Ontario Social Studies

Grade 6A: Community Stories and Canadian Identity

UNIT LAUNCH
Who are we?
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educational use solely by licensed
users in their own classrooms.

January 2015 © The Critical Thinking Consortium

www.tc2.ca
Community Stories and Canadian Identity

UNIT LAUNCH
SESSION ONE

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What would an alien think of us?

Imagine tha
t a creature
space is cur from outer
ious about C
Canadians. anada and
List a few th
important f ings that ar
or this alien e
to understa
nd.
View the m
usic video o
Canada per f the song In
formed by C
astronaut C ana
hris Hadfield dian
brother Dav and his
e.
Speculate a
bout the im
Canadians a pression of
n alien migh
watching th t form by
is video.
Watch the video Describe yo
ur ideas to a
partner.

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 Think about the overarching question for
the whole unit

Question: How can we effectively communicate what it means to be Canadian?

Overarching

Decide what
the
overraarching
question is
asking.

Suggest a fe
w differreent w
tto
o communic ays
ate our ideas
.
 What do you understand about the
overarching challenge for this unit?

Question: How can we effectively communicate what it means to be Canadian?

Challenge: Select symbolic artifacts for a Canada Collection designed to introduce
Overarching essential aspects of our Canadian identity to intelligent life in outer space.

Clarriiffy the me
aning of arrti
tifacttss.
State the overa
rc
r hin
in your own w c g challenge
orrd
ds.
Discuss what
you know abo
acttu
ual attempts t ut
ts to
o contact
intelligent life
in outer sp e
ac .
 A message from Earth
s
SSoouunndds GGrreee Examine the
se artifacts
th eti
ooff eeaarrth 5555 lla tinnggss iinn from the Go
lden Record
anngguua a 30 cm disk ,
aggeess sent into
space in 197
7 aboard
Voyagers 1 a
nd 2.
Speculate on
key aspects
of human ide
ntity the
Golden Reco
rd’s creators
wanted to co
mmunicate
to aliens.

Share your s
peculations
with a partn
er.

© The Critical Thinking Consortium

 How do we describe ourselves?
Aspects
Aspects of
of Sam’s
Sam’s identity
identity

loves sports Compare th

ese phrases
describing t
he identity o
Sam, a grad f
e six studen
t.
Decide why
serious some phras
values time have been e es
artist nclosed with
spent with the smaller in
circle.
friends
12 years old
Share your
moved to Ontario decision wit
partner. ha
last year
one brother
brown hair

tries to be kind
good sense of
humour

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 How do we describe ourselves?
Aspects
Aspects of
of Sam’s
Sam’s identity
identity
Compare t
his label w
decisions a ith y
bout the sm our
circle. aller
loves sports
Decide how
w
describe th ould you
e aspects o
identity th f Sam’s
at are not
facts. simple
serious Simple facts values time
artist
about Sam spent with
friends Discuss the
relationshi
12 years old between s p
imple facts
moved to Ontario overall iden and
last year
tity.
one brother Share with
brown hair a partner o
simple fact ne
about your
one other self and
feature of
tries to be kind identity. your
good sense of
humour

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 What shapes your identity?
A.
A. popular
popular media
media Rank this li
st of factors
influence yo that may
B.
B. feedback
feedback from
from friends
friends ur sense of
identity.
C. physical Place facto
C. physical appearance
appearance rs that have
the stronge
influence a st
t the top an
D.
D. experiences
experiences at
at school
school weakest infl d those wit
uence at th h the
e bottom.
E.
E. family
family relationships
relationships Share your
ranking wit
h a partner
F.
F. accomplishments
accomplishments .
Discuss the
most influe
G.
G. belonging
belonging to
to groups
groups your class. ntial factors
Are there a with
should be a ny factors t
dded to this hat
list?

