Course Profile
Beginning Literacy, ELD Level 1, open, Public
Unit 4: Canada, Our New Home
Activity 1 | Activity 2
| Activity 3 | Activity 4 | Activity 5 | Activity 6
Unit Developer(s): Jane Campbell, Hazel Excell, Michelle Flecker, Denise Gordon, Jane Hill, Paula Markus, Eleanor Minuk, Jane Sims, Betty Ann Taylor
Development Date: July 1999
In this unit students learn facts of Canadian geography. They use an inquiry approach to learn about the founding peoples and different cultural groups within Canada. Using basic reading strategies, students begin to read simple texts. With the teacher they write short passages which they practise reading.
Strand(s): Oral and Visual Communication; Reading; Writing; Social and Cultural Competence.
Overall Expectations: A0RV.03L; AREV.01L; AREV.02L; AREV.03L; AWRV.01L; AWRV.02L; ASCV.01L; ASCV.02L.
Specific Expectations: AOR1.03L, 1.04L, 2.01L, 2.02L, 3.02L, 3.05L; ARE1.01L, 2.02L, 2.03L, 2.04L, 2.05L, 2.06L, 3.02L, 3.03L; AWR2.01L, 2.02L, ASC1.05L, 1.06L, 1.07L, 1.08L, 2.06L.
|
Activity 1 |
Canada’s Symbols |
4 hours |
|
Activity 2 |
Provinces and Territories |
4 hours |
|
Activity 3 |
Images of Canada |
5 hours |
|
Activity 4 |
Baggage: Now and Long Ago |
4 hours |
|
Activity 5 |
The People - Reading Artifacts |
4 hours |
|
Activity 6 |
Creating a Museum Display |
4 hours |
Reading and writing are taught in this unit using Canadian geography and history. The content is used to strengthen reading and writing skills as well as to provide students with some of the background that their Canadian peers have acquired in school. Current teaching methodologies in history use an inquiry approach in which students examine concrete materials and draw conclusions about how people lived in the past rather than memorizing dates and facts.
Students new to English may already have been exposed to Canadian studies in ESLAO. Different content and resources have been used as much as possible to make this unit meaningful for them. Their prior experience may make it possible for them to understand material suggested for read-alouds in this unit. Some of the resources used in ESLAO may be available for extra reading for students who have not used them already or for revisiting by others.
It should be understood that many students may not yet have consolidated the prior knowledge for the activities.
In this unit several on-going activities are introduced. The timing allows for overlapping of concurrent strategies such as: daily read-alongs, regular brief quizzes, watching cross-Canada weather reports and compiling an assessment portfolio.
There are three kinds of portfolios: showcase, collection, and assessment. The portfolio used in this unit is an assessment portfolio which means that only the work that has been evaluated is placed in the portfolio. Students and teachers become partners during portfolio conferences as they discuss what learning strategies have been most effective for individual students.
Reading aloud while students follow is one of the teaching techniques recommended for developing the understanding of letter-sound relationships (graphophonic cueing). A resource suggested as a source for daily read-alongs is A New Home...a New Capital. Part of the preparation for this unit is to photocopy selected pages from the first two modules to make into a classroom reader. Suggested pages to assemble in a duotang for each student to follow are these: Module A: 12, 15, 16, 18, 21, 24, Module B: 2, 5, 6, 12, 14.
Another way of reinforcing letter-sound relationships is by giving students opportunities to see their own words in print as they do in the production of a joint fact sheet on Canada and in the language experience story.
· is familiar with classroom, school, and store floor plans
· understands the use of symbols on signs
· writes words and simple sentences
· reads simple materials in English
· analysing personal learning strategies, brainstorming, categorizing, co-operative learning, copying, directed reading, role playing, experience charts, flash cards, excursions, key word lists, inquiry approach, modelling, reading aloud to students, shared reading, reading games, review, skimming, sketching, writing from graphic organizers, patterned writing, viewing film, portfolio.
|
Activity |
Type |
Tool |
Categories |
|
Activity 1 |
Diagnostic Summative |
Comprehension questions Matching quiz |
Application Knowledge |
|
Activity 2 |
Formative Summative |
Mastery Quizzes: map study Map quiz |
Knowledge/Communication Knowledge/Application |
|
Activity 3 |
Summative Diagnostic Summative |
Regional wall posters Feedback notes Regions: Information Sheet |
Communication/Knowledge Communication Application |
|
Activity 4 |
Formative Diagnostic |
Feedback Notes Cloze Exercise (Past Tense) |
Application Knowledge |
|
Activity 5 |
Summative Summative |
Feedback Notes Museum Card |
Application Thinking/Application |
|
Activity 6 |
Summative Summative |
Museum Cards Portfolio |
Thinking/Application Know/Comm/Think/Appl. |
Badone, Donalda. Time Detectives: Clues from our Past. Toronto. Firefly Books. 1992.
An inexpensive introduction to Canadian archeology useful for teacher background and for pictures to show students. The Ontario site described is Crawford Lake, The Halton Regional Conservation authority. This book is the source used for the listening jigsaw cloze exercise, The Young Archeologists of Fort Selkirk and for the artifact test using kitchen forks.
Coelho, Elizabeth. Learning Together in the Multicultural Classroom. Markham: Pippin Publishing Ltd. 1994
A practical guide to making co-operative learning work in a multicultural context.
Lunn, Janet and Christopher Moore. The Story of Canada. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 1992.
A history for young people with well-written material for story-telling and interesting maps.
Durbin, Gail, Susan Morris and Sue Wilkinson. Learning from Objects. London: English Heritage. 1991.
A teacher’s guide to the pedagogy of examining objects.
Kalman, Bobbie. Visiting a Village. Niagara-on-the-Lake: Crabtree Publishing Company, 1990 (Series: Historic Communities).
This is part of a 26-title paperback series: Historic Communities. Titles such as Tools and Gadgets. 1992, A One-Room School. 1994, In the Barn. 1997, and The General Store. 1997 are most useful.
