1.3.1 Activity: Organizing Notes for Comprehension

You’ve recently viewed the film Canada: The Story of Us relaying information about New France and the conflicts between European forces vying for power over that territory.

Image result for canada the story of us

Here is a handout with typed out notes from the film’s information.
1.3 Canada – a Story of Us – video notes 2019

One skill that is worth practicing and developing is a familiarity with taking information compiled and developing an order to the information or categorizing it. This skill, for example, is especially helpful in being able to organize and sort supporting information in essay writing, like research reports or project summaries.

Your assignment and task is to sort the information provided and Format it (Organize It) in a manner that makes it easier to recognize some of the following:

the main ideas within the film
the supporting ideas that fall within each main idea
the sequence of big events that happened moving towards Britain’s take over of the New France territory
summarizing groupings of events together into simple steps – to break down the events for easier memory

There are organization styles to become familiar with, including the Five Notetaking Methods at this website. For the purposes of this assignment, select one of the methods listed in bold below to use in formating your copy of the Video Notes.

~~The Cornell Notetaking Method~~
The Mapping Notetaking Method
The Outlining Notetaking Method
The Chartering Notetaking Method
~~The Sentence Notetaking Method~~

Instructions:

For this assignment, choose one of the three notetaking styles and organize/format the video notes in the above Word Document and submit.
Take care to identify the main ideas/events to help break down the video information into pieces and the supporting ideas.
You may choose to write summaries after each section – a brief review of the main idea.
Each assignment will be formatted uniquely – your method of organizing may be slightly different than others’. Do your best to make sense of the video information, though.
Submit with your name in the File name.

Category: History 30 | LEAVE A COMMENT

October 30

Soc 10 02.1 Fundamental Freedoms Videos – Understanding the Charter

We’ve learned there is a balance of decision-making power between government and the people. Protections exist in our government documents to ensure government cannot overreach their authority. It also requires they protect the rights of all citizens, though it is not an equal level of protection.

The following videos explain further the background behind several important parts of our Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

While you watch, you’re asked to develop the following in the given handout:

summarize the important elements of each section of the Charter, per video
create a list of terms or concepts that are significant, possibly new to you
develop at least one thoughtful question related to each video section. (Remember to aim for questions that require a fair amount of thinking and cannot easily be answered by a specific moment in the video.)

Engaging with the Charter:

Some of the fundamental parts of the Charter are worth looking into a bit, including the following:

Limitations of a Charter right
1. Keegstra – restriction on freedom of thought
2. R. v. Big M Drug Mart Ltd (Calgary) – unconstitutional restriction on freedom of religion
3. 1986 Oakes decision (test) (pg 4) – Narcotics Act violates Section 11d Canadian Charter – but not a reasonable infringement/violation, so Act struck down
  1. Section 11(d) Charter – presumed innocent
Fundamental Freedoms Section 2:
1. Review Four Freedoms
2. Debate: Does Section 2 protect your right to do each of the following or is that right limited?
  1. recite the Lord’s Prayer at the start of school in a public school
  2. a student refusing to stand during the Canadian national anthem
  3. denying social benefits for same-sex couples
  4. a newspaper publishing an anti-Jewish letter
  5. a Jehovah’s Witness parent refusing a blood transfusion that would save the life of their child
  6. a retail store firing an employee who, for religious reasons, refuses to work on Sundays
Democratic Rights:
1. Section 4(1) of the Charter restricts a federal or provincial government from being in office longer than 5 years without an election for voters, but does not limit the length of time a politician can lead their party (if re-elected). The American constitution includes that restriction – the President can only be in power for a max of 8 years, whereas P.M. Stephen Harper was in power for 9 years. Should Canada have a max time like the Americans? Why or why not?
2. Consider whether convicts should be allowed to vote, or expats – people who haven’t lived in Canada for at least 5 years.
3. Should voting be compulsory or by choice in Canada? Countries where voting in elections is a requirement – is this democratic?
Mobility Rights:
1. Section 6: each citizen has the right to enter, remain, and leave the country, or move/live in any province. Many countries restrict that type of mobility freedom. Ex: Myanmar
2. Consider whether a Canadian accused of a capital punishment crime in the United States should be extradited (apprehended by Canadian police and turned over to American authorities) for trial.
Legal Rights:
1. Many cases of miscarriages of justice in Canadian history, including Donald Marshall. Should it matter what someone is accused of when judging whether their legal rights have been violated?
Notwithstanding Clause:
1. Quebec’s ban on religious coverings