Your identity is the way you think of

yourself. It includes your self-image,
interests, beliefs and values.
© The Critical Thinking Consortium
 What is collective identity?
Individual identity Collective identity
Sam’s class is proud of Compare th
Sam loves sports. e examples
their recycling efforts. individual an of
d collective
identity.
Sam sees himself as a Sam and his soccer Decide on t
he key simil
and differen arities
serious artist. team always play to ces betwee
win. two ideas. H n these
ow would y
describe coll ou
ective identi
ty?
Sam values the time he Sam’s family are avid Discuss you
r description
spends with friends. skiers. class. with the

Tell a partne
r about a gr
The people in Sam’s belong to an oup you
Sam believes it’s d one featu
town are known for your group’s re of
important to be kind. being friendly. collective id
entity.

© The Critical Thinking Consortium

 What shapes our Canadian identity?
Rank this list
A.
A. news
news media
media of factors tha
t may
influence our
collective sen
B. feedback identity as Ca se of
B. feedback from
from people
people in
in other
other countries
countries nadians.
C.
C. physical
physical geography
geography Place factors
that have the
influence at th strongest
D.
D. historical
historical experiences
experiences of
of different
different groups
groups e top and tho
weakest influ se with the
ence at the b
ottom.
E.
E. relationships
relationships among
among communities
communities
Share your ra
nking with a p
F.
F. relationships
relationships among
among individuals
individuals artner.
Discuss the m
G.
G. participation
participation in
in world
world events
events ost influentia
with your clas l factors
s.

Our collective Canadian identity is the

way we see ourselves as a country. It
includes our shared interests, beliefs
and values.
© The Critical Thinking Consortium
Does it represent our collective identity?
Revisit you
r ideas abou
Canadians a t the impre
n alien wou ssion of
this video. ld form by wa
tching
Analyze the
song lyrics o
The Canada n the briefin
Song. How g sheet
fit your curr well does th
ent ideas ab is video
identity as C out our coll
anadians? W ective
might have hich commu
a perspectiv nities
that is diffe e (point of
rent from th view)
at of the Ha
dfields?
Decide if yo
u might inc
artifact in y lude the vid
our Canada eo as an
Collection.
Discuss you
r initial dec
ision with t
he class.

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Community Stories and Canadian Identity

UNIT LAUNCH
SESSION
SESSION TWO
SESSION TWO
TWO

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What does the Coat of Arms say about us?

Examine the Ca
nadian Coat of
Arms (also calle
d the Royal Coa
Arms of Canada t of
).
Decide what th
is official nation
symbol might c al
ommunicate ab
our collective C out
anadian identity
.
Share your initi
al thoughts wit
partner. ha

© The Critical Thinking Consortium

 What do you understand about
this lesson challenge?

Question: How can we effectively communicate what it means to be Canadian?

Challenge: Select symbolic artifacts for a Canada Collection designed to introduce
essential aspects of our Canadian identity to intelligent life in outer space.
Overarching

Line of
inquiry #1
State th
the lesson chall
in your own enge
word
rds.
Challenge: How well does Canada’s Coat of Arms
Unit represent our country? Sharre
e questions t
help you resp hat might
launch ond ttoo the
challenge.
Decode the Coat of Arms

Speculate on
the meaning o
part of the Co f each
at of Arms.
Record your id
eas on the acti
sheet Analyzin vity
g the Coat of A
rms.
Compare you
r ideas to the
explanations g
iven on the bri
sheet Canada efing
’s Coat of Arm
s.
Share your re
vised explana
a partner. tions with

© The Critical Thinking Consortium

 Compare the designs

Examine E. J. Biggar’s
proposed design for th
e
Coat of Arms.

Select the most signifi

cant
differences between
the
proposed design and
the
final Coat of Arms.

Decide what the desig

ns
reveal about differen
t
perspectives on Canad
a’s
identity.

Discuss your ideas wit

Proposed
Proposed design
design submitted
submitted by
by Coat
Coat of
of Arms
Arms ofof Canada
Canada officially
officially h
the class.
E.
E. J.J. Biggar
Biggar in
in 1919.
1919. adopted
adopted in
in 1921
1921 and
and slightly
slightly
revised
revised in
in 1957
1957 and
and 1994.
1994.

