Commemoration of Women

Grade: 10
Time: two 72 minute classes

Expectations:
Students will:

Knowledge

• produce an evaluation of the contributions to Canadian society by its regional, linguistic, ethnocultural, and religious communities;
• assess the contributions of the Women's Movement;
• explain how significant individuals contributed to the growing sense of Canadian identity during World War I;
• assess the contributions of selected individuals to the development of Canadian identity since World War I;

Skills

• use school and public libraries, resource centres, museums, historic sites, and community and government resources effectively to gather information on Canadian history;
• use computer-stored information and the Internet effectively to research Canadian history topics;
• record and organize information effectively using notes, lists, concept webs, timelines, organizers, charts, maps, graphs, and mind maps; <
• identify different viewpoints and explicit biases when evaluating information for a research report or participating in a discussion;
• use relevant and adequate supporting evidence to draw conclusions;
• make reasoned generalizations or appropriate predictions based on research;
• demonstrate competence in research and writing;
• express ideas and arguments in a coherent manner during discussions and debates, or in graphic displays;

Preparation:

• visit Canada's Digital Collection to become familiar with the resources available to students for the Commemoration of Women Project
• locate and copy Richard Starnes' "Famous Five in Royal Company on Hill." The Ottawa Citizen [Ottawa] Jan. 19, 1999.
• tour your local community to identify commemoration locations to visit with students
• find samples of a brochure, poster, coin, stamp, painting
• copy Suggested: Project Instructions handout

Lesson Plan:

1. Hand out copies of Richard Starnes' "Famous Five in Royal Company on Hill.". Divide the class into small groups and instruct them to read the newspaper article. Ask students to use the following questions to discuss the article:
   1. Who is currently commemorated on Parliament Hill?
   2. Who will be recognized on October 18, 2000 on the Hill? How will they be commemorated and why?
   3. Explain the artist's idea for the sculpture. Why did she pick each individual pose?
   4. Give your opinion: Is it important to commemorate people from our past? If so, who is worthy of national recognition?
2. Invite students on a walk in through the local community. Instruct students to keep a tally of who is commemorated and who is not (e.g. men or women; rich or poor; Canadian born or immigrant; local, regional, or national prominence...). Possible locations to include are war memorials, plaques, public buildings (e.g. town hall, library, schools...), parks, and cemeteries.
3. Hand out the instructions for the Commemoration of Women Project assignment. This assignment is to be done outside class time and presented to classmates sometime before the end of the unit.

Possible Extensions:

1. Watch some of the HISTORY Television Network's video biographies featuring women from The Canadians series and try the on-line corresponding teaching lesson.
2. Watch some of The CRB Foundation's Heritage Minutes featuring women.
3. Locate images or quotes about women on Canada's Digital Collection. Instruct students to create a series of tableaux that reflects the images or quotes. A tableaux is a series of frozen snapshots, each tableau representing a dramatic moment (see Teaching Guide in The CRB Foundation's Canadians in the Global Community: War, Peace and Security for more information about creating a series of tableaux).

Evaluation:

Informal:

• observe student work habits and participation during class discussion and community tour activities

Formal:

• Suggested Rubric: Commemoration Assignment