During World War II, ordinary Canadians achieved extraordinary things by demonstrating incredible acts of courage and bravery under unimaginable circumstances. Who were these Canadian men and women who went above and beyond to fight fascism? Students will research and create playing cards about World War II heroes and heroines. Students will then play the card game “Which WWII Hero Am I?”
This activity was first designed to accompany our exhibition Through Vines and Mines: The Canadian Army in Italy. The exhibition is also available for free to your school by completing our reservation form.
Activity content
First, students will research 4 to 6 World War II heroes and heroines and use their research to create playing cards. The list of heroes and heroines, with their references, is provided in the guides below. Students can then use the card template below or create their own playing card to write down what they found.
After cutting out their cards, the students then gather in groups to play the game “Which WWII Hero Am I?”. Using the instructions in the student guide, students will have two options for competitive game play to learn more about the heroes and heroines chosen by their classmates.
The teacher’s guide describes the educational objectives of the activity and provides instructions to run it.
Activity objectives
The goal of these activities is to allow secondary cycle two students to have a greater understanding of World War II and Canada’s role in the Italian Campaign. 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 History of the 20th and 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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