Comparing Canada to the World

What’s So Great About Canada?Overview: Using Canada, the teacher will introduce the skills needed for students to conduct research on a world culture. The students will then do their own research on the country of their choice and use their information to make recommendations to improve our way of life in Canada or to improve the culture they studied.Big Ideas:  Notes should be short summaries of important or interesting information  Notes are different from quotes  Notes have a purpose  Organizing information makes it easier to work with it  Reliable information will appear in more than one source  Author/source and date can help determine reliable information  Referencing work is important for reliability  Canada may not share the same ways of life as other countries  Organizing one’s thoughts is important before writing a structured piece  Not all notes in research need to be used in a final product  Writing has a purpose  Audience is important when writing  Opinions must be supported by facts  A finished piece is created with the audience in mind  Good ideas should be sharedGrade 6 Social Studies PLO’s:  apply critical thinking skills – including comparing, classifying, inferring, imagining, verifying, identifying relationships, summarizing, and drawing conclusions – to a range of problems and issues  evaluate the credibility and reliability of selected sources  compare Canadian society with the society of another country  relate a society’s artistic expression to its culture  compare the federal government in Canada with national governments of other countries  compare Canada’s economy, technology, and quality of life with those in one or more selected countries  evaluate effects of technology on lifestyles and environments  assess the relationship between cultures and their environments© Holly Lloyd 2010 Lesson One: What do we know about Canada?Big Idea(s):  Notes should be short summaries of important or interesting information  Notes are different from quotesMaterials:  I Know You Wanna Be Canadian http://www.canadianaconnection.net/2009/06/you-know-you-wanna-be-canadian/  Books about Canada  large piece of butcher paper  paper strips in two colours (white and yellow?)  twelve thick felt pens  rolls of masking tape for each group  overhead of excerpt from “Canada: a primary source cultural guide” (see attached)Room Setup 1. Seat students in groups at tables in the library. Assign each group a number. (If you have numbers from 1-6 it will work nicely for the next lesson.) On each table have books about Canada. The library is a good location for this lesson because you want the students to also have access to encyclopedias and computers as well. Post a large piece of butcher paper at the front with the question, “What do we know about Canada?” in the middle. 2. Have a stack of yellow coloured strips of paper on each table. Make sure each table has the same colour. Put two thick felt pens with the paper strips. The paper should be about 10cm high and approximately 30cm long, although these measurements are not meant to be exact and all pieces do not all have to be the same size.Instruction – 20 minutes 1. Explain to the students they are going to be comparing Canada to other countries of the world to see if they can find areas we could improve or areas other countries might improve. Watch the video “You Wanna Be Canadian”. Ask the students: “What do we know about Canada?” As children suggest information, hand them white strips of paper to write their ideas onto. They should put their name at the bottom of the paper and post the paper on the butcher paper at the front 2. Ask the students how else we could get an answer to the question on the butcher paper. Keep asking, “What else?” until they have listed several ideas. 3. Ask the students how they would find the answer in a dictionary? How would they find it in an encyclopedia? How would they find it in a book? How would they find it on the Internet? 4. Demonstrate what you want the students to do using a large dictionary that has the term “Canada” in it and copy the definition onto the strip, making sure to put quotation marks around your words. Then write down the title of the dictionary, © Holly Lloyd 2010 the page number on which you found the answer and your group number at the top. Ask them why you are including the title and page of the resource. Post the paper strip. 5. Demonstrate this a second time using an overhead of information from a book, (see resource page entitled, “Government and Politics”). Bring attention to the fact that you will not copy from a book, but will summarize the information. Discuss the difference between a quote and a note. Discuss the information with the students as you read, sharing your thinking about what was interesting and what might be important. Turn off the projector before writing your summary onto a paper strip. Share your thinking as you write. Remind them they only have a strip, not a page. If there is a lot of good information in a book, have them break the information into chunks that seem important and share them on separate strips.Working Together – 20 minutes 6. Read a second paragraph from the overhead together and have the students suggest what to write. Post the paper at the front. 7. Read another paragraph from the overhead together and have the students write their idea onto a paper. Have them hold up the paper when they are finished. Have individuals read out their idea and see how many others had similar ideas. Discuss which strips should go up to the paper at the front and why. (Do we need to repeat the same ideas? Did the student remember their source and group number?) Repeat this if you feel the students need another round together.Group Work – 15 minutes 8. Have them work in their groups to find the answer in the books. When they find an answer, have them write it on a strip of paper, put the resource title and page number at the bottom, add their group number to the top and post it on the butcher paper at the front. Each group should have people looking for facts, people recording facts, people putting tape on the facts, people running the facts to the board and people checking to make sure the facts are not repeated. (Note that it is okay to have the same fact from different sources, just not the same fact from the SAME book!) Depending on how large the group is, they may assign more than one person to each role. No one should be sitting idle.Closure – 5 minutes 9. Share the findings of the group as a class. a. Are any facts repeated? b. Are there contradictory facts? c. Make note of these things but have the students think about how to deal with these for next lesson.© Holly Lloyd 2010 Government and Politics (adapted excerpt from Lois Sakany’s, “Canada: a primary source cultural guide”)Canada’s government is described as a parliamentary democracy, a form of government that combines a federal form of government with a monarch, a Senate, and a House of Commons. The federal form of government, which was patterned after the United States, is composed of a union of states or provinces, which recognizes the sovereignty of a central government, while retaining certain powers to govern itself.Distinct from the United States, Canada’s legislative and executive branches of the government reflect a cabinet system much like that of Great Britain. Its main components are the Parliament, the prime minister, and the cabinet. A member of the British Commonwealth, Canada’s government also includes a head of state, who is also the monarch of Great Britain.The Parliament includes two divisions, the Senate and the House of Commons. The Senate includes 105 members, who are appointed by the governor general as recommended by the prime minister. The parliament meets in a building on Parliament Hill, which is located in Ottawa, Ontario.The 301 members of the House of Commons are voted into office by the Canadian people. Each member represents a different constituency. The number of members is determined by each province’s population. If a province has more people, it will have more members in the House of Commons. In fairness to very sparsely populated regions, every province or territory must have at least as many members in the Commons as it has in the Senate.© Holly Lloyd 2010 Lesson Two: Organizing InformationBig Idea:  Organizing information makes it easier to work with itMaterials:  Butcher paper with facts  Blank 11x17 sheet of paper for each group  Chart paper or several sheets of butcher paperRoom Setup: 1. Seat students in groups at tables/stations in the library. Stick with the same groups as last lesson. Working together – 20 minutes 1. Look at the facts together and locate facts that are repeated but have different colours. Regroup these in the same area of the paper. 2. Notice if some of the facts give contradictory information. How will we decide which is the best information? Ideally you would like the students to suggest the following: a. Is one repeated from other sources? b. Is one more recent? c. Who are the authors of the facts? Is one author or source more reliable?Group Work – 10 minutes 3. Does some information seem to go together better than others? Are there categories of information? 4. Hand out blank 11 x 17 sheets to each group. Have the groups sift the facts into categories as they record them. They can put the categories into columns and label them at the top. To help with speed, you can number the facts and the students can write numbers in the columns instead of the entire fact.Working Together – 20 minutes 5. Have groups share their ideas with the class and work as a class to create a common set of categories. There may be some debate over categories and which facts should sit in which category. Try to allow the students to sort this out amongst themselves while you facilitate. a. If you start with sharing the categories first, the class can debate that and make a decision so you can write the categories up. Start by writing all the category suggestions on the board and then narrow them to the ones everyone feels are the best. b. Once the categories have been decided, have a student help by moving the facts into the categories.© Holly Lloyd 2010 Instruction – 10 minutes 6. Ask the students, “Why did we do this?” Have the students suggest why organizing information is better. (makes it easier to find information and compare information may be some reasons) Ask them how else they could have gathered facts from the beginning to help. (created categories to separate the facts into is one idea) 7. Explain that we are going to focus our research on five areas: government, daily life, arts, trade/economy, and technology. Write these headings onto separate sheets of butcher paper or chart paper (if you do not already have them) and have students help you move the appropriate facts onto these sheets (if necessary). The rest of the facts can be saved on the original butcher paper or thrown out.