Lesson Plan

Teacher:
Katelyn Ward, Hilary MacMaster, Nicole MacDonald, Kaitlyn
Roeding
Grade:
5
Unit:
Four: Decision- Making
School:
St. Thomas Elementary
Date:
June 3, 2015
Social Structure and Decision making of the First Nation Communities
Curriculum Outcome:
5.4.2
Examine decision-making practices in First Nations and Inuit societies
in what later became Atlantic Canada
Time Required for this lesson:
1-1 hours
Materials/ Resources:
Fake Money, a price list of items, Investigating Past
Societies Textbook, white board makers (for the students)
Methods / Structure:
students will be in 4 groups of 4 or 5.
Text/Audio/Video-based Resources: N/A
Features:
Pictures of tribe, levels of decision-making.
Vocabulary:
Mikmaq
,
consensus
,
elders, decisions.
Instructional Strategies / Procedure for the class:
12:30p
m

Talk about the social structure of Mi'kmaq (and other First

Nations communities)
How the social structure affected the way choices were
made
We will also discuss how everyone in the community had a
say in some decisions but it is the elders who have the final
say. If there were questions about fishing and hunting the
elder would ask the hunters in the community what they
thought was best.
Refer to page 99 (Chapter 5) to show students the circle
chart, which demonstrates the social structure of the
First Nations community.

1:00pm

What are decisions, how do we make them? How do first nation

communities make decisions based off their social structure.
Discuss with the students decisions they have made. Who
was a part of this decision?
Refer to page 109 (chapter 5) to see how the MiKmaq
people made decisions. **Talk about this with the students
to show the different steps
- do we make decisions the same way or no?
Have you ever traded something with someone? How did
you decide how it would be traded?
-If you wanted to trade with another community who do
you think you would need to talk to?
What does it mean to gain consensus?
Group Reading on page 97, this is looking into consensus
decision making- explain what that means to the students,
as some of them may not have heard that word before.

1:30pm

Explain Activity, talk about the social structure, and how the
class will be making important decisions. They will be given $100
to spend on school supplies. As a group you need to figure out
what you will spend the money on, and come to a consensus.

2:00pm

Students will work in groups of 5 to determine how they

will spend their money. The group must reach consensus
and everyone must be ok with the purchases. If someone
disagrees you must be able to work through it and make a
compromise.
** it is important to remind the students to be respectful
of the opinions of the others in the group.

Come together as a group and talk about what they decided to

buy. Did everyone come to an agreement?

Did anyone emerge as the leader in the group?

Was everyone given the chance to express his or her
thoughts and options on how the money should be spent?
Did everyone feel heard?

Differentiation:
Having the social structure represented in the photos,
having the physical money for the students to use will help them. Also
having the discussion before hand to explain to the students very clearly
what a decisions is and how we reach them.

Teaching Method and Strategies:

Student involvement, rather than just
talking to the students about how decisions are made they are going to be a
part of the process and make decisions.
References:
Investigating Past Societies