Category: Social 10 | LEAVE A COMMENT

October 29

Hist 30 1.3 Collision of Peoples & Paradigms

While the French were able to navigate their relationship with the existing Indigenous People of the territory of New France, other powers joined the competition for power over the region. Here come the British!

Intro to the documentary series:

You’ll meet some extraordinary men and women who’ve helped shape our country’s unique character. Perhaps no country has been as successful in finding its strength through cooperation and its identity through acceptance and respect. For generations, we’ve come together bridging cultures and communities, to seek a more hopeful future for all. That is not to say Canada’s history is perfect; it is not. There are dark chapters in our history that we have only begun to confront. But today we recognize the responsibilities inherited by past generations and entrusted to us by future ones. We know our success was built upon decades of hard work and rooted in Canadian diversity. And we know that a strong prosperous nation can be as united as it is diverse. The hope of this documentary series is that you’ll be as inspired by the stories of these heroic Canadians so that we can write the next chapter of the great Canadian story.

Instructions for viewing: There is a handout for your viewing focus that asks you to…

Develop a list of stages/steps that occur leading to New France taken over by the British.
Identify the significance and cause or each term below, as well as their influence or effect on Canada’s past
1. Beaver pelts
2. The large population of British settlers south of Quebec
3. the filles due roi (King’s Daughters)
4. Radisson and des Groseilliers
5. Plains of Abraham battle
6. Indigenous as a) traders and b) allies

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October 23

ELA A30 Inquiry Report or Research Paper Essay Planning

You’re well-practiced at writing Literary Analytical types of essays, but maybe less sure about writing a regular essay or report. Here’s an instructional video that walks you through things to consider in your planning and organization stage, as well as looks at the body paragraph and a potential sentence plan for them.

Instructional Video: How to organize your report essay.

Here’s a screenshot of a potential outline for your body paragraphs: (image)

Here’s a rough outline for how you could organize your sentences in a report body paragraph. Remember to include transitions for smooth writing.

Category: ELA A30 | LEAVE A COMMENT

October 21

ELA A30 Critical Analysis Essay – While you Read

The second essay you’ll write for your Canadian Lit course is one that reviews the good and bad of the author’s writing in the novel you chose. While you read, it is helpful to look for examples that you could take note of and use while developing your essay.

As you read, keep a running list of what you like or don’t like about their writing, including things like:

There is a list of characteristics to consider for Fiction reading
And another list of characteristics specific to Non-fiction reading (true stories)

For Fiction Texts:

their development of characters – Are they believable characters or have a well-developed background? Are the characters (especially main one) slowly developed as the story moves on or does the author clump details of a character together at once?
the pace of the writing – do some things happen too slow or too fast? Some events that build in excitement likely should speed up in pace, but some authors develop them too slowly, which can kill the vibe of the moment.
what about language choice? Do they use too many unfamiliar words making it challenging to follow along with the idea of the story? Does their use of bigger vocabular seem awkwardly used, like the words don’t fit smoothly? Is the language written below the reading level you expected and is dull to read because of the word selections?
Length of chapters: Are the chapters too long to maintain an interest in what’s happening? Is there a natural and appropriate break developed between chapter events, or does that author stop chapters at times that are inconvenient for you as a reader?
Sentence writing complexity: Are the sentences comfortable to read or just at the right level of challenge for you as a reader, or are they too simple and short? Or could they be overly wordy and long, making it challenging to understand the writing.
Descriptive writing: Does the author do a good job of developing description in the writing, creating images for you to imagine as you read, or do they just “tell” a lot in their writing. Is the manner of their descriptive writing effective, or is it done poorly and falls below what you’d judge as “good writing”?
The Storyline: Have they created an interesting story? One that you’re drawn into and compelled to follow along with? Have they developed in you the reader an interest in the outcome of the story?
Supporting characters: Who else for characters has the author developed for the storyline? Are there too many characters introduced too close together so that it makes it challenging as the reader to keep people separated in your mind? Do they include too complex of a cast of characters that it’s hard to keep everyone straight, what their relationships are too each other?
Setting: How does the author use the location and span or placement of time to help support the plot elements in the story? Do things happen over the right amount of time or are they squished into too short a time period/drawn out into too long of one? Does the location support the plot or interfere with it?
Point of view: The author will have told the story from the perspective of a voice – was that voice in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd perspective (limited or omniscient)? Sometimes a 1st person point of view narrative can be limiting, so maybe was’nt the best choice or was challenging to accept as the reader. Did your author’s selection and development of the point of view work well or poorly in the reading, according to you?
Rising Action/Complications: How did the author continue to develop tension throughout the book? Did they drop it in occasionally and clumsily, or was it well developed and grew in a way that drew you in as the reader?
Climax: Did the tension leading to the climax moment in the book support that pivotal moment or did the climax happen sort of awkwardly, jumping ahead in intensity without being properly developed for the reader?

For Non-fiction Texts:

Word choice throughout the writing: by their personal choices, do they make it interesting and engaging for a reader, regardless of the complexity of the topic?
Inclusion of anecdotal stories (personal stories): are they developed clearly enough? Does the author tell you more than is needed or do they miss some key parts of a personal story?
Pace of the information: Does the author write too much about something that isn’t quite interesting, making the pace seem to drag on? Or do they give equal time to all topics, when they could benefit from expanding on some topics in the non-fiction that are more interesting to the reader?
Sentence variety and mechanics: What kinds of sentence variety do you notice in the writing? Do they stick to basic and simple sentence formations, or is it clear they play with the sentence variety, using repetition, parallelism or other techniques for personal style?
Method and amount of referencing included: Often times, non-fiction texts will include reference to several types of other sources, to help support the subject covered, like published journals, personal interviews, news reports, or statistics. Does your author include these smoothly and use the right amount? Or does their inclusion of their references and sources slow and bog down the reading, making it uninteresting for you the reader?
Writing suits target audience: It is often clear what target audience an author is writing to. If their subject matter is more serious, they’re likely writing to a more-adult audience. With the words they choose, the complexity of sentences and paragraph/chapter lengths developed, is it clear they’ve written to suit the reading and interest level of their target audience, or have they developed something too childish or mature to match the audience they’re likely targeting?
Agenda or bias that may be distracting: Some non-fiction texts are written with a particular agenda on the part of the author. They may want people to become more supportive or open-minded of a topic, so they may write with the goal of convincing the reader of a perspective; this may be distracting if you’re someone who can’t believe as they do.
Depth the author delves into the topic: Some non-fiction books may be written by a celebrity of someone with assumed knowledge on a topic, but their actual coverage of that topic in the writing may be quite superficial. Is the topic covered in enough detail to be interesting or is it only generally and vaguely discussed? Or you may find the opposite, that their coverage of a topic may be more academic or detailed than is appropriate for a general audience.

Category: ELA A30 | LEAVE A COMMENT

October 17

Social 10 Balance of Rights/Freedoms – Confederation

Canada is considered one of the best societies in the world with high quality of living. Part of that measurement is because there are strong individual rights protected by law in Canada. Their source is Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This section explores that and what it means to Canadians.