© Holly Lloyd 2010 Lesson Three: Finding Information about CanadaBig Idea:  Reliable information will appear in more than one source  Author/source and date can help determine reliable informationMaterials:  Internet sites, encyclopedias, at least two videos with players (see attached resource page)  Pieces of butcher paper or chart paper labeled: government, arts, trade/economy, daily life, technology  Paper strips in three different colours (one for each resource; ie. Pink for Internet, light blue for encyclopedia and orange for video)  twelve thick felt pens  rolls of masking tape for each groupRoom Setup: 1. Seat students in groups at tables/stations in the library. Have two stations for each resource (Internet, encyclopedia and video) Post the large pieces of butcher/chart paper at the front labeled from last class. 2. Try looking at your local library or district library centre for a video on Canada. Preview it first. It shouldn’t be more than 10 minutes long. If it is, the students will have to pause and the next group will have to watch the next segment. You can also use the computer as a source for videos. See the resources page attached. 3. Have a stack of coloured strips of paper on each table. Make sure each of the three resource stations has a different colour today and all the colours are different from the one used last lesson. This is to help the students see which facts are from which source to prevent repetition. Put two thick felt pens with the paper strips. 4. Note that you may wish to include books as a resource in this lesson if the students did not pull many facts last class on the topic areas of focus.Instruction – 10 minutes 1. Review note taking procedures from first lesson. (Short note, summary of information read, most important or interesting, record title, page of source and group number) Explain that when using the Internet, they’ll have to give the website address instead of page number. A list of websites is provided for groups to use. Assign each group a different website to ensure a wider variety of information. 2. Explain that groups will have a limited amount of time with the resource at their table. (15 minutes should be enough) In that time, they must work together to pull out facts and post them to the butcher/chart papers. Remind them that it will be very important to watch for repeated facts today. Groups will only need to pay attention to the colour strips they are using at the time. For example, if they are note taking from encyclopedias, the colour strips may be light blue. They will have to check the light blue strips carefully to be sure they are not repeating facts © Holly Lloyd 2010 already generated. It is all right to have a repeated fact from another colour or another book/website/video in the same colour. Group Work – 45 minutes 3. Have the groups rotate through the three stations, changing every fifteen minutes. 4. Remind them to sort their facts into the categories the class decided on last lesson and to ignore information that doesn’t fit into these categories. 5. Keep checking the butcher paper to make sure that groups are contributing appropriate facts and referencing them well. Hand back facts that seem incomplete or incomprehensible and have the group revise them.Closure – 5 minutes 6. Explain that the facts the class generated today will be used to compare Canada to another country and that each student will have the opportunity to choose which country they would like to research. They should be thinking about this before the next lesson.© Holly Lloyd 2010 Canada ResourcesInternet First Among Equals http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/2/9/index-e.html Parliament of Canada http://www2.parl.gc.ca/parlinfo/default.aspx?Menu=Home How Canadians Govern Themselves http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/AboutParliament/Forsey/index-e.asp The Canadian Encyclopedia http://www.canadianencyclopedia.ca/index.cfm? PgNm=HomePage&Params=A1 A search of topic areas will turn up a list of articles relevant to that topic.The Atlas of Canada http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/index.html -information on economy, labour forceImports and Exports http://www.canadainfolink.ca/charteleven.htm Products made in Canada http://www.canadianmade.com/ Canadian Science and Technology Museum http://www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca/English/schoolzone/kidszone2.cfm CIA Factbook https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ca.html general informationVideos OnlineHow Stuff Works Canadian Economy http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/16917-canada-economy- video.htm 2:42Canada: Land, Resources and Economy http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/19573- canada-land-resources-and-economy-video.htm 18:00Canada: Government http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/16947-canada-government- video.htm 3:01Canada: The People and their Culture http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/17888- canada-the-people-and-their-culture-video.htm 20:49© Holly Lloyd 2010 Lesson Four-Six: Researching a CountryBig Idea:  Referencing work is important for reliabilityMaterials:  Access to books on various countries  Access to encyclopedias  Access to Internet and a list of reliable websites for countries (see attached sheet of resources)  Videos either from the library or downloaded from the Internet (see attached sheet of resources) with way to play them  Note taking handout photocopied onto 11 x 17 on both sides (see attached)  Overhead of note taking sheet  Overhead of Demonstration Paragraphs for note taking (see attached), overhead projector and pen  Bibliography handout (see attached)  Researching a country assignment handout for each studentRoom Setup: 1. By having students research different places and having them also access different resources at different times, you will create a way to have everyone able to access a resource at one time without having to share too much. You may also consider grouping weaker students with stronger students at a station. 