Historica Canada Education Portal

This guide includes activities that allow students to explore women’s military history in Canada. This guide does not present a comprehensive overview, but offers a selection of stories and perspectives that explore some women’s experiences in the Canadian military. These activities are best suited to students who have some contextual knowledge of the time periods and conflicts discussed. You may want to provide students with background information on conflicts relating to the activities. The...

As we celebrate a century of women’s suffrage, it’s important to recognize that while this victory was a landmark achievement, social change and the push for equality weren’t born from, nor completed by, achieving the right to vote. Women in Canada have played a crucial role in the story of the past and how it shapes the present. Women’s history seeks to write women back into the parts of the narrative from which they have been omitted, with the goal of telling a more complete story.

Putting...

Use these worksheets to support the activities in Historica Canada's Women in Canadian History Education Guide.

Scroll down to find links to download each worksheets, either as a complete set or individually.
Activity worksheets include:

Activity 1 - Museum Panel Graphic Organizer
Activity 2 - Women and Work
Activity 6 - Women and labour in the Great Depression
Activity 7 - Second World War Posters
Activity 9 - Women and the Quiet Revolution
Activity 10 - The Royal Commission on the Status of Women...

The Cenotaph Project is an engaging activity that gives students an opportunity to get to know the individual men and women who served, and potentially died, in wartime. Begun by Ontario teacher Blake Seward, teachers and students nationwide have undertaken this project. The document below serves as a step-by-step guide.

To mark the centennial of the first achievements of women’s suffrage in Canada, Historica Canada has created this Education Guide.

It asks students to examine issues of identity, equity, activism and justice in historical and contemporary contexts.

This Guide does not focus on the suffrage movement’s links to ideologies such as socialism, imperialism, racism and classism, though teachers may want to address these intersections. In particular, many suffragists did not...

This lesson is based on viewing the Madame La Bolduc biography from The Canadians series. It explores the personality and career of Mary Travers Bolduc, who was one of Québec's greatest singing sensations. She was one of the first recording artists to give the Québecois a sense of pride in their language.

With a variety of writing and role-playing activities, students will consider the accomplishments of La Bolduc. Students will reflect on her career within its historical...

This lesson is based on viewing the Ma Murray biography from The Canadiansseries. Murray became a legend in Canadian journalism despite her terrible grammar and spelling. Although her stories did occasionally generate public criticism, Murray had a loyal audience of readers.

Ma Murray was a strong, independent woman who spoke her mind no matter what the consequences. She even made things up for a good story. The following activities question what we can learn from Murray's brand...

This lesson is based on viewing the Louis Cyr biography from The Canadians series. At the end of the nineteenth century, Louis Cyr - the strong man from Canada - was arguably the best-known Canadian in the world, but an unhealthy lifestyle resulted in his early death at age 49 from overeating.

In a variety of activities, students will consider the life and accomplishments of Louis Cyr within historical context and in relationship to other athletes. Cyr's story also provides an...

When Canada entered the First World War in 1914, men of all ages enlisted by the thousands. However, this zeal waned as reports of casualty rates arrived home. Recruitment posters were an integral part of encouraging men and women to enlist at all points between 1914 and 1918. They appealed to the many motivations for enlistment and used various propaganda techniques to achieve their goal. In this activity, students will examine reasons for enlistment, recruitment posters, and...

This lesson is based on viewing the Pauline Johnson biography from The Canadians series. Pauline Johnson astounded audiences all over the world with her performances of poetry, comedy, and plays. The daughter of an Indigenous-Canadian father and an American mother, Johnson did not embody the stereotype of a Mohawk woman in the early nineteenth century.

In the following activities, students will learn about Pauline Johnson by researching the connections between her life and...

This lesson is based on viewing the Percy Williams biography from The Canadiansseries. It explores the athleticism of this Canadian sprinter, who won two gold medals at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics. Despite his accomplishments, Williams's life had a tragic ending.

With a variety of individual and group activities, students will study Williams's accomplishments and compare them with other athletes. Students will also consider the place of athletes in society and decide whether...

An introduction to working with primary evidence including photos, graphs, and text from the time period. Most of the presentation is visual, with a minimum of text. Students work in small groups with each group assigned a different topic.

Depending on time available, the topics could be rotated if the content was important. But if it is used for teaching historical method only, then one activity should be adequate.

This particular lesson is the introduction, including a "practice...

A mind map is a visual note. It can also be an illustrated expression of a student's understanding of a concept or event and the inter-relationship of information to that concept or event. Mind maps are similar to concept maps, word webbing, and bubble writing. All of these tend to share similar processes, such as brainstorming, conceptualizing, illustrating, and making connections or relationships.

Mind maps can be done in groups or by individuals. They are visual organizers...

This lesson is based on viewing the Mona Parsons biography from The Canadians series. Although her story isn’t well known, Mona Parsons led a fascinating life. This Nova Scotia-born woman became part of a resistance unit in Nazi occupied Holland. She was imprisoned for her actions, but she managed to escape and make her way to safety by posing as a German.

Students will learn about:

- The life of Mona Parsons
- Nazi occupation of Holland during WWII
- Women in the war years
- The...

This lesson is based on viewing the Nell Shipman biography from The Canadians series. Shipman was a silent screen legend who is credited with performing her own stunts, filming the first nude scene, and being a devoted animal rights activist.

Students will explore the life and accomplishments of Shipman, paying particular attention to her concern for animal rights.

Filmmaking as we know it today began little more than a century ago with the birth of silent screen...