Lesson

Plan Title: Understanding First Nations Worldview

Date: TBD
Subject: History
Grade: 10
Topic: Cultural Diversity
Essential Question: Are our own worldviews influenced by FNMI worldviews?

Materials: Computer, Projector, OTC box (www.otc.ca), CBC Tuesday Teachings

(http://www.cbc.ca/radio/unreserved/videos-tuesday-teachings-1.4189868),

Stage 1- Desired Results – you may use student friendly language
What do they need to understand, know, and/or able to do?

Students will need to know the importance of understanding/learning about the FNMI worldviews.
Understanding the social, cultural, economic and regional diversity of the FNMI community is essential to
understanding the history of Canada.

Broad Areas of Learning:
This lesson will aim to build an engaged citizen who understands the implications of living on Treaty lands.
Learning about the First Nations people worldview is an important concept to understand. My goal is that
students will engage in current, traditional First Nations content and consider looking at the world from a First
Nations perspective.

Cross-Curricular Competencies:
This lesson will focus on developing identity and interdependence. The goal is to help students understand and
think critically about a worldview that is different than their own worldview. This critical understanding will help
in determining how citizens of Saskatchewan interact with First Nations and Metis people and begin to
understand systemic racism.

Outcome(s):
Know that a worldview is a comprehensive conception or image of reality and of humanity’s relation to it.
Know that a specific worldview is influenced by its immediate environment, both societal and political.
Know that a worldview is a distinctive way of looking at the world and creates a context for living.
Know that FNMI cultures start with philosophical assumptions as found in the sacred circle while Eurocentric
cultures start with assumptions based on science and technology.

PGP Goals:

2.3 knowledge of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit culture and history (e.g., Treaties, Residential School, Scrip and
Worldview)

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.
- The students will be assessed on determining what they consider important to the FNMI community.
- The students will be assessed on the 2 column notes developed for discussion purposes and their level of
preparation.
- Students will be observed and scored on the basis of their involvement in the discussion – point of view and
the evidence used to support their thinking.
- Students will be asked to complete an exit slip, which simply states: “New Learning’s” and “My Next Steps”.

Assessment OF Learning (summative) Assess the students after learning to evaluate what they have learned.
-The students will be assessed on the 2-3-paragraph paper along with 2 column notes and their participation in
the discussion.

Stage 3- Learning Plan

Motivational/Anticipatory Set (introducing topic while engaging the students)
Students will be given the overview of the lesson. Introduce the term OTC – Office of the Treaty Commissioner -
Saskatchewan created OTC to promote greater understanding between the two diverse cultures – settler and
FNMI.

Watch the video, “As Long As the Sun Shines – Treaties in Saskatchewan” Published July 30, 2010 by the Office
of the Treaty Commissioner.

Share Map of the Treaties in Saskatchewan: http://www.otc.ca/pages/treaty_map.html (Hand out a copy).
As a class, we will go through content in the OTC box to understand the scope and sequence behind the intent
of bringing the cultures together through understanding. Share the concept that we are all TREATY CANADIANS
and the Treaties provide the legacies for all of us:
- The Land is Everything: Treaty Land Entitlement
- Map of Historical Treaty Boundaries of Canada
- Canada’s First Peoples: http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/fp_groups/fp_groups_overview.html

Discuss the need for such resources and the Ministry of Education’s focus in schools. Why?

Government’s hope: “build a strong relationship between First Nations and non First Nations people in
Saskatchewan to ensure an effective response among Saskatchewan citizens to support a shared destiny”
(Retrieved from http://www.otc.ca/pages/mission.html on March 25, 2018)

Main Procedures/Strategies:
Students will watch videos separately:
- Grandmother Moon Teachings (CBC Tuesday Teachings)
- Hair Teachings (CBC Tuesday Teachings)

Students will be asked to record new learning’s as they view each video. As well, students will record any
changes to previous understandings they held. Here, students will hopefully record some of their pre-conceived
ideas of FNMI worldviews.

Next, students will do a think pair share about their new understandings with their previous/current knowledge
about FNMI worldviews.

Based on the content given, students will be required to do a 2-column note taking exercise
- 1 side: students’ own worldview. Other side: FNMI worldview
- Students will be asked to write about specific identifiers like spirituality, land ownership, values, and
family traditions.
- These notes will be used as an outline for the students’ 2-3-paragraph paper. (Notes to be handed in
with paper)

Adaptations/Differentiation:
- More time will be given for students for note taking/think-pair-share activity.
- Note taking, collaboration, video, and analysis teaching and learning methods will be utilized.

Closing of lesson:
Students will hand in an exit slip – “What was an aspect of the FNMI worldview in which you found was the most
interesting? What are your new learning’s? What are your next steps in understanding FNMI needs?”
Students will be assigned a 2-3 paragraph discussing the differences and similarities the FNMI worldview has
compared to their own cultural worldviews.

RESOURCES:
1. Video: “As Long As the Sun Shines – Treaties in Saskatchewan” Published July 30, 2010 by the Office of
the Treaty Commissioner.
2. Copy of Sask. Treaty Map: http://www.otc.ca/pages/treaty_map.html (In OTC Kit and a free download
from p.2 of http://www.otc.ca/resource.html )
3. Resources from the Office of the Treaty Commissioner: http://www.otc.ca/pages/history.html
4. Supporting Reconciliation in Saskatchewan Schools :
https://www.edonline.sk.ca/webapps/blackboard/content/listContentEditable.jsp?content_id=_91171_
1&course_id=_3514_1

M. Wilkinson ’16 *Adapted from Understanding by Design (McTighe and Wiggins, 1998)

WE ARE ALL TREATY PEOPLE….
Let’s examine worldview and find the understandings we share :

Concept Mine…. / Dominant Culture…. FNMI….

