Date: February 16, 2021

Grade: 4
Number of students: 18
Length of class: 1 hour
Teachers: Kelsey Shoults
Topic: Social - Fur Trade (Review Metis Question and settlement)

General Outcome: 

Social:

GLO 4.2: The Stories, Histories and Peoples of Alberta: Students will demonstrate an
understanding and appreciation of the role of stories, history and culture in strengthening
communities and contributing to identity and a sense of belonging.

Specific Outcomes: 

Social:

SLO 4.2.2.4 What movement or migration within Canada contributed to the populating of
Alberta? (LPP, TCC)

SLO 4.2.2.5 In what ways did Francophones establish their roots in urban and rural Alberta
(i.e., voyageurs, missionary work, founding institutions, media, politics, commerce)? (CC, I, LPP,
TCC)

SLO 4.2.2.6 How did the Metis Nation and Metis settlements contribute to Alberta’s identity (ie
languages, accomplishments)? (CC, I, LPP, TCC)

SLO 4.2.2.8 How did British institutions provide the structure for the settlement of New comers
in Alberta (i.e. North West Mounted Police, schools, Lieutenant governor)? (CC, I, PADM, TCC)

SLO 4.2.2.9 How did European immigration contribute to the establishment of communities in
Alberta in the late 19th century and early 20th century (CC, GC, I, TCC)?

SLO 4.2.2.10 How did the arrival of diverse groups of people determine the establishment and
continued growth of rural and urban communities (CC, GC, LPP)?

Learning Objectives:

By the end of the lesson students will be able to: 

 - Identify the effects of the European immigration on the Fur Trade and the establishment
of Canada.

Materials and Equipment

- Smart Board
- Textbooks
- Chart Paper
 
Preparation and Logistical Considerations 
- Check technology

Introduction Tim
e

Review As a class we will discuss the Metis Questions from last week and how they got each mark 10
Metis per questions. min
Questions

Body Tim
e

Journals Students will be divided into groups of 2 to read through various journal entries from 30
After the Fur different perspectives on settlement after the Fur Trade. min
Trade
(Probably 2 Students will have 15 minutes at each journal entry. One students will be the reader, and the
days) other student will be the recorder

Expectations:

Minimum: 2 sentences per question

Some are deep thinking questions. I don’t want simple yes or no answers – provide an example.

Discussion between you and your partner.

10 - 15 minutes per station. 

2 roles: 
 Reader: The person to read the story to their partner. 
 Recorder: The person to write down the group's answers. 

Wrap Up Tim
e
Exit slip Think, pair, share: What are the two most important things you learned today? 5

Assessment :

- Observation
- Discussion
- Questions
Dear Diary, 
 
My name is John A Macdonald. I am the first Prime Minister of
Canada. I sure do hope more settlers come to Canada. I wonder
how we can get more people to settle here. Maybe if we made it
easier for people to get here they would actually want to come. I
wonder if we built some sort of transportation device if that
would make it better. Today I wondered if building a train would
be a good idea. I wonder how hard that would be. There are
tons of buffalo here which might make it difficult to build a
railroad, also it might be difficult because the type of land we
have here varies. Some of the land is swampy so we would have
to go around it. Some of the land is rocky. Some of the land has
hills and valleys so we would have to build a bridge or two.
However, there are also lots of open prairies. I think this could
help bring lots of goods and materials faster to the west and
people would be able to get those goods they need to build their
new homes faster. 
 
How would building a train bring more settlers to Canada? 
 
 
What were 2 things that may cause a problem when building a
railroad? 
Dear Diary, 
 
My name is Freida Hamilton. I am going to fill you in on
some of the things that have been happening lately. It is
1867 and the fur trade has come to an end. There are lots of
different settlers here. Some are Francophone. Some are
Metis. Some are British. The Hudson’s Bay Company used
to own a lot of the land but now the Canadian government
bought it from them. The rumour is that they want more
people to come settle here in the west. Did you know that
before now Canada wasn’t a country? A bunch of different
British colonies have now come together to create Canada! I
wonder how this is going to impact everyone here and
especially the First Nations people. 
 
How did the fur trade affect the different groups of settlers
and First Nations? 
 
 
Dear Diary, 

 
My name is William Sanford Freeze and today I saw something
crazy. Today I saw the first train to ever come through Calgary. I
heard that it came from eastern Canada. I have never been to
eastern Canada but I sure do wonder what it’s like over there.
All I know is this train was ginormous. It had huge bulky wheels
which looked to be made out of metal. I have never seen
anything that big before but it certainly was an amazing sight. It
made such an absurd sound when it was coming to a stop. The
sound was that of an ear piercing squeak. It also let out a
roaring whistle as it was coming into Calgary so we all knew it
was coming. I must tell you diary that I sure am glad they built
this train. It is going to be so great for my grocery store that I
own. Before this it used to take 4 weeks to order my goods and
another 4 weeks before the goods would come to my store but
now that we have the train I am hoping that it is going to take
way less time. 
 