2. Set up computer stations for the Internet, video stations, a table for encyclopedias and a table for books. Remember that computers can also be used to play videos if you are using online ones.Instruction – 25 minutes 1. Hand out the assignment and discuss. a. What are the criteria? b. Who will research each country? Make a list. 2. Demonstrate note taking using the overhead of the note taking sheet. Fill in the categories together. 3. Use the Demonstration Paragraphs overhead to read a paragraph about Canada from the book, “Canada: a primary source cultural guide”. Have students suggest which category the fact should be put into. Have students suggest what to write. 4. Place a small blue coloured dot next to the fact. Explain this is to help you find this information later if you need to check it. Record the bibliographic information at the top of the page and place the same colour dot next to it. As soon as one uses a fact from a source, the source must be recorded. All facts from that source will be identified by the same colour dot. a. Discuss why you are recording the bibliographic information. b. Hand out the bibliography sheet to the students so they can help you record the information by looking at their sheet.© Holly Lloyd 2010 5. Read the paragraph together from the Internet source. Add a new fact from the second source into whichever category the students feel it should be added. Place a different coloured dot (green) next to this fact and add the bibliographic information to the top of the page with a matching dot. Note some information is the same. You don’t need to rewrite the information but if you record that it was repeated, it lends credibility to the fact. Place a green coloured dot next to your first blue dot note. 6. Remind the students they should have at least 7 facts for each category but that the more extensive their facts, the more they will have to work with later.Working Alone – 35 minutes 7. Explain the stations around the room. Today they will work with one resource and next class they will move to a new resource. 8. Hand out the note taking sheet. 9. Circulate to give assistance where needed.Lesson Five and Six 1. Have the students stay with one resource for the length of the session. If you have resources that are less likely to engage a student for the whole time, maybe combine them. For example, video and encyclopedia might be shared in a session as the video may be quite short or there may only be one. 2. Alternatively, you could have students move between resources as needed. However, using books does not mean using one book. A student at the book station could read several different books in one session.© Holly Lloyd 2010 Researching a CountryChoose one country of the world to research to compare to Canada.Gather facts around the following:  Daily life (rich/poor, men/women, adults/children, what are their lives like?)  Arts (What unique forms of art do they have?)  Government (What rules do they live by?)  Trade/economy (How do they earn money?)  Technology (What kinds of technology do they use?)You will need to use at least two different types of resource for your research; for example, video and encyclopedia. Watching two different videos does not count as using two different types of resource. You should have at least five resources in your bibliography.© Holly Lloyd 2010 Government and Politics (adapted excerpt from Lois Sakany’s, “Canada: a primary source cultural guide”)The House of Commons is responsible for making the laws that affect national policy. The Senate has the power to block passage of bills passed in the House, but it rarely does. The House of Commons also appoints the prime minister of Canada, who is a member of the House of Commons and the leader of the most dominant political party. Sakany, Lois. Canada: a primary source cultural guide. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2004.(from Parliament of Canada website, http://www2.parl.gc.ca/parlinfo/Compilations/HouseOfCommons.aspx?Menu=HoC )The House of Commons is the popularly elected component of Parliament, consisting of 308 members. Members of the government sit in, and are answerable to the House of Commons. Most major government legislation is introduced in the House. The House of Commons alone is constitutionally authorized to introduce legislation concerned with the raising or spending of funds. The House is also a place where MPs hold the government to account, discuss national issues, and represent constituents’ views. “About the House of Commons.” Parliament of Canada. Jan. 20, 2009. Library of Parliament. Dec. 31, 2009. < http://www2.parl.gc.ca/parlinfo/compilations/HouseOfCommons.aspx?Menu=HoC>© Holly Lloyd 2010 Resources for Researching CountriesInternet Infoplease http://www.infoplease.com/countries.htmlCIA World Factbook https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ Yahoo Kids http://kids.yahoo.com/directory/ Fact Monster http://www.factmonster.com/countries.html Country Studies http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/list.html World Flag Database http://www.flags.net/ National Geographic