Tracey Hill

Module 3
CONT 997

Guiding Question:

What is a historical fair and how could I conduct one in the school and that every
grade group could participate in?

A historical fair is designed to promote knowledge and appreciation for Canadian history. It
begins in the classroom with generating questions and researching a topic of strong personal
interest. Projects can be individual or collaborative. Possible date to hold school fair is in
February during Heritage Week or day (15th).

The Benefits of a Historical/Heritage Fair are:

 Supports existing curricula in all provinces and territories

 Encourages a cross-curricular approach to teaching and learning
 Enables students to share their own ideas and knowledge to an authentic audience
 Enhances literacy
 Enhances research and communication skills such as interviewing, writing, editing, and
speaking
 Encourages valuable intergenerational dialogue as well as home, school and community
interaction
 Engages citizenship values such as respect for evidence and empathy
 Provides the opportunity to teach and learn from others
 Develops strong community roots, and gives youth confidence to become active citizens
who shape the future of our country

Curriculum Connections

 Incorporates parts from all three core competencies

 Dance, drama, music visual arts – the role of the arts in sustaining and communicate
culture; historical and cultural context of the arts
 English language arts – effective communication and research strategies; the role of
literature and storytelling in sustaining and communicating culture
 Health and career education – group processes; leadership; families; purpose of rules;
roles, rights, and responsibilities at home, at school, and in the community; needs and
wants; decision making; work and jobs in the community
 Mathematics – the mathematical principles of map making, particularly latitude and
longitude and time zones
 Science – daily and seasonal changes; resource use issues

The Seven Steps to a Powerful Heritage Fair Project – created by the BC Heritage Fairs Society
and taken from http://bcheritagefairs.ca/wp-
content/uploads/2016/11/7_steps_to_powerful_HF_project-revised-draft.pdf
 Tracey Hill
Module 3
CONT 997
Seven Steps is a teacher’s guide to the pedagogy of Heritage Fairs and inquiry- based learning.
It offers teaching suggestions and resources to help students work though each step of an
historical inquiry project—from choosing and refining a topic of personal and historical
significance, digging deeply and critically into that topic, connecting their findings with broader
themes, all the way to creatively sharing their conclusions in a public forum.

1. Deciding on student “voice and choice”

2. Generating questions
3. Investigating sources
4. Reaching a conclusion
5. Telling our story visually to a wider audience
6. Presenting the project
7. Reflecting on the research and conclusions

“An inquiry-based approach can work with any age group. Even though older students will be
able to pursue much more sophisticated questioning and research projects, build a spirit of
inquiry into activities wherever you can, even with the youngest, in an age-appropriate
manner.” (Youth Learn, 201) http://youthlearn.org/wp-content/uploads/Inquiry_Based_Learning.pdf

Good inquiry questions

 Must be answerable
 The answer cannot be a simple fact
 The answer can’t already be known
 Must have some objective basis for an answer
 Cannot be too personal
 Tracey Hill
Module 3
CONT 997

Taken from: http://youthlearn.org/wp-content/uploads/Inquiry_Based_Learning.pdf

Taken from: https://www.ru.nl/wetenschapsknooppunt/english/materials/materials/

 Tracey Hill
Module 3
CONT 997
References

Bcheritagefairs.ca. n.d. 7 Steps to Powerful Heritage Fair Projects. [online] Available at:
<http://bcheritagefairs.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/7_steps_to_powerful_HF_project-revised-
draft.pdf> [Accessed 20 March 2021].

Historicalthinking.ca. n.d. Heritage Fair Exhibit Guide Tips for helping students create heritage fair
exhibits. [online] Available at: <https://historicalthinking.ca/sites/default/files/files/docs/Fairs
%20exhibit%20guide.pdf> [Accessed 20 March 2021].

Youthlearn.org. 2016. INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING: AN APPROACH TO EDUCATING AND INSPIRING KIDS.

[online] Available at: <http://youthlearn.org/wp-content/uploads/Inquiry_Based_Learning.pdf>
[Accessed 20 March 2021].

Science Education Hub Radboud University. 2021. Materials. [online] Available at:

<https://www.ru.nl/wetenschapsknooppunt/english/materials/materials/> [Accessed 20 March 2021].

BC Heritage Fairs. 2021. Teacher Resources. [online] Available at: <http://bcheritagefairs.ca/teacher-

resources/> [Accessed 20 March 2021].