NUNAVUT

AND INUIT INTRODUCTION LESSON 1

Name: Alyssa Fortin

Date: Monday Jan. 8
Grade: 2
Subject: Social Studies
Unit: Inuit Communities
Class Length: 2 hours (all afternoon)

General Learner Outcomes:
Students will…
2.1 Demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of how geography, culture, language,
heritage, economics and resources shape and change Canada’s communities.

Specific Learner Outcomes:
Students will…
2.1.2 Investigate the physical geography of an Inuit, an Acadian, and a prairie community in
Canada by exploring and reflecting the following questions for inquiry:
a. Where are the Inuit, Acadian and prairie communities located in Canada?
b. How are the geographic regions different from where we live?
c. What are the major geographical regions, landforms and bodies of water in each
community?
d. What are the main differences in climate among these communities?
e. What geographic factors determined the establishment of each community (e.g.,
soil, water and climate)?
f. How does the physical geography of each community shape its identity?
g. What is daily life like for children in Inuit, Acadian and prairie communities (e.g.,
recreation, school)?
h. How does the vastness of Canada affect how we connect to other Canadian
communities?

Learning Objectives:
Students will…
1) Become familiar with Nunavut’s landscape, and its inhabitants.
2) Complete a map of Nunavut and label certain parts.
3) Make connections to the landscape they live in in comparison to that of Nunavut’s.

Assessment:
Since this is an introductory lesson to a new topic, I will be looking at how the students ask
questions and urge them to think about things that they want to learn about the land and its
occupants. Their ability to read a map and make basic connections with new information will be
an area of focus for the class.

Materials:
• Social duotangs
• Iqaluit: An Arctic Community workbook
NUNAVUT AND INUIT INTRODUCTION LESSON 2

• Nunavut by Harry Beckett (use as teacher resource)

• The Old Ways by Susan Margaret Chapman
• PowerPoint presentation
• Blank paper
• Colouring materials
• Nunavut colouring pages bundle

Introduction:
Prep and Intro (10 min)
I will start by having a student help me hand out an Iqaluit Community workbook to
each of the students. I will ask them to write their names on them right away and put
them in their social duotangs which will be handed out with the workbooks.
I will then draw up a table on the board labeled with 2 sections: What I know about
Nunavut, and What I want to know about Nunavut. By a show of hands, I will have the
students give answers to these headings, and write their statements under each, doing
one at a time. If the students seem to be having trouble, I will ask simple questions to
help motivate their thinking.
Body:
PowerPoint and Workbook (45 min)
Using my Nunavut presentation, I will go through each slide thoroughly answering the
following questions:
• Where is Nunavut and Iqaluit?
• What does their flag look like?
• What is the land like?
• What is the weather like?
• What types of animals live there?
There will be accompanying images with as many slides as possible.
While going through the presentation, I will guide the students through the Map of
Nunavut assignment in their workbooks. We will take time to go through each question
as a class.
After learning about the land, we will take some time to go through the types of animals
that live there and how they are able to survive (coat colour, thick fur, blubber, thick
skin, lots of fat, etc.).
Book Reading (20 min)
Once students seem like they are ready to move on, I will call them to the carpet (they
can leave their stuff at their desks). Once gathered, I will read the book The Old Ways by
Susan Chapman; a book about a modern Inuit boy who likes technology but his
grandparents always try to tell him stories of their people which he is uninterested in.
Then on a trip with them, they get stuck in the middle of a snow storm and the boy
learns about his culture and how the Inuit people survive, and enjoys his time with his
grandparents through listening to their stories.
Story Activity (30 min)
NUNAVUT AND INUIT INTRODUCTION LESSON 3

After the book, the students will go back to their desks and clean up their work. They
must return their duotangs to the provided bin. Double check to make sure their names
are on them! They will then be handed sheets of blank paper: on the front they will
draw a picture of them and their family and something special to their family’s culture
(ex. igloo from book, snowshoes, a story, etc.), and on the back they will write a couple
sentences explaining the picture. I will lay this out to them thoroughly and draw a
diagram on the board for reference. The students should take their time to think about
what they want to draw, and how it will be meaningful. The drawings need to be
representative of their family and traditions.

Closure (5 min)
Nearing the end of the day, the students will be required to start wrapping up their drawings.
They will be reminded of how much time they have left throughout the activity. Once drawings
have been handed in, complete or incomplete (unfinished work will be continued the following
day in students’ spare time), they can start to clean up and prepare for their agendas. The next
day they will learn more about Nunavut’s land and start to learn how the Inuit use it and who
they are.

Modifications/Accommodations/Differentiation:
I will make myself available to students at the back table who may need a little help, and will
provide extra time to catch up the following day if needed.

Sponge:
In between the book reading, or at the end of class if students finish their drawings early, they
can retrieve a Nunavut colouring package that contains the territory’s flag, bird, and flower
with accompanying info on each.