Opposition+to+War

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Usha's comments in Blue

Your name: Paula Panetta **﻿ Initial Reading and Assessment of Textbook Treatment of the Topic: Opposition to War** Name of Gr. 10 Textbook examined: Canadian Sources: Investigated 1914 to the Present Name of more "scholarly" source examined: Conscription, 1917: A Brief for the Defence, A. M. Willms, The Canadian Historical Review __Your Initial Thoughts:__
 * ==== Textbook covers the highlights of widespread Canadian support for the War, which is anticipated to be short lived. But as the war moves into 1916, it mentions groups that show growing disapproval and outright violet protest for conscription. ====
 * ====While the Quebec opposition is mentioned, there is little detail in the text; mentioning that "as early as 1915, Bourassa had concluded that the war was serving Britain's imperial interests, not Canada's interests", and "French Canadians in particular opposed conscription, sometimes violently".====
 * ====The article, on the otherhand, briefly examines the rift that conscription caused between Quebec and rest of Canada, and the united front Quebec had against it. But also went on to describe the negative feelings on English speaking Canadians as well.====
 * ====Additionally, the article argues the notion of whether conscription was even a failure, discussing the number of commonly agreed upon soliders that were drafted (83,355) (text discusses a number of 120,000 soliders of which 47,000 went overseas), failing to include men who were discharged, whose medical conditions worsened after they enlisted, were on compassionate leave or listed in the Imperical forces.====
 * ====The "why", "rationale", is not clear from the text on this topic.====

Thanks for your comments, Paula. It sounds like you've identified a variety of ways that the textbook treatment of the topic might be enhanced by having students grapple with some of the issues that emerged during the conscription crisis including, as you point out, the diversity of opposition, the significance of the opposition, whether conscription was a failure, whether it was a warranted or justifiable decision in the first place. Lots of possibilities to enrich this topic.

Craft a critical challenge that could drive student learning about your lesson plan topic:

Canadian support for the War, which was anticipated to be short lived, begins to wean as the war continues into 1916. Put yourself in the shoes of a politician from English Canada, and list images or phrases that you might use in a poster to recruit soldiers. Now, complete the same task for a politician from Quebec. Were the results the same or different? Very interesting approach. This is clearly a "design to specs" and also a "rework the piece". Nicely done. A suggestion to tighten up the wording a bit: it's often easier to keep kids focused (and to keep the teacher focused too!) if the challenge is tightly worded - e.g. Plan 2 recruitment posters: one for an English-Canadian audience and one for a French-Canadian audience.
 * Critical Challenge changed to:** Canadian support for the War, which was anticipated to be short lived, begins to wean as the war continues into 1916. List images or phrases that you might use in a recruitment poster for an English-Canadian audience. Now, complete the same task for a French-Canadian audience.

The critical challenge is design to specs.

Does the question require reasoned judgement? Yes, it requires the student to look at images or phrase results and compare / contrast how they are the same, where they are different, and what does this illustrate about the opposing viewpoints of English Canada and Quebec at this time.

Is the question likely to be perceived as meaningful by students? This is a question I am struggling with. It might draw on their own personal beliefs of how they would feel if they were being forced to join a war that they may or may not agree with, depending on their cultural backgrounds, personal experiences, or bias.

Will significant curricular understanding be uncovered as students work through the question? The images / phrases will uncover the conscription crises of World War I, and how this created tensions between English Canada and Quebec. It will also reinforce / explain how Canada become involved in World War I.

Is the question focused so as to limit the required background knowledge? Yes, it narrows investigation on the mood change towards the World War from 1916 onwards. It also limits investigative perspectives to the two groups, English Canada and Quebec.

Brainstorm what content students would have to know to be able to answer the question you have crafted; if it does not match the content that you might teach during the course of the lesson (i.e. it requires too much background knowledge that is outside of the scope of what you'll probably teach that day), you might need to tweak it a bit. Students will need to have an understanding of how Canadians entered the World War, and the perspectives of English Canada and Quebec at War entrance. __Lesson Design - Intial Planning Stages:__ 1. Identify Key Learning / "Big Idea" / Learning Target: The objective of this lesson is for students to think critically about Canada’s participation in World War I, and the impact conscription had on various groups in the nation. To also gain an understanding of propaganda posters used to either support or oppose participation in the War. Two groups that will be highlighted in this lesson are English Canadian and French Canadians. Yes, good start. Consider extending this a bit to articulate WHAT you want students to walk away understanding/thinking/believing about this topic/issue/content.

2. Frame Critical Challenge: Design to Specs

3. How will this lesson help students build skills they will need for the summative assessment task for the unit? One of the subtasks of the 2-page newspaper spread assignment are compelling visuals and captions. Students may choose to include one of these posters, depending on the newspaper location and bias. Posters may also serve as an introduction to how political cartoons are used.

4. What dimension of Historical Thinking will students actively engage in during this lesson? :Primarily, the historical thinking students will actively need to engage in during this lesson is "Historical Perspective", because students will need to understand how differently English Canadians and French Canadians perceived participation in the War and conscription. Secondarily, this lesson also uses the historical thinking of "Evidence and Interpretation", as students will need to interpret and validate the use of primary sources such as sample wartime propaganda posters in order to produce their own.

__Intellectual Tools:__ 1. Background knowledge: Students will need to understand the difference between a regular poster and propaganda poster. To be scaffolded as part of the mind set. 2. Criteria for judgment: Dominate element (headline or image) catch the reader's eye? Is an opinion expressed for the purpose of influencing actions or individuals or groups? So, you are outlining criteria for an effective poster? I was a bit confused because it seems that you don't necessarily want them to create a poster but just list the words/images. So perhaps they need criteria for powerful words and powerful images? We'll have to chat about this one a bit. I think you've got a good idea and it's manageable and reasonable - maybe I'm just misreading.

3. Habit of Mind: Inquiring mind 4. Thinking Strategies: Filtering 5. Critical Thinking Vocabulary: Perspective