These rights apply to Canadian citizens, including people with Permanent Resident status. They only lack two “Rights” other Canadians enjoy.
The Charter of Rights and Freedoms set out the protections for individuals, but as society changes and our needs so do the laws supporting those protections. The Supreme Court of Canada is the final say for laws in Canada.
1. Example: Ban on Sikh kirpan overturned by Supreme Court
2. Example: The 1999 Supreme Court of Canada decision giving Nova Scotia Mikmaq peoples their right to fish for a “moderate livelihood” outside of the fishing season.
Decision-making power in any country is of primary importance. Who gets that power, how they use it, who is excluded from it: these are all important characteristics that can change what a society looks like. Canada’s Constitution document establishes that process and levels of power for decision-makers.
1. Example: If a single dictator makes all decisions, it is a very different type of society as a result, than if every citizens has a part in the decision-making power, like we do in Canada.
2. Example: Court cases are heard at the different levels, all the way up to the Supreme Court of Canada. They make legal decisions that affect the law as it’s applied for all Canadians.
How is power divided in Canada? By the Canadian Constitution document that first established Canada as a country.
1. 1. It was first made and named the British North America Act of 1867 (after the British defeated the outnumbered French troops in New France, the area first settled in Canada).
  2. Initially Canada was only made of four provinces
  3. The rest of the land within Canada’s current landmass was held as colonies by the British. Parts of Canada were added to Canada as provinces and territories over time.
  4. The decision-making power was held in Canada by government, but was still under the responsibility and authority of the British Crown, as part of the British colonies.
  5. Canada was later given freedom from the colonies, becoming truly its own country, with autonomy (its own decision-making control).
  6. An essential part of the original BNA Act are two Sections of the document which divide the decision-making responsibilities of the Federal (country-wide) and Provincial (regional) governments.
    1. Section 91 – Federal responsibilities
    2. Section 92 – Provincial responsibilities
  7. The British North America Act was later amended to be called the Constitution Act of 1982 in a big ceremony where the Queen of England came to Canada and brought with her the original BNA document that established Canada’s beginnings.
  8. Now a complete country made up of many provinces and territories, the federal Canadian government and provincial leaders negotiated an adjustment to the new document that would define how Canada as a country and society would function.
  9. A big part or change in that document was the creation/inclusion of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
  10. Top Five Charter Facts You May Not Know infographic
Peace, Order and Good Government: a set of values
1. The values Canadian laws were built on were different than the values American laws were built on. From their very early beginnings, the two neighbouring countries with similar pasts were already heading in different directions, which 150 years later results in two countries that are quite different to live in.
  1. Canada’s value goals: peace, order, and good government
  2. America’s value goals: life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness
Review: The steps that got us to this place, this type of society and social contract?
1. BNA Act creates Canada
2. Powers set out for Federal (Canadian) government
3. Powers set out for Provincial (Sask, BC, Manitoba, etc) government
4. Relationship develops between Canada and its provinces/territories
5. Bringing home the Constitution document – a British law becomes Canadian-owned
6. Adding the Canadian Charter of Rights.
Not Absolute Rights: Reasonable Limitations of our Charter Rights
1. It’s well known Canadians have protected rights because of the Charter, but not a lot of people understand those rights aren’t absolute rights.
2. Your rights end when another person’s rights begin.
3. Slideplayer: Canadian Rights are not Absolute Rights
4. Example of Balance of Rights: 12 year old boy given authority to wear his sikh kerpan
5. Example: Quebec’s reasonable/temporary restriction on religious restrictions
6. Example: Keegstra’s reasonable limitation on his freedom of expression
7. Example: New Brunswick uses Notwithstanding Clause to force vaccinations of students attending schools

https://prezi.com/ls5ixydydu30/section-one-of-the-charter-the-reasonable-limits-clause/

All these steps and parts of Canada’s social structure contribute to the reasons why Canadian society looks the way it does today and doesn’t look the way it does in Venezuela with corruption and poverty, or Syria with millions of citizens fleeing the country, or Nigeria with military soldiers firing on and killing civilian protestors.