Shapiro, Norma and Jayme Adelson-Goldstein. The Oxford Picture Dictionary. Monolingual Canadian Edition. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1999.
An up-to-date Canadian picture dictionary. Multiple copies for students to share would be useful.
Sorenson, Lynda. Canada: Provinces and Territories. Florida: The Rourke Book Co. 1995.
This book is part of a series: Exploring Canada. Other titles include Canada: The Land, Canada: The People, Visiting Canada, Wildlife of Canada, The Wonders of Canada. The format of these books is a full-page photograph with a few lines of text. They are recommended for read-alongs to the class.
A New Home . . . A New Capital. National Capital Commission.
An educational resource introducing newcomers to Canada’s capital region. This free kit may be obtained from National Outreach Program, National Capital Commission, 161 Laurier Avenue West, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 6J6 or by calling 1 (800) 465-1867. The kit contains posters and postcards of Ottawa and reading material which is reproducible for classroom use.
Reading in North York Schools: A Guideline for Teachers. Curriculum and Instructional Services. The North York Board of Education. 1995.
A comprehensive guide to instructional strategies for reading in multi-lingual classrooms. The North York Board of Education is now part of the Toronto District School Board.
Outreach Services. School Case and Resource Box Program. Royal Ontario Museum, 1997.
An alternative to a field trip is to rent resource
boxes. The one modelled is on Tools and has three-dimensional replicas of
native artifacts. Other approaches could be taken with resource boxes such as: The Inuit: People of the North, Partners in
the Wilderness, Immigration to Ontario (1900-92).
Outreach services of the museum can be reached at (416) 586-5681. (Fax - (416) 586-5832)
The Elmer Isler Singers. The Maple Leaf Forever:A Canadian Panorama. Burlington. Opening Day Recordings.1998.
This CD is a compendium of Canadian songs which includes the new lyrics for The Maple Leaf Forever sung by the composer. This is on the last track of the CD The track one song is the traditional version which is to be avoided (see Planning Notes). Other songs such as Farewell to Nova Scotia, a Sioux Lullaby, Song for Canada would be enjoyable for students.
Your News: Canada’s Teaching Newspaper.
A newspaper for teenage newcomers to Canada. It can be ordered from Your News, Box 563, Station Côte St-Luc, Québec H4V 2Z2. Tel: 514 487-5797.
Time: 240 minutes
Students view a video of Canada and identify Canadian symbols used on Canadian coins, in the flag, and in a song. They listen to read-alongs about Canada. They practise reading strategies designed to help them decipher vocabulary and meaning using a variety of cues. They begin their Canada Portfolio, and become familiar with the provinces, the territories and the capital cities in Canada.
Strand(s): Oral and Visual Communication, Reading, Writing, Social and Cultural Competence
Overall Expectations: AORV.03L; AREV.01L; AREV.03Lv; AWRV.02Lv; ASCV.01L.
Specific Expectations: AOR3.01L; ARE3.02L; AWR2.01L; ASC1.06L.
· The 1997 lyrics of The Maple Leaf Forever are used as a focus for a guided reading activity. Be sure to use these words rather than the 1867 version. Alexander Muir’s 1867 lyrics are considered inappropriate and are, in fact, offensive. This is explained in the student reading. (Appendix 1)
· In early spring a trip to a maple sugar bush is an excellent way to expand the general knowledge of students about Canada’s past. The video, Maple Syrup, The Liquid Gold of Spring, and a pancake breakfast could be added .
· a classroom reader from A New Home....A New Capital (see Unit Planning Notes)
· the video: Canada’s maple tree: the story of the country’s emblem
· an overhead transparency of Appendix 1: An Old Song Made New, an overhead projector.
· coloured pencils
· file folders for a Canada portfolio
· a classroom money set
· familiarity with flags
· familiarity with Canadian money
1. Students view the video, Canada’s maple tree: the story of the country’s emblem. This film gives an overview of Canada by interspersing maps and scenery showing maple trees growing in every province. It explains how the maple leaf has become an important symbol of Canada. Have students share their impressions of Canada from the film, their ideas about what flags mean, and the significance of the colours and symbols of flags. They then draw and colour a Canadian flag.
2. Explain to the class that they will be making a portfolio in this unit. Their portfolio is to be different from the booklets they made in the first unit because they will include only tests and assignments which have been marked.
Distribute the file folders and have students attach their completed drawing of the Canadian flag to the cover of the portfolio with a title, their names and the date the portfolio was begun. Tell the students that at the end of the unit there are to be conferences and they will have opportunities to discuss the work that they will be putting in their portfolios.
3. Explain that in 1998 new words for an old song, The Maple Leaf Forever, were chosen in a song-writing contest. Play a recording of one stanza of the song. Use an overhead transparency of An Old Song Made New, Appendix 1.
· Model a first quick silent reading by reading the words in a stage whisper as the students follow.
· Cover the passage except for the title and ask students what the passage was about.
· Re-read the passage to confirm their understandings and clarify misconceptions.
· Have the students come one-by-one to underline two or three words they know.
· Choose a few difficult words from the song and model how to use contextual and syntactic cues. e.g. In the first line that long word between blue and skies is hard. It starts with un. Un means not in unhappy, unlock. Maybe it means not here. The i-n-g at the end looks like the ing in going. Then we’re left with e-n-d like The END. un-end-ing. Does that make sense? The writer said that Canadian skies were very big. So blue unending skies is OK.
4. Distribute copies of Appendix 1, An Old Song Made New. Read the passage one more time. Read the comprehension questions and have students work on them independently. Assess this by noting student’s ability to locate and copy information. Have students date the passage and add it to their Canada portfolio.
5. Introduce the idea of other Canadian symbols by using the coins in the classroom money sets. Have students make a chart listing the coin, the name of the picture and their drawing of the picture. With a partner students can practise identifying the pictures and matching the correct names to the pictures. Use the charts to design a matching quiz. When the quizzes have been evaluated, have students file them in the Canada portfolios.
