This activity enables students to appreciate and understand the contributions of Canadians not often mentioned in textbooks. Students will develop their critical thinking skills through reading an original article of their choice, carrying research and the application of cross-curricular skills to present their result.
This activity was first designed to accompany our exhibition Impossible Odds: the Battle of Hong Kong. This activity is also suitable for accompanying our other exhibitions on World War II: Courage in Chaos: the Dieppe Story, Through Vines and Mines: The Canadian Army in Italy and When Daylight Comes: the Canadians on D-Day (with a modified world map and timeline!). All of these exhibits are also available free of charge for your school by completing our reservation form.
Activity content
The student guide helps students follow the instructions for both parts of the activity. In the first part of the activity, students, in small groups, will read one of the articles listed below:
Articles about the Battle of Hong Kong and the Pacific War
Articles about other Canadian fronts
- Clarence David Lapierre – Paratrooper, 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion
- Cynthia Oakley – CWAC Officer
- Edwin Erwin Phillips – Mechanic for the Royal Canadian Air Force
- Mary Greyeyes Reid – The person behind the photo
- Miriam Freedman – Travelling the Roads of War
- Sgt. Karen Hermiston and the Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit
- The Carty brothers – Artisans of a tradition
- Tommy Prince – Sergeant for the First Special Service Force
They will then answer the questions before sharing their results with the rest of the class. To extend the activity, teachers can then lead a more in-depth discussion with the class using a series of questions provided in the teacher’s guide.
In the second part of the activity, students can also expand on their ideas through a research project, which can be presented as a podcast, a PowerPoint presentation, or a personal essay.
Activity objectives
The goal of these activities is to allow secondary cycle two students to have a greater understanding of World War II. Students will also learn to appreciate the contributions of Canadian Armed Forces personnel from Quebec.
These activities were created as educational tools to complement the Quebec Education Program of secondary 4 History and secondary 5 Contemporary World courses. In addition, these activities can also be used as language tools in the following courses: Francais langue maternelle (in secondary 3, 4 and 5), Français, secondary language, English, secondary language (in secondary 3, 4 and 5) and English Language Arts.
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