Lesson Plan Title: First-Contact Relationships Between First Nations & Europeans

Date: February 16th, 2018 Grade: 12

Subject: History 30 Topic: First Nations & European Relationships
Essential Question: Was the relationship between First Nations and Europeans mutually beneficial at
the time of first-contact? Explain.
Materials: Computer Lab, Reading Resources, Primary Sources & Secondary Sources, Worksheet,
Inquiry/Research Prompt Questions
Stage 1- Desired Results – you may use student friendly language
What do they need to understand, know, and/or able to do?
Students must understand that at the time of first-contact, the First Nations and Europeans mutually
benefited from the creation and maintenance of relationships. The First Nations benefited from the exchange
of furs in order to receive things such as pots, pans, and other goods from Europeans. Europeans exchanged
these goods for precious furs, which were extremely valuable in Europe. The Europeans also relied on the
First Nations peoples for survival, as the First Nations taught them various techniques for survival on Turtle
Island.
Broad Areas of Learning:
Sense of Self, Community, and Place- Students will understand how their identity as Canadians has been
shaped through past relationships between Europeans and First Nations peoples. They will also understand
the significance of the land that they now live on, and how it came to be under the possession of the
Canadian government through the process of treaty making.
Lifelong Learners- Students will demonstrate that they are lifelong learners through their ability to learn and
understand various cultural ways of knowing. Students will demonstrate their passion for lifelong learning by
collaborating with others and through inquiry about the topic of First Nations and European relations, and
how it has shaped the past, present, and future of Canada.
Engaged Citizens- Students will demonstrate their ability to be engaged citizens by evaluating how the past
has impacted relationships between the First Nations peoples and the rest of Canada. As engaged citizens,
they will be able to critically analyze the cause of this relationship, and offer ideas about how to move
forward and improve the relationship between Canada and the Indigenous peoples of Canada.
Cross-Curricular Competencies:
Throughout this lesson and unit, students will demonstrate thinking, identity, interdependence, literacy, and
social responsibility by developing the skills and techniques that are necessary to improve in these areas. They
will be required to think critically about the course content, as well as about their own identity and
interdependence and how it has been shaped by the past and present. The literacy of students will be
improved through exposure to numerous teaching strategies and methods, and through the requirement of
students to produce numerous different forms of assessment which will increase their literacy skills. Finally,
students will develop social responsibility by understanding that they have the opportunity to play an active
role in formation and transformation of society.
Outcome(s):
Foundational Outcomes
1. Know that the organization of a society and its behaviour is influenced by a number of assumptions that
surround certain relationships.
-know that both First Nations and European societies had evolved paradigms and assumptions that
surrounded those key relationships which formed their respective societal worldviews.
-know that when two societies come into sustained contact, the differences in the respective societal
worldviews can shape the interaction between the two peoples
4. Know that the well-being of every society will be influenced by sustained contact with other societies.
-know that acculturation is the process of two or more cultures adapting to each other, so that people within
the respective cultures can interact with each other.
-know that accommodation occurs when two or more cultures come into sustained contact and evolved
relationship that permits each of the cultures to interact while maintaining their distinctive identities.
PGP Goals:
1.2- ethical behaviour and the ability to work in a collaborative manner for the good of all learners
1.4- a commitment to service and the capacity to be a reflective, lifelong learner and inquirer
2.1- knowledge of Canadian history, especially in reference to Saskatchewan and Western Canada
2.2- proficiency in the Language of Instruction
2.3- knowledge of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit culture and history (e.g., Treaties, Residential School, Scrip
and Worldview)
2.6- ability to strive for/pursue new knowledge
3.1- the ability to utilize meaningful, equitable, and holistic approaches to assessment and evaluation
4.1- knowledge of Saskatchewan curriculum and policy documents and applies this understanding to plan
lessons, units of study and year plans using curriculum outcomes as outlined by the Saskatchewan Ministry of
Education
4.2- the ability to incorporate First Nations, Métis, and Inuit knowledge, content and perspective into all
teaching areas

Stage 2- Assessment

Assessment FOR Learning (formative) Assess the students during the learning to help determine next steps.
-A KWL chart will be filled out on the whiteboard at the beginning of the class. Ask the students what they
already know about First Nations and European first-contact relations, then find out what they want to know
or learn about this topic. At the end of the class you may wish to come back to this and write down some of
the information (interesting or unique) that students learned about this topic during the inquiry process.
-You may also assess the students’ learning during the think, pair, share activity. Students will have had time
to learn independently and will then be sharing their knowledge and opinions with their classmates. This is an
opportunity to listen to the students and assess what they have learnt, this should also reflect how much
effort they have put in to the research and inquiry aspect of the lesson.

