curriculum.
In Quebec, Canada, the Social Studies program covers Geography, History and Citizenship. Each grade builds upon the other in topic and detail in chronological order. Although worksheets are provided to accompany the textbook, I prefer making my own notes. My notes act as a study guide for chapter tests as well. I use the culminating learning and evaluation situations found on the LEARN website (Cycle 1, Cycle 2, Cycle 3) as unit projects.
Cycle 1 - Grades 1 and 2: Today; Iroquoian Society around 1500
Cycle 2 - Grades 3 and 4: French Society in New France around 1645; French Society in New France around 1745
Cycle 3 - Grades 5 and 6: Canadian Society around 1820; Quebec Society around 1905; Quebec Society around 1980
Below is a short summary of the progression of learning for Social Studies. You can download the file for FREE.
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Projects.
Last year, I taught grade 5, and developed and implemented a year-long Social Studies project to show the change in Quebec society from 1820 to 1905. The idea came to me while students were working on the LES entitled "Once Upon a Time in the 1820s...". Through historical character studies, students learn how people lived in the 1820s. Culture, religion, political beliefs, occupation, and social-economic status all influence the lives of the characters (a politician, a merchant, a day labourer, a farmer, a nun, a seamstress and a lumber jack). Through images, maps, texts, stories and letters (all of which were online), they completed the LES yet wanted to learn more! My students were so intrigued by the lives of these characters that they began proposing ideas for an extension activity. All ideas had one thing in common - they wanted to build something. My students were a very creative group and any chance they had to craft they would!
And so, I thought to myself, what better way to learn of 85 years of societal changes than to literally become the change. Each student pretended to be the character they had studied. They tracked their personal development as major changes in society occurred (as outlined in the textbook). For example, industrialization forced farmers to specialize, and go to agricultural schools. Farming went from being a family-based business to a major enterprise. Students wrote diary entries to show how different their lives became as time went on (Note: their characters didn't age). Students then collectively constructed a miniature of Lower Canada, including buildings, industries, transportation, roads and bridges. Each student contributed to the "village" by building something associated with their character, i.e. the farmer built a farm. To incorporate Art and Math Measurement competencies, students had to also create a plan of their building, including a scale drawing, a sketch, and a list of building materials. I provided popsicle sticks, cardboard, glue and various craft items from the Art Room. The rest, were brought to school by the students on the condition that they were recycled materials.
As changes in society occurred, students adapted their building to show these changes. I took pictures with my iPad to illustrate all stages of change. For example, after the initial construction of the farm, the farmer built farm equipment, followed by crop rotation and irrigation. Crops also changed and livestock was introduced later. Eventually, an agricultural school had to be built so farmers could attend. I assigned 2 students the same character which encouraged cooperative learning and facilitated construction.
Finally, towards the end of the year, our village had grown immensely and became more modern. As a concluding activity, students dressed-up as their character, in period clothing, and presented a speech detailing the changes they witnessed from 1820 to 1905. I recorded them using my iPad. I then used the app "Aurasma" to attach their presentation to the building(s) they constructed. Therefore, on Portfolio night, parents could use my iPad to scan over their child's building using the "Aurasma" app and view their child's presentation. My students were so proud of their work and their parents were in awe! I've never been so pleased with an LES I created from scratch.
FYI: I graded diary entries, note packages, as well as knowledge-based tests throughout the year. At the end of the year, I also had a grade for the speeches, the presentation, the construction of the building(s), and a peer-evaluation on working together as students were paired by character.
My next venture is to create interactive notebooks to replace my traditional note package. My note package is quite lengthly and too knowledge-based for my liking.
Here are some photos of this project:
And so, I thought to myself, what better way to learn of 85 years of societal changes than to literally become the change. Each student pretended to be the character they had studied. They tracked their personal development as major changes in society occurred (as outlined in the textbook). For example, industrialization forced farmers to specialize, and go to agricultural schools. Farming went from being a family-based business to a major enterprise. Students wrote diary entries to show how different their lives became as time went on (Note: their characters didn't age). Students then collectively constructed a miniature of Lower Canada, including buildings, industries, transportation, roads and bridges. Each student contributed to the "village" by building something associated with their character, i.e. the farmer built a farm. To incorporate Art and Math Measurement competencies, students had to also create a plan of their building, including a scale drawing, a sketch, and a list of building materials. I provided popsicle sticks, cardboard, glue and various craft items from the Art Room. The rest, were brought to school by the students on the condition that they were recycled materials.
As changes in society occurred, students adapted their building to show these changes. I took pictures with my iPad to illustrate all stages of change. For example, after the initial construction of the farm, the farmer built farm equipment, followed by crop rotation and irrigation. Crops also changed and livestock was introduced later. Eventually, an agricultural school had to be built so farmers could attend. I assigned 2 students the same character which encouraged cooperative learning and facilitated construction.
Finally, towards the end of the year, our village had grown immensely and became more modern. As a concluding activity, students dressed-up as their character, in period clothing, and presented a speech detailing the changes they witnessed from 1820 to 1905. I recorded them using my iPad. I then used the app "Aurasma" to attach their presentation to the building(s) they constructed. Therefore, on Portfolio night, parents could use my iPad to scan over their child's building using the "Aurasma" app and view their child's presentation. My students were so proud of their work and their parents were in awe! I've never been so pleased with an LES I created from scratch.
FYI: I graded diary entries, note packages, as well as knowledge-based tests throughout the year. At the end of the year, I also had a grade for the speeches, the presentation, the construction of the building(s), and a peer-evaluation on working together as students were paired by character.
My next venture is to create interactive notebooks to replace my traditional note package. My note package is quite lengthly and too knowledge-based for my liking.
Here are some photos of this project: