Indigenous People in Canada Shelters and Dwellings | Project Based Learning

Engage students in learning about the lives of the Indigenous People in Canada through this exciting project about shelters and dwellings. Students are hired by a museum to design a new display in this project-based learning activity.

Have your students use their creative, critical and historical thinking skills to demonstrate what they have learned about shelters used historically by First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people in Canada.

This project based learning activity includes:

• a complete lesson plan for teachers to help manage working through the project from planning to assessment.
• modifications for differentiation and classroom flexibility.
• student planning pages.
• tips for project-based learning.
• students checklists.
• teacher background knowledge about different types of shelters and dwellings used by Indigenous People in Canada throughout history.
• teacher background knowledge about geographical regions to help connect shelters to the land.
• student reflection pages.
• assessment rubric.
• student examples of the map, visual representation, and written portions.
• maps for Alberta and Canada.

In this task, students have been hired by a museum to create a new exhibition to educate museum visitors about a shelter used by a specific group of Indigenous People. They will need to present a map of the location where they are common, a visual representation of what the shelter looks like, and will provide an explanation of the shelter to educate museum visitors. This can take the form of a written piece, video, or sound recording.

Ninja Note: Students need to have a basic understanding of the basic geographic knowledge of Canada or Alberta (or your specific region) in order to be successful and having an understanding of Indigenous People in Canada or Alberta will help.

This is a very open-ended task, with a clear rubric outlining the content which is expected to be addressed. For about 30 minutes of teaching time upfront (not including imparting the basic knowledge to students), students are kept engaged in their learning for 2 to 3 weeks of social studies classes.

Check out the preview to see some examples!

This activity has been tested with five different groups of grade four students and is always a HUGE hit. Students have made shelters that included diagrams, posters, Lego®, cardboard and even one made of sticks and mud.

This task aligns with:

• the Alberta Program of Studies for Grade 4 or Grade 5 Social Studies

This task supports:

• any lesson about Indigenous People in Canada.

We have designed this lesson to be easily used in 4/5 combined classes, but it can be used with students as young as Grade 3 or up to Grade 6 (or even 7 if it fits with your curriculum).

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What our ninjas have said about this resource:

***My sixth graders enjoyed this as an at-home project during our Canada unit. The requirements were flexible enough to address my students' needs. They especially loved the Minecraft option. Looking forward to doing it again. (Thank you FebMommyof2)

***This is the perfect resource. I have a combined 4/5 class and I was able to accommodate my grade 4s (fur trade in Alberta) and my grade 5s (fur trade in Canada). They are really excited to start social class every day. (Thanks Deanna F)

Thank you for your consideration! Happy fur trading from the Brain Ninjas!

***Love that this project idea can be utilized beyond just our grade four curriculum. I'm going to use this in my combined 3/4 class. Thank you for the structure of the task! (Thank you Mary M!)

***A great project that really engages the students and promotes wonderful learning. Thank you! (Thank you Buyer!)

Thank you for your consideration! Happy creating from the Brain Ninjas!