Example of Unit Plan description:

Unit Title: Home away from home: How have the experiences and contributions of immigrants shaped Canada as we know it today? / Grade: 5
Unit Goals:
1.  Students will begin to understand how immigration and immigrants built (and continue to build) Canada as we know it today.
2.  Students will develop an understanding of various factors related to immigration.
3.  Students will learn about the contributions immigrants have made (and continue to make) to Canadian society.
SS Learning Outcomes (Grade 5):
1.  Recognize how an understanding of Canadian history and the stories of its peoples contributes to their sense of identity (I, TCC)
2.  Acknowledge the contributions made by diverse cultural groups to the evolution of Canada (CC, I, TCC)
3.  How do stories of immigrants contribute to an understanding of the development of Canada? (CC, I, TCC)
Lesson # and title / Specific Objectives / Methods/Activities / Resources / Assessment Strategies & Criteria
1 / Introduction to Immigration / - introduce students to the concept of immigration / - In groups, students read storybooks detailing life of an immigrant (preferably to Canada)
- discuss these as an entry point into the concept of “immigration” – what’s common in each of the stories? / - Select from a variety of children’s books that have immigration as a theme, such as: My Chinatown, Landed, Courage to Fly, The Tin Cup / - students are able identify common themes in the storybooks, and begin to formulate ideas about immigration, possibly based on their own experience with it
2 / Immigration: Introduction to Push and Pull factors (1) / - activate prior knowledge/experience with immigration
- introduce concepts: push and pull factors / - students prepare to interview family members or friends who have immigrated to Canada
- working in groups, and then as a whole class, students formulate powerful questions for their interviewee, focusing on reasons why people came to Canada/left their first home / - “Forces of Immigration” lesson plan on Historica website: www.histori.ca – needs to be adapted for grade level
- Family members or friends (students’)
- Sample interview questions / - students are able to formulate powerful questions for their interview, focusing on reasons why people came to Canada/left their first home
3 & 4 / Immigration: Introduction to Push and Pull factors (2) / - reinforce understanding of push/pull factors
- investigate specific push/pull factors / - in small groups, students share interview results and groups begin to look for common themes
- whole class: invite groups to share their work – and examine interview results for common themes
- introduce terms “push” and “pull” re: factors that influence a person’s decision to immigrate
- begin to categorize themes (above) into push/pull factors and discuss how these might work / - students’ interview responses
- grade level appropriate definitions of “push’ and “pull” factors:
*Push factors: reasons why someone would leave their first home in another country and move to Canada.
*Pull factors: reasons why someone from another country might think coming to Canada would be a good idea and good for them. / - assess students’ group work abilities
- assess if students correctly identify the push/pull factors for the person they interviewed
- students are able to demonstrate their understanding of the working definitions of push/pull factors with clear examples drawn from their own, or others’ interviews