Halifax+Explosion

Usha's comments in Blue. // Your name: // Brooke Taylor

**Initial Reading and Assessment of Textbook Treatment of the Topic**

// Name of Gr. 10 Textbook examined: // The Canadian Challenge © 2008

//Name of more "scholarly" source examined:// Destinies - Canadian History Since Confederation (5th Ed.) © 2004. (R. Douglas Francis, Richard Jones, Donald B. Smith)

//More advanced sources:// Shattered city: the Halifax explosion and the road to recovery. By [|Kitz, Janet F.]


 * AND**

In the Privy Council on appeal from the Supreme Court of Canada between the ship "Imo" (Southern Pacific Whaling Company, Limited, Owners) (Defendant), appellant and La Compagnie générale transatlantique (plaintiff), respondent record of proceedings, volume 1 Constant & Constant ... appellant's solicitors, William A. Crump & Son ... respondent's solicitors ---“An appeal and cross appeal from the Judgment of the Supreme Court of Canada delivered on the 19th day of May 1919 reversing, by a majority, the Judgment of the Honourable Mr. Justice Drysdale, Local Judge in Admiralty for the Nova Scotia District of the Exchequer. Court of Canada delivered on the 27th day of April 1918 in an action brought for damages by collision by the owners of the steamship ‘Mont Blanc’ (the Respondents) against the owners of the steamship ‘Imo’ (the Appellants).”

//__Your Initial Thoughts:__ Please provide a **brief** (5-10 sentences) initial assessment of the textbook's treatment of the subject. We have not developed any particular criteria by which to assess the textbook so this is really simply you initial reactions, feelings, questions about what you have read. Thanks!// The grade 10 history textbook is accurate in regards to the information provided for the students. Where the accuracy is lacking is in defining a few more key elements: what were the names/nationalities of the ships? How (in more detail) did the explosion happen? What is the reference information for the photograph (who, where, when)? Thankfully, event is certainly depicted as being devastating (human lives, property, etc.) and is put into context (“greatest human-made explosion in history until the atomic bomb was dropped in 1945” (24)). Finally, the text briefly talks about the social aspect of the explosion (the administration of aid; the hypothesis that the explosion was the work of spies; censorship of the most gruesome pictures/not released until years later). Where I think the text could have improved is by including more information (more than a short sub-section in “Air and Sea Wars” in chapter 1) about this devastating event in Canadian history. Thanks for your assessment, Brooke. In addition to more information, does the scholarly source suggest an approach to thinking about the topic? Is there any interesting controversy that is glossed over in the text? Do you think it might be interesting to look at the human element (i.e. examine multiple perspectives?) I look forward to hearing how you might proceed with this topic. =Critical Challenge =

Type 1:

Did the Halifax Explosion affect the lives of thousands of Nova Scotians?

Type 2: How do you think the Halifax Explosion affected the lives of Nova Scotians?

Type 3: Would the war have seemed less impending to Canadians and Americans if the Halifax Explosion had not happened? This is an interesting approach. I think there are many, many merits of having students consider "counter-factual" or "what if" history. This is a "critique the piece" which, although it's hard to identify in this structure, if you turn the question around to say "To what extent did the Halifax Explosion change Canadians perceptions of their role in the war?" or something like that - you can see it's clearly a critique the piece. Either way of framing the question is sound. Revamped Critical Thinking Question: The Halifax Explosion affected the lives of Canadians; what was the most prominent side effect of the Halifax Explosion for Canadians? Good. =Lesson Design - Initial Planning Stages =

Grade: 10 Course: CHC2D Unit: ONE, 1914-1929

// Key Learnings / “Big Ideas” / Learning Target: // Students will understand the devastating effects of the Halifax Explosion and that it ‘brought’ WWI to North America.

// Frame Critical Challenge: // The Halifax Explosion affected the lives of Canadians; what was the most prominent side effect of the Halifax Explosion for Canadians?

// How will this lesson help students build skills that they will need for the newspaper spread? // Maps. [] []

[]

// What dimension of Historical Thinking will students actively engage in during this lesson? // Historical Significance.


 * Intellectual Tools **

// Background Knowledge // Specific Expectations: Canada’s and Canadian’s contributions to the war effort overseas AND at home during WWI (47-48); gather information on Canadian history and current events from a variety of sources (52) Content/Skills: Students will need to know where Halifax is located, why the human death toll was so high, how shipping lanes work, why there were explosives travelling on Canadian waters and why they were foreign ships.

// Criteria for Judgement // Criteria for decision: criteria for a devastating event AND criteria for a comprehensive and effective map. Yes - you will need to outline what these criteria are ahead of time (even if you plan on having the students come up with them on their own - you will still need to have a sense, yourself, of what you hope they will come up with). So, "An event is devastating if it... - has human loss (do we need a qualifier here? e.g. does the human loss need to be "significant" - I'm not sure.) - is physically destructive - causes emotional distress / an emotional reaction - is unexpected / unplanned for And, a map is effective when it... - is clear and comprehensive - is readable without too many legends - has all the information you need (ie. legends) to understand the information presented on a map These are well articulated criteria. Nicely done.

// Habit of Mind // Empathetic.

// Thinking Strategies // A rating scale. **I don’t really know what defines a critical thinking strategy** We will be looking at lots of thinking strategies in class, Brooke. We haven't looked at many yet but in brief, a thinking strategy is either a series of steps or a graphic organizer that helps students sift through background information in order to apply criteria to make a decision. So, for example, they will be looking at the maps you have linked to above (great idea by the way). Those maps will be replete with information. A thinking strategy might consist of a chart that has the criteria for an effective map down one side and a column for each map they're going to look at across the top. Then, they could gather evidence and information from the map in a purposeful way. Similarly, you might provide them with a thinking strategy for making the final decision about what the most significant side effect was. So they might have to list all the side effects and some relevant information about each and then rate each side effect according to the criteria for significance in order. Does that make sense? It's an "in between" step that helps them sift through all the information that comes their way in order to make an informed decision. Let me know what you think. Cool! Okay, I get it now -- it's basically an organizational tool for the students? That makes sense; thanks Usha! In that case, my thinking strategy will be a chart with 3 columns. The first column will have empty boxes where students (after brainstorming criteria in class) will put criteria that they (individually) think defines an effective map. The second column will be for Map #1 and the third column will be for Map #2 - boxes will correspond with column one's criteria. Yes, you've got it.

// Critical Thinking Vocabulary // Analysis; fair; just.