Grade 12

Part of the legacy of residential schools is lack of trust and respect for education. As educators we need to encourage First Nations youth to stay in school, as it will provide options and opportunities. This lesson will expose students to varying career choices that are available to them. Students will make connections to their feelings and their future while defining key terms related to the subject. Students will explore feelings and their future while defining key terms related to the subject. Students will explore a wide range of education, career options and successes of First Nations people in Canada. Students will explore and evaluate a wide range of education and career options available to them by conducting research on four different careers of their choice. Students will then share the information they gathered to the class.

Residential schools or boarding schools as referred to in different countries, not only happened in Canada, they also happened in other countries affecting many Indigenous groups around the world. This lesson will inform students about the colonialism and decolonization of the Maori people in New Zealand. Students will identify the location of New Zealand on a world map, they will review and define terms, and they will read to become informed about Maori people. Students will be assessed when asked to write a compare and contrast paragraph identifying the similarities and differences of the First Nation peoples in Canada and the Maori people of New Zealand.

This lesson will take several class periods to complete. Students will make a personal connection to the theme by initally writing a diary entry. Students will revisit the entry at the end of the lesson and write another entry to reflect on learning, as well as, a changing of opinion. The class will become familiar with successful communities across Canada and discuss what makes the communities successful. Finally, students will choose a community event and organize all aspects of the event in great detail. In the end, the class may want to pursue one or several event plans and carry it out in their community.

This lesson will give students the opportunity to acquire several individual and group skills. The class will reflect on and discuss prior knowledge regarding Class Action Lawsuits in Canada. The Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement (IRSSA) is the largest class action settlement in Canadian history. On May 10, 2006, the government of Canada announced approval by all parties of the IRSSA. Each student will be responsible for reading through a related article and working with a group to gather important points of information. Initial groups will split to form new groups where students will teach each other about the article they researched. Communication skills will be utilized during this part of the activity. In the final stages of the lesson, students will be given a quiz to recall information from the article and show what they learned from each other.

This activity will allow students the opportunity to learn more about residential schools. Through a video and article, the focus will be on cases where children went missing or their lives were lost while boarding at the schools. Students will extend their learning into a personal connection by creating a multi-media presentation honouring the lives of children lost to residential schools. This lesson has a content-based section for learning and a creative expression section for students to make a personal connection to the content.