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