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Grade 7 History
Introduction
Author:
Katherine Graham,
Coreen Kieser
- Aim:
- To develop an understanding of the roots and culture of French Canada during
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries including Native-French relations.
- Rationale:
- This teaching unit is intended to be used with the intermediate grades
(six to nine) and specifically the grade seven course the new Ontario
Curriculum guidelines. Grade Seven is the first formal exposure
Ontario students have to History as a discipline separate from other Social
Studies. This unit presents the history of New France as an integral
part of Canadian heritage and, consequently, an important component of
Canadian history.
Although Canada originally belonged to its Aboriginal Peoples, the French
and English were the first groups to explore what we now call Canada.
By examining how the French came to live in Canada, where they settled,
and how they interacted with the Native Peoples students will better understand
the roots of some of the issues that are significant in our current history,
for example, The Oka Crisis. They will also understand the impact
the immigration of the European settlers had upon the Native Community.
It is equally important to recognize that the Native Peoples taught the
French many interesting things as well. By studying the Fur Trade
and other aspects of New France's culture, students will gain a deeper
appreciation for such interactions.
Canada's Digital Collections
and the CRB Heritage Project
provide some excellent sources of information presented
in an appealing format for educational use. These two projects help
to bring History alive for Canadians and are effective educational tools
for the classroom. The Heritage Minutes, the "Frontier Empire" kit from
"We Are Canadians" and specific web sites are integrated into this
unit for an interactive approach to learning. Students must
realize that History is not merely words on the page of a dusty old book.
It is the daily events of another time period, be it a millennium or be
it a minute ago. Through the study and understanding of Canada's
early history, students will be better prepared to understand what it is
to be Canadian in our changing world.
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Expectations
- 1. Understanding Concepts
By the end of this unit, students will:
- describe the early European and Aboriginal settlement patterns in North
America;
- demonstrate an understanding of why people came to live in New France (e.g.,
for land, for military reasons, for the Fur Trade)
- demonstrate an understanding of the interactions between the French and
Aboriginal Peoples
- demonstrate an understanding of social and economic life in New France
- investigate themes of exploration, miscommunication, and expansion of French
territory.
2. Developing Inquiry/Research and Communication Skills
By the end of this unit, students will:
- use an atlas to find information.
- plot settlements on a map of New France.
- participate in a class discussion (exercising oral communication and active
listening skills).
- use appropriate vocabulary (Seigneury, Aboriginal People, Natives, Fur
Trade, Hudson's Bay Company, pelts, etc.)
- take notes from video and class discussion.
- brainstorm as an entire class.
- work as a contributing member of a team.
- use the Internet as a visual and written source of information.
- present orally in front of the class.
- justify their decisions.
- critically analyze video media.
- record information from the Internet.
- extract and record information from a primary source.
- select appropriate graph types to present selected data.
- Applying Concepts and Skills in Various Contexts
By the end of this unit, students will:
- demonstrate an understanding of where the French originally lived in Canada.
- develop an understanding of the helpful interaction of the Native community
with the new French settlers.
- work in teams to create mind maps.
- evaluate certain contributions to traditional Québécois culture.
- participate in an historical dramatization.
- consolidate and review their knowledge of New France.
- role play a character from the era studied through writing "letters" to
their "families"
- demonstrate their knowledge in a way that is appropriate to be evaluated.
- appreciate the effort expended by a remarkable man, Jean Talon, to foster
the development of a North American Colony
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