Teaching Canada for the first time to a 6th grade class. My curriculum is pretty open ended, giving me a lot of freedom. I know we have a few Canadian members, anything I should cover? Anyone got a Canadian history textbook they want to donate? (I wanted to show your prospective for my 8th grade lesson on the War of 1812 anyways.)
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
Canada: like Minnesota, only spread out.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson: Canada: like Minnesota, only spread out.
+1
I'd suggest keeping it very Americentric. Like Canada is a rogue province we will eventually liberate.
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
The Metis rebellion under Louis Riel. I'm his descendent.
Also Canada's path to independence when we became the Canadian Confederation in 1867 under the Constitution Act, in 1919 we joined the League of Nations independent of Britain in then 1931 the Statute of Westminster affirmed our independence.
In 1982 we passed the Canada Act under Pierre Eliot Trudeau which established the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms though Quebec had issues following suit that resulted in the Meech Lake Accords.
Sometime between the 1940's and 1950's we started passing what would eventually become our social welfare system, which if I recall was 13 pages long.
Posted by Dobbie (Member # 3881) on :
"Beaver tail" ain't necessarily referring to an animal's appendage.
And YouTube up surviving a grizzly bear attack to see what not to show in class, unless ya wanna be tarred&feathered then run out on a rail by the parents. (probably NotSafeForWork)
[ April 11, 2012, 12:04 AM: Message edited by: aspectre ]
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
Honestly, I'm not sure what to suggest. If you want to cover the history of the country, Blayne's outline is a pretty good starting point for contrasting your national development with ours, but it might be too heavy for the 6th grade. In my own schooling, we didn't really start getting to that kind of stuff until 7th grade.
For a broader view, you could just talk a little bit about the differences in governance -- how we don't elect a separate President, how we still technically have a Queen, etc.
Posted by Stephan (Member # 7549) on :
So, something combining Blayne and BlackBlade's ideas in other words.
Posted by Stephan (Member # 7549) on :
By the way, when asked what language is spoken there, my 6th graders gave me the following answers, in order of occurrence:
1. Spanish 2. Russian (at least there is some logic there) 3. Canadian
Posted by happymann (Member # 9559) on :
I thought Canada was a myth. Like North Dakota.
Posted by Dobbie (Member # 3881) on :
quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson: Canada: like Minnesota, only spread out.
Someone else thinks Canadians are like Minnesotans.
Posted by Stephan (Member # 7549) on :
Great music, my students got a kick out of Great Big Sea's Ferryland Sealer.
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
My only talking points when someone tells me they are visiting from Canada.
1. Hockey is awesome, I'm being genuine here. 2. Why do you guys need so many Tim Horton's? no one needs that many donuts. 3. Do Canadians really eat poutine or is that just one of those weird jokes? because it sounds disgusting.
Posted by Bella Bee (Member # 7027) on :
How to order poutine without getting laughed out of the restaurant would be a valuable life skill you could give them. Yummy.
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
Poutine sounds disgusting, but is actually delicious. It's probably for the best, in health terms, if you're repulsed enough to not try it.
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
Oh, also, you could consider some discussion of how Canada was colonized by both the English and the French, and how that led to a number of interesting developments: Quebec (largely francophone), New Brunswick (split), Nova Scotia (largely anglophone, but only because the Acadians were forcibly deported south along the US east coast).
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
I wonder if the people in Quebec ever look at our Cajuns and think "we were almost that, my ancestor almost went to the warm place instead of this inhospitable frozen land and I would have been hunting gators in the swamp" and then break into Oh Canada.
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
"By the way, when asked what language is spoken there, my 6th graders gave me the following answers, in order of occurrence: 1. Spanish 2. Russian (at least there is some logic there) 3. Canadian"
eh. Ya told them the real answer, eh? Though I dunno if having a one-word vocabulary can be considered a language. eh, I s'pose the language could be tonal like in Chinese. Still doesn't leave alotta words, eh?