6. Once all the members of the class are familiar with all the coins and the pictures, begin a daily reading along program about Canada. A recommended set of readings for students with strong oral fluency is a classroom reader made up of material from A New Home . . . A New Capital. Difficult words are bolded in this material and glossed. Teach students how to use such a glossary to help understand the passage. Often these words are not used frequently enough to warrant adding to personal dictionaries.
Preview the information by discussing the pictures and outlining the ideas to increase the accessibility of the print. Discuss the meanings and re-read the passage until most students can follow.
7. The readings include “The Many Meanings of Silence”, A New Home . . . A New Capital, page A-24. This reading introduces the idea of a talking stick, a symbol used by Canada’s native peoples to give equal opportunities for expressing opinions in groups. In the next discussion students might wish to use a similar symbol to ensure that each member of the group has a chance to speak. Other possible read-alouds are listed in the unit resource list.
8. Students watch the video again noting the different regions and provinces of Canada. Use the language experience approach to develop a fact sheet with the class summarizing what they now know about Canada. Post the chart and have students choose three new facts they learned to copy into their notebooks.
· Comprehension Questions on Appendix 1 Reading (Diagnostic)
· Matching quiz: symbol to name (Summative)
· If students cannot follow the suggested read-alongs, the information may be re-written in an even simpler form.
· Students not yet able to copy information from the chart may continue with handwriting and alphabet recognition activities from materials in the course resources.
A New Home . . . A New Capital. National Capital Commission
Canada’s maple tree: the story of the country’s emblem. Debeck Educational Video. 1994. 30 minutes.
Maple Syrup, The Liquid Gold of Spring. Maple Syrup Museum of Ontario, 1989. 13 minutes.
The Elmer Isler Singers. The Maple Leaf Forever: A Canadian Panorama. Burlington. Opening Day Recordings.1998.
Time: 240 minutes
This activity is a concurrent one to be used in ten to fifteen minute sessions for the remainder of the unit. Students identify and expand their repertoires of learning strategies using Canadian geographical names as material. Students place repeated attempts of quizzes in a Canada portfolio and regular teacher-student conferences are held.
Strand(s): Oral and Visual Communication, Reading, Writing, Social and Cultural Competence
Overall Expectations: AORV.02L; AREV.03L; AWRV.02Lv; ASCV.01Lv.
Specific Expectations: AOR2.01L, ARE3.02L, AWR2.01L, ASC1.05L, 1.06Lv, 1.08Lv
· Students who have gaps in their education tend to have considerable test anxiety. Daily quizzes with scores recorded only when they meet success may alleviate some of their nervousness. This activity gives students practice in test writing and in identifying and using learning strategies.
· A variety of assessment tasks on the map of Canada need to be prepared. A sample tracking sheet listing possibilities is included in Appendix 2. It is important to choose some assessment tasks that all students can achieve perfectly e.g. repeating the pronunciation of the names in chorus.
· Learning strategies are actions or thoughts that students can apply on their own to a challenging task. Some strategies that may help the students learn and remember Canadian place names include these: counting them; writing out the names; tracing the map; sorting into categories: the ones already known, alphabetical order, clock-wise order, east to west, north to south, colouring, putting together a puzzle; testing oneself with a partner; with blank maps, figuring out what the land looks like, grouping (desert areas, areas near the coast, two word names, learning a story for each area).
· Students may also have effective ways of remembering information. These should be shared with the class.
· Work out a time plan for the fifteen-minute daily exercises. The tracking sheet (Appendix 2) has a suggested order of activities.
· Up-to-date outline maps of Canada should be available in the schools. The Oxford Picture Dictionary has illustrations of landforms, maps including Nunavut, and study skills.
· posters or photographs of the world from space, a globe;
· maps of Canada, coloured pencils;
· a class set of atlases;
· wall map, a blackboard map without names;
· a quiet corner for oral testing;
· large file cards with the names of the provinces on one side, the shape on the other;
· a personal tracking sheet (Appendix 2a) (for each student’s portfolio);
· a master classroom tracking chart with the student’s names and spaces large enough to record dates of attempts and the final satisfactory score.
· some understanding of maps
· study skills for spelling quizzes
1. Introduce maps by showing students a globe and posters of the world from space. Emphasize that a globe is a more accurate representation of the earth than a flat map. Help them find their own countries on the globe and point out where Canada is. Discuss how long their flights to Canada took, how many days it takes to cross the Atlantic ocean by boat, how much time it takes to cross Canada by car, train, or plane.
2. Explain that over the next few weeks they will learn the location of the provinces, territories and capitals of Canada in easy steps with ample opportunity to repeat daily quizzes until they achieve satisfactory results.
3. Recount anecdotes that illustrate how people learn in different ways and explain that the purpose of this activity is to discover what works best for them. Students explain to a partner how they learn telephone numbers, new vocabulary, and spelling. They brainstorm all the ways they study. The teacher accepts all strategies and identifies them for a wall poster, (e.g., repeating many times, copying out words, spelling out loud, making a picture. Students consult The Oxford Picture Dictionary, pages 6 and 7 for more study ideas.
4. Students examine a wall map of Canada and brainstorm what the map tells about Canada. Build on their understanding of national borders to explain the conventions of map colouring. Point out that map-makers label in pencil in upper case letters. Together explore a student atlas, modelling how to use the index to find a political map of Canada. Then they copy the names of the provinces from the atlas to a blank outline map.
5. Each day the teacher models additional learning strategies that suit each learning task, such as:
· Using the sound of the word to guess the spelling: Students use a series of missing letter spelling dictations to focus on initial, ending, and middle sounds. Learning abbreviations refocusses attention on initial sounds.
