NBE3U Unit 1: Where We Stand

Students learn whose land they are on and how to listen before they read: the Nations and treaties connected to their school, why naming matters, First Nations, Métis and Inuit as distinct peoples, what counts as a text (wampum, birch bark scrolls, beadwork, katajjaq, learned about and never imitated), the Two Row as a relationship, self-determination in section 35 and the UN Declaration, and survivor testimony chosen by the teacher. Students build an inquiry question they carry through the course. Teacher notes recommend reviewing the course with your board's Indigenous education lead and inviting Elders, Knowledge Keepers or Métis Senators through board protocol, and include support resources wherever residential schools and loss come up. Contemporary texts are chosen by the teacher from board-approved resources (titles only); public domain writing by Indigenous authors of the past is included in full as historical context.

Assessment of learning: a “Where We Stand” research brief and an inquiry roundtable, with rubrics.

This unit is free to download and use with your classes.

Lessons

1. First Words
2. Naming Matters
3. Three Peoples, Many Nations
4. Whose Land?
5. What Counts as a Text?
6. Two Rows
7. Asking Better Questions
8. The Names We Carry
9. Self-Determination
10. The Truth We Carry
11. Building the Brief
12. Inquiry Roundtable

What you get

• A teacher lesson plan for every lesson: curriculum expectations, learning goals and success criteria, a timed sequence, differentiation, look-fors and answer guides
• Detailed slideshows (15 to 18 slides per lesson) with speaker notes on every slide: what to say, what to ask, what to look for and how long to spend, plus model answers and answer-key slides
• Student handouts, organizers and exit tickets
• Editable Word and PowerPoint files, plus PDFs
• A unit overview and the summative tasks and rubrics

Part of the free complete NBE3U course.