Introduction

Leisa Desmoulins opens this chapter introducing Ginette Toivonen and Angela Faught. Throughout this chapter, these teachers share their experiences working through NCCIE lesson plans.

Considerations for Infusing Indigenous Content into the Classroom

Ginette Toivonen, Indigenous Education Lead, and Angela Faught, a non-Indigenous high school teacher, (both from Sudbury, Ontario) introduce themselves. They discuss the high school course NBE 3U: Understanding Contemporary First Nation, Métis, and Inuit Voices. They discuss Angela’s initial fears about teaching the course. To overcome these fears and anxieties, Ginette explains that teachers do not need to know everything. She offers resources for teachers to gain new information and to infuse Indigenous content in their classrooms in a good way.

An In-Depth Walk through an NCCIE Lesson Plan from southern Ontario – Tree Tapping

Leisa Desmoulins begins this section with an overview of the Tree Tapping lesson plan and where to find it on the NCCIE website. Next, Ginette Toivonen and Angela Faught provide an in-depth explanation of this lesson plan, which was created from videos of Anishinaabe Elder Doug Williams of Curve Lake First Nation and Potawatomi scholar Barbara Wall of the Chanie Wenjack School for Indigenous Studies at Trent University. These videos that support the Tree Tapping lesson plan provide stories, techniques, and processes about a traditional Anishinaabe activity, maple syrup harvesting. Ginette and Angela walk viewers through all components of the lesson plan and how to use videos with the lesson plan.

An NCCIE Lesson Plan from northwestern Ontario: Weaving a Web of Resiliency

Leisa Desmoulins briefly recaps the components covered in the Tree Tapping lesson plan and introduces the next lesson plan, Weaving a Web of Resiliency. Ginette Toivonen and Angela Faught discuss assessment and how teachers can use assessment tools from the Ontario Ministry of Education with NCCIE lesson plans while considering decolonizing assessment strategies. They connect their discussion to: the Ministry of Education document, Growing Success; a video on supporting youth; and assessing learning skills for elementary students.