Aisha Cheung

LT2: Diversity & Social Justice Lesson Plan

UNIT: Communities in Canada

LESSON – Character Profile Grade 2

Rationale

 This lesson is aimed for students to explore different communities in Canada. These
communities include ones that can be found within Canada and also outside of Canada.
 This lesson contains opportunities for students be creative when presenting their
information. They are required to identify relevant information and present it through
drawing and writing.

Curricular Connections

Language Arts:
 1.2 Clarify and Extend
 record ideas and information in ways that make sense
 2.3 Understand Forms, Elements and Techniques
 recognize that ideas and information can be expressed in a variety of oral, print and other
media texts
 3.1 Plan and Focus
 relate personal knowledge to ideas and information in oral, print and other media texts
 3.2 Select and Process
 find information on a topic, using a variety of sources, such as simple chapter books,
multimedia resources, computers and elders in the community
 use given categories and specific questions to find information in oral, print and other
media texts
 recognize when information answers the questions asked
 4.3 Present and Share
 present ideas and information by combining illustrations and written texts
 speak in a clear voice, with appropriate volume, at an understandable pace and with
expression
 show enjoyment and appreciation during listening and viewing activities
 5.2 Work within a Group
 contribute relevant information and questions to extend group understanding of topics and
tasks
 recognize own and others’ contributions to group process
Social Studies:
 2.1.1 appreciate the physical and human geography of the communities studied
 appreciate the diversity and vastness of Canada’s land and peoples
 acknowledge, explore and respect historic sites and monuments
 2.1.2 investigate the physical geography of an Inuit and a prairie community in Canada
by exploring and reflecting the following questions for inquiry
 What is daily life like for children in Inuit and prairie communities (e.g., recreation,
school)?
 2.1.3 investigate the cultural and linguistic characteristics of an Inuit and a prairie
community in Canada by exploring and reflecting upon the following questions for
inquiry
 What are the cultural characteristics of the communities?
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 How do the cultural and linguistic characteristics of the communities studied contribute to
Canada’s identity?

Student Learning Objectives

Resources and Materials

 “The Meeting Place” by Jim Gurnett, illustrated by Roger Garcia

 Container for slips of paper
 Small slips of paper with the character and their location/community
- Dancer boy - Inuit
- Jo - St. Isidore (the Prairies)
- Luis - Argentina
- Huan - Hong Kong (China)
- Chantel - Rwanda
- Vanessa - The Philippines
 Printed worksheet with the following questions, providing space to write and draw
- What is your name and what community do you belong to?
- What language do you speak? Have you heard of this language being spoken in
Canada?
- What is an activity that is from your culture? (Drawing!)
- What is a dish that is from your culture? Have you tasted this dish in Canada?
(Drawing!)
- What is a famous landmark from your location/community? (Drawing!)
 Collaborate with the school librarian and ask librarian to show the class where to find books on
the locations/communities within the school library

Learning Plan (What will student and teacher be doing?) - 63 minutes

 12 minutes – teacher bring worksheets and gather class go to the library with pencils and
erasers. Gather students to sit in one area where they can hear the teacher read, teacher read
aloud “The Meeting Place” by Jim Gurnett and show illustrations.

 5 minutes – after reading the book, teacher will go over worksheet with the class. Teacher will
tell students that they will be paired up and will draw a location/community from a container.
Teacher will read through the questions and allow time for students to ask questions after
each question. Students must understand that the last three questions should be answered
with words and a drawing.

 3 minutes – teacher pairs students up, ideally pairing students that have weaker literacy skills
with ones that are stronger in literacy skills. Students sit with their partner. Teacher allows one
member of the pair to draw a slip of paper with location/community name out of a container.

 3 minutes – librarian shows where to find books related to the locations/community and to their
reading level within the school library.

 25 minutes – teacher will hand out one worksheet per person and tell students to write their
name on their worksheet. Students disperse and, in pairs, find relevant books based on their
drawn location/community and their reading level. Students will fill out worksheet with
researched information. When pairs of students have completed their worksheet, they can
head back to the classroom on their own but in their pairs and colour their drawings.
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 15 minutes – when all students are finished with their worksheet, gather students to sit on the
reading carpet in the classroom. Teacher will ask and pick a pair of students to share all the
information they have researched with the class, including their drawings. Allow all pairs to
share all the information with the class, even when there are duplicate answers among the
same location/community. Students will hand in their worksheet after sharing with the class.

