Re-membering the Past

(UNB - January 26, 2010)

“We don't see things as they are; we see them as we are.”
(Anaïs Nin, 1903-1977)

Objective: To familiarize students with links between 6 concepts of Benchmarks of Historical Thinking, community-based research, and project-based learning as reflected through Heritage Fairs;To understand the dynamics of personal, collective and historical memory in action.

Target Audience: Grade 9 (Canadian Identity)

Subject Focus: Canada and New Brunswick in the 1960’s

1. Conceptual Framework:

My Canada Includes the Atlantic Provinces (Margaret Conrad, 2001)

Personal Memory/Collective Memory/Historical Memory

Canada in the 1960's:

Marshall McLuhan - Explorations - 05-18-1960 -The World is a Global Village

2. Historical Memory: Historiography
Begin with the textbook ...

"Then and Now" activity

3. Collective Memory: Community-based Project Learning:

Develop a research question
Analyze the evidence:
Analyzing the secondary sources - "Analyzing the Account"
Analyzing the documents - "Analyzing Additional Documents"
Analyzing the images - "Interpreting Images"
Analyzing the artifacts - "Analyzing Traces"
Analyzing the discourses - "Analyzing Propaganda"
Using the concepts of Historical Thinking to reach a conclusion - "Historical Inquiry Checklist"

"Re-membering" the past - creative writing activity

4. Personal Memory - Identity: Creating a Heritage Fair Project - "Finding your Place in History"

Visualizing historical thinking - "Heritage Fair Project Storyboard"Conducting oral interviews - Interviews with Our Grandparents

5. On-line Resources:

Teaching Historical Thinking:

• Benchmarks of Historical Thinking

• History Matters

• Nine Habits for Success in Teaching History

Heritage Fairs in New Brunswick:

• NB Heritage Fairs

• NB Heritage Week

Warm-up Activities:

• Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History

• The Virtual Historian

Primary and Secondary Resources:

• CBC Archives – Les Archives de Radio-Canada

• Library and Archives Canada Learning Centre

• Youtube

• Flickr

• McCord Museum - Keys to History

• Virtual Museum of Canada

• Provincial Archives of New Brunswick

• Centre d'études acadiennes

• Ancestry.ca

• This Week in NB History

6. Bibliography:
Mike Denos and Roland Case. Teaching about Historical Thinking: Tools for Historical Understanding. Vancouver: The Critical Thinking Consortium, 2006.

Mike Bowman et al. Exemplars in Historical Thinking: 20th Century Canada. Vancouver: The Critical Thinking Consortium, 2008.

Thom Markham. Project Based Learning Handbook: A Guide to Standards-Focused Project Based Learning for Middle and High School Teachers. Novato: Buck Institute for Education, 2003.

Ian Hundey. 9 Habits for Success in Teaching History. Toronto: Edmond Montgomery Publications Limited, 2007.

Avis Fitton. Canadian Identity: Teacher's Resource. Toronto: Thomson Nelson, 2007