Dylan Barnhardt 1

Lesson Plan

COURSE: CHC2D – Grade 10 Canadian History

TOPIC: Indigenous peoples in Canada from D-Day to their right to vote

UNIT: Canadian History since WWII

TIME: One class (75 minutes)

CONNECTION TO FINAL ASSESSMENT:

Final assessment requires students to select three objects, events or themes (in any
combination) from World War Two to 1960, to write about in a paper, or present through a
learning carousel; this lesson contains objects, events and themes students can select for the
assignment, including Indigenous contributions to the War, the right to vote for Indigenous
peoples, challenges faced post-war, notable Indigenous persons in WWII (like Tommy Prince).

RATIONALE:
Through a social justice and equity lens, Indigenous contributions in WWII and the
challenges Indigenous veterans faced after the War are vitally important to student understanding
of the societal characteristics and elements which produced the Canadian identity and current
socio-political context of Indigenous peoples in Canada. Highlighting how Indigenous soldiers
lost their Status after serving in WWII, how they continued to not be able to vote without giving
up their Indian Status, and how they received little recognition or acceptance for their service
helps foster a deeper, holistic, more sensitive student understanding of the history of Indigenous
issues in Canadian history.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:

OVERALL EXPECTATIONS:
C2. Communities, Conflict, and Cooperation: analyse some key interactions within and
between communities in Canada, and between Canada and the international community,
from 1929 to 1945, with a focus on key issues that affected these interactions and changes
that resulted from them;
D3. Identity, Citizenship, and Heritage: analyse how significant events, individuals, and
groups, including Aboriginal peoples, Québécois, and immigrants, contributed to the
development of identity, citizenship, and heritage in Canada between 1945 and 1982.

SPECIFIC EXPECTATIONS:
C2.4: explain some of the ways in which World War II affected Canada and Canadians
(e.g., with reference to economic recovery, censorship, rationing), including how the war
changed the lives of various groups in this country;
Dylan Barnhardt 2

D3.3: explain some significant events, developments, and/or issues that affected First
Nations, Inuit, and/or Métis people in Canada during this period and assess the impact of
these developments on identity, citizenship, and/or heritage in Canada

LEARNING GOALS:
 Understand the unique complexities of First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples going to
war (colonial fallout, socio-political context with residential schools and assimilation
policies, fighting for a nation you don’t identify with)
 Knowledge of First Nations, Inuit and Metis contributions to WW2, in combat and non-
combat roles (large proportion of Canadian soldiers in Dieppe Raid were Indigenous)
 Understand and have an awareness of the problems First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples
faced when returning to Canada after the war (denied access to legion halls, removal of
Indian Status for fighting in the war, lack of recognition, etc)

SUCCESS CRITERIA:
 Students will be able to understand and identify some of the significant events,
developments and/or issues that affected First Nations, Inuit and/or Metis peoples in
Canada during and shortly after WWII;
 Students will be able to draw connections between pre-war and post-war attitudes of the
Canadian government towards Indigenous peoples
 Students will be able to consider and analyse Indigenous WWII and post-War history
collaboratively, in small group settings, to articulate the socio-political context and
climate of the time.

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE:
 Basic understanding of Indigenous contributions in WWII, including the high proportion
of Indigenous soldiers in Dieppe, high numbers of voluntary enlistment and conscription,
contributions in combat roles, non-combat roles, and on the home front;
 This lesson would take place after the general lesson on D-Day, thus students would
understand what happened during D-Day, how it happened and why;
 Basic, foundational knowledge of the socio-political status of Indigenous peoples
immediately prior to WWII, ie without the same rights or standing as non-Indigenous,
white Canadians.

CONNECTIONS TO SOCIAL JUSTICE & EQUITY:

 This lesson raises awareness of the injustices committed against Indigenous peoples in
Canada, despite contributions voluntarily made during WWII;
 Highlights the historical conditions which have created a lasting legacy of inequality and
social injustice, which continue to adversely impact Indigenous peoples to this day.
 Leading this lesson connects directly to social justice as it helps students to understand
the current dispositional relationship between Indigenous peoples and the Canadian
government
Dylan Barnhardt 3

 In addition, this lesson connects to social justice as it helps students to understand

challenges facing Indigenous peoples and communities today, which are a direct result of
events occurring in the past.
 This lesson connects to equity as it focuses on a marginalized group in Canada, that of
Indigenous peoples, and thus through focusing on their contributions in WWII, their
history is made more equitable against the broader, more mainstream Canadian WWII
history.

ACCOMMODATIONS:
ELLs:
 Short CBC article for think, pair, share will be read aloud by teacher. ELLs will
have opportunity to gain deeper understanding of article through the “think” step
 During consolidation, ELLs can satisfy exit card activity either by outlining only
significant point to them (instead of 3-4 lines), or be omitted from exit card
activity depending on English language proficiency (and thereby assessed through
formative assessments in participation during class and small group discussions).
 Any further accommodations as required or deemed necessary for ELL students
to succeed
 Access to lecture notes and slides
 Can work individually at any point to allow for more effective teacher support
 Extra time or support will be provided as required

IEPs
 Can submit reduced exit card, submit exit card next class, or be formatively
assessed through class and small group discussions (as appropriate depending on
individual student)
 Not required to share with entire class during think, pair, share; can work in a trio
or larger group instead of a pair if that is more comfortable/effective for them
 Access to lecture notes and slides
 Can work individually at any point to allow for more effective teacher support
 Extra time or support will be provided as required

LESSON STRUCTURE/TEACHING AGENDA:

MINDS ON (HOOK) – 15-20 MINUTES

 Class will begin with an agenda/roadmap of the lesson (this will be a daily routine
for every class), looking like:
 RECAP – Indigenous peoples in WWII, where did we leave off last class
 VIDEO AND SHORT LECTURE
 GROUP DISCUSSIONS
 CLASS DISCUSSION
Dylan Barnhardt 4

 DEBRIEF
 Short video clip will be shown to bring students back to the matter of WWII and
specifically Indigenous involvement/contributions
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2Z6RSKbrw0&t=38s)
 Connection to social justice and equity: raising awareness and adding to
student knowledge of Indigenous contributions in WWII promotes equity
for Indigenous peoples and students.
 “Pedagogy that incorporates a student’s culture and experiences empowers
engages them in the classroom and school” (Banks, 2010).
 Pose question for short discussion: “What Canada do we think soldiers came home
to after D-Day?”
 Further questions: Should war veterans’ rights change after returning home?
WWII was fought for freedom, but did all Canadians have equal freedoms
after the war?
 Pose question to assess prior learning: “What do we know about Indigenous
peoples immediately before WWII?”
 Ideal answers: residential schools, reserves, Indian Status or Act, social
inequality, cannot vote, participated in WWI, etc.
 Create mind-map on whiteboard/chalkboard of class contributions to above
prompting questions, to paint the class’s prior understanding or conception of
Canada right after WWII.
 ASSESSMENT: formative, through observing, monitoring and documenting
student contribution to class mind-map production, participation during class
discussion, in order to gauge prior knowledge and prepare students for introduction
of further/new knowledge

ACTION – 40 MINUTES
 Socratic style lecture (assessment for learning): brief lecture given on the
conditions Indigenous peoples faced when returning from the War, highlighting
lack of benefits or resources, lack of recognition, for many the removal of Indian
Status, the persistent lack of the right to vote, employment opportunities or
conditions, etc.
o Socratic in that it isn’t one-directional; rather, prompting students as much
as possible, engaging in organic discussion as it arises with careful
prompting questions like “should everyone have the right to vote?” “Should
soldiers and veterans have the right to vote?” “What does it really mean to
be equal?”
o Accompanied by PowerPoint with minimal text, and as many images,
videos or graphics as possible.
 Think, pair, share (assessment for learning): distribute CBC article detailing
what life was like for Indigenous soldiers returning from WWII
Dylan Barnhardt 5

(https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/first-nations-contributions-to-ww-i-and-ww-
ii-lest-we-forget-1.2830332)
o Think: Students will read short article individually and be given a few
minutes to gather and/or write down their thoughts, reactions, impressions,
and feelings after reading the piece;
o Pair: Students will group into pairs or trios (according to what’s most
efficient with seating arrangement) to discuss their thoughts, reactions,
impressions and feelings after reading the piece;
o Share: Each pair/trio will be encouraged (not forced) to share one salient,
significant, or interesting point they identified or discussed with the entire
class, for a broader discussion. Teacher will use prompting questions to
further encourage large group discussion.
 Small case study analysis and discussion (assessment for learning): students
will form slightly larger groups (3-5 people in each) and will be randomly given
small excerpts or sentences from Aboriginal People: History of Discriminatory
Laws (http://publications.gc.ca/Collection-R/LoPBdP/BP/bp175-e.htm) which were
positions held and argued by Canadian politicians against giving Indigenous
peoples the right to vote prior to 1960
o Social justice and equity connection: “they (teachers) are responsible for
teaching about Canada’s history of colonization and the relationships
between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in this country” (Dion,
2010). Here, these exercises and activities teach students about Canada’s
history of colonization and the relationships between Aboriginal and non-
Aboriginal people during the WWII period.
o “Anti-racism is not merely acknowledging differences, it is responding to
difference” (Dei, 2003).” This is a direct connection as here, students are
confronted by antiquated racist beliefs held by Canadian politicians, and
instead of just acknowledging them, they must respond within the
classroom.
o Excerpts:
 “Indians are incapable of voting”
 “Indians are not capable of civilization and will eventually become
extinct”
 “Indians are utterly incapable of managing their own affairs and
extending the right to vote is inappropriate”
 “Extending the vote to Indians represented encroachment (offence)
on the rights of white men.”
 “Indians should not have the right to vote while under the
government’s care”
o Groups are given some time to read, discuss, and consider the implications
of these excerpts.
Dylan Barnhardt 6

o Regroup as a class, have a member from each group read the excerpt aloud,
to illustrate and foster an awareness of discriminatory beliefs once held by
Canadian politicians
 ASSESSMENT: formative, assessment FOR learning, with students demonstrating
learning through group collaboration, analysis and consideration during “think,
pair, share” of CBC article, and during excerpt case study analysis; assessment
gathered by teacher through observation, listening and interacting with group/pair
conversation, considering and tracking participation in group discussions;
assessment for learning also gathered through student participation during Socratic
lecture

CONSOLIDATION – 15 MINUTES
 Debrief: Teacher will provide short debrief about the lesson. Highlighting
importance of understanding that the views raised in the class are antiquated;
however, they are views that informed policies, that impacted peoples’ lives, that
created history. Teacher will emphasize importance of understanding how a group of
Canadian soldiers were treated differently only because of their ethnicity/culture,
despite contributing the same as other soldiers.
 Q&A (assessment for learning): Students will be given opportunity to ask any
remaining questions, or offer any commentary they deem relevant or significant.
 Exit Cards (assessment for learning): Students will write short, simple exit cards
outlining one key point they learned or added to their knowledge in today’s class,
something significant or important raised in class, and finally a comment or question
remaining with them if applicable (in total, only 3-4 sentences).
 ASSESSMENT: formative, assessment FOR learning, through observation of who
participates in Q&A opportunity and with what; formative, through consideration of
exit cards