http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/Places/Find Time for Kids http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/hh/goplaces/ Videos Online How Stuff Works http://videos.howstuffworks.com/ Search for videos on the country of choiceNational Geographic http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/places/index.html Videos of a few countries are listed© Holly Lloyd 2010 Reference 1:Reference 2:Name:Topic: Topic: Topic: Topic:______© Holly Lloyd 2010 ______Creating a BibliographyBook Citations: Bibliographic citations for books vary. These examples can help you write your bibliography for many types of book citations. Book with one author: The author is listed, last name first. The title is underlined. The city where the book is published is listed followed by a colon: and the name of the publisher followed by a comma, and the year the book is published is then listed followed by a period. If the city of publication is unfamiliar, the name of the state or country is listed as well. Eg. Higham, Cindy. Snowflakes for All Seasons. Salt Lake City: Gibbs Smith, 2004. Book with two authors: Note there is a hanging indent so the second line starts in a few spaces from the margin. This is true for all bibliographic listings.Eg. Rhatigan, Joe and Newcomb, Rain. Prize Winning Science Fair Projects for Curious Kids. New York: Lark Books, 2004. A book that has an editor: Dickins, Rosie, ed. The Usborne Introduction to Art. Tulsa: EDC Publications, 2004. A book without an author: Fodor’s ’05 Costa Rica. New York: Fodor’s Travel Publication, 2005. An article in a book without an author: The title of the article is listed before the title of the book. Eg. “Afghanistan.” Time Almanac. Needham, MA: Pearson Education Inc., 2005. © Holly Lloyd 2010 Encyclopedia and Other Reference Books: An encyclopedia article may or may not have an author. The author’s name can be found at the end of the article. An article that has an author is called a “signed article.” Signed articles: The name of the encyclopedia article is placed after the author’s name and put in quotation marks. Eg. Dundes, Alan. “Magic.” World Book Encyclopedia. Volume 13. Chicago: World Book Inc., 2005. Unsigned articles: “Human Spaceflight.” Compton’s Encyclopedia. Volume 22. Chicago, Encyclopedia, Britannica, 2004. Magazines and Newspapers: Magazines and newspapers are good sources for locating current information. When citing a magazine or newspaper [sometimes called periodicals], use the following formats. Periodical articles may or may not have an author. Magazines: Signed articles: The author’s name is given first, the name of the article, then the name of the magazine, the date of the magazine, a colon and then the page number(s). Eg. Keith, Ted. “From Cursed to First.” Sports Illustrated Kids. January 2005: 31-33. Eg. Urbanas, Jason. “Bodies of Pompeii.” Dig. March 2005. Vol. 7: 16-17. Unsigned articles: “Charged.” Kids Discover. February 2005. Vol. 6, Issue 2: 4. Newspapers: If the article has an author, it is placed before the name of the article. Eg. “FBI Agent ‘Risked Life’ by Posing as Wise Guy.” Chicago Tribune. March 10, 2005. Section 1, Page 1. © Holly Lloyd 2010 World Wide Web/Internet: Basic Internet citation: Author. "Title of Article, Web page or site" in quotation marks. Title of Magazine, Journal, Newspaper, Newsletter, Book, Encyclopedia, or Project. Editor of Project. Date of article, of Web page or site creation, revision, posting, last update, or date last modified. Group, association, name of forum, sponsor responsible for Web page or Web site. Access date (the date you accessed the Web page or site). Complete Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or network address in angle brackets.Author. “Title of page.” Title of Project. Editor of Project. Date of site. Group Responsible for site. Date you last used it. <Website address>. Eg. Drye, Willie. “Atlantis – True Story or Cautionary Tale?” Mysteries of the Ancient World. 1996-2009. National Geographic Society. December 30, 2009. <http://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/ancient/atlantis.html>.Internet citation for an article from an online encyclopedia: Author. “Title of Article.” Title of Encyclopedia. Date of site. Group Responsible for site. Date you last used it. <Website address>. Eg. Duiker, William J. "Ho Chi Minh." Encarta Online Encyclopedia. 2005. Microsoft. Oct. 10, 2005. <http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761558397/Ho_Chi_Minh.html>.Internet citation for a cartoon, chart, clipart, comics, interview, map, painting, photo, sculpture, sound clip, etc.: Indicate the type of material, e.g. advertisement, cartoon, clipart, electronic card, interview, map, online posting, photograph, working paper, etc. if not obvious after the title of the pageAuthor. “Title of page.” Type of material. Title of Project. Editor of Project. Date of site. Group Responsible for site. Date you last used it. <Website address>. Eg. "Islamic State of Afghanistan: Political Map." Map. Atlapedia Online. 1993-2003. Latimer Clarke. June 7, 2003. <http://www.atlapedia.com/online/maps/ political/Afghan_etc.htm>.© Holly Lloyd 2010 Video/DVD Title of the Video or DVD. Medium (Is it a video, DVD or CD?). Publisher/Production company, Copyright date.Eg. The Life of the Honeybee. VHS. Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corporation, 1980. CD-ROM "Title of article, or part." Title of the CD-ROM. Medium. Place of Publication: Publisher, Date.Eg. "Common Ant." Creepy Crawlies. CD-ROM. Farnham, England: Media Design Interactive, 1993. © Holly Lloyd 2010 Lesson Seven: Assessing NotesBig Idea:  Notes have a purposeMaterials:  Student note sheets  Assessment rubric for notesWorking with a partner – 20 minutes 1. Have students partner up with someone and compare their notes. If you control the partnering a bit you can ensure a stronger student works with a weaker one. Ask them to see if they can understand the information gathered by their partner. Have one student read the other person’s notes on government and then tell the other person about that topic. Have the student who wrote the notes confirm or correct the reader’s understanding. Switch. 2. Allow students about five minutes to work together and then have them find a new partner and compare a different topic. Switch it up three times; announcing which topic they will share each time.Working together – 20 minutes 3. Have students share as a class. Ask the students, “How many found other people could understand their notes? How many wanted to add a bit to help their reader? Were some people’s notes easier to work with than others? What made notes strong?” 4. Create an assessment tool for the notes. This could be a rubric or a simple scale of 1 – 5 for each of several criteria. Work with the students to create this on the board.Working alone – 15 minutes 5. Have students assess someone’s notes that they haven’t seen yet using the assessment tool developed together. 6. Hand the notes back to the author and have them self evaluate. Ask them, “Were you assessed fairly? Give yourself a mark if you believe you deserve differently.” Hand in to the teacher at the end.Teacher Assessment 1. Read through the assessments to note which students had difficulty and may need further help in using their notes for a product.© Holly Lloyd 2010 Assessment Rubric Name: ______Teacher: ______Date Submitted: ______Title of Work: ______Criteria Points3 2 1 0 ________________Total out of ____ Comments:© Holly Lloyd 2010 Lesson Eight: Comparing CountriesBig Idea:  Canada may not share the same ways of life as other countriesMaterials:  Canada notes  Student notes on their country  Assignment handout for each student (see attached)  Comparison chart (see attached) o students will need 5 copies; one for each topic o these can be back to back if you don’t mind losing some of the information when students cut one of the topics up to organize the facts for writingInstruction – 5 minutes 1. Hand out the assignment and discuss. 2. Post the notes on Canada at the front of the room. Explain to the students that they will now need to use their information to compare their country to Canada. They will then choose one area to suggest improvements for either Canada or their country of study. 3. For example, if one fact on the chart is that Canada has a democracy, what kind of government does their country have?Working alone – rest of session 4. Have students compare their notes to the Canada notes on the five category topics. Hand out five copies to each student of the comparison chart provided to record notes. © Holly Lloyd 2010 Comparing Canada to Another CountryAssignment: Using your notes on your country and the notes the class gathered on Canada, compare the two places. What are each country’s strengths? Does one country seem to have a better way of doing things? Decide on a recommendation you would make for one of the countries based on your research.Step One: Comparison  Use the handout provided to compare the two countries on the five categories you researched.Step Two: Writing Paragraphs  Choose one topic to work with further.  Organize the notes from this topic and write one paragraph about each country.  Edit your paragraph with a peer following the process outlined in class.  Word process your paragraphs. Print them to measure 9cm wide by no more than 8 cm long.  Use the information from your two paragraphs to formulate your own opinion as to which country could benefit by adopting the ways of the other country. Write a paragraph to recommend this using a topic sentence that begins with, “I believe…”  Edit your final paragraph with a peer and word process it. Print it to measure 19.5cm wide.Step Three: Pictures  Use the Internet to locate a picture of each country that reflects the writing you did in your first two paragraphs.  Copy these into a word document and resize them to measure 9cm wide by 5.5 cm long.  Print them.Step Four: Background  Using an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper, create the national flag of the country you studied. It should be in full colour and cover the entire sheet. You may colour it using felts, pencils or paint. You may use construction paper to glue onto the paper. You may also print it out at home if you have a colour printer that will print to the edges of the page. Step Five: Finishing  Cut out your paragraphs and pictures.  Mount them onto your flag, centering them so they leave a border of space. The picture should go either above or below the first two paragraphs. The third paragraph should hang off the bottom of the page in the centre. See the sample for help.© Holly Lloyd 2010 Comparison Chart Topic to Compare ______Canada © Holly Lloyd 2010 Lesson Nine-Ten: Writing a ParagraphBig Idea:  Organizing thoughts is important before writing a structured piece  Not all notes in research need to be used in a final productMaterials:  copy the notes from the government section of the Canada notes onto the blank fact sheet and make copies for every 2-3 students. (see attached)  blank 11 x 17 sheet of paper for every 2-3 studentsWorking Together – 15 minutes 1. Post the notes the class gathered on Canada at the front of the room. Draw students’ attention to the notes on arts. Have the students help you group the notes that seem to go together. They should try to create groups of about 3 – 5 facts. Group them on the white board at the front. 