The Fur Trade Drama Circle | Paper

Learn about the fur trade from the perspective of Canadians through this drama circle. This is a great way to introduce the fur trade or review all the different people who made it happen. This was written for Alberta social studies but can work all across Canada.

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This engaging activity includes:

• how the fur trade started
• competition between the Hudson’s Bay Company and North West Company
• the importance of beaver pelts
• different roles within the fur trade including voyageurs, coureurs de bois, women, trappers, First Nations and Métis.
• different buildings in trading posts
• impacts of the fur trade on the development of Canada
• directions on how to run a drama circle.
• a teacher quick guide.
• a set of 40 cards (in colour and ink-saving versions).
• a set of discussion questions to do after the drama activity.
• a variety of reading difficulties and amounts of text on the cards so you can differentiate easily for your students.
• a few blank cards if you need to change the language on a card.

Please see the preview for a general idea of the reading difficulty for each card.

Ninja Note: This resource is an overview and does not outline every single battle from the war.

Ninja Note: If you teach in Alberta, this resource has been written for the new social studies curriculum. Learn more about how we're writing and adjusting resources for the new curriculum. https://brainninjas.ca/social-studies-in-alberta/

This activity aligns with:

• the Alberta Social Studies Curriculum Grade 4 ©2025
  

This activity supports:

• learning about Canadian history.
  

Looking for more social studies for Alberta teachers? Our unit plans include extra vocabulary supports and assessments.

• Time and Place Unit for Alberta Social Studies Grade 4 
• Systems Unit for Alberta Social Studies Grade 4 COMING SOON!
• Citizenship Unit for Alberta Social Studies Grade 4 COMING SOON!

COMING SOON! Our Grade 4 Social Studies Full Year is here!

Ninja Note: This resource requires downloading the PDF, printing the cards, and cutting them apart before beginning the activity.

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