· Learning through movement: Students use the large file cards and line up in various configurations: west to east, alphabetical order, the Atlantic provinces, the Prairie provinces, the territories, largest to smallest
· Doing puzzles: students do a floor puzzle of Canada co-operatively and/or individual puzzles
· Quizzing your partner: Students use study time in class to coach their partners including dictating names of provinces. They plan ways to continue coaching at home.
· Using mnemonics: Share with students how you remember the names and positions of the Great Lakes and introduce the idea of a mnemonic such as HOMES. Post an aide-memoire for learning the names of the provinces such as: Burning All Ships Means Our Queen’s New Prince will Never see a New found land. Discuss whether this helps them.
6. The culminating activity is for students to label a blank map of Canada with the names of the provinces, territories, capital cities, and major bodies of water. This task is segmented into a series of smaller tasks which students may try until they experience success. All attempts are to be dated and placed in the students’ Canada portfolios.
· a tracking sheet listing quizzes and results Appendix 2a (Formative)
· label a blank map of Canada with the names of the provinces, territories, capital cities, and major bodies of water. (Summative)
· A few students may already have learned much of this material. If a student can correctly label a map of Canada with the provinces, territories, and major bodies of water, record a mark of 100%, assign some coaching roles and suggest an extra reading project from the classroom library.
· Teacher or coach reads aloud and scribes for students who are not yet able to read and write independently.
Canada’s maple tree: the story of the country’s emblem. Debeck Educational Video. 1994. 30 minutes.
Shapiro, Norma and Jayme Adelson-Goldstein. The Oxford Picture Dictionary. Monolingual Canadian Edition. Toronto: Oxford University Press. 1999.
Time: 300 minutes
In this activity students become familiar with images of Canada and use media to research information. They visit a public library to review picture books on Canada and obtain a library card. They create wall posters on the regions of Canada and view daily weather reports recording temperatures and weather conditions on calendars. They use the reading strategies modelled in activity 1 to read passages about the regions of Canada.
Strand(s): Oral and Visual Communication, Reading, Writing, Social and Cultural Competence.
Overall Expectations: AORV.03Lv; AREV.02L; AWRV.01L; AWRV.02; ASCV.01Lv.
Specific Expectations: AOR3.05L; ARE2.04L, 2.05L, 2.06L; AWR1.01L, 2.01L; ASC1.05L, 1.06Lv.
· Create a Regions Information Sheet for students to record information about the poster projects of others in the class. This could have four small maps of Canada on which the students colour specific regions and spaces for two or three key facts for each region.
· Visit a local public library to help students begin to take charge of their own developing literacy. Public libraries have a mandate to provide a wider range of resources than school libraries. Students need to know how to find books and magazines at their level for evening, week-end, and holiday reading.
· This trip should be prearranged with the librarian so that there will be a wide selection of photographic-essay books about Canada easily available for the students when they arrive. Discuss local procedures for issuing student library cards and the interests and reading levels of the class. The ideal is that the library has been given a list of names and addresses of students who do not have public library cards and has been able to prepare cards to give students when they arrive.
· If a trip to a public library is not possible, use the school library.
· For the book display, some of the pictorial materials used in ESLAO may be available.
· An evaluation technique introduced in this activity is process observation, referred to as feedback notes. The teacher uses sticky notes to write factual notes; writing as many compliments as possible (e.g., Natasha: 1:45 p.m, great eye-contact; Simon: 1:48 p.m. looking out window. 1:50 p.m. nods encouragement to Omar.)
· collection of postcards, or calendar scenes from across Canada; copies of Readings: The Provinces and Territories, Appendix 3; a daily newspaper, magazines; tourist brochures for each of the provinces and territories; Bristol board; a classroom reader from A New Home....A New Capital (see Unit planning notes); clipboards; sticky notes
· familiarity with the names and locations of the provinces and territories of Canada
· ability to read simple factual material
1. Continue the quizzes introduced in Activity 2 and daily readings from the classroom reader A New Home, A New Capital.
2. Divide students into four groups and assign one of these Canadian regions to each group: the Northern Territories, the Atlantic Provinces, Central Canada, the Western Provinces. Each group produces a wall poster for their region. Have students scan daily newspapers and cut out pictures and articles for their areas.
Other sources of regional information are watching daily weather reports or checking temperatures in a newspaper chart. Work with a teacher-librarian to teach students to make a calendar on a computer. Each day students record the weather in their region for their wall poster.
3. Using pictures of geographical features of Canada (e.g. The Oxford Picture Dictionary, page 17), teach words such as: waterfall, forest, island. Write a language experience story about where they lived before using as many geographical terms as apply (Five of us lived on an island…) Students copy this into their notebooks. Have students add these geographical terms to their personal vocabulary lists.
4. Distribute copies of the reading, Appendix 3: Readings: The Provinces and Territories to the expert groups. Assign students the passage for their region. Have the students follow the steps modelled in Activity 1.
· Read the title. Think about it for a second.
· Read through the passage silently and quickly.
· Cover the passage except for the title. Talk with your partners about what you remember.
· Re-read the passage to check what you know.
· Decide what questions you want to ask your teacher.
· Decide whether you would like to have your teacher read the passage aloud to you.
· Use a highlighter to mark words you know.
· Talk about the confusing words with your partner
· Read the passage again and add interesting facts to your wall poster.
5. To provide more information for the wall posters, introduce a set of books about Canada such as the Exploring Canada series described in the unit resource list. Read these books aloud to students as part of the daily read aloud program. Help them construct sentences such as the ones used in the Fact Sheet in Activity 1, Teaching/Learning Strategy 8.
6. Students visit a public library near the school. After a librarian has introduced a number of books of photographs of Canadian scenery, pairs of students skim one or two books for further information on their project. They record the title and author of the books to add to their reading logs. With the librarian’s and/or teacher’s assistance, students select books to sign out and read for personal enjoyment.
