Skip to main content

Historica Canada Education Portal

Learning Tools & Collections

Showing 31 - 45 of 188 tools

Political History
Intermediate – Middle School

The Fur Trade Cafe


Overview


Your group has been transported back though time to the period of the Fur Trade in Canada (prior to Confederation). Your goal will be to create and perform a dramatic presentation to share your perspective of the social and economic impact of the fur trade through the eyes of your assigned role-playing characters. Your dramatic presentation will be the only way your classmates will develop a true understanding of the impact of the fur trade on your group.

Note: this assignment is ideal...
Women's History
Secondary – Junior

Pauline Johnson


Overview


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.

Aims


In the following activities, students will learn about Pauline Johnson by researching the connections between her life and written...
Political History
Secondary – Junior

Novel Study


Overview


Students will read a Canadian novel to determine whether it provides an accurate picture of a Canadian event, experience, or character. In order to complete the assignment, students are expected to note the political, social, and economic circumstances outlined in the novel. Using primary and secondary sources the students will then write a report outlining the value of the novel as a historical source.

Aims


Students will:

  • make judgements about the significance of people and events based...
Sports

Percy Williams


Overview


This lesson is based on viewing the Percy Williams biography from The Canadians series. 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.

Aims


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...
Research and Writing
Secondary – Senior

Local Heroes Documentary


Overview


The purpose of this lesson plan is to encourage students to research and produce short television documentaries concerning local individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the community or to the country. The goal for the project is to have students establish a deeper and more immediate connection to their own heritage, and to history in general.

Aims


The principal aim of the project is to develop a deeper understanding of the complex heritage and history we share as...
Social History
Secondary – Senior

The Passion of Joseph Scriven


Overview


This lesson is based on viewing the Joseph Scriven biography from The Canadians series. Discover the tragic and fascinating story of Scriven, who wrote What a Friend We have in Jesus, which remains one of the most popular Christian hymns.

Aims


Studying the life of Joseph Scriven provides students with a starting place to research the larger topics of religious conflict, religious charity, evangelicals, and immigration in the nineteenth century.

Background


Joseph Scriven lived a painful...
Political History
Intermediate – Middle School

W.A.C Bennett


Overview


This lesson is based on viewing the W.A.C. Bennett biography from The Canadians series. William Andrew Cecil Bennett was the premier of B.C. for twenty consecutive years in the second half of the twentieth century. He ran the province with a mix of socialist, capitalist, and populist tactics; and his political dynasty transformed the economic, social, and cultural face of B.C.

Aims


By writing opinion pieces and engaging in discussion and debate, students will assess the leadership of...
Research and Writing
Secondary – Junior

Working With Evidence


Overview


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...
Military History
Secondary – Junior

Sam Hughes


Overview


This lesson is based on viewing the Sam Hughes biography from The Canadians series. Hughes was the controversial Minister of Militia during the First World War. There is still debate over whether Hughes was a visionary or an unstable bigot.

Aims


Students will develop critical thinking skills by examining the life and actions of Sir Sam Hughes, as well as the reactions to his opinions and policies. With individual or group activities, students are encouraged to draw conclusions and make...
Military History
Secondary – Senior

Mind Mapping


Overview


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.

Aims


Mind maps can be done in groups or by individuals. They are visual organizers that...
Social History
Intermediate – Middle School

Tom Thomson


Overview


This lesson is based on viewing the Tom Thomson biography from The Canadians series. Thomson is famous for his paintings of the Canadian landscape and his association with members of what became known as The Group of Seven painters.

Aims


In a series of brainstorming and writing activites, students will learn about Tom Thomson, The Group of Seven, and Canadian art.

Background


From amateur artist to national icon, Tom Thomson sprang into Canada’s collective memory in only a few short years....
Social History

Northern Dancer


Overview


This lesson is based on viewing the Northern Dancer biography from The Canadians series. In 1964, Northern Dancer was the first Canadian horse to win the Kentucky Derby. This famous Canadian racehorse also became the first non-human to be inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.

Aims


In a variety of writing, role-playing and creative activities, students will explore the importance of Northern Dancer's accomplishments to Canadian history and identity.

Background


E.P. Taylor...
Military History
Secondary – Junior

Raid on Dieppe


Overview


After the students have done some background reading on the Dieppe Raid, take the class to a beach to have a full discussion of the event and to participate in readings of soldiers' diaries.

Background


Introduce "The Raid on Dieppe" as it is traditionally presented using textbooks. Have students note descriptors use such as "fiasco" and "carnage." Have students read more recent representations of the raid that can be found at the Department of Veterans Affairs website  and the Juno...
Research and Writing
Secondary – Junior

TimeLinks - Analysis of Historical Photographs


Overview


This lesson is based on viewing historical photographs from the TimeLinks Image Archive. This website has a collection of over 2,000 images from Manitoba’s history. TimeLinks is concerned mainly with the decade from 1910 to 1920.

Aims


Students will learn how to interpret historical photographs. This will include identification of objects, persons and events. Students will consider the time, the place, and the purpose behind the photographs.

Activities


Time Allowance:
75 minutes

Procedures:...
Immigration
Intermediate – Middle School

To Walk a Mile in Your Shoes


Overview


The aim of this lesson plan is to develop the concept of citizenship and immigration by requiring students to explore, reflect, and empathize with the situations and feelings that new immigrants experience. Students will be required to produce a short dramatization to demonstrate this. Students will explore what it would feel like to be an immigrant coming into Canada. They will explore different real life situations and empathize with the frustrations, excitement, and realities of...

Showing 31 - 45 of 188 tools

Showing 1 - 10 of 16 collections

Milestones Education Guides

Explore these education guides, which were created as part of the Milestones Education Campaign.


This collection contains 4 Learning Tools

Sources Primaires

Une collection d'outils pédagogiques pour aider les éducateurs et les élèves dans l'analyse des sources primaires.


This collection contains 14 Learning Tools

Les femmes dans l'histoire

Une collection de guides pédagogiques explorant l'histoire des femmes au Canada.


This collection contains 13 Learning Tools

Women in History

A collection of learning tools focused on the roles of women in Canadian history.


This collection contains 21 Learning Tools

Primary Sources

A collection of learning tools designed to support educators and students in primary source analysis.


This collection contains 10 Learning Tools

Think Like a Historian: The Battle of Vimy Ridge

The Think Like a Historian series is a tool for educators and students to build skills to analyze and interpret primary sources. In this series, we look at Photographs, Newspapers, and Personal Letters from the Battle of Vimy Ridge.


This collection contains 4 Learning Tools

Pensez comme un historien : La bataille de la crête de Vimy

La série Pensez comme un historien est un outil pour les éducateurs et les étudiants pour développer des habiletés d’analyse et d’interprétation des sources primaires. Dans cette série, nous jetons un coup d’œil à des photographies, des journaux et


This collection contains 4 Learning Tools

Indigenous History

A collection of learning tools focused on Indigenous history in Canada.


This collection contains 20 Learning Tools

Showing 1 - 10 of 16 collections