3 Ideas for Using Path of the Elders in the Classroom

You can find comprehensive Teachers’ Guides for grades 4-10 at PathoftheElders.com, but to get you started here are 3 easy ideas for integrating On the Path of the Elders into the classroom! 

1)  The Canoeing Game stresses the importance of working together while drawing attention to the historical circumstances surrounding the signing of Treaty No. 9.

Before playing the Canoeing Game, use geometry to lead into a discussion about the events surrounding the treaty signing!

Give each of your students a set of tangrams and ask them to create a series of specific shapes. (Click here for a tangram outline). Insist that they work on the problems individually and give them a short time limit.

Once your students have failed to complete all the puzzles in the given time, divide the class into small groups and allow them to work on the problems together.

Ask each group to share their results with the class. Discuss how working as a group changed the problem solving process.

Explain that during the negotiations for Treaty No. 9, the government representatives approached each Aboriginal band individually. Discuss as a class how the treaty negotiations may have been different if all the bands had been able to work together. You can use the Interactive Treaty Map to guide your discussion!