Financial Literacy for Canadian High Schoolers: Plan a First Peoples Celebration

The BC Math 9 curriculum guide lists 'create a budget/plan to host a First Peoples event' as an elaboration on its financial literacy requirement; I've taken that suggestion and run with it, creating a 'scenario' project in which students participate in making an application to the Canadian government for funds to facilitate a cultural event at their school to recognize September 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

That said, this is more a 'blueprint' than an extended lesson plan; there are no worksheets provided to do the math involved in such a budgeting exercise. This very ambitious project, in my opinion, could be used by two or more grade 9 math teachers at a single school; their 'keener' students could collaborate on this project as a special assignment, almost like enrichment (not for report card marks), since it would involve meetings with the principal/vice-principal and district Indigenous education staff. The definition of 'consumer math' that I include in all of my financial literacy products states: "Consumer math is a branch of math that uses basic math skills in real-life situations like shopping, calculating taxes, estimating a monthly budget...".

Items I recommend the students plan and budget for include food; decorations and/or small gifts for the Indigenous attendees; and possibly an honorarium or other form of gift for Indigenous speakers and/or performers. One slide gives info on the two ways to budget for food, i.e., per person and a total dollar amount; another slide discusses possible options for decorations/hand-made small gifts, and suggestions on people to approach for discounts for the materials involved. Both the food and the making of the decorations/gifts would require volunteer help for their preparation, but I see this as an opportunity for more community involvement.

Yes, there is definitely consumer math involved; my last slide says, in part, "...this is a big undertaking; it’s about a lot more than the math involved. But it’s a real-life event, and real-life events often involve creating a budget to make them happen."

If you know a grade 9 BC math teacher, I hope you'll recommend this product; if you ARE a grade 9 BC math teacher, I hope you'll purchase a copy, and let me know how your celebration turned out! If you teach anywhere else in Canada, ditto!

For financial literacy topics that are directly tied to the BC curriculum (but are, nevertheless, applicable to ALL Canadian students), please see:

gr. 6 - Financial First Steps: Buying a Bike! (budgeting for a purpose/purchase)

gr. 6 - Financial First Steps: Sleepover Economics (budgeting for a purpose/purchase)

gr. 7 - Saturday at the Mall: Shopping and Eating (sales tax, GST)

gr. 8 - Comparison Shopping: What's the Best Buy? (equivalent fractions & ratios)

gr. 9 - The Economics of Suppertime (creating and working within a budget)

gr. 10 - You're Working Part-Time! (gross and net pay, income tax/other deductions)

Sept. 20, 2023 - Canada’s National History Society is honoured to collaborate with the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) on an annual publication to coincide with Truth and Reconciliation Week. This year’s publication, Truth Before Reconciliation: Listening to Survivors, shares stories of Residential School Survivors and explores the theme of language loss and revitalization. The accompanying lesson plans included in this guide are designed to help teachers and students engage their hearts as well as their minds as they explore the publication together. Access the digital issue and educator's guide, which includes the below lessons. You may also download publications and resources from previous years.