Assessment OF Learning (summative) Assess the students after learning to evaluate what they have learned.
The following questions will be given to students to suggest while they are undergoing the process of inquiry
and research:

- What did First Nations peoples gain from interactions with European settlers?

- What did Europeans gain from interactions with First Nations peoples?

- What did First Nations peoples lose as a result of interactions with Europeans settlers?

- In your opinion, was this relationship one sided or beneficial to both parties?

At the end of the class, ask for the students to hand in their worksheet with their answers to these questions
on them. This can be used as a way to assess the information they have learned and the amount of effort that
has been put in to answering these questions. You may wish to just look at this information to ensure that all
students did indeed do some research, and you may not wish to assign any mark to this particular
assessment.

Stage 3- Learning Plan

Motivational/Anticipatory Set (introducing topic while engaging the students):

-Ask the students to share their current thoughts about first-contact between First Nations peoples and
Europeans? This is an opportunity to do an informal KWL chart as a class. What do the students already know
about first-contact, what do they want to know? Finally, at the end of class you can come back and find out
what they have learned as a class. Listen to see if there are any stereotypes or misinformation that surfaces
during this discussion. If there is, be sure to address this misinformation at the end of class, and see if they
have learned why it is that this information was a myth or untrue.

Main Procedures/Strategies:
-Have students evaluate the relationship between First Nations peoples and the European settlers at the time
of first-contact. Have them do independent learning on the topic using a computer as well as a number of
resources that will be provided by the teacher. As they research, have them think about the following
questions:

- What did First Nations peoples gain from interactions with European settlers?

- What did Europeans gain from interactions with First Nations peoples?

- What did First Nations peoples lose as a result of interactions with Europeans settlers?

- In your opinion, was this relationship one sided or beneficial to both parties?

- After students have been given a sufficient amount of time to do independent research on the topic of first-
contact, have them split into small groups to begin a think, pair, share exercise. This method is an interactive
learning method where students will be able to share their thoughts in small groups in order to find out what
other people have learned, but also to share what they have learned from their research.
- Finally, the students will come together as a class to discuss the questions that were purposed at the
beginning of class by the teacher. This group discussion will be led by the teacher, and should attempt to
show students that originally the relationship between First Nations peoples and Europeans was mutually
beneficial, but it soon changed to be one-sided and only beneficial to European settlers.

Adaptations/Differentiation:
This assignment exhibits differentiation by providing students with numerous different methods of learning.
For example, some students may learn better independently through their research. Other students may
learn better through a more interactive method such as think, pair, share. Adaptations to assessment can be
made for various students. For instance, you may choose to observe certain students to assess for learning if
they struggle with articulating their ideas in written form. Otherwise, you can evaluate the students learning
based on how much information they provide for the questions asked by the teacher.

Closing of lesson:
You can conclude the lesson by having students reflect on some of the information that they knew from the
beginning of the class. Ask them what they have found to be the most interesting thing they learned during
the inquiry process and if there was anything they learned that surprised or shocked them. Conclude with
encouraging students to always investigate information for themselves to ensure that the source is
trustworthy and the information provided is correct. Especially when dealing with information regarding
Indigenous peoples and cultures, there is often stereotypes that can have an impact on the information that is
shared. Therefore, it is important to always investigate information before teaching it, and you should
encourage your students to do the same during their own learning process.
 This lesson plan was created with the intention of meeting a number of different indicators and

outcomes that relate to relationships between different societies and how their interaction can shape and

impact history. Specifically, this lesson will look at the relationship between Indigenous peoples and Europeans

at the time of first-contact. Students will investigate this relationship, and will hopefully come to the conclusion

that at the time of first-contact, the relationship between Indigenous peoples and Europeans was mutually

beneficial for both parties. However, as time went on the relationship began to deteriorate and became only

beneficial to the Europeans, as they took control of Indigenous land and resources. This particular lesson fits

well in the larger unit which is centered around relationships: peoples and paradigms. This lesson will be taught

near the beginning of the unit, right after the students are taught about the pre-contact societies and how they

functioned prior to first contact. Once the students are taught about first-contact relationships, they will move

on to learn about how the relationship between First Nations peoples and Europeans developed and evolved

through time. Overall, the goal of this lesson and unit is to inform students about how the relationship between

Frist Nations peoples and Europeans evolved over the course of history, from pre-contact, to first-contact, to the

years following.

This particular lesson offers a different form of assessment than the main assessment component of the

unit which was submitted for my assessment assignment. That form of assessment that I submitted for my

assessment assignment was a large assessment that will be ongoing throughout the duration of the unit in the

form of blog postings. Therefore, that form of assessment can be added to virtually any lesson plan, so long as

there are blog prompts provided by the instructor. I believe that this lesson plan is thorough enough that a

substitute teacher would have the ability to come into the classroom and teach this lesson based on the

information that is provided.