LESSON PLAN

Unit 2 The Fur Trade

Subject: Social Studies Grade: 7 Date:Oct 19
Critical Inquiry Question: How did European powers control North America through the fur
trade?
Lesson: 5 Time: 11:30
SLOs: From the Program of Studies
7.1.4 assess, critically, the economic competition related to the control of the North American fur
trade by exploring and reflecting upon the following questions and issues:
• How did the First Nations, French, British and Métis peoples interact with each other as
participants in the fur trade?
• How did the fur trade contribute to the foundations of the economy in North America?
• How was Britain’s interest in the fur trade different from that of New France?

Instructional Objectives: (Not outcomes, but lesson objectives. Not a description of lesson
procedure, but an indication of what students will know or be able to do by the end of the
lesson).
Knowledge:
What is the Fur trade?
How did the different people interact in the fur trade?
Skill:
Analyze sources.
Participate in a reenactment of the fur trade.
Take on a perspective or point of view.
Key Questions:
What is the focus question for this lesson? What are some related questions?
What is the Fur trade?
How did the different people interact?
How did the fur trade produce the foundations of our economy?
How did each group's interests in the fur trade differ?

Materials:
Powerpoint, booklets, Smart board, chromebooks, textbooks, students trade items.

Preparation:
Load bell work sheet, Set up tables for trading, get a few extra trading items.

Adaptations:
Lots of review, check ins and formative assessments. Monitor that Telson, Jordy, Julian and
Tayler stay on task.
Lesson Procedure:
(Use numbered or bulleted steps. Indicate lesson introduction, development and conclusion to
clarify the flow of the lesson. Write it with enough detail that a substitute teacher could teach the
lesson.)
 ● Opener: Bell work, Agenda, outcome, review
● Bell work: Oct 19th, 1867, The USA purchased Alaska for 7.2 million from Russia. (7
mins)
● Review: What is ethnocentrism, Imperialism, Colonization, Mercantilism? Pg 74 the
action or process of settling among and establishing control over the Indigenous people
of an area. (5 mins)
● Fur trade activity- (25 mins)
Rules for the trade-
-No talking (because First Nations and Europeans did not share language) only gestures and
body language.
- If you don’t want to trade you don’t have to
- You can trade multiple objects at a time
-All trades are final
- They must record their trades (like they did at a trading post)
-Give one or two students the privilege to talk because there was a small percentage of men who
learned both languages.

After the trade activity, Students will write a reflection about how they feel about their trades
and how their experience was. Each student will need to write a minimum 1-paragraph response.
Guiding questions will be provided to help them.
Guiding questions:
- Do you think it would have been easy to be involved in the fur trade? ExplainConsider
the language barrier, the difference of culture and the different needs for resources.
- Who do you think benefited most from the fur Trade? Who benefited the least? Explain
why?
- What was your favorite part about the fur trade activity? What was your least favorite
part?
- How did the French, British and Indigenous People interact during the fur trade?

In the following class, we will discuss in more detail their experiences and what they learned.
Break students into teams, give them each a group to research using the 2 textbooks. Share with
the class what their group's interest in the fur trade was. Fill in the fur trade interests chart.
Class discussion:
What did the French want from the fur trade?
What did the British want?
What did the First Nations want?
Who benefited most? Why
Who benefited least why?
How did these groups interact?
How did this connect to imperialism?

If done: Perspectives on the fur trade textbook reading. Pg 135 physical text. Discussion on
different views of the fur trade.

Closure: Hand in their reflection.

Ask how different groups interacted during the fur trade?
What did each group want from the fur trade?

Assessment: How will you know if students met your lesson objectives? What assessment tool or
strategy are you using? What are you looking for in this formative assessment?

Formative: Participation, Fur trade reflection, class discussion.

Lesson Reflection:

This is a space for notes after you’ve taught the lesson.