Family

Spirituality

Values

Land

Ownership

Other

Comments:

NEED DISCUSSION RUBRIC AND EXIT SLIP

 Reflection

For this unit, I wanted students to get excited about researching another culture. At the same time I want
them to begin developing a deeper understanding of their own worldviews and traditions. I believe it is
important to research different cultures, as doing so will help develop these students into more global
citizens.

The intent of this research project was to create a culturally safe learning environment in the classroom.
Throughout this unit, students will be given certain expectations to follow while working through the
content of this cultural diversity unit. Students will be expected to participate in classroom discussion
and activities in a respectful manner. A lot of content in this unit can be very sensitive, especially
activities like the Blanket Experience activity; hence, it is important to establish early in the unit a
respectful classroom environment. By having the students critically looking at their classmates and their
own worldviews and engage in continued reflection on the content through formative and summative
assessments, it can help create an environment that generates positive cultural diversity. Through this
positive cultural environment, students are set up to engage in collaborative thinking through multiple
think pair share and group debate activities, which can help facilitate interest and interaction between
students (Outcome numbers 3, 15).

By creating a safe learning environment, students can then focus on learning to recognize, acknowledge,
and develop a sense of respect for First Nations Metis and Inuit (FNMI) worldviews and traditions.
FNMI worldviews and traditions were cemented in Canada long before European settlers imposed their
worldviews yet it is the European worldviews that are now ingrained within Canadian culture. It is
important in the social studies field that students learn both sides of Canadian history. The aim for a
more complete understanding of how both these worldviews and traditions make up Canadian culture
can only be reached through continued commitment to reconciliation with the FNMI community and
education of our students.

Understanding the role schools play in continuing to shape Canadian culture it was therefore an easy
decision to include a lesson plan that was focused on understanding FNMI worldviews. The goal of this
lesson is not to push FNMI content down the students’ throat or “white shame” the students for
historical events that happened a long time ago. Rather, the focus is education and moving forward. It is
important for the students to feel comfortable when talking about this content because a large part of the
material is very heavy but still necessary to be discussed considering it’s importance to Canadian
history.

This lesson has two key objectives. One purpose of this lesson is to allow students to develop a better
understanding of the differences within the worldviews of the FNMI community. The lesson will also
give students a chance to see if they can connect with these worldviews or identify possible influences
FNMI worldviews can have on their own lives.

I feel this lesson touches on Outcome numbers 2, 5, 6, and 11. The goals of both formative and
summative assessments will be made clear to the students. With formative assessments students will
finish the lesson with an exit slip, which will allow the educator the ability to go back and review the
content each student did not understand. This will allow for individual growth, as feedback for a
particular student can be based on weaker areas of the formative assessment. The exit slips also provide
a way for educators to gain insight into the cultural needs of the students. The exit slip question
(highlighted in red) from Lesson 2 in my unit plan has been adapted to allow the educator to learn and
respond appropriately to each student’s culture. Being responsive to the student’s cultures is extremely
important for this unit, as part of this unit requires students to discuss personal worldviews and
traditions. Formative assessments can also demonstrate trends within the class as a whole and be the
basis for future lessons. They can indicate where many students struggled and allow these topics to be
re-visited.

The summative assessments, the two to three paragraph response discussing the differences and
similarities the FNMI worldview has compared to the students own cultural worldviews, to give students
the opportunity to see how they have grown over the unit and demonstrate their final understanding of
the topic. Summative assessments allow students to show their ability to think critically about the
similarities and differences between FNMI worldviews and their own. As well, I feel this lesson
connects to Outcome number 7. The professional goal for this lesson is the 2.3 knowledge of First
Nations, Metis, and Inuit culture and history and the 4.2 ability to incorporate First Nations, Metis, and
Inuit knowledge, content and perspective into all teaching areas. By having a whole lesson dedicated to
the FNMI culture and worldviews it allows the lesson plan to successfully hit this outcome. After
reflecting on the unit, a future professional goal to continue to improve upon would be to find creative
and efficient ways to incorporate more FNMI content into multiple lessons and subject areas instead of
teaching the content once in a whole unit.

Throughout the whole unit students will have a chance to look at their own cultural traditions, Canadian
traditions, and FNMI traditions. The final research project will be based on a culture of the student’s
choosing, which gives students some freedom to direct their learning based on their own interests.
During and after each lesson, students will be asked to reflect on their own culture and critically think
about whether they feel any aspect of the lesson on different cultures could influence their own
worldviews. Students will be researching the history of a culture, that culture’s traditions, and resulting
worldview and will present this information to the class. The final project on a specific culture
successfully hits Outcome numbers 18 and 19.

I feel the formative and summative assessment through the unit has value in helping develop a socially
responsible student and a student who is able to understand an alternate worldview. I felt that the unit
plan (highlighted content in blue) displays values for teaching cultural diversity and are lessons that aid
in creating a learning environment that values cultural diversity. While reviewing my Unit Plan, I
realized that I needed to make improvements to the foundational objectives and expand on lesson #3 –
Pluralism and Social Organization – Day 1 content of the FNMI culture (Outcome number 20).
Therefore, I made the decision to include a lesson that focused on a deeper understanding of FNMI
worldviews that would be taught before the students would participate in a Blanket Experience activity.
This decision was made to give students more in-depth background understanding of the FNMI
community and will result in the students feeling more prepared to participate in this activity. In general,
having more background knowledge on the FNMI community makes the Blanket Experience activity
more impactful. I feel like this lesson – Understanding FNMI Worldviews ties into Outcome number 1
in the rubric, because the provincial curriculums emphasize teaching more in-depth FNMI content
within the classroom.