Megan Axford, Janelle Leegstra & Kayla Matkowski

EDUC3501/3504- Lesson #2 Mini-Unit

Grade: Five
Goals/Key questions

Activity: Family Member Interview

Overarching Essential Question: How have events, factors, and individuals in Canadian
history shaped how Canada is seen today?
Lesson Guiding Questions:
Lesson 1: What are the key components of conducting a successful interview?
Lesson 2: How have historical events in your familys history shaped who you are as an
individual?
Lesson 3: How were the actions of the Famous Five relevant in Canadian history?
Goals: This lesson meets the overall goals of the overarching question as it gets students to first
think about their identity, and what has happened in their family that has affected their own
identity. By doing this on a smaller scale, it will be easier for students to connect to different
events, factors and individuals that have impacted Canadas overall identity when discussed in
class.
Objective (connected to PofS):
Students will learn about the different events, factors and individuals that have impacted their
family, and therefore have impacted their identity.
SOCIAL STUDIES OUTCOMES:
General Learning Outcomes:
NOTE: General Outcome 5.3 will be represented throughout each of our lessons.
General Outcome 5.3 Canada: Shaping Identity
- Students will demonstrate an understanding of the events and factors that have changed the
ways of life in Canada over time and appreciate the impact of these changes on citizenship and
identity.
Specific Learning Outcomes:
Values & Attitudes
5.3.1: Appreciate how changes impact citizenship and identity

5.S.1 develop skills of critical thinking and creative thinking

Evaluate ideas, information and positions from multiple perspectives
Re-evaluate personal opinions to broaden understanding of a topic or an issue
Generate original ideas and strategies in situations of individual and group activities
Seek responses to inquiries from various authorities through electronic media
5.S.2 develop skills of historical thinking:

Megan Axford, Janelle Leegstra & Kayla Matkowski

EDUC3501/3504- Lesson #2 Mini-Unit
Use photographs and interviews to make meaning of historical information
English Language Arts Outcomes:
General Learning Outcomes:
General Outcome 1: Students will listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to explore
thoughts, ideas, feelings and experiences.

Specific Learning Outcomes:

1.2 - Clarify and Extend
Use others ideas to expand upon your own knowledge

Pre lesson Considerations

Lesson overview of main ideas to be learned and prelearning required:
Prelearning: Students have knowledge of other aspects of Social Studies that they can use to
bring into the discussions.
Main ideas: Student will be able to create meaningful questions that they can ask their family
members to gain insight on how historical events have shaped their families identity.

Materials needed/preset up required/logistical considerations needed (seating

arrangement):
Each student will have a duotang/binder with at least 20 pages of lined paper to write on
Pencils
White/Chalk Board and Markers/Chalk for teacher to record answers
Consider all students may not have access to technology.
Students will already be seated in assigned table groups
A mix of stronger and weaker writers and readers
Ensuring that friends arent all sitting at one table together

Content:
What is the teacher doing?

Introduction
Time
estimation:
25 min.

Leading question:
What is identity?
Identity is how you represent yourself,
who you are, what you are and what
makes you, you.

What are the students

doing?
- Students are
participating in
discussion, actively
listening to discussion and
asking questions for
clarity.

Megan Axford, Janelle Leegstra & Kayla Matkowski

EDUC3501/3504- Lesson #2 Mini-Unit
Teacher provides five examples of what
her identity encompasses. (Married,
Teacher, Dog lover, Brown Haired, Blue
Eyes)
Teacher gets students to first individually
write down 5 ideas that creates their own
identity.
Teacher will then ask students to take
turns and say their chosen characteristic
out loud, and record the answers on
Wordle (in order to create a visual of the
identity within their classroom.)
http://www.wordle.net
Now that the students have created the
classroom identity, the teacher can
continue to the assignment.
Introduce interview with a family
member assignment. How have historical
events in your familys history shaped
who you are as an individual?
The teacher will tell students that the
assignment to develop a series of
thoughtful questions, (with help from
Lesson One Objectives) to ask a family
member/guardian or an adult in your life
about what historical events have
impacted their family. Students will
conduct an interview with this person and
have the option to record their
information either on a written document
where students will act out the interview
in front of the class or can record their
interview (make a movie) to share with
the class on presentation day.
NOTE: If students do not feel they have
an adult to complete this assignment with,
teacher has to make it aware, that they or
other teachers within the school
community may also be interviewed to
fill this gap.

