General Didactics: Lesson Plan 1

Lesson plan: Geography of Canada

Nicolas Hernandez
ULACIT

























General Didactics: Lesson Plan 2

Lesson Plan: Geography of Canada
Level: Intermediate
Type: High school
Age: 12-15
Approach: Inductive; constructivist
Time: 105 minutes (1 hour, 45 minutes)
Lesson plan: Geography of Canada
General objective:
Students use their previous knowledge to gain a better understanding about
Canadian provinces and territories through the use of interactive maps, learning
videos, and active participation in meaningful discussions on cultural topics.
Specific objectives:
Students watch videos about the geography of Canada on YouTube to learn about
the provinces and territories of Canada.
Students recite the poem Together We Are Canada altogether and identify key
information in each stanza.
Students listen to audio tracks about the characteristics of each province, including
its capital, language, culture and traditions, dialects, and gastronomy.
Students use media works, oral presentations, written notes and descriptions,
drawings, tables, and graphs to identify and communicate key information about
the regions, provinces, and territories.
Students create maps of Canada indicating the provinces, major urban centers, and
territories of Canada.
Students compare and contrast the provinces of Canada by writing descriptive
paragraphs of each province.
Target language:
Present simple and past simple
Use of adjectives to describe places, food, and people.
General Didactics: Lesson Plan 3

Materials:
Pencils, erasers, and rulers
Fine point black and blue pens (optional)
Crayons, colored pencils, or markers (optional)
Sheets of paper
Copies of the poem We Are Canada
Blank maps of Canada (one per student)
Computer lab with Internet access
Projector
Videos about the geography of Canada
Geography books and other library sources
Canadian encyclopedia website
Pre-task: Warm-up activity: Videos about the geographical and political divisions of
Canada
Time: 20 minutes
Instructions:
The teacher begins the activity by having students watch two short videos on
YouTube about the geography of Canada.
Students have to watch and listen to what the video says during the activity.
After watching the video, students will discuss in pairs about the geographical and
political divisions of Canada.
Students discuss the provinces of Canada, their geography and terrain, and the
similarities and unique aspects of each province.
Students participate in answering questions made by the teacher.
Example:
What part of both videos captured your attention? Explain why.
What aspects were you able to recognize during both videos?
What cities of Canada do you already know? If so, describe one of them briefly.
Which province has French as the most spoken language?
General Didactics: Lesson Plan 4

While-task activities: Learning activities about Canadian geography and culture
Activity 1: Using blank maps of Canada
Time: 20 minutes
Instructions:
The teacher has students fill in blank maps of Canada by indicating each province
and territory, and all of Canada's major urban centers.
Students talk about asking a key for the maps, indicating a particular type of line or
color, and of line used to show provinces or territories, as well as the symbol they
have chosen to indicate major urban centers.
Each territory, province, and urban center should also be labeled with its correct
name.
Each territory and province must have its own respective flag.
Students may choose to make their map as colorful as they wish, or include more
information such as rivers, lakes, and forests, if they would like, as long as the
maps are clear and readable and indicate the three main things you are looking for:
provinces, territories, and urban centers.
Activity 2: Describing Canadian provinces
Time: 20 minutes
Instructions:
Once students have finished their maps, they will have to write paragraphs
describing each of Canada's provinces.
Each descriptive paragraph must include the following:
1. Name of province and its meaning
2. Location in Canada
3. Population, including the general ethnic make-up of the province
4. Main industries
5. Major urban centers
6. Description of the terrain, including unique geographical features
7. One "fun fact" (could be a special food unique to the region, something about the
province's history or indigenous population, an interesting animal or plant that is
found in the province, etc.)
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The teacher gives students time in class and as a homework assignment to fill in
their maps of Canada and to write their paragraphs.
Students may use travel magazines, geography texts and other library resources,
and the Internet to conduct their research on the Canadian provinces.
Post-activities: Sequence of Teaching and Learning: Reciting the poem Together We
Are Canada altogether.
Time: 15 minutes
Instructions:
The teacher distributes individual copies of the poem Together We Are Canada to
the class.
Students recite the poem Together We Are Canada, placing the laminated labels of
the names of the provinces and territories as they are said to demonstrate location.
The teacher evaluates students listening skills using guided inquiry when adding
corresponding visual cues to the provinces and territories.
Example: Which province is home to our parliament buildings? Answer: Ontario.
Place the Parliament Building visual cue on the map and reaffirm location to the
students.
Students re-read the poem modeling a think-aloud strategy to encourage
metacognition about the listening skills and the content of the poem.
Example: The poem said that British Columbia provides us fish, how could I use
that information to help me remember its location?
I did not understand that word PrairieWriting down my question in my journal
would be a good strategy to use so I do not forget it.
Students review the location of the provinces and territories.
Application: Facilitating guided or independent practice.
Time: 15 minutes
Instructions:
Students are divided into 4 groups.
The teacher assigns each group a section of the poem.
Each group creates a visual representation of the province or territory described in
General Didactics: Lesson Plan 6

the poem on chart paper.
The teacher circulates throughout the activity to provide assistance.
Students present their section of the poem and drawing to the class in the sequence
of the poem.
Closure and assessment: Sharing, reflecting, and considering major aspects about
Canada.
Time: 15 minutes
The teacher demonstrates how all the provinces unique yet interconnected through
exchange as indicated by the poem title through guided questions.
For example: Students in the Ontario Group did the poem describe you as having any
fish"? If not which one of your neighbors could you ask so that you could import fish into
your province? What could be possible reasons that Ontario doesn't have any fish?
Students discuss the importance of exchange among the provinces and territories.
Example: Through exchanging the resources between the provinces such as the
wheat in Manitoba for our apples in Ontario we create a sustainable economy.
This would be just like in our class, through sharing your pencil when a friend who
only has a pen we are creating a class that is functioning to the best of its potential.
Poem: Together We Are Canada
My name is British Columbia
The jewel of the West Coast.
Forestry and fishing are
The things that I do most.

Hi, I am Alberta
A wild west kind of place
With cows and oil and mountains
And lots of open space.

I am Manitoba
And Im Saskatchewan
Were the golden prairies
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Where fields of wheat grow in the sun

Hi, I am Ontario
The home of government
To me each year the leaders
Of our democracy are sent.

Bonjour, I am Quebec
Here French is my language too
When I want to ask how are you?
I say, comment allez vous?

Newfoundland, New Brunswick
And Nova Scotia -- those are we,
We are Atlantic Provinces
The three musketeers of the sea.

Im Prince Edward Island
And I know I may be small
But without me all the rest of you
Would have no potatoes at all.

The Yukon, Nunavut and North West
Territories are up north.
Through ice and cold and polar bears
Few brave souls venture forth.

Together we are Canada
One nation strong and free
With sharing, friends and happiness
Forever we will be!
General Didactics: Lesson Plan 8

Homework: Performing Together We Are Canada in a play.
Instructions:
1. Each student has to choose which province he or she will perform during the play.
2. Each student has the copy of the poem Together We Are Canada.
3. Students have to memorize the poem and take turns at reciting their lines.
4. Students need to have eye contact and an appropriate body movement with the
audience.

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:
Identify the provinces and territories of Canada in a creative way.
Recall information about major aspects of each province including the cities with
their urban centers.
Compare and contrast a city from any province with another one.