7. Groups create a display using their regional poster, the weather calendars, and materials from the school Learning Resource Centre, the classroom library, and the public library. Students fill out the Regions: Information Sheet (see planning notes) as each group presents its project.
8. Evaluate their interactions by using the feedback notes described in the planning notes.
· accuracy of quizzes on Canada’s provinces and territories (Formative)
· completeness and interest of groups’ wall posters of Canada (Summative)
· accuracy of information collected on Regions Information Sheet. (Summative)
· feedback notes to students (Diagnostic)
· If the read-alongs continue to be too difficult for some students, use appropriate picture books about Canada from ESLAO; they will be reinforcement for students who have heard them before.
· Some students may create their own texts by talking about the photographs and using the conversations for language experience stories.
· Have more advanced students find some of the websites found through the search engine, Yahooligans, using the category Canada - Provinces and Territories.
A New Home . . . A New Capital. National Capital Commission.
Sorenson, Lynda. Canada: Provinces and Territories. Florida: The Rourke Book Co. 1995.
Your News: Canada’s Teaching Newspaper
Photography books from library collections such as
McLennan, Hugh. Beny, Rolof. The Colour of Canada. Toronto: McLelland and Stewart, 1967.
McNamee, Kevin, Kraulis J. A. The National Parks of Canada. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 1994.
Smollan, Rick and David Cohen. (Eds.) A Day in the Life of Canada. Toronto: Collins, 1984.
Time: 240 minutes
Students construct a time line around the classroom. They become familiar with some key events in Canadian history. They discuss when they came to Canada and the things they brought with them and then participate in a co-operative puzzle using lists of objects brought by French women to Canada. They write a language experience story about an historical event checking the work for plural nouns and verbs written in the past tense.
Strand(s): Oral and Visual Communication, Reading, Writing, Social and Cultural Competence.
Overall Expectations: AORV.01L; AREV.01L; AREV.02L, AWRV.02Lv; ASCV.01L; ASCV.02L.
Specific Expectations: AOR1.01L; ARE1.01L, 2.03L, 2.05L; AWR2.01Lv, 2.02Lv; ASC1.07Lv, 2.06Lv.
· One way to teach historical chronology is to use a time-line marked in centuries along the top of the boards. Events are added as the course progresses.
· The historical information provided for storytelling is from a web site of the Canadian Museum of Civilization (http://www.mvnf.muse.digital.ca/) The Virtual Museum of New France.
· The language experience story developed in this activity is a re-telling of a story told to the class. The students may have to listen to the story several times before they can retell it. The story is checked this time for two grammatical forms: the use of plurals and the use of the past tense. A cloze exercise based on this language experience story is used as a formative assessment to determine whether further teaching of the past tense is required.
· copies of Appendix 4, The Lost Chests; file cards
· familiarity with past tense forms
· ability to read lists
· ability to follow the text during read-alouds
1. Have students brainstorm all the dates they know: their birth dates, their parents’ birth dates, arrival in Canada, events celebrated annually in their countries, etc. Display these in order on a time line divided into centuries and decades. Put a key date from Canadian history on a file card for each student. Have them line up in order of their dates and then add the file cards to the class time line. Dates that might be included are: 1867 - Confederation, 1999 - Nunavut became a territory, 1965 - the maple leaf flag became Canada’s flag, 1497 - Cabot sailed up the St. Lawrence River, 1956 - Hungarians come to Canada after revolution, 1975 - Vietnamese people come to Canada as a result of war in their country. Explain these events briefly to make the timeline meaningful.
2. Discuss the students’ preparations for coming to Canada. Talk about who told them they were coming, how much time they had to plan, what they chose to bring with them, and what they left behind. Give students a drawing of an empty suitcase and have them list or sketch what they brought with them. Assist them with the spelling of items if necessary. Have them categorize what they found useful when they arrived and what they didn’t need.
Have them think about what people might have brought to Canada three hundred years ago. List their ideas on the board. Highlight the use of s in plurals noting the repetition of plural markers in Canadian standard English. (e.g. ten pairs of socks). Discuss what materials might have been used in items brought 300 years ago emphasizing words they will encounter such as: cotton, linen, silk.
3. Each pair in a group of four is given one of the lists from The Lost Chests (Appendix 4): inventories of leather chests left behind on a dock in Quebec City in 1668. They use the list to make inferences and express opinions. They complete sentences beginning: I think........... because........; I guess......; Maybe......... Inform students that the chests belong to the same person. They rejoin their group and state their conclusions. Students then try to reconcile their inferences with the contents of both chests. It is not necessary to reach a consensus. All opinions with a reason are right.
Repeat the sticky note feedback assessment method used at the end of Activity 3.
4. Students listen to a Canadian story of Daughters of the King (Les Filles du Roi) developed from a story skeleton or outline such as this:
Long ago, in the 1660’s, in New France on the
St Lawrence River
a problem very few children, 6 men for every
woman
men : soldiers, farmers, fur-traders, priests
could not find wives, very few families
the King - (Louis XIV) and his advisors
worried
not for the happiness of the people
but because the English territory to the
south was full of people
afraid of war, wanted more people to fight the English
an idea - send young girls with no parents
from French orphanages
- give them new clothes and money
- give their new husbands an ox, a cow, 2 pigs, 2 chickens, 2 barrels of
salt beef, and some money
a solution - it worked. 800 young women came
to New France,
went to convents, put out a sign “Girls to
Marry”
weddings and children and a growing population
5. After listening to the story two or three times, they recall the story and the teacher writes their version as a language experience story. Point out that because this takes place in the past they must be sure each sentence uses the past tense form of the verb. Check the story together. Check again to make sure that the nouns which should be plural are plural. Students practise re-reading this story individually and in small groups, then copy the story into their notebooks.
The next day they complete a cloze exercise, which is made from the story written the day before. The blanks are verbs and the students’ task is to select the correct form of the verb from a list provided.
· feedback notes (Formative)
· cloze exercise focussing on past tense (Formative)
· Students with limited English could work with pictures or real objects in the lost chest activity.
