Create a Character from Canada’s Migration Story!
Hello Everyone,
In class, we created a timeline on the board of many events that brought people to Canada, going back to 14,000 – 75,000 years ago when First Peoples first came into Canada via Beringia or the ice filled Bering Strait.
We asked the big question, “How did we get here?” To answer that, we discussed the many reasons people were drawn to Canada, such as searching for passage to other lands, seeking new resources and land, the fur trade, escaping war, creating the railway, the gold rush, and seeking new opportunities.
It is a complicated history! Even though Canada is a young country, we have a longer history of how we came to be here that ties in with our unit discussions about people’s need to explore. It also tells us a lot about the Canadian identity, as we have many groups of people who have come to Canada and contribute their cultures to the country we live in.
First, here are some more videos to explore, some of which we will watch in class:
YouTube TedEd What Does It Mean to be a Refugee?
YouTube The European Refugee Crisis from Syrian War
YouTube Cool Map of Early Human Migration
International Organization for World Migration Migration Interactive Map
YouTube History of Immigration to Canada
YouTube 2016 Census History of Immigration Facts
YouTube Great Review of Push Pull Factors for Immigration
YouTube PowToon Review of Types of Immigration
YouTube Curriculum Canada Fur Trade in Canada
Next, let’s each take on one character from Canada’s story, do more research, and then present a monologue to the class as that character!
- Pick an individual from Canadian history that we have discussed and get it approved by Ms. D. We each want to do someone different. You don’t have to have a famous person, you could create a person from a specific time period — a Chinese immigrant who is working on the railway in Canada, a person who came over for the fur trade, a farmer coming for new lands, etc.
- Do research on that individual, so you know what their story would be. What is the time period you live in? Who are you and where did you come from? What was the journey to Canada like? What were the challenges on the journey? What were the challenges when you arrived? What happened when you got here? Tell us some details that give us information about the push and pull factors of why the person is in Canada.
- Write a short script of one minute. Write the script in the first person as if you are the person yourself. Use I statements! Pretend you are in that time period, not telling us a speech about a historical figure. Tell us a story of how you came to Canada. Put the script on cue cards, practice it a lot, almost memorize the script so you can do more acting than reading. You will be presenting it as if you were that character! We will talk more about whether we do this in front of the whole class, or do it as a museum of characters, so it is less nerve wracking! 🙂
- Create a costume! You will need something to wear and some props to represent the story you are telling!
- Ms. D Help: There are books in the classroom to help with research, and as I know which characters we are interested in, I will post links on this blog entry to help if we need them. Please ask after you have taken time to find some info of your own.
Criteria:
- Your presentation is one minute long and is written in the first person.
- Your presentation contains solid evidence of having researched the time period or individual you are representing. We learn some facts about when this person was alive, what their challenges were, and how push/pull factors were involved in their immigration story.
- You made an effort to memorize your script and have it written on cue cards to help you.
- You have a costume and at least one prop to help tell your story.
- You are able to use volume, enunciation, pace, and expression so your audience is interested in your story and can understand you clearly.
Due Date: Presentations will be made no later than February 24th.