  How would you feel if you were William Sanford Freeze and a
railroad was being built where you lived? 
 
 
 
Dear Diary, 
 
My name is Dora Gleeman. Many people used to believe that
things weren’t very safe out here in the west. The
government finally decided that it was time to set up a police
force to stop some of the things that have been happening
lately. There were these bad men who used to come from
Montana and bring “whiskey” which was a mixture of
alcohol, pepper and red ink. This mixture poisoned many
people I heard, it especially hurt the First Nation’s people.
There also were these people called “Wolfers”. They were
people who got furs by poisoning the animals. The
government knew what these bad people did and decided
that it was time for there to be some laws and people
enforcing them. The North West Mounted Police is what they
call them. 

Why would the prime minister of Canada create the North

West Mounted Police? 

If you were a settler and there was no police, would you

want to move to an unsafe place you had never been?
Why? 
 
Dear Diary,

My name is Chief Crowfoot. I have been asked to sign a treaty

with the government that I am not sure I should sign. My people
are being placed on small sections of land that are not where we
want to be. There are good things about the treaty that give us
the chance to change our ways of life and maybe make some
things better. But there are things I feel we are going to lose and
sometimes I feel we are being disconnected from our land and
from the creator. They are asking for land to give to the new
settlers and to build a train and are wanting to give us the small
sections of lands called reserves. If we sign we will be given
food, health care, farm equipment, and schools. I wish I knew
the best thing to do for my people, but I am only one man out of
many. I will have meetings with the elders and together we will
decide. The decision is not an easy one. In the end, I must do
what is right for most of my people.

Why did the Canadian government create the treaties? 

What were the first nations promised if they signed the

treaties? 
 
Dear Diary,  

My name is Henry George. I used to be a farmer but now I

am a rancher. I moved from Britain due to the harsh land.
The land wasn’t great here for farming either but it sure was
good for cattle. This is why I decided to become a rancher. 
I have been doing quite well lately and have managed to get
some of my friends from Britain to come over here as well.
Some of them are also ranchers but I have some friends who
are helping to run schools and hospitals because they are
quite smart. The government offered some of my friends
land for ranching so they would want to come over here.
They actually put advertisements up in England for more
people to move here and apparently over 2000 people
answered. We are becoming a huge community over here. 

Why do you think the Canadian government wanted to bring

people to Alberta?
 

Dear Diary, 

 
My name is Artem Alexander. I saw this poster as I was walking
down the street today and it was offering free land in western
Canada. How did it get all the way to Ukraine? I was told they are
putting these up all over Europe. I think this would be great for my
family. We would have to immigrate to Western Canada but it
would be awesome to have more land so my children could also do
farming later in life and we could sell crops! This could be such a
great opportunity for our family to move there so I think we really
need to consider this. From what I have heard the government split
some land up over there and are giving each settler 160 acres of
land called a homestead. I guess that means we would be called
homesteaders. We would only be committed to 3 years there and
would be able to build a house and get the land ready to be
farmed on. A $10.00 registration fee doesn’t seem terrible
especially if this could make a better future for my children.  I do
know some other people who moved from the Ukraine to Canada. I
bet if we moved to where they are more people would come and
we could build up our community there. 

What is a homestead? 
How did the giving of homesteads contribute to settlement in
Alberta? 
Dear Diary, 

My name is Elizabeth Rossman. My family and I moved to

Canada from Britain. When we moved we were told to bring
canned food, cooking tools, a stove, clothing, a sewing
machine, and medicine. When we arrived we built a soddie
to live in. The walls are made out of dirt and grass from the
earth. We couldn’t afford anything else so this was the best
we could do. Some of our neighbours built their houses with
lumber, others built with logs from trees they cut down and
us well we live with dirt. Life has been hard here for some of
us. There has been flooding in the spring, and our winters
are cold and we have minimal food. There are also tons of
bugs. A lot of people who moved here to be a homesteader
have now left. However, wheat has become super important
here. Wheat still remained even in some of the harsh
conditions which is why it became so important. 

How did the land and resources affect the settlers' ways of
life? 
How do you think the First Nations were affected by the
changing uses of the land? 

Dear Diary, 

My name is Josey Cheney. I moved from Quebec to western

Canada with my family. Besides first nations, we were
some of the first people here out west even before other
settlers came. French was the first European language to be
spoken in Canada. A lot of people from French speaking
places have moved here which has kept our community
growing strong. In our community almost everyone speaks
French, and everything in our community is basically written
in French even our newspaper. We have developed our own
community and culture here and everyone cares for one
another. We have lots of French music, literature and art
here and it helps make us who we are. I am proud to be
Franco Albertan! 

How do you think language brings communities together? 

How do you think French and English became Canada's 2
official languages?