Lucie Labbé, Paule Labbé, and Marcelle Thibodeau

Recipients of the 2010 Governor General's Award for Excellence in Teaching Canadian History

August 16, 2010

École Monseigneur-Fortier, St-Georges (Quebec)

Over a five-month period, Lucie Labbé, Paule Labbé and Marcelle Thibodeau taught their students a series of lessons on the period before contact with Europeans, when the cultural landscape was dominated by the Iroquois culture and the culture of other First Nations. Working alone and in groups, the students travelled back in time to relive this exciting and pertinent time in Canadian history. This method gave the students a variety of perspectives on the subject. It focused mainly on the impact the Iroquois have had on Canadian history and still have today. These lessons centred on a multidisciplinary approach that allowed the teachers to relate a variety of topics to make studying history an enriching experience. They provided the students with various tools and asked them to accomplish tasks that would help them to learn and understand. The teachers also incorporated a structure to lead the students to think critically while grasping the importance of the history they were studying. To end this series of lessons, the entire community was invited to an exhibition to admire the works of art and stories the students had created.