To Parents or Teachers.

This web page has been designed for the use of students, either in a classroom situation, or at home. The target grades are the intermediate ones (grades 4-7). The learning outcomes listed come from the Ministry Curriculum Documents for British Columbia. The learning outcomes are specifically taken from the grade 5 curriculum. However, these learning outcomes appear in somewhat different wording for all of the intermediate grades.

Learning Outcomes

In Social Studies, the students will be able to:

develop alternative interpretations from varied sources
demonstrate an understanding of Canadian culture
demonstrate an appreciation of contributions of Aboriginal peoples, the French, and the British to the development of Canada
demonstrate an understanding of Canada as a bilingual nation within a multilingual society
demonstrate an understanding of the concepts of sustainability, stewardship, and renewable versus non-renewable natural resources
demonstrate an ability to research information using current technology
evaluate the credibility and reliability of varied sources
organize information from a variety of sources into a structured presentation using more than on form of representation
support a position on national issue by considering competing reasons from various perspectives
design, implement and assess detailed courses of action to address national problems or issues
In Information Technology, the students will be able to:
manipulate electronic documents using a variety of tools
access on-line resources using telecommunications tools
demonstrate a willingness to be self-reliant when using information technology tools
demonstrate a concern for the socially responsible use of information
collect and record information electronically using primary and secondary sources of information
draw conclusions from information retrieved from electronic and other sources
evaluate information retrieved from electronic sources
create and present multimedia documents
use a variety of information technology tools in presentation

Suggested Use

The best way to use this page is to have the students maintain a portfolio of their own. It can take the form of an electronic folder kept either on the hard drive or a disk.

The students may choose to use a number of different ways to present their information including emails, databases, spreadsheets, charts, word process documents, hypertext stacks, etc. It should be encouraged that the students use as many ways as they can.

The portfolio would include relevant articles (other than the ones given in the web page), on-line songs, personal reflections, emails (interviews or opinions), chat line comments, unanswered questions and opinions of others.

Included in the First Nation's web site on unity (a link from the web page) is the email addresses of each premier of the provinces as well as the prime minister. Have the students email their opinion on a current issue such as the separation issue, the environment, etc. They may also choose to email a series of questions in the form of an interview and wait to see if they get a response.

There is also a link created in this web page in which the students can trace back to their ancestors. This, however, does cost money, but if the students are willing, they can trace their heritage and create a family tree (maybe using a draw program).

There are many documents provided as links in the web page for information. You may want to have the students read some or all of them and keep journals on their opinions or reflections of what they are reading. Some lead-ins to help them might include:

I used to believe/Now I believe...
I think that...
One change I'd like to see...
I learned...
The most important thing in my portfolio is...
One thing I'd like you to notice is...

To conclude, have the students write a journal entry about a day in the life of a Canadian bird. What would it see? Have them write a poem about what it is like to be a Canadian.

You may want to use this web page as a starting point for a larger project. You could have the students surf the web themselves to find:

what was happening in Canada on the day they were born
more about First Nations people and what makes them special
what pioneers typically ate for dinner 100 years ago
things invented in Canada and how they make our lives easier (or harder) today
a list of the provincial trees and which ones are native only to Canada
native animals in Canada and where they live
the history of sports in Canada (curling, hockey, lacrosse, baseball)
games of the past compared to games played now
the meaning of the names of places in Canada

Critical Thinking

It is important in this exercise that the students become critical thinkers and emulate critical thinking. A person is attempting to think critically when s/he seeks to make a reasoned judgment about what would be sensible or reasonable to believe or do in a given situation (Roland Case, professor of Social Studies at Simon Fraser University).

Critical Thinking is not something that everyone has. It needs to be taught and that is why it is important to have this note to parents and teachers. In order to create a community of critical thinkers you must teach them intellectual tools that will help them (such as background knowledge, criteria for judgment, vocabulary in biases, thinking strategies, wait or thinking time). The next thing to do is to create challenges that require critical thinking. This comes in the form of questioning techniques:

seek greater clarity (Could you give me an example?)
probe for assumptions (Is this always the case?)
probe for reasons and evidence (How could you find out if this is true?)
explore alternative perspectives (How might other groups respond?)
probe consequences or implications (What effect would this have?)

Even if you do all this, but do not model it yourself it is quite useless. You must be willing to practice what you preach. Don't be dogmatic and pretend that you always have the answer. Students don't mind if you tell them honestly that you don't know something. Base all your comments on both sides of an issue and try not to use biased language. Always have good reasons or evidence to back up the decisions that you make. This shows the students that you have not made a rash decision but have thought it over. Avoid stereotypical language and generalizations. Also avoid the use of resources (books, movies, pictures, etc.) that have these stereotypes, unless, of course you are using them to point out the stereotypes.

Please note that most of the information above was taken from "Thinking Critically in Social Studies," by Roland Case at Simon Fraser University.