· Students who are not using the past tense could practise with flashcards and games such as past tense bingo.
Time: 240 minutes
Students read a story about a group of First Nations students who work on an archeology site. They use replicas and photographs of other First Nations artifacts to learn how people lived long ago. They visit a local historical site to consolidate the work done on artifacts in the classroom.
Strand(s): Oral and Visual Communication, Reading, Writing, Social and Cultural Competence.
Overall Expectations: AORV.01L; AREV.02L; AWRV.01Lv; ASCV.02Lv.
Specific Expectations: AOR1.01L; AOR3.02L; ARE2.05L; AWR2.01Lv; ASC2.06Lv.
· Canadian history is introduced using an inquiry method to show how archeologists and historians use primary sources to learn about the past. The group of archeologists introduced are First Nations students from Fort Selkirk. It is important to emphasize that the limited picture of First Nations people gained from their artifacts is a historical one and not representative of their communities today.
· The work on reading artifacts is best done with three-dimensional replicas. The unit resource list has information about renting kits of replicas from the Royal Ontario Museum. If this is not possible, photographs of artifacts may be used. A selection of photographs of First Nations artifacts can be downloaded from a virtual exhibition, Bone Snow knives and Tin Oil lamps. This is a co-operative project of La musée de civilisation (Quebec), the Royal Ontario Museum and the Canadian Heritage Information Network.
· The method used to introduce students to the vocabulary they need for reading artifacts is reading a book of photographs of tools used in cultures all over the world.
· Help three or four students rehearse a reading of Ann Morris’s Tools. Using two or three copies of the paperback have one student read the text, another show the appropriate pictures, and another tell some interesting information about where the pictures are taken and why the tools are interesting.
· Make a template of a card used to record information about artifacts entitled Museum Card. Use these headings: Artifact # , Student Name, Home Form, Drawing, Material, Size, Date Found, Date Made, Made by Hand or Machine, Possible Uses (3). This template is used several times.
· Book a field trip. Information on local museums in Ontario may be obtained from the web sites of the Ontario Museum Association or the Canadian Heritage Information. These sites have links to the home-pages of local museums. (See resource list)
· A local cemetery is another possible field trip. Students obtain information by reading the memorial stones and copying information about names, dates, ages at death, country of origin, causes of death, and/or occupation.
· a kit of replicas of artifacts (pictures may be substituted); four class sets of a museum cards; a kitchen fork for each student (garage-sale specials)
· ability to fill in forms (Unit 3)
· familiarity with using tools
1. After introducing how archeologists work and viewing pictures such as those found in Time Detectives, pp 89-91, distribute the two versions of The Young Archeologists of Fort Selkirk (Appendix 5.) Partners have Version A and B. Tell the story first. Then read the passage aloud three times as students complete the paragraphs.
Explain that their partner has the right answers and that they must work together to check their work. Emphasize that they must not trade papers but must teach each other. This time they will be evaluated using the sticky note feedback notes for a mark.
2. When all students have a perfect copy, read the passage together and ask students what they think the Fort Selkirk students learned. Discuss what skills it is possible to learn outside school. Have a guidance counselor or a student from a co-operative education program visit the class to talk about work/study experiences available through the school.
3. Have the students who have rehearsed the reading of Ann Morris’ Tools present the book to the class. After listening to the reading, make a semantic map entitled Tools with the class. List the tools and their uses. Post this chart.
4. Use the example of an item such as a centennial T-shirt to show how information is recorded in a museum. Have students choose a tool from the chart they have prepared and fill in a museum card.
5. Students examine artifacts from one of the museum kits and fill out the same cards. They then share their ideas about the artifacts with the class. Students place this card in their Canada portfolio.
6. As a test, each student examines a kitchen fork from the point of view of an archeologist in the year 3050. The task is to draw it, note the material, and its condition, and suggest three possible ways it might have been used by the people of Ontario a hundred years before.
7. Students explore the idea of a living museum by examining the pictures of Ontario historic reconstructed villages using Bobbie Kalman’s book, Visiting a Village. If multiple copies of the book are available student partners prepare reports on assigned pictures, answering the questions What do you see? What might you touch? What might you taste? What might you hear? With only one book, this would be a teacher-centred activity.
8. Visit a local historical site. One possible exercise is to use a map of the area to lead students to points of interest where they answer questions which require reasoning such as: How many fireplaces heated the yellow and green house? At the back of this building you can see a clue about a disaster. What do you think happened? On the walls there are black metal things that look like an S. What do they do? This introduces students to map-reading and continues the inquiry approach to history. (Developed by the staff of Todmorden Mills, Toronto.)
An historical house lends itself to an activity such as this: assign groups of students to rooms containing a special artifact such as a pair of skates, a teapot, an oil lamp. Together students imagine how the articles would be used at an upcoming party. They write dialogues including the artifacts, rehearse them, and present them to other students as they visit each room. (Developed by Heritage Toronto for Colbourne Lodge, High Park)
· museum card of kitchen fork (Summative)
· feed back notes (Summative)
· Students may need to read their museum cards aloud if the teacher cannot read the handwriting; others may still need to dictate.
· If a kit is available for several days, advanced students could make museum cards for several objects. The materials and cards could be displayed in a locked display cabinet for other classes to observe.
Kalman, Bobbie. Visiting a Village. Niagara-on-the-Lake: Crabtree Publishing Company, 1990. (Series: Historic Communities).
Morris, Ann. Tools. New York: Lothrop, Lee and Shepard Books, 1992.
Tools: Royal Ontario Museum (a resource box)
Ontario Museum Association
http//www.muscumsontario.com
Canadian Heritage Information Network
http://www.chin.gc.ca
Time: 240 minutes
Students share their first impressions of Canada and their later experiences to decide on ways to create a museum display case of personal symbols demonstrating “What Canada Means to Us”. They use a Canadian web site to choose schoolchildren’s writing that mirrors their feelings about Canada and write their own letters to Canada. During this activity, hold individual conferences with each student to assess the Canada portfolio.
