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Class activity

Write an article or give an oral report about any great figure in Canadian history.

Levels

Elementary Cycle 3 and high school

Subjects

English, French, History

Objectives

• Use the resources available on the Internet.
• Focus on the relevant data for a given person.
• Make a written or an oral summary of the life of a great figure in Canadian history.
• Try to discover new information about a public figure and significant events in Canadian history.

Steps

1. Select a person on the list.
2. Read the biographical note in the exhibition.
3. Explore the background of the persons chosen to discover information on their lives, family histories, careers, achievements, roles played in significant events (Sources: Dictionary of Canadian Biography, The Canadian Encyclopedia, Les parlementaires depuis 1792 on the site of the National Assembly of Québec).
4. Write a newspaper article or a report to be televised. The length will depend on the grade level.

PROPOSED FIGURES

Artists

• Louis-Philippe Hébert (907 and 928)
• Calixa Lavallée (1180)

Aboriginal people

• Joseph Brant (Thayendanegea) (237)

Explorers

• Jacques Cartier (338)
• Samuel de Champlain (366 to 369)
• Jacques Marquette (1409)
• René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle (1157, 1158)

Women

• Emma Lajeunesse (Emma Albani) (14 to 16)
• Jeanne Mance (1381)
• Marguerite Bourgeoys (223 to 225)

Members of the business community

• Peter McGill (1334, 1335)

Members of the legal profession

• Louis-François-Georges Baby (82)
• François-Marie-Thomas Chevalier de Lorimier (1270)
• Sir Antoine-Aimé Dorion (578 to 581)

Politicians

• Sir George-Étienne Cartier (328 to 337)
• Sir John Alexander Macdonald (1297 to 1304)
• Alexandre Taschereau (2046 to 2052)
• Louis-Joseph Papineau (1637 to 1643)
• Sir Wilfrid Laurier (1164 to 1171)
• Jacques Viger (2201)

Journalists

• Olivar Asselin (69)
• Henri Bourassa (218, 219)
• Thomas D’Arcy McGee (1326 to 1330)

Doctors

• Sir William Hales Hingston (949 to 952)
• Jean-Olivier Chénier (402)
• Wolfred Nelson (1572)

Military personnel

• François-Pierre de Rigaud de Vaudreuil (2182)
• Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, marquis de Montcalm (1499 to 1509)
• James Wolfe (2264 to 2280)