Resource Category: Lesson Plans

Download lesson plans that include classroom activities and Anishinaabe-made educational content.

  • Time, Continuity and Change

    Time, Continuity and Change

    This awareness-level lesson introduces learners to Anishinaabek history as a complex and enduring story of cultural persistence, adaptation, and resistance, deeply connected to the lands of Anishinaabe Aki.

    Student Organization

    Whole Class, Small Groups, Pairs

    Activity Setting

    Classroom Setting

    Time Required

    60-85 minutes

    Learners will…

    • Explore the history of the Anishinaabe people in Michigan and recognize their resilience through significant changes, showing respect for the experiences of others.
    • Listen to stories about life in the past and the lessons that Anishinaabe people have shared across generations, practicing empathy and gratitude for the knowledge that is passed down.
    • Share stories about how people cared for each other and the Earth, and can identify and communicate challenges and opinions while showing social awareness and respect for different perspectives.

    Essential Questions

    • What can we learn from Anishinaabe stories about belonging, resistance, and revitalization—and how do they connect to our own lives and communities?
    • How have Anishinaabe people remained strong and connected to their identity through times of change and challenge?

    Lesson Plan Materials

    • PowerPoint slides: Time, Continuity, and Change (Awareness Level)
    • Whiteboard, interactive board, or chart paper
    • Printed Time Period Cards
    • Worksheet: Small Group Reflections

  • Anishinaabek Identity & Diversity

    Anishinaabek Identity & Diversity

    This awareness-level lesson introduces learners to the diversity of Anishinaabek peoples and the unique cultural identities that connect them both to one another and to non-Anishinaabek communities. It explores how Anishinaabe identity is shaped through language, kinship, traditions, and spiritual relationships, while continuing to evolve across generations and influence the future.

    Student Organization

    Whole class

    Activity Setting

    Classroom Setting

    Time Required

    1 hour, 20 minutes-1 hour, 40 minutes

    Learners will…

    • Recognize that Anishinaabe people, like all people, have many different identities and ways of being, and can show respect for this diversity.
    • Reflect on their own identity and how family, community, and traditions help shape who they are, just as they do for the Anishinaabek.
    • Listen with care and learn from others’ stories and experiences, understanding that identity grows and changes across time and generations.

    Essential Questions

    • How can stories like Fry Bread help us understand that there is no single way to be Anishinaabe, and why is it important to honor diversity within all communities?
    • In what ways do our families, communities, and traditions shape who we are, just as they do for the Anishinaabek?

    Lesson Plan Materials

    • PowerPoint slides: Anishinaabek Identity and Diversity (Awareness Level)
    • Book: Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard ISBN 9781626727465
    • Worksheet: Anishinaabe Identity and Diversity
  • Sense of Humor

    Sense of Humor

    This awareness-level lesson introduces learners to how Anishinaabe embrace humor as a teaching tool, using stories and laughter to impart moral lessons, cope with adversity, and strengthen communal bonds.

    Student Organization

    Whole class, Small groups

    Activity Setting

    Classroom Setting

    Time Required

    70-95 Minutes

    Learners will…

    • Explain who Weneboozhoo is and how his stories teach lessons through humor and exaggeration.
    • Recognize that laughter is an important part of Anishinaabe culture because it connects people, heals, and helps people learn.
    • Reflect on the lessons in stories—including their own mistakes—and understand how they guide the way they live and care for others.

    Essential Questions

    • How do Weneboozhoo’s stories use humor and mistakes to teach important lessons about life and relationships?
    • Why is storytelling—especially with laughter—an important way of learning in Anishinaabe culture?

    Lesson Plan Materials

    • PowerPoint slides: Sense of Humor (Awareness Level)
    • Video clip: Weneboozhoo and the Ducks video (search the internet for video)
    • Video and sound capabilities to watch and listen to the video as a group
    • Worksheet: Weneboozhoo
    • Worksheet: Comic Strip
    • Worksheet: Silly Poem
    • Worksheet: Skit
    • Pencils, markers, crayons

  • Anishinaabe Land

    Anishinaabe Land

    This awareness-level lesson introduces learners to Anishinaabe Aki, the ancestral homelands of the Anishinaabek people which spans the Great Lakes region across the U.S. and Canada and where Anishinaabek communities exist and thrive in diverse settings.

    Student Organization

    Whole class, Pairs

    Activity Setting

    Classroom Setting

    Time Required

    45-60 Minutes

    Learners will…

    • Be able to describe how Anishinaabek connect to the land (Aki) through seasonal activities.
    • Reflect on their own connection to a special place in their lives and represent it across the seasons.
    • Compare personal and cultural ways of connecting to place, building empathy and awareness.

