Unit+Plan+and+Rationale


 * __Impact Study – First Nations Perspectives From Pre-Contact to 1914__**

__Rationale:__ Gifted students require authentic and challenging, yet scaffolded tasks that engage higher order thinking and allow flexibility in process, content, and product. The Understanding by Design curriculum model provides the opportunity to build from large themes and questions in order to ensure that all students are meeting the same objectives. Also, it allows for choice and adaptation to meet the needs of each gifted learner. Robert Bain’s suggestion to utilize historical thinking puzzles to teach the skills of history and engage students with content supports this “Backward Design” model (Bain, 2005). It is the work of a historian to see a question or problem and work backwards looking for evidence and solutions from history. One of Peter Seixas’ Historical Thinking Concepts, Continuity and Change, provides the necessary umbrella idea for this unit (Seixas, 2006).

__Objectives:__
 * To engage students in inquiry learning and develop their own research questions
 * To challenge students’ prior knowledge about the experience of First Nations people in Canada
 * To engage students in an authentic problem solving activity
 * To meet the PLO’s relating to interactions between Aboriginal and European people living in Canada

__Curriculum Model:__ (Understanding By Design; Historical Consciousness)

__Course and Grade:__ Socials Studies 9 Honours (Social Studies 9/10)

__Historical Thinking Concepts in Focus:__ Continuity and Change

__The BIG Idea:__


 * Students will __know__ the impact of historical events on contemporary first nations cultures.
 * Students will __understand__ that communities (and others’ views of these communities) are shaped by their experiences
 * Students __will be able to__ recognize the changes to a community as well as what remain consistent over time.
 * Students __will be able to__ utilize primary and secondary sources including maps and tables to objectively analyze the impact of an event on a particular population.

__The BIG Question:__ //(students must choose one first nations group and determine the impact of all 6 categories)//


 * ** How did ** || First Contact ||  ** impact the **  || Haida ||  ?  ||
 * ^  || Colonial Trade ||^   || Nisga’a ||^   ||
 * ^  || Confederation ||^   || Coast Salish ||^   ||
 * ^  || Disease ||^   || Cree ||^   ||
 * ^  || Acts and Laws ||^   || Iroquois ||^   ||
 * ^  || Language Loss ||^   || Inuit ||^   ||

__Evidence of Understanding:__
 * Bi-weekly Check Ins** – students will make an appointment every two weeks to discuss the progress of their project with the teacher. The teacher will also check their binder or wiki at this point to ensure that the project is on track.


 * Reflection Journal** – After each major issue is covered in class students will be required to reflect on their experience. They will submit this to the teacher. If follow-up is needed with the student, a dialogue will occur.

__Final Product:__ The federal government has hired your research team as a long range forecast analyst. Your job is to study the current situation of __one__ Aboriginal group in Canada. You must look at __six__ events or issues from history and determine how each of these **Impact Points** has contributed to changes in the lives of the group. It is important that you also note continuity (what has stayed the same) over a significant period of time. You will utilize primary and secondary sources, timelines, maps, and tables as data for this task. Finally, you will hypothesize possible future issues based on your understanding of the history of the group.

The above information will be compiled in a binder or wiki to be presented to other research teams.

__Unit Plan:__

//__Tentative Activities__//

Residential School Guest Speaker Field trip to the Fort Museum or MOA Cree Language Loss Video (from Place Based Learning Course) Discussion of the Gispiox Pole Lesson on Mapping Lesson on Tables and Graphs How to use a wiki (w/ Mme. Hewitt) Canoe Website (when it is up and running) On-going course work on the history of Canada (Socials 10 Curriculum)