© The Critical Thinking Consortium

 Rate the Coat of Arms
An
An effective
effective symbol
symbolof of collective
collective identity
identity is:
is:
✔
✔ inclusive
inclusive–– ititrepresents
representsmost
mostor orall
all of
of the
thegroup
group
✔
✔ recognizable
recognizable Rate the Coat of Arm
s. To what
✔
✔ connected
connectedto to important
important beliefs
beliefs and
andvalues
values extent does it meet
the criteria for
an effective symbol
of collective
identity? How well
does it
represent our countr
y?
Record your rating
. and reasons on
the activity sheet R
ating the Coat of
Arms.

Discuss your rating

w ith the class.

© The Critical Thinking Consortium 2014

 Begin designing an artifact
Revisit the designs sh
own here and the
information on the br
iefing sheet
Canada’s Coat of Arm
s.
Select aspects of the
two designs that you
might want to includ
e in a new Coat of
Arms that is an effecti
ve symbol of our
collective identity.
An
Aneffective
effectivesymbol
symbolof
ofcollective
collectiveidentity
identityis:
is:
✔
✔ inclusive
inclusive––ititrepresents
representsmost
mostororall
allof
ofthe
thegroup
group Sketch a rough draft
of the shield portion
✔
✔ recognizable
recognizable of your new Coat of A
rms in your
✔
✔ connected
connectedto toimportant
importantbeliefs
beliefsand
andvalues
values Thoughtbook. You w
ill create your Coat of
Arms throughout this
unit and include it
as one of the artifact
s in your Canada
Collection.

Share your shield des

ig n with a partner.

© The Critical Thinking Consortium

 What have I learned?
A. We all have a sense of individual identity that goes
beyond simple facts about us. It refers to our values, Rate your u
nderstandin
of the main g
beliefs and interests. this lesson o
ideas from
n a scale fro
1 to 4. m
B. When we belong to a group, we can share a sense of
collective identity. Discuss way
s yo
in this unit la ur learning
unch will
help you ap
C. Different communities have different perspectives on proach the
overarching
challenge.
our collective Canadian identity.

D. An effective symbol of collective identity is inclusive,

recognizable and connected to beliefs and values.

11 == I’m
I’m confused
confused
22 == It’s
It’s starting
starting toto make
make sense.
sense.
33 == Got
Got it!it!
44 == II can
can useuse this
this idea
idea and
and easily
easily explain
explain itit to
to someone
someone else.
else.
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 Where to next?

In this unit, you will use your Thoughtbook as

a place to create, collect and consider
potential artifacts for your Canada Collection.
• Start to gather notes (including questions
and sketches) about possible artifacts. With
each artifact, list any Canadian traits that it
might symbolize.

© The Critical Thinking Consortium

 Image credits
Citizenship ceremony Sound icon
Slide 1 Slide 6
Photo courtesy of Citizenship and Immigration Canada "Sound-icon-rtl" by Derivative work from Silsor's
Image has been cropped versiorotated with:Mehdi - File:Sound-icon.svg. Licensed
under CC BY-SA 3.0
Screenshot of “In Canada” video
Slide 3, 12 Students in hallway with lockers
http://hadfield.ca/?p=1155 (from January 2015) Slide 9
"ICS MS lockers" by Jimlaneyjr/Wikimedia Commons is
Golden Record cover public domain, user released.
Slide 6
"The Golden Record" by NASA/JPL is public domain. Citizenship ceremony
Slide 11
Heron Island Photo courtesy of Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Slide 6
"Heron Island" by NASA/JPL is public domain. Canadian Coat of Arms
Slide 14, 16, 17, 19
Astronaut Arms of Canada. Copyright: Federal Identity Program,
Slide 6 Government of Canada 
“Astronaut” by NASA/JPL is public domain.
Biggar proposed design of Canadian Coat of Arms
Violin with music sheet Slide 17, 19
Slide 6 "Proposed Canadian Coat of Arms" design by Edgar J.
Photo courtesy of the National Astronomy and Biggar in Mail and Empire, 15 February 1919. is public
Ionosphere Center NAIC - Arecibo Observatory, a facility domain, copyright expired.
of the NSF
Journal
Schoolroom UN Slide 19
Slide 6 Kara Zutz
United Nations DPI subject to following terms (
http://www.un.org/en/aboutun/terms/)

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