-Students will write down

5 qualities/interests about
themselves on their first
sheet of lined paper,
recording their identity
traits.
-Students will pick one of
these five characteristics
to share with the class.
-Students will look at the
wordle and think about
what kind of identity is
represented by their
classroom.
-Students will be listening
to the teacher and writing
down key points such as
the modality of the
assignment, the person
they think will interview,
when the teacher
describes the assignment.

Megan Axford, Janelle Leegstra & Kayla Matkowski

EDUC3501/3504- Lesson #2 Mini-Unit
Transition
consideratio
ns

Activity 1
Think Pair Share

Time est: 10
min.

Make sure students return their attention

to the teacher. Teacher waits for all eyes
on her.

Students are listening and

paying attention to
teacher.

-Teacher will introduce the next activity

by asking students to pull out lined
paper in order to record their questions
during the next activity.

-Students will think about

a question they can pose
to another student beside
them. (Their partner will
be the person sitting
beside them in the seating
arrangement, if need,
there can be a group of
three)

-Teachers will ask students to think about

a potential question they could ask a
family member to learn more about the
impacts certain events, factors, and
individuals have had on their family,
therefore impacting their own identity.
-Some questions to help guide:
How did the First World War impact our
family life?
When did our family move to Canada?
and Where in Canada did our ancestors
move to?
Why did our family move to Canada?

-Pairs share the questions

they have come up with
individually and discuss
further questions they
could ask their family.
-Students are writing
down possible questions
that they could ask their
family generated in their
pairs.

Teacher moves the students into talking

in their pairs.
Teacher circulates classroom and listens
to discussions, may join into some
discussions.
Teachers tells students to write down
their questions, in order to share with the
rest of the class.
Transition
consideratio
ns

Call students back to the group

discussion.

Students attention is back

on the teacher.

Brainstorming good questions to get

Students will be sharing

Megan Axford, Janelle Leegstra & Kayla Matkowski

EDUC3501/3504- Lesson #2 Mini-Unit
Activity 2

students to ask their family members.

Go through the pairs and ask what
questions they came up with. Teacher
writes all these questions on the board.

the questions they came

up in their pairs one by
one to the classroom.
Students are actively
listening and participating
with the rest of the class
in order to generate good
interview questions.

Time Est: 15
mins

Students will have pencil

and paper ready for the
conclusion.

Conclusion
-

How will you

know if
students
learned what
you hoped?
Connections
to next lesson

Time Est. 10
mins

After the group discussion, teachers will

give students a chance to write down ten
questions from the board that they feel
would be beneficial in their interview to
a family member. If students do not have
fine motor skills, the alternative option
would be to type it up on the computer
with assistance.
Teachers will assign students to go home
and either videotape the interview or they
have the choice to write down the
interview answers.
Students will have one week to complete
this task.

Students will be writing

down ten questions that
they find interesting, that
they can ask their family
member.
Students will have their
ten questions so they are
ready to go home and
interview a family
member. They will have
one week to complete this
assignment either in a
video or written format.
Students could be asking
questions for clarity at
this point.

Assessment:
Formative:
Reviewing the students notes
Circulating the classroom while students are in think, pair, share to ensure they are staying on
task.
Teacher can carry around a clipboard and take notes on how students are contributing to their
discussions.

Megan Axford, Janelle Leegstra & Kayla Matkowski

EDUC3501/3504- Lesson #2 Mini-Unit
-

By asking the pairs to generate a question to share with the class, the teacher is able to use this as
a formative assessment to see if they can create a good thoughtful question.
Ask for one question from each group to enforce input and to create a master list of interview
questions
Summative:
Major summative assessment would be at the end of the unit.
Accommodations/Modifications:
Technology: Can interview using video and if that is not easily accessible, then the use of pencil
and paper will suffice
If some students are illegible, they may have the option of typing their interview up on a
computer
Extension and extra time activity:
Writing a reflection on how the lesson/interview went for them and how it connects to shaping
your personal identity.
Ask Have these events that have affected your family also affected how you now look at your
own identity?