[ April 11, 2012, 11:21 PM: Message edited by: aspectre ]
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Also, in a tiny town somewhere in the part of Canada close to my hometown (southern Alberta/Saskatchewan) is a diner that offers a "poutine meal deal" consisting of a poutine and five cigarettes. No joke. My coworker brought back one of the menus from a road trip to prove its existence.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Oh, and they sell ketchup flavored potato chips and Cadbury candy. Bored teenagers in Montana know this because sometimes they go on border-crossing road trips to stock up on weird food from Canadian gas stations and then come home.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by Annie: Oh, and they sell ketchup flavored potato chips and Cadbury candy.
You can buy both of those in the US. Herr's (a US company) makes the former, and there have been US Cadbury factories for a long time.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Not the same kinds of Cadbury! And we don't have the chocolate kind of Smarties either. And Montana is not known for its easy access to obscure products.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by Annie: Not the same kinds of Cadbury!
This is probably just because of where I live, but I think all the Cadbury varieties can easily be bought in L.A.
quote:Originally posted by Annie: And we don't have the chocolate kind of Smarties either.
And that's bad? Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
Chocolate Smarties are great. Way better than M&Ms.
Posted by Dan_Frank (Member # 8488) on :
Coming from a guy named "Twinky" I'm not sure how much your assessment of snack candies is worth.
Posted by Stephan (Member # 7549) on :
I miss Hershey Kissables.
Posted by JonHecht (Member # 9712) on :
Herrs ketchup chips are disgusting. Lay's ketchup chips are like manna from heaven.
Posted by Dan_Frank (Member # 8488) on :
... And now we know why you went on a crazy hippie cleanse diet. Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
The Cadbury in the US and the Cadbury in Europe and the Commonwealth countries were made by two different companies. The US Cadbury products were made under license from the Cadbury company, and weren't made in accord with the same recipes. Doesn't matter now, cuz the licensee (I believe it was Nestle's) bought the Cadbury company. And the Europeans/etc are already being shifted toward the same swill that's been marketed in the US.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
I've had the European Cadbury's and American, and they're not all that different. Either one is roughly at the level of Hershey's or Nestle's, and far inferior to good chocolate.
Posted by Dan_Frank (Member # 8488) on :
Yeah, I've never really gotten the Cadbury craze (or the hullabaloo that was kicked up when Nestle bought Cadbury). They're okay, but nothing amazing.
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
quote:Originally posted by rivka: I've had the European Cadbury's and American, and they're not all that different. Either one is roughly at the level of Hershey's or Nestle's, and far inferior to good chocolate.
True.
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
quote:Originally posted by Dan_Frank: Coming from a guy named "Twinky" I'm not sure how much your assessment of snack candies is worth.
Heh, I actually didn't know what a twinkie was before I started posting here.
It's a Calvin & Hobbes reference. Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
I shouldn't be thinking about this, as I have my own lessons to plan , but unless you are specifically required to teach the history of Canada only, I'd share out your time between geography, civics and history with a history focus rather than trying to untangle the whole story.
Some off-the-top-of-my-head ideas...
- Have the children research a cultural or geographical place in Canada to get a broad overview of the history of the country (e.g. someone could do Ice Hockey, someone could do poutine, someone could do Niagara Falls or Newfoundland etc. according to their own interests).
- Cover the geography using maps of both the United States and Canada. Have the children label the provinces/territories (realising there is a difference). Have them label the various large bodies of water and use that to discuss the enormous natural resources Canada has. Ensure they know the major cities' locations and, if the focus is supposed to be history, talk about the influence of the fur trade, water routes, lumber industry and Maritime Fishing.
- History: Cover the early period of Canada's history, emphasising French, English and native relationships. Focus on key explorers and players rather than trying to untangle the whole story.
- Cover the 19th century by talking about government. Someone had the idea up there to do a similiarities/differences chart. Provide the children with some reading on both governmental systems and get them to write similiarities and differences in a T-shaped chart, giving details where appropriate. Make sure the relationship with the UK and the Queen is covered and use that to talk about the Constitution.
- If you still have time, have the children at least look at the constitution of Canada (giving dates and places for where it was put together) and compare some of it with the Constitution of the United States. Ours is modern and detailed, yours is ancient and vague. Get them to broadly discuss pros and cons of each feature of the constitutions.
- Discuss immigration in the 19th and 20th centuries and explain that Canada is one of the most diverse countries in the world. Again, focus on one or two individual stories.
- Teach the modern relationship of Canada to the United States as a trading partner with ginormous cultural links. Have the children compare Canada today with the US today: Think about Health Care, gun laws, imprisoned percentage of the population, population numbers and breakdown, major cities.
- Have the children create a "Come To Canada" leaflet, perhaps, that includes some of its history, geography, key facts, and features.
- Finish with a 'myth dispelling' lesson in which you list all the famous stars that are Canadian and show various shows and films shot in Canada.
- Listen to this (so you don't have to see that it's a beer advert) and ask the chn why they think that such an advert plays well in Canada.
Okay, so that's your planning done. Wanna do my Year 3 and 4 computers planning?
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
Oh, also? These will give you a pretty comprehensive and fairly age-appropriate overview of the history of Canada and the important people.
EDIT: Although, I should add, that you should check the historical veracity of each one... some are a little hopeful or questions have been raised about details since they were made.
Posted by Bella Bee (Member # 7027) on :
Oh, that advert is funny. It's just like when British people get all defensively 'We're not American, we like things being smaller, it's football not soccer, whisky not Scotch, and the beer here is *supposed* to be warm..' - we even set it to the same music.
Although many Canadians do pronounce some words rather differently from many Northern USians (not all, on either side, obviously, but enough that you can call it if you know what to listen for and be correct at least 95% of the time) and I have no idea why some people are so defensive about it, since it sounds lovely. It would be like Australians demanding that people agree that they pronounce everything the same as the British. Most of them don't, and that's wonderful.
Maybe it's just the annoying touristy 'eh, you guys say abooooot, eh' thing that causes the issue.
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
Be sure to tell the kids about Canada's latest export. Posted by Stephan (Member # 7549) on :
I did fail to mention that this is an intensive special education resource classroom.
I love your ideas Teshi, I may just have to modify some of that.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:Originally posted by twinky: Chocolate Smarties are great. Way better than M&Ms.
Smarties are gross. Definitely inferior to M&Ms.
Ketchup flavored potato chips are fairly decent.
Posted by T:man (Member # 11614) on :
quote:Originally posted by BlackBlade:
quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson: Canada: like Minnesota, only spread out.
+1
I'd suggest keeping it very Americentric. Like Canada is a rogue province we will eventually liberate.
Use the section in the articles of confederation where we offered to make them the 14th state. (I guess that could also tie into the forgotten war too...)
Posted by T:man (Member # 11614) on :
quote:Originally posted by happymann: I thought Canada was a myth. Like North Dakota.
I heard that if north Dakota had seceded from the US in the sixties it would have been the third largest nuclear power.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
quote:Originally posted by BlackBlade:
quote:Originally posted by twinky: Chocolate Smarties are great. Way better than M&Ms.
Smarties are gross. Definitely inferior to M&Ms.
Ketchup flavored potato chips are fairly decent.
I don't understand the love for Canadian Smarties. They just seemed like crunchier M&Ms to me.
Posted by Stone_Wolf_ (Member # 8299) on :
Canadians are like older Minnesotans, as the younger ones are not nearly as nice.
Oh, and they put malt vinegar on their fries.
ETA: 90% of Canada's populace lives within 100 miles of the U.S. boarder, and they have less people then California.
[ April 13, 2012, 10:36 PM: Message edited by: Stone_Wolf_ ]
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
This is a bit of a tangent but James Cameron's interview with Stephen Colbert was hilarious. Especially when they got to the part about Canadians.
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
quote:I did fail to mention that this is an intensive special education resource classroom.
I love your ideas Teshi, I may just have to modify some of that.
Oh. Yes indeed you will!
Posted by Stephan (Member # 7549) on :
quote:Originally posted by Stone_Wolf_: Canadians are like older Minnesotans, as the younger ones are not nearly as nice.
Oh, and they put malt vinegar on their fries.
ETA: 90% of Canada's populace lives within 100 miles of the U.S. boarder, and they have less people then California.
Many Americans do the vinegar thing, disgusting, but true. The famous and overpriced Thrasher's Boardwalk Fries in Ocean City, MD has vinegar, but no ketchup.
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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, but unless you are specifically required to teach the history of Canada only, I'd share out your time between geography, civics and history with a history focus rather than trying to untangle the whole story.