2. Look at one of the groups of facts. Ask them why all of those facts seem to go together? Write their answer near the fact group. Repeat for other groups.Working with a partner – 15 minutes 3. Have the students work in groups of 2-3. Hand out copies of the government notes and a blank 11 x 17 sheet of paper to each group. 4. Ask the students to cut up the facts and regroup them in the same way you did with the arts notes on the board. 5. Circulate to help where needed and to check that students have the idea.Instruction – 5 minutes 6. Gather students’ attention to the front regardless of whether they are completely finished or not. It is not necessary for them to have all the groups identified. As long as they have one to work with that is enough. 7. Use one group of facts on the board as a sample. Using the overhead projector, take the idea you wrote as to why the facts go together and create a topic sentence for a paragraph. Use the facts in the group as supporting details for your paragraph. You’d like about two or three sentences. Reword the topic sentence as a concluding sentence.Working Together – 10 minutes 8. Take a second group from the board to repeat the activity, having the students suggest sentences.Working with a partner – 15 minutes 9. Have the partners work together to come up with a paragraph for one of their groups of notes on government. 10. Have a few partners read their paragraphs out loud to the class. Have them read the first sentence and stop. Ask the rest of the class what the topic of the © Holly Lloyd 2010 paragraph will be. Have the partners continue to read to the end of the paragraph. Ask the rest of the class if the facts supported the topic.Lesson Ten Instruction – 5 minutes 1. Have students look at their comparison charts from the lesson before last. Ask them to choose one topic area to make a recommendation to either Canada or their country of study to improve the way they live. For example, if Canada has a democracy and their country has a dictatorship (where the president stays for his whole life and has absolute power) perhaps they would recommend that their country look into changing their government to a more democratic one. Ask the students, “Do they have any strong feelings about one topic? Which of the topic areas they took notes on do they feel is the strongest? Which would be the easiest to write a paragraph about?”Working with a partner – 10 minutes 2. Have them work with a partner to make their decision, helping each other and justifying their reasoning. 3. Circulate to assist where needed and to listen for which students are most able to justify their opinions. 4. Have strong students share their choice with the class, giving reasons.Working Alone – 45 minutes 5. When they have made a choice they should begin to organize the Canada notes for their topic of comparison onto a blank piece of paper, labeling the groups as to why they go together. They should keep in mind why they chose to do this in the first place. It may influence which notes they choose to keep. They do not have to use all of their notes, especially if they have copious quantities of notes. They are looking in particular for notes that support the idea they wish to compare. 6. Next, they can organize the notes on their country. 7. Circulate to ensure the students have at least one strong paragraph for each country. They may have more as long as the information is related. 8. Once the notes are organized into two strong paragraph groups, they can write their paragraphs. One will be about Canada and one will be about their country of study. © Holly Lloyd 2010 Canada Facts Sheet© Holly Lloyd 2010 Lesson Eleven: Peer EditBig Idea:  Writing has a purpose  Audience is important when writingMaterials:  Student paragraphs  Blank rubric for one student to fill in as class develops it (see attached in lesson seven)  Guiding questions from below written onto the board or an overhead to help students when editing (see attached)Partner work – 15-20 minutes 1. Have them work in partners read each other’s paragraphs. Have them read the paragraphs once to check for structure. Have written on the board or use the overhead provided: Did the author have a topic sentence? Do they have at least two supporting details? Do they have a concluding sentence? Do the details support the topic and does the concluding sentence make sense? Make comments and suggestions as needed. 2. Have them reread the paragraphs a second time and look for content. Provide these guiding questions: Did the student use information from their notes and the Canada notes? Is each paragraph about the same topic, only for the different countries? Do you understand their paragraphs? Can you see how they compare? 3. Read the paragraphs one final time editing for mechanics, such as spelling, punctuation and grammar. 4. When both partners have read and commented on the paragraphs, have them sit together and discuss with each other their thoughts. 