A Day in the Life of a Pioneer

Objective:

The objective of this lesson is to have students create a fictional piece of writing based on what their lives would be like as a pioneer and to allow them time for conferencing and experience with presenting.

Length of Lesson: 1 Hour

GCO:

      Students will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the past and         how it affects the present and the future.

SCOs:

            Research and describe historical events and ideas from different perspectives

            Identify, evaluate and use appropriate primary and secondary sources to            learn and communicate about the past

            Identify and compare events of the past to the present in order to make informed, creative decisions about issues

Cross Curricular Links: Language Arts

Materials:

• The Story of Evangeline by Vina Palmeter, Illustrations by Elizabeth Owen
• Paper
• Pencil

Procedure:

• The class will begin with the teacher reading The Story of Evangeline to the class which will also give students an opportunity to learn about pioneers in Nova Scotia.
• Students will be asked to write a diary entry as a fictional pioneer character, putting themselves into character as a pioneer. They should describe one full day as a pioneer based on what they have learned from the field trip, the stories and class discussions.
• The students will be given time for peer/ teacher conferencing.
• Students should be prepared to share their entries with the rest of the class in the form of an Author’s Chair or Reader’s Theatre. Students will be given a chance after the individual presentations for P’s and Q’s, which involves the student presenting being able to call on four people in the class that have their hands raised for two positive comments about the writing and two questions about the writing.

Evaluation:

The teacher will keep a running record for the authors as they are presenting and will also look at the diary entries for grammatical correctness and writing style. The level of effort put into the assignment will be measured.