Educational Resources

Source: TakingITGlobal

Focus: K-5

Summary: This workshop series will introduce participants to Indigenous topics such as Indigenous naming terminology, history of Indigenous and settler relationships in Canada, and the importance of land acknowledgements. First, to assess prior knowledge, participants will engage in small group discussions centering around the theme of culture, land, and place. Next, participants will be tasked with learning one aspect of Indigenous history. Participants will rotate groups to share their knowledge with others. Finally, participants will collaborate on a suitable workplace or individual Indigenous land acknowledgement.

This workshop is designed to be an easily implementable lunch-and-learn series facilitated by a fellow co-worker volunteer or group of volunteers.

Source: The Critical Thinking Consortium

Focus: Grade 6

Summary: Overview of Lessons

The lesson plans in this resource are organized into three lines or units of inquiry. The lines of inquiry are designed to develop students’ understanding and ability to respond to an overarching question and challenge: Overarching inquiry question: What might meaningful reconciliation look like? Overarching challenge: Create a powerful representation to show what meaningful reconciliation means.

If taught individually, the lessons help students understand various aspects of residential schools and reconciliation in Canada. As components of a unit of study, these lessons invite critical inquiry into a wider range of topics and issues relating to reconciliation in Canada. Each lesson includes detailed instructional strategies and required support materials. These include briefing sheets, activity sheets, images, and source documents.

Source: Indigenous Education: The National Centre for Collaboration

Focus: Grade 5 students

Summary: This lesson plan teaches students about local Indigenous history and fosters opportunities for students to inquire about and to explore their family histories. 

Source: Saskatchewan Polytechnic

Focus:   Elementary/Secondary students

Summary: The Indigenous Student Success Strategy was developed to provide all Indigenous students with a student experience that incorporates Indigenous ways of learning and knowing into every aspect of your education. Our services include:

 • A summer transition program.

 • Access to Indigenous students’ centres.

 • Indigenous student advisors.

 • Financial support through a number of scholarships and bursaries.

We also employ an Indigenous community liaison to raise awareness about Sask Polytech in Indigenous communities, both urban and rural.

Source: FNSA BC

Focus: Primary/Junior students

Summary: The following activity sheets include user-friendly, simple activities and questions to help guide parents when they are reading and discussing the books with their children at home.

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Source: Great Bear Sea

Focus: Grades 4-7

Summary: The elementary resource has been designed for Grades 4-7, using a hands-on, inquiry-based approach exploring themes of Indigenous Knowledge, collaborative research, marine planning, collaborative decision-making, careers, and stewardship. It focuses specifically on Science and Social Studies, but can be used cross-curricular as certain activities are Mathematics, English Language Arts, Career Education, and Arts Education based. The key subjects have been identified at the beginning of each lesson plan addressing a variety of Big Ideas, content, and curricular competencies in the area of learning. The lesson plans, film clips, and resources provide a framework for educators to facilitate a unit of study. The lessons have learning outcomes and concepts that build upon each other. However, activities have been designed to allow for customization or differentiation as you move through the unit to suit the needs of your environment or learners. This unit can be tailored to suit students’  interests and curiosity as you explore the Great Bear Sea.

The resources have been divided into sections to guide the classroom teacher. For each lesson teachers will find required materials, lesson context, and learning outcomes, step-by-step instructions for suggested activities, extensions, and assessment ideas as well as black line masters. A Teacher Background section is also included for each lesson, highlighting additional background content for educators.

Source: First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC)

Focus: K-Gr. 3

Summary: The teacher resource guide In Our Own Words, K-Gr. 3 Authentic Resources (Revised 2020) has been developed to offer teachers information and guidance about how to incorporate authentic First Peoples materials into their instruction and assessment practices.  Inside, you will find lesson plans, curriculum connections, assessment resources, and suggested texts.

This publication was developed by the First Nations Education Steering Committee and the First Nations Schools Association, in collaboration with the BC Ministry of Education and support from the Education Partnerships Program of Indigenous Services Canada.

Source: First Nations Child & Family Caring Society of Canada

Focus: Grade 2 students

Summary: This resource guide offers ideas for engaging students in critical learning to better understand the situation of First Nations children and young people and to address the inequalities they experience in education, child welfare, and access to government service through three interrelated campaigns nested in principles of reconciliation and in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC): Shannen’s Dream, Jordan’s Principle and I am a witness. All three campaigns feature resource rich websites that provide background information, independent reports/research and examples of what children and young people have undertaken to support the campaigns across Canada.

In addition to assisting First Nations children and young people, the campaigns are designed to uplift all children by promoting critical reflection on the historical and contemporary relationships between Aboriginal and other peoples in Canada and engaging children and youth in peaceful and respectful restorative actions. Teachers report that participating students have a better understanding of Aboriginal peoples and Canadian history within a human rights context, and show an improved sense of respectful citizenship, social agency and academic success. Students are often inspired, excited and motivated when they are provided with an opportunity to make a difference within existing curriculum.

Source: Rupertsland Institute Métis Centre of Excellence

Focus: Elementary and secondary students

Summary: Rupertsland Centre for Teaching and Learning develops comprehensive foundational knowledge resources, engaging lesson plans, meaningful professional development opportunities and authentic classroom learning tools that speak accurately and meaningfully to topics in Métis education.

Rupertsland Centre for Teaching and Learning (RCTL) is continually developing new resources to engage learners of all ages with Métis education.

Source: Canadian Encyclopedia

Focus: Senior elementary

Summary:  “First Nations” is the term used to refer to the Aboriginal Peoples  of Canada other than Métis and  Inuit. The members of the First Nations are the first occupants of the territories which constitute today Canada and they are the first Aboriginal People to have come into sustained contact with the Europeans, the settler villages and the trade which resulted from them. In Statistics Canada’s 2016 census, 977,230 people in Canada reported being of First Nations ancestry, representing a growth of 39.3% since 2006. There are 634 First Nations in Canada, using more than 50 distinct languages.

For more information on specific First Nations, see Indigenous Peoples in Canada .