    Essential Questions

    • How do the Anishinaabek show their relationship with Aki (the land) through the seasons?
    • What can we learn about our own connection to place by understanding the Anishinaabe view of land as a living relative?

    Lesson Plan Materials

    • PowerPoint slides: Anishinaabe Land (Awareness Level)
    • Worksheet: Seasonal Connections (divided into four sections for spring, summer, fall, and winter)
    • Map: Anishinaabe Aki (print or digital version)
    • Crayons, colored pencils, or markers

  • Anishinaabek Contributions

    Anishinaabek Contributions

    This awareness-level lesson explores how Anishinaabek have shaped society through their knowledge systems, technologies, and cultural practices, while continuing to steward resources, influence economic development, and contribute across diverse fields, professions, and communities.

    Student Organization

    Whole class, Small groups

    Activity Setting

    Classroom Setting

    Time Required

    35-50 Minutes

    Learners will…

    • Explain how Anishinaabe trade routes connected people, places, and resources across Michigan long before highways were built.
    • Recognize that items like wild rice, maple syrup, and copper were important to Anishinaabek life and trade, and  can explain why they were valued.
    • Reflect on how Indigenous knowledge and innovations, like trade routes, continue to shape the world we live in today.

    Essential Questions

    • How do the Anishinaabe trade routes show innovation, and why are they important to Michigan’s history and present?
    • In what ways do Indigenous knowledge and contributions continue to shape our daily lives and the land we live on?

    Lesson Plan Materials

    • PowerPoint slides: Anishinaabek Contributions (Awareness Level)
    • Map: The Land Already Knew the Way (Anishinaabe Trailways)
    • Map: Michigan Highways (search the internet for the most current map)
    • Worksheet: The Land Already Knew the Way (Anishinaabe Trailways) map with starting points marked for wild rice, maple syrup, and copper
    • Worksheet: Michigan Highway Map (with same starting points marked)
    • Worksheet: Student Response Sheet
  • Language

    Language

    This awareness-level lesson introduces students to Anishinaabemowin, with its diverse dialects, preserves cultural identity, connects communities to the land, and carries ancestral knowledge and spirituality.

    Activity Setting

    Classroom

    Student Organization

    Whole Class

    Time Required

    1 hour, 15 minutes – 1 hour, 35 minutes

    Learners Will…

    • Be able to retell where Anishinaabemowin originated and share this story with others in a respectful way that honors the language and the people it comes from, practicing responsibility in how knowledge is carried forward.
    • Be able to identify Anishinaabemowin as the language spoken in what is now Michigan before the arrival of non-Anishinaabe people, and reflect on how recognizing Indigenous languages fosters respect and a deeper sense of connection to the people whose identity and culture are carried through this language.
    • Be able to recall and use Anishinaabemowin words while practicing polite and respectful communication, recognizing that language carries the values of kindness, relationship, and belonging.

    Essential Questions

    • What can we learn from the first Anishinaabe who named the world in Anishinaabemowin, and how can we honor that tradition today?
    • How does learning and using Anishinaabemowin help us build respect and relationships with the land, animals, and each other?

    Lesson Plan Materials

    • “The Mishomis Book: The Voice of the Ojibway” By Edward Benton-Banai ISBN: 0816673829
    • Relative card deck
    • Pencils and erasers, colored pencils or crayons
    • Ocean Relative worksheet

  • Citizenship & Political Affiliation

    Citizenship & Political Affiliation

    This awareness-level lesson introduces students to how Tribal Governance has evolved over time, and Tribal Nations maintain sovereign authority to define their own citizenship criteria, which may vary between nations. Anishinaabek hold citizenship in their Tribal Nation/First Nation, as well as citizenship in the U.S. and/or Canada.

    Activity Setting

    Classroom

    Student Organization

    Whole Class, Small Groups

    Time Required

    1 hour, 5 minutes – 1 hour, 15 minutes

    Learners will…

    • Be able to explain that Tribal Nations are sovereign, self-governing communities with their own leaders, responsibilities, and traditions, and reflect on how belonging to a Nation involves reciprocal care and responsibility.
    • Be able to identify unique characteristics of Tribal Nations in Michigan (leaders, programs, cultural practices) and practice curiosity and appreciation for the diversity within Anishinaabe governance and community life.
    • Be able to describe how many Anishinaabe people belong to both their Tribal Nation and the places they live today, and reflect on how being part of more than one community shapes identity, belonging, and responsibility.

