WORKSHOPS FOR GRADES 5-6

The workshop schedule is flexible depending on the allotted class time and the preference of the teacher.

Grade 5-6 Workshop Outline

First Lesson: Introduction to Family Stories
Duration: 40 minutes
Topic: Coming to Canada
Activities: Introduction, story time and discussion

Second Lesson: Historical Photographs Workshop
Duration: 40 minutes
Topic: Coming to Canada and life in the new country
Activities: Hands-on group work with historical photos

Third Lesson: Oral History Workshop
Duration: 40 minutes
Topic: Coming to Canada and life in the new country
Activities: Oral history group listening activity and practice interview in pairs

Optional Fourth Lesson: Developing Our Displays
Duration: 15 minutes
Topic: Ideas for final projects
Activities: Showing examples of student work

Other considerations:

The success of this project will be greatly assisted by participation from parents or guardians. Teachers should send home a Parents' Letter on the day of the first lesson and well in advance of the final project deadline so that parents know about the work being done and can assist their children.

Teachers will want to budget some in-class independent work time and determine how much of the work will be completed as homework.

We found it useful to schedule this project over a school break or holiday, such as Thanksgiving or March Break, in order to give better access to immediate and extended family members.

First Lesson: Introductory Workshop

The focus of this workshop is story time and discussion concluding with an explanation and distribution of the final assignment.

Workshop Length: 40 minutes

Workshop Topics:

  1. Coming to Canada/Toronto
  2. Family history

Workshop Goals:

  1. To introduce the project to students.
  2. To provide context to the subject matter and the workshops.
  3. To excite students about the project.

Equipment:

  1. Book The Always Prayer Shawl and discussion questions. For other book ideas, please consult the Book List.
  2. Parents' Letter
  3. Suggested Discussion Questions for Grades 5-6
  4. Student Assignment for Grades 5-6

Lesson Plan:

1. Introduction (10 minutes)

  • Introduce the Family Stories program, including the upcoming the workshops and final assignment students will complete.
  • Explain the purpose of the workshops: to learn about how to investigate the history of our families, neighbourhoods, and friends.
  • Ask the students: what are some ways to learn about things that happened in the past? (e.g. books, movies, television, old photographs, old objects, ask people, etc.)
  • Explain that through the workshops we will learn about three ways to examine the past: books, photographs and oral history interviews.

2. Story (20 minutes)

  • Read story
  • Discussion. Use the discussion questions provided as a guide, focusing on the things that changed when Adam and his family moved to Canada and what stayed the same.

3. Wrap Up (10 minutes)

  • Reinforce what was explored through the story.
  • Introduce the next workshop to students.
  • Hand out Parents' Letter and Student Assignment.

Second Lesson: Historical Photographs Workshop

In this workshop, students work in groups with historical photographs. They are provided with Country Sheets that provide some historical context about the photographs. The students are also provided with a worksheet which provides structure to the activity and encourages them to examine the photos in detail. Props such as magnifying glasses and white gloves are a great addition to this activity since they help students get into role and make it more fun.

Workshop Length: 40 minutes

Workshop Topics:

  1. Coming to Canada/Toronto
  2. Family history
  3. Historical photographs

Workshop Goals:

  1. To introduce photographs as a way of learning about history and sharing memories.
  2. To engage students in work with historical photographs.
  3. To encourage students to make inferences based on what they can or cannot see in the photographs.

Equipment:

To do in advance of the workshop:

  • Printout of photo of Mr. George Cane and his sons
  • Browse our Digital Content to select a few historical photos that you think your students would like. There are two themes for the photos: Migration and Work. Print the photos you have selected.
  • Print out the Country Sheets that correspond with the photos.
  • Print out the Photo Activity Instructions and corresponding worksheets.
  • Compile the printouts into small packs that can be quickly handed out to students on the workshop day.