Strand(s): Oral and Visual Communication, Reading, Writing, Social and Cultural Competence
Overall Expectations: AORV.02L; AREV.02L; AWRV.02Lv; ASCV.01Lv.
Specific Expectations: AOR2.02L; ARE2.05L; AWR2.01Lv; ASCI.07Lv.
· When students are discussing what Canada means to them it is important that they recognize that there are no right or wrong answers.
· During this activity students work independently on their letters modelled after those on the Dear Canada web site. This leaves time to conference individually on the Canada portfolios. Some assistance from senior students or teacher-librarians is required for these conferences. The overall assessment of the portfolio is the culminating evaluation.
· Edited versions of the letters may be posted on the web site and displayed in the classroom.
· file cards
· fills out forms
· understands the concept of concrete symbols
1. After a teacher’s demonstration of a museum card entry for an interesting item, students choose an item they have at home which they feel represents their country of origin. They produce a brief description of the object using the categories used on museum description cards: Name of item, place found, material, use, date made, date acquired (Activity 5, Planning Notes)
2. Students talk with a partner about what seemed unusual to them when they first arrived in Canada and which of these things continue to seem strange. Although there may be differing opinions, students respect each other’s views. Students fill out a card for some of the items they have identified.
3. Explain to the students that they are to create a museum case called What Canada Means to Us. Students obtain real items that represent Canada to them and arrange them in a case or on a table as a museum case. Items might include a snow shovel or a blue recycling box. They make neatly printed or typed cards and a banner title for their display. These cards are to be evaluated for accuracy and completeness.
4. Students choose their own item or a classmate’s, draw a picture and label their drawing with the correct information using the museum card format. This is the last item to be placed in their Canada Portfolio.
5. Using the table of contents (Appendix 2B) students check their Canada portfolios, complete unfinished work, and arrange their papers in the correct order.
6. Prepare the students for a personal interview by giving them the questions you wish to discuss with them during the portfolio assessment session. The questions would include:
· Which piece is your best work?
· Does your work get better or worse? Why do you think this is so?
· Choose one piece you think you could have done better. How could it be improved?
· What can you do better now that you could not do before? Show an example from the portfolio.
· Which of the quizzes did you think were easy?
· How did you study for them? Let’s look at some of them. Which learning strategies work best for you?
· Does writing quizzes make you nervous? What do you do to feel calmer?
7. Arrange for the students to go the library/resource centre to locate the Ben Wicks web site. This web site includes the text of a book by the children of Canada, Dear Canada, a love letter to my country. Have coaches or the librarian read some of the simple letters while the teacher takes the students one by one to a seminar room to discuss the Canada portfolios, using appendix 6. With a partner students could draft a Dear Canada letter to submit to this web site. Illustrated letters could be posted in the classroom.
· museum card about what Canada means to me (Summative)
· Canada portfolio (Summative)
· Students especially interested in museums can visit museum sites on the Internet.
Before O Canada became Canada’s national anthem, Canadians often sang The Maple Leaf Forever. The tune was pretty but the words were hurtful. The writer was proud of being British. He forgot the feelings of the native people who had lived in Canada long before the British came. He forgot the feelings of the French Canadians who lost the war with the British. Nobody sang the song for many years.
In 1997 CBC Radio had a contest to write new words for The Maple Leaf Forever. The winner was Vladimir Radian. Mr. Radian came to Canada ten years ago from Romania. He is not a song-writer. He is a mathematician. He liked the tune.
It took him a whole day to write the first line. He remembered that when he got off the airplane the Canadian sky seemed very big and very blue. So his first line was “O land of blue unending skies.” It took him seven more days to write the other words.
Then he wrote words in French. The French words were easier for him. He said, “It’s much easier to write about love in French than in English.” When reporters asked him why he came to Canada he said, “This is a very kind country.”
Here are the words of the first verse.
O land of blue unending skies,
Mountains strong and sparkling snow,
A scent of freedom in the wind
O’er the emerald fields below.
A. Copy the sentences that tell us:
1. What is Canada’s national anthem?
2. How many days did it take to write the first line of The Maple Leaf Forever?
3. Why was it easier to write in French than in English?
4. Who won the radio contest?
B. Copy your favourite line of the song:
Canadian Geography
- What I Can Do Now
Sheet
1:___________________ (provinces and territories, water, or capitals)
|
Name of Activity |
Dates Tried |
How I Studied |
Results |
|
Pronunciation |
|
|
|
|
Pointing on a Map with Names |
|
|
|
|
Pointing on a Blank map |
|
|
|
|
Spelling: Listening for Letters |
|
|
|
|
Reading Names |
|
|
|
|
Spelling Names |
|
|
|
|
Writing Abbreviations |
|
|
|
|
Copying Names and Colouring Map |
|
|
|
|
Labelling Map |
|
|
|
|
Other.____________ |
|
|
|
1. Cover
2. An Old Song Made New (Appendix 1)
3. Quiz: Matching Names and Symbols
4. Geography Quizzes and Student Tracking Sheets
5. Feedback Notes on Co-operation in Making Posters
6. Museum Cards on Historical Artifact
7. Museum Card on What Canada Means to Me
The Northwest Territories has two parts: islands and mainland. More than half of the people are native people. They use airplanes to travel from one community to another.
Yukon is in the northwest corner of Canada. It has many high mountains. The summers are short and the winters are very long.
Nunavut is Canada’s newest territory. Its birthdate was April 1, 1999. The people are also young. Half of the 25,000 people are under 20 years old. Nunavut is the coldest place to live in Canada. Winter lasts nine months: from September until May. In most areas there are no roads. The airplane and the snowmobile are the only way to travel.
Manitoba is a prairie province. The prairie provinces are sometimes called Canada’s breadbasket because there are so many wheat farms. Manitoba has many, many lakes.
