I Do: Love and Marriage in 19th Century Canada 

Education Resource 

Activity 1―Exploring Your Local History

Purpose: Allowing students to explore their local history will give them a personal connection to their own lives. If students can trace their lineage to a different part of Canada or the world, it may, with teacher discretion, be advisable to allow them to explore this avenue.

Procedure: 

1.	Students should visit http://paperofrecord.com/default.asp (registration is free) to gain access to a large database of old newspapers. The teacher may set up a “dummy” account for all of the students to use instead of sharing personal information. Alternatively, students may visit their local library for access to old newspapers.

Here is an additional site of interest on historic newspapers:
www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/8/16/index-e.html.

2.	Ask students to select an edition of a newspaper that is local to their area (or one that has been approved by the teacher) that falls within the timeline of the I Do: Love and Marriage in 19th-Century Canada website. 

3.	Students are responsible for reading and selecting several articles that will give them an idea of what events occurred during this time. This information should be recorded and kept for future use, or the teacher may choose to have students present the information to the class orally or on a poster.

4.	This information can be used later on to add a degree of authenticity to the other activities.