Lesson Plan:

1. Introduction (5 minutes)

  • Remind students of the last workshop.
  • Introduce the concept that objects and stories represent memories and are windows into the past. You could ask students: if someone was going to tell you a story about their history what things might they show you to go along with the story? (e.g. objects, photos, etc.)
  • Why are photographs such a good way to preserve memories? (e.g. capture a moment in time, easy to keep, help illustrate stories, etc.)
  • Mention to students that they will look at photographs of people who came to Canada at different times in the 20th century. Even if they know nothing about the photo or the people in it, there are some questions they can ask themselves to learn about it.

2. Model Photo Activity with photo of Mr. George Cane and his sons (10 minutes)

  • Using the photo of Mr. George Cane and his sons and the Teachers' Discussion Questions, model the activity for the class.

3. Photo Activity (25 minutes)

  • Break students into groups of two to four.
  • Open one activity pack to show students what they will be working with.
  • Explain the activity.
  • Distribute the activity packs and get the class started!

4. Wrap Up

  • Clean up.
  • Sum up key learning of workshop.
  • Introduce the next workshop.

Third Lesson: Oral History Workshop

There are three main parts to this workshop. The first part is a listening activity during which students listen to an oral history recording from the MHSO's collection. The second part of the workshop prepares students for the third component, the practice interview. As a result, the second part of the workshop is a discussion which focuses on interview techniques and includes an examination of terminology including the 5Ws and other terms such as open, closed and follow-up questions. In the final part of the workshop, students draft questions and engage in a practice interview with a partner.

Workshop Length: 40-60 minutes

Workshop Topics:

  1. Oral history
  2. Family history/ Sharing our Stories

Workshop Goals:

  1. To introduce students to oral history as a means of uncovering information about the past/their families.
  2. To expose students to an oral history interview.
  3. To provide students with some background and skills to conduct their own oral history interview.

Equipment:

  1. CD player or computer
  2. Interview with Ky Anh
  3. Interview with Ky Anh Discussion Questions
  4. Interview Tip Sheet
  5. Practice Interview Worksheets
  6. Chart paper and marker or blackboard

To do in advance of the workshop:

  • Download the Ky Anh interview or browse our Digital Content to select an oral history of your choice.
  • Set up CD player or computer.
  • Print out Interview Tip Sheet, Practice Interview Worksheets and Discussion Questions.

Lesson Plan:

1. Introduction (5 minutes)

  • Ask students how they might learn about their own family histories. (e.g. talking to a relative)
  • Ask students if they know what oral history is, and then provide a definition. A definition is available in the Glossary of Terms.

2. Oral History Listening Activity (10 minutes)

  • Tell students that they are about to hear a real oral history interview.
  • Ask them to listen for some specific content on the tape. If using the Ky Anh recording, you could ask them how he described his arrival in Canada, how he came to Canada, etc.

3. Practice Interview (30 minutes)

  • Explain that each student will be working in pairs to complete a practice interview.
  • Concepts to discuss (definitions provided in Glossary of Terms):
  • Interviewer
  • Interviewee
  • 5Ws
  • Open questions
  • Closed questions
  • Follow-up questions
  • Once these concepts have been introduced, show the students their worksheets. Explain the activity.
  • Break the class into groups of two, distribute the worksheets and let them have fun!

6. Conclusion

  • Summarize learning.
  • Inform students that it's time to start thinking about their final projects.

Optional Fourth Lesson: Developing Our Displays

During this brief lesson students are inspired with ideas to illustrate creatively the f amily story through being shown samples of final projects.

Workshop length: 15 minutes

Workshop Topics:

  1. Illustrating your family history

Workshop Goals:

  1. To inspire students with ideas to present their family stories
  2. To provide students with some structure for creating their displays

Equipment:

  • Samples of student work

To do in advance of the workshop:

Lesson Plan:

1. Introduction (2 minutes)

  • Remind students of the workshops they have completed during the past few weeks.
  • By now their research should be well underway so it is time to start thinking about how the family story will be presented.

2. Writing Our Displays

  • Discuss the different components of a display:
  • Title, introduction and main body (family story)
  • Illustrations and captions
  • Font/writing size for different parts of the display (e.g. captions are a small font/writing, titles are large)

3. Other project ideas

  • Using examples from the Student Projects and Final Project Ideas sections, discuss with students possibilities for their final projects.