5. Depending how much peer editing work you have done with the class, you may wish to model this first.Working together – 20 minutes 6. Ask the students what is important in the paragraphs? How should this be evaluated? Note that you wrote some guiding questions on the board to help with editing. Ask the students how these fit into assessment? Ask the students if they think the three areas: structure, content and mechanics are important when writing? Why? Work with the students to design a rubric for evaluation.Working alone – 20-25 minutes 7. Have the students use the rubric to self evaluate based on the comments from their peer and their own understanding of the work they did. 8. Have the students rewrite their paragraphs into a word processor and save the file. They should set each paragraph to print 9cm wide x 8cm long. Each paragraph should have the country as its title.© Holly Lloyd 2010 Guiding Questions for Peer EditingRead once for Structure: 1. Did the author have a topic sentence? 2. Do they have at least two supporting details? 3. Do they have a concluding sentence that makes sense? 4. Do the details support the topic? 5. Make comments and suggestions as needed.Read again for Content: 1. Did the student use information from their notes and the Canada notes? 2. Is each paragraph about the same topic only for different countries? 3. Do you understand their paragraphs? 4. Can you see how the paragraphs compare?Read one more time for Mechanics: 1. Spelling 2. Punctuation 3. Grammar© Holly Lloyd 2010 Lesson Twelve-Thirteen: Finishing a ProductBig Idea:  Opinions must be supported by facts  A finished piece is created with the audience in mindMaterials:  Sample finished product (see attached)Instruction – 10 minutes 1. Explain to the students they will write one final paragraph outlining their opinion. This paragraph will begin with a statement of opinion. For example, “I believe a democratic country is a more fair way to live.” The next 3-5 sentences will support their belief statement. They can use some of the information from the first two paragraphs they wrote in these statements. The final sentence will be a recommendation to one of the countries. 2. Demonstrate this writing by creating your own example based on some of the notes gathered by the class and some of the notes in one student’s research. You may want to take a student who is ESL or may have difficulty and use their work as an example. 3. Explain that the rest of this period and the next period will be devoted to finishing the piece for presentation. It will hang in the hallway (or wherever) for others to read. Read over the instructions on their assignment sheet with them to make sure everyone understands the process for completion. Post a sample at the front of the room for students to see. (see attached) Explain how the background of the bulletin board will look. If students finish early they may want to create the bulletin board background for you.Working Alone 4. As students finish they should peer edit their work with a partner in the same way they did earlier. They can use the rubric the class developed to help them assess and edit. 5. They should word process this paragraph to print 19.5cm wide. 6. Have students draw and colour the flag of the country they studied. They should use an 8.5x11 sheet in landscape view. They can colour it with pens, pencils, paint, paper or print it out at home in colour as long as it is the full size of the page. 7. Have them find pictures online of Canada and of their country of research that relates to their paragraph topic. They should print each picture 9cm wide x 5.5cm long. The pictures can be black and white or colour. 8. Have them mount the first two paragraphs on the flag with the pictures above or below. The paragraphs and pictures should be aligned to leave a border of space around each so the flag in the background shows. Put the opinion paragraph at the bottom of the page, extending off the bottom slightly.© Holly Lloyd 2010 Lesson Thirteen 1. Work periodTeacher 1. Create a bulletin board using red and white paper like a Canadian flag without the maple leaf in the centre. Mount the student work on the board.© Holly Lloyd 2010 Canada Other CountryParagraph Paragraph Margins may be adjusted if needed. Margins may be adjusted if needed.Canada picture Other Country picture Adjust margins in line with paragraph Adjust margins in line with paragraphOpinion paragraph © Holly Lloyd 2010 This may extend off the bottom if necessary. Lesson Fourteen: CelebrationBig Idea:  Good ideas should be sharedMaterials:  Students may wish to have their notes or rough drafts with them Working Together – 20 minutes 1. Ask the students how many recommended improvements to Canada? Have individuals share their suggestions and encourage others to comment. After a student has commented they look to another student and say, “What do you think, ______?” (Write this on the board to help students remember it.) The other student must then make a comment and pass to the next student with, “What do you think, ______?” Allow this to continue for a few students before pulling it back to yourself. If it is going very well, allow it to continue until it begins to wane. If a student has nothing to say, they may say, “I don’t know what to say right now.” (Write this on the board as well.) The first student can then say, “We’ll come back to you, ______.” And then they ask another student what they think. 2. As facilitator, remember to get back to a student who passes. Students can ask questions or make comments. Ideally, it would be great if they asked each other questions and supported each other’s comments. 3. Ask how many suggested the other country adopt a Canadian way of life? Repeat the above exercise.© Holly Lloyd 2010

Comparing Canada to the World

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