Saskatchewan Settlement Experience

The Saskatchewan Settlement Experience website is a fantastic site dedicated to the settlement of Saskatchewan from the pre-1870's to the end of the Great Depression in the 1930's.

It fits into the Social Studies curriculum in a variety of ways.

Grade 12 History:
Unit 2 - The Nineteenth-Century: The Road to Democracy
Unit 3 - External Forces and Domestic Realities

Grade 9 Social Studies:
Unit 1 - Time

Grade 10 Social Studies:
Unit 2 - Economic Decision Making

Grade 12 Social Studies:
Unit 1 - Change
Unit 2 - Economic Development
Unit 3 - Culture
Unit 4 - Governance

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Perhaps the greatest weakness of this website is there is minimal Aboriginal content. Outside of the section on the Landscape of the prairies, the section on Aboriginal People is the smallest. Care must be taken to ensure there are balanced viewpoints as this site mainly looks at the European perspective.

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This site has names and places such as Cannington Manor that are still around and could be researched before or after a field trip. Part of the experience of history should be going to the places students are reading about in their books. A trip to the European battlefields of World War II might not be realistic, but a drive to one of Saskatchewan's early settlements, where the students can utilize all their senses and get closer to their own history could be a rewarding experience.

For this webpage I would use it as a research tool either before or after visiting a place of historical interest. Students could then use it as information for a paper or project.

One of the benefits of this site is the content is obviously for Saskatchewan residents. That alone makes it valuable, but the interactivity and the ease at which you can navigate the site furthers its benefit as a tool to be used in a classroom.