Structure of Canada’s Court System – layers of decision-making power

Category: Social 10 | LEAVE A COMMENT

October 8

Protected: ELA: Common Resources/References

Category: ELA A30, ELA - for all grades, ELA 20, ELA 9, ELA A10, ELA B10, ELA B30 | Enter your password to view comments.

October 8

Social 9 Mapping & Current Archeological Events

We’ve studied the ways scientists discover and learn about the past, through Archeology and many other fields of science. Today, we transition from discussing the methods of archeology and inference thinking to mapping out the areas of the world where the Ancient Civilizations existed along with the locations of current/recent archeological digs and findings. We’re focusing on the point that we’re never “done” looking into and understanding past civilizations.

The class is working in three teams towards a shared goal:

Group A is identifying on the map the locations of the previous civilizations.
Group B is posting recent archeological finds (article titles and QR codes to the report) on the map where the current sites are.
Group C is researching to identify other current locations for archeological developments and news. They are creating new QR Codes that will be added to the map.

Ancient Civilizations Mapping:

Ancient Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt

Ancient Greece

Ancient Rome

Aztec Civilization

Mayan Civilization

Incan Civilization

Ancient China

Ancient Japan Map

Personal Response Activity:

Considering your part in the mapping and inquiry searching we’ve been doing in class, write a personal reflection discussing some of the following points:

What have you learned about the Archaeological studies continuing around the world?
What observations can you make based on the areas on the map the civilizations were established around?
What commonalities do you notice about the articles and findings being reported? (You can skim the article titles or skim through a few of the articles themselves.)
What questions do you have about the civilizations and continued findings around the world? Develop four thoughtful questions.
How important is this work, do you think, in the day-to-day lives of individuals around the world? Is it relevant to our lives now?
How important do you think it is to preserve evidence of these ancient civilizations? Should we continue to spend money on preserving these artifacts over spending money on the societies that live in those areas of the world?
Identify one personal realization you’ve had about archaeology or the people of the past.

Write up your personal reflection and submit by email with a proper email Subject Line and File label.

Category: Social Studies 9 | LEAVE A COMMENT

October 2

Social 9 01 Exploring the Past with Modern Technology

We live in a great time in human development, with all the modern advancements and inventions of our time. We receive messages to our watches and can tell a device to turn off the lights and put a movie on for us. We live in awesome times!

But every advancement we’ve made has only been a further development of the discoveries and inventions made before us by previous civilizations from around the world. Luxuries we take for granted every day, including the wheel, running water or indoor toilets, literature, schools, and even democracy and voting, all these came from other societies of the past. And we’re very grateful for them all!

This is what Social 9 is about – investigating what previous civilizations learn and understood as they adapted to survive in their environment or against territorial advancement. Ancient peoples

such as the Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Chinese Dynasties or Mongolians, the Greeks and Romans as well as the Mayans and Incas. All these groups contributed something to modern living – this is the focus of study in this class.

To begin, let’s look at how archeologists, researchers studying past artifacts and peoples, study findings today. With our continued advancements in technology, we’re finding newer and safer ways to learn without possibly disturbing what’s left from the past. Example: The image above is of a skeleton pair found many years ago. By testing their bones, it’s only recently been discovered that they are not a male and female, as previously assumed by their posing, but instead are two males. There’s what is inferred about the past and what can be proven about it!

Video Viewing:
While you watch, take notes about the types of Modern (newer inventions) used to study evidence from the past. We’ll share/discuss your list after watching.

After Watching Websearch: What are the original tools and methods of archeology?
Dig around online to discover and make a list of traditional tools archeologists rely on. We’ll share/discuss when you’ve finished.

Sample website to start with – Tools used by Archeologists

Category: Social Studies 9 | 1 Comment

October 2