    Essential Questions

    • What Tribal Nations share geography with Michigan?
    • What does it mean to belong to a Nation, and how do Nations care for their people, culture, and land?

    Lesson Plan Materials

    • Tribal Nations Fact Sheet
    • Printed or projected Seats of Sovereignty: The 12 Federally Recognized Tribes in Michigan Map
    • Tribal Nations Passport
  • Foresight

    Foresight

    This awareness-level lesson explores how Anishinaabek utilize the gift of foresight to consider the long-term impact of actions on future generations, emphasizing the responsibility to protect the interests of all beings.

    Activity Setting

    Classroom

    Student Organization

    Whole Class

    Time Required

    40 minutes – 58 minutes

    Learners will…

    • Be able to describe the gift of foresight as the ability to think ahead about the long-term impact of actions, and explain how using foresight shows responsibility for protecting the well-being of future generations and all living beings.
    • Be able to explain the importance of caring for the Earth to demonstrate thoughtfulness for the next generations.
    • Be able to differentiate between actions that support the care of the Earth and those that harm it, and explain how their own choices—together with group efforts—can positively impact the future for everyone.

    Essential Questions

    • How do the Anishinaabe use foresight to make decisions that care for future generations and all of creation?
    • What can we learn from the Anishinaabe worldview about how our choices today affect the world tomorrow?

    Lesson Plan Materials

    • Whiteboard, interactive board, or chart paper
    • Photo: A printed photo of Nokomis Josephine Mandamin (or project one digitally)
    • Map: Large printed Anishinaabe Aki map (or project digitally)
    • Book: “The Water Walker” written and illustrated by Joanne Robertson, ISBN 9781772600384
    • Worksheet: Water Protector Pledge
    • Drawing paper or construction paper
    • Crayons, colored pencils, or markers
    • Pencil or pen

  • Anishinaabe Kinship Systems

    Anishinaabe Kinship Systems

    This awareness-level lesson introduces students to how Anishinaabe people understand family beyond biological connections, emphasizing shared experiences and clan structures to strengthen relationships and community well-being.

    Student Organization

    Whole Class or Small Groups

    Materials Needed

    Writing tools: pencils, markers, colored pencils or crayons.

    Time Required

    1 hour, 20 minutes – 1 hour, 45 minutes

    Learners will…

    • Be able to identify the way in which many Anishinaabe people value family and community.
    • Be able to recognize that family can include people beyond biological connections.
    • Be able to notice how Anishinaabe relationships strengthen community well-being and appreciate the importance of caring for one another.

    Essential Questions

    • What can we learn from Anishinaabe ways of defining family that can help us build stronger & kinder communities?
    • How are Anishinaabe family structures alike or different from non-Anishinaabe family structures?

    Lesson Plan Materials

    • Powerpoint
      • Diverse family cards 
      • Visual slide of Binooji Family diagram
    • “Drawing A Family” worksheet
    • Anishinaabe Family Cards
    • Non-Anishinaabe Family Cards
  • Sacred Relatives

    Sacred Relatives

    This awareness-level lesson introduces students to the Anishinaabe perspective of viewing nature as sacred relatives rather than resources to be used. Through interactive sorting activities, storytelling, and reflection, students explore how Indigenous worldviews emphasize interconnectedness and responsibility to the Earth and all living beings. The lesson challenges students to reconsider their relationship with nature and take meaningful action to care for their environment as family members.

    Activity Setting

    Classroom

    Student Organization

    Whole Class

    Time Required

    1 hour, 10 minutes – 1 hour, 34 minutes

    Learners Will…

    • Be able to identify how Anishinaabe people relate to the Earth and her living relatives, and reflect on how these practices show respect for all beings.
    • Be able to recognize how they are connected to the Earth and all sacred relatives and use this understanding to practice kindness and care toward the world around them.
    • Be able to acknowledge the importance of Anishinaabe teachings about interconnectedness and appreciate how caring for the Earth supports the well-being of all life.

    Essential Questions

    • In what ways do Anishinaabek view the Earth and nature as relatives instead of resources?
    • How might my actions change if I think of the Earth and nature as part of my family?
    • What is the difference between using something as a resource and caring for it as a relative?

    Lesson Plan Materials

    • Sacred Relatives: Resource or Relative Card Deck
    • Sacred Relatives PPT: 
      • Resource or Relative Headers
      • Display Cards
      • Indigenous Author Quote
      • Relative or resource Display Chart 
    • Student journals (optional)
    • Pens or pencils (optional)