GRADE 4 CITIZENSHIP STUDIES LIFELONG LEARNING CITIZENS

Part A: Curricular Connections and Background

BROAD AREA OF CITIZENSHIP

Lifelong Learning Citizens are developing the skills to critically examine and actively explore and analyze events and the effects of decisions made at a local, national, or global level. They are learning that there are different points of view or perspectives to issues and think about how rules and laws have different impacts on different groups of people.
Students are asked to understand and be aware of their thinking and the ways in which they make meaning of information explored. It is through ongoing examination and reflection of the processes of critical thinking that understanding of citizenship issues and transferring understandings to new but similar situations will occur.

DESIRED RESULTS OF CITIZENSHIP STUDY

Canada is a country that affirms diversity and believes that our cultural mosaic serves to enrich our country. Saskatchewan is a province that was settled by people moving to this area from other countries and other parts of Canada. Students will be examining the different groups of people who contributed to the make-up of the province and will understand that First Nations lived in Saskatchewan prior to any other people moving to the province and provided support to people new to Saskatchewan.
They will learn about the various cultures that have shaped Saskatchewan communities; analyze the contributions of First Nations and Métis people to the province, historically and currently; and, learn about the influence that the climate and geography of Saskatchewan had on the decisions made by the people and the development of the province.
Students will actively engage in:

  • Understanding the dynamics of change, seeking new information and developing the skills for action;
  • Developing a critical understanding of and actively exploring and analyzing events and the effects of decisions on a local, national and global level.

ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS OF CITIZENSHIP STUDY

Students will use information to understand that:

  • Respect for diversity in cultural social groups helps strengthen one’s community.
  • Diversity in a country leads to a diversity of perspectives.
  • Decision-making is a complex process with far reaching impacts.
  • Canada has a long relationship with First Nations Peoples through treaty relationships.
  • Historical events have an impact on decisions made today.
  • Enduring understandings are the big ideas that stimulate thinking, guide the inquiry and are linked to outcomes.
  • Essential questions point to the “big ideas’ in the inquiry and should be considered and reconsidered as the inquiry progresses.
  • Answers to these questions form the evidence of learning at the end of study.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT

Students will know:

  • The significance of historical events and use this knowledge to reflect on current and future decision making.
  • The impact that worldviews may play on a person’s perspectives.
  • Decisions have far reaching effects.
  • Treaty contracts are binding.
  • There are alternate ways to solve problems.

Students will develop skills for:

  • Examining/interpreting worldviews
  • Research
  • Determining outcomes of problem solving steps

Students will use their independent learning to:

  • Examine multiple world views
  • Understand the ripple effect of decision-making
  • Use historical events to guide current and future decision-making
Skill Development

As teachers work with students to develop meaning it is important to reinforce the skills that connect to long-term independent accomplishments. This section identifies specific skills that students will learn.

  • Critical thinking
  • Research

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

  • What influences your decisions?
  • What does the past have to do with decisions made today?
  • How far reaching are the impacts of decisions? (i.e. community, province, nation, world, universe)
  • Do all problems have a solution?
  • Can all problems be solved the same way? What steps (model) do you use in order to solve a problem?
  • What does the affirmation of diversity add to the Canadian culture?
Essential Questions are open-ended questions that are continually revisited, encompass concepts that students will explore throughout the unit of study, form the evidence of understanding and frame the assessment at the end of the study.

CURRICULUM OUTCOMES AND INDICATORS

Outcomes: Student Friendly Outcomes
DR4.2
Explain the relationship of First Nations and Métis peoples with the land. : Tell how the First Nations and Métis people lived off the land.
Indicators:

  • Investigate the traditional worldviews of First Nations peoples prior to European contact regarding land as an animate object and sustaining life force.
  • Research traditional lifestyles of First Nations communities and peoples prior to European contact (e.g., hunting, gathering, movement of people to follow food sources).
  • Explore how the traditional worldviews and teachings of First Nations’ Elders regarding land influence the lifestyle of First Nations people today.
  • Research the history of the Métis people and their relationship with the land.
  • Compare the traditional views of land and culture of the Indigenous people of Saskatchewan with those of the railway developers.
  • Assess the impact of historic loss of land on First Nations and Métis people.
  • Investigate the process by which decisions were made about the location of reserve lands in Saskatchewan.
  • Research the Métis struggle for land, and the displacement of Métis people in the late 19th century.

DR4.1
Correlate the impact of the land on the lifestyles and settlement patterns of the people of Saskatchewan.
Indicators:

  • Locate Saskatchewan on a map of Canada, North America, and the world.
  • Locate the geographic centre of Saskatchewan on a map.
  • Make inferences about why people in Saskatchewan settled in particular locations, including settlement patterns before and after coming together of First Nations and European peoples using a variety of maps (e.g., near waterways, sources of water, rail lines, natural resources, low population density in rural areas).
  • Identify the characteristics of the unique geographic regions in Saskatchewan.
  • Identify the impact of geography on the architecture of Saskatchewan, including how styles, materials, and cultural traditions have been affected by interaction with the land and other people in the province.
  • Analyze the influence of geography on the lifestyle of people living in Saskatchewan (e.g., flora and fauna, pastimes, transportation, cost of food, type of food, occupations, availability of services such as education and health care).
  • Conduct an inquiry investigating how residents of Saskatchewan came to occupy the land that is now our province (e.g., First Nations, early Europeans, and Métis).

IN4.2
Describe the origins of the cultural diversity in Saskatchewan communities. Describe the roots of Saskatchewan cultures. Describe the different cultures of Saskatchewan and understand how working together was necessary for survival.
Indicators:

  • Identify the traditional locations of the various First Nations tribes and language groupings in Saskatchewan prior to European contact.
  • Detail the ways in which First Nations peoples supported the survival of early European newcomers to Saskatchewan.
  • Trace and represent the history of European immigration to Saskatchewan including those who came for economic reasons (explorers, fur traders, homestead farmers) and religious reasons (Mennonites, Hutterites, Doukhobours).
  • Articulate reasons why European immigrants left their homelands and settled in Saskatchewan, with particular emphasis upon the local community and/or the individual student families.
  • Represent through speaking, writing, drama, multimedia, or other form, the challenges faced, both historically and in the current era, by First Nations people, Métis people, and immigrants to Saskatchewan.
  • Identify strategies by which diverse cultural communities in Saskatchewan learned to work together for the common good (e.g., agricultural fairs, service organizations, community celebrations, arts groups, barn raising, construction of community facilities).
  • Compare immigration patterns in Saskatchewan in the 19th and early 20th centuries to immigration patterns in the current era.
  • Identify the significance of historic buildings and places associated with cultural diversity in the community and province.
  • Investigate the role of archaeology in understanding the origins of Saskatchewan communities.

DR4.3
Analyze the implications of the Treaty relationship in Saskatchewan: Understand the factors that impacted the making of Treaties in Saskatchewan.
Indicators:

  • Locate Treaty areas within Saskatchewan and locate reserves within the Treaty area of the school.
  • Investigate conditions that precipitated Treaty negotiations in Saskatchewan.
  • Research Treaty provisions, including the spirit and intent of Treaties as well as material considerations.
  • Assess the benefits of Treaties to all Saskatchewan people.

TEACHER BACKGROUND

Settlement of Saskatchewan

  • History
  • Ethnicity of immigrants and locations settled
  • Government policies that promoted immigration

Treaty Areas of Saskatchewan

  • Treaty map
  • Treaty background
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Grade 4 ResourcesGrade 4 Lifelong Learning Citizens Part A Curricular Connections and Background