Saskatchewan does not have mountains. It is very flat. Most farmers grow wheat in Saskatchewan. It is very cold in the winter.
Alberta has high mountains covered with snow. Alberta has badlands; deserts where bones of dinosaurs have been found. Many Albertans work on cattle ranches or in the oil fields.
British Columbia is on the Pacific Ocean. The biggest trees in Canada grow in the rain forest on Vancouver Island. Cherries, peaches, and plums grow in the river valleys. It is not very cold in the winter in Vancouver. The flowers come out in February.
Quebec is Canada’s largest province. It has many waterfalls. Most of the people in Quebec speak French. Most of the native people who live in Quebec live in the North. The St. Lawrence River begins in Ontario and runs to the Atlantic Ocean.
Ontario has the largest number of people in Canada. The biggest waterfall in the world is in Ontario. It is called Niagara Falls. The capital city of Canada, Ottawa, is in the province of Ontario. Four of the five Great Lakes are in Ontario. We live in Ontario.
New Brunswick is the second largest Atlantic province. It has farms, small towns, and cities. It is between Quebec and Nova Scotia. Most of Canada’s apple juice comes from the river valleys of New Brunswick.
Prince Edward Island is the smallest province. Most of the people are farmers. The potatoes from Prince Edward Island are famous. It is a very small island with sand dunes on the shores.
Nova Scotia is another Atlantic province. Cape Breton is an island in the northern part of Nova Scotia. Most of Nova Scotia is a peninsula covered by forests.
Newfoundland is the youngest province. It has two parts: Labrador and the island. It is the largest Atlantic province. A ferryboat goes between Newfoundland and the mainland.
The year is 1668. Two leather chests lined with velvet are found on the dock at Quebec City. They have been left behind when a small boat going up the St Lawrence River was loaded. Read the list of contents in your chest and try to answer these questions.
a silk Spanish shawl
scissors
2 pairs of white stockings
a handmade wool blanket
a blue wool skirt
a pair of ribbon shoe-laces
a lace kerchief
a white linen skirt
a soup spoon
1. Is the owner of the chest a man or a woman?
2. How old do you think this person is?
3. Is this person rich or poor?
4. What is the purpose of the trip?
5. What is this person’s first language?
The year is 1668. Two leather chests lined with velvet are found on the dock at Quebec City. They have been left behind when a small boat going up the St Lawrence River was loaded. Read the list of contents in your chest and try to answer these questions.
2 knives
8 gold coins
10 pounds of nails
2 white linen shirts
a handmade wool blanket
a prayer book in French
2 pairs of gloves
6 linen caps
a large ball of string
an axe-head
1. Is the owner of the chest a man or a woman?
2. How old do you think this person is?
3. Is this person rich or poor?
4. What is the purpose of the trip?
5. What is this person’s first language?
A few years ago high school students from Selkirk First Nation in the Yukon worked on a dig. First they studied Yukon prehistory and archeology in school. In the mornings they worked on the dig. In the afternoon they listened to the elders talk about people who had lived at Fort Selkirk and how they made their livings. The older men and women showed them how to make things like baskets, baby carriers, fish spears, and fish traps.
The students found an old fishing camp. They found 28 different kinds of stone. The stones came from far away so they learned that Fort Selkirk was a trading place. The young people have helped find the history of the Selkirk people.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A few years ago high school students from Selkirk First Nation in the Yukon worked on an archeological dig. First they studied Yukon prehistory _______archeology in school. In the mornings _______ worked on the dig. In _______ afternoon they listened to the elders_______ about people who had lived at Fort Selkirk _______ how they made their livings. The older _______and women showed them how to _______ things like baskets, baby carriers,_______ spears and fish traps.
The students _______an old fishing camp. They found _______ different kinds of stone. The stones _______from far away so they learned _______ Fort Selkirk was a trading place. _______ young people have helped find the _______ of the Selkirk people.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A few years ago high school students from Selkirk First Nation in the Yukon worked on an archeological dig. First they studied Yukon prehistory and archeology _______ school. In the mornings they worked _______ the dig. In the afternoon they _______ to the elders talk about people _______ had lived at Fort Selkirk and how _______made their livings. The older men and _______ showed them how to make things _______ baskets, baby carriers, fish spears, and _______ traps.
The students found an old_______ camp. They found 28 different kinds _______ stone. The stones came from far _______ so they learned that Fort Selkirk was _______ trading place. The young people have_______ find the history of the Selkirk _______.
|
Category |
Level 1 50-59% |
Level 2 60-69% |
Level 3 70-79% |
Level 4 80-100% |
|
Knowledge Knowledge of names of provinces, territories, capital cities in Canada Understands the concept of Canadian symbols |
The student
demonstrates: - limited knowledge - limited understanding of the concept |
- some knowledge - some understanding of the concept |
- considerable knowledge - considerable understanding of the concept |
- thorough knowledge - thorough understanding of the concept |
|
Communication Uses beginning literacy skills (e.g., cover is complete
and titled, pages are in order from front to back) |
The student
demonstrates - limited use of literacy skills |
- some use of literacy skills |
- considerable use of literacy skills |
- thorough use of literacy skills |
|
Thinking/Inquiry Uses critical thinking skills (e.g., analyses artifacts
to complete a museum card) |
The student
demonstrates: - limited competence in using critical thinking skills |
- some competence in using critical thinking skills |
- considerable competence in using critical thinking skills |
- thorough competence in using critical thinking skills |
|
Application Uses language and literacy skills to do a
self-assessment of successful learning strategies |
The student
demonstrates: - limited awareness of personal, successful learning
strategies |
- some awareness of personal, successful learning strategies |
-considerable awareness of personal, successful learning strategies |
-thorough awareness of personal, successful learning strategies |
Continue
to Unit 5 | Back to Unit 3 | Back
to Course Profiles main menu