Canada’s Capital Treasures
A series of 7 lesson plans celebrate and commemorate key people, places and events as represented by important monuments, buildings, memorials and structures in the nation’s capital.
Download the FREE Lesson Plans HERE
Lesson 1 National War Memorial
Students will:
- Learn more about the act of commemoration and explore the idea of community service
- Discover the importance of the First World War and the Battle of Vimy Ridge to Canada’s nationhood
- Identify times and places in their own lives where the act of remembrance is valued
- Determine how supporting elements like music and audio enhance the impact of video when used as a media literacy tool
- Create a piece of persuasive media to attract visitors to an event.
Lesson 2 The Peace Tower
Students will:
- Learn more about the symbolic meaning of towers in general and The Peace Tower specifically
- Create a piece of persuasive media
- Find out more about the use of symbolic imagery in Canada’s Peace Tower
- Learn more about the symbolic meaning of the Canadian flag and how it was chosen
- Understand that symbolic imagery can exist in a variety of forms and places
- Analyze different uses of form within a video
Lesson 3 The Rideau Canal Locks
Students will:
- Discover more about Canadian-US relations, particularly in the 19th century
- Use mapping skills to outline an annotated journey
- Use writing skills to create a brief historical narrative based on the building of the canal
- Find out more about planning a commemorative monument
- Understand that a variety of places, including waterways and landscapes, can reflect aspects of heritage, history and culture
- Explore the storyboarding of informational videos.
Lesson 4 The Famous Five Monument
Students will:
- Appreciate the contribution women have made to Canadian society
- Write a script to convey the feelings and thoughts of the Famous Five about their success
- Use effective text to write a persuasive headline
- Celebrate those engaged in local community–building
- Create a timeline to mark significant achievements of rights in Canada
- Compare techniques used in informational videos
Lesson 5 “Never Give Up!” — Maurice Richard Monument
Students will:
- Make compelling and persuasive arguments regarding community achievements
- Conduct individual and group research
- Understand the role of memorializing as an important function of maintaining identity
- Examine Canadian personalities of the mid-20th century
Lesson 6 Abbey Ruins
Students will:
- Find out more about the life of Canada’s 10th Prime Minister
- Explore how a park is created
- Recreate Mackenzie King’s process in making the Abbey Ruins by creating their own park structure out of found materials
- Examine aspects of framing as a visual strategy
Lesson 7 National Aboriginal Veterans Monument
Students will:
- Learn more about the contributions of Aboriginal people to Canada
- Use visual and text elements to create a compelling poster
- Decode symbols in a local monument
- Determine how the structure and length of a video influences its effectiveness
- Create a personal lexicon of family symbols