First Nations actor Jay Silverheels struggled to establish himself as a serious and diverse actor despite being typecast as the "Indian brave" in roles like Tonto in the "Lone Ranger."

Aims

Through a variety of creative and theatrical activities, students will examine Jay Silverheels's career and accomplishments while exploring the broader issues of racism, stereotyping, typecasting, and images...

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