Assessment Practices (Formative and Summative)

● Formative
○ Engagement in researching information
○ Respect when working in pairs
○ Clarity in presentation
○ Respect when listening to others’ presentations
● Summative
○ Completion of the worksheet
○ Effort in the answers on the worksheet

Differentiation and Support

● ELLs:
○ Go over worksheet with ELL students at least one day before activity, allowing them to
bring worksheet home and ask parents for translations
○ Pair with a non-ELL student
○ Teacher check in with ELL students regularly to ensure understanding, especially
during research time in the library
○ If librarian is available as an aide, let ELL students know that they can ask librarian for
help
○ If available, School/Learning Support can offer help to ensure understanding

Teacher Reflection

Teacher will reflect on:

- how long each part of the activity actually took for future references when running
similar activity
- which students work well with each other
- which students struggled with finding relevant information and had the strength in
doing it
- what part of the activity went well and what can be altered for improvement
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Notes to the teacher

“The Meeting Place” by Jim Gurnett would be a very appropriate “hook” as it touches on the

cultural and linguistic diversity in Alberta. The book is printed with the following line: “The

publishing of this book was funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada” (Gurnett, 2012). It

is by an Albertan author, so the content of the book on cultural diversity is accurate. The book

introduces different cultures by using different characters, such as Jo from St. Isidore, Alberta,

and also mentions a First Nation boy dancing. This perfectly ties into the Alberta Grade 2 Social

Studies Program of Studies (2005) on Canada’s Dynamic Communities as students learn about

the diversity of Canada, and the Inuit people and the prairie community. On the other hand, this

lesson also draws from the Alberta Grade 2 English Language Arts Program of Studies (2000).

Students are required to find relevant information based on the location/community they have

drawn, and record that information in a presentable way, either in words, or in words and

drawing. This activity gives an opportunity for students to build the skill in researching and only

recording information that is needed. When answering the questions have you heard of this

language spoken in Canada? And Have you tasted this dish in Canada?, students are asked to

recall upon personal experience so that they can form a connection with the learning. Students

are required to answer some questions in drawing and in words because of a number of reasons.

Firstly, it provides an opportunity for creativity and imagination when students draw based on

the information found in books, regardless of whether the information is presented in text or in

picture. All students’ drawings will be unique because it is based on how they interpret the

researched information. Secondly, it allows ELL students to be able to communicate even if they

lack the vocabulary to express their knowledge. This can prevent ELL students from losing

confidence in expressing their ideas.

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This activity is set up to be collaborated with the school librarian so that students can be exposed

in finding information through books in the library. It creates an opportunity for students to be

familiar with different sections of the school library. By utilizing the school library resources, it

prevents any technological barriers between students and learning.

This activity calls for partner work and presentation. In working in pairs, students learn to

respect and listen to each other opinions, communicate ideas, and share reading materials. This is

a great opportunity for the teacher to make anecdotal notes on students’ behaviour when working

with others. Another opportunity for teacher to make anecdotal notes is when students do their

presentation, such as which students are excellent public speakers, and which students lack

confidence in public speaking. Students are to present in pairs so that for those who are ELL or

are less confident in public speaking, they would feel safer knowing that they are not presenting

alone.

The evaluation of the worksheet as a summative assessment should be graded based on each

student’s literacy level. For example, if a student is noted to be weak in spelling, the level of

spelling on the worksheet should not be compared to a student that excels in spelling. Teacher

should have a thorough understand of students’ learning profile before grading their effort on the

worksheet.
 Aisha Cheung

References

Alberta Government. (2005). English language arts. Retrieved from

https://education.alberta.ca/media/160360/ela-pos-k-9.pdf

Alberta Government. (2005). Social studies kindergarten to grade 12. Retrieved from

https://education.alberta.ca/media/159594/program-of-studies-k-3.pdf

Gurnett, J. (2012). The meeting place. Alberta: Alberta Association of Immigrant Serving

Agencies.