Background Activities

Lesson Plans One and Two

Grade Level: High School & Middle School

(Expected Outcomes to vary – Teachers must adapt depending on grade Level)

The purpose of this introductory activity is to provide students with background knowledge on Ireland and the Irish in New Brunswick while developing or enhancing research skills. Students will also focus on varied ways to evaluate information sources.

1. Divide the students into small groups and ask each group to collect 15-20 facts on Ireland and the Irish in New Brunswick (perhaps ten facts on each). Have the students record the source of their information next to each fact collected. Cut the paper into strips, each of which contains one fact.

2. As a class, generate a list of categories based on the facts the students have collected. These categories will serve to organize the information collected. Record these categories on a wall chart. Ask each group to paste its facts in the appropriate categories on the wall chart.

The following is a list of resources that students may use to begin researching. Students should be encouraged to discover additional sources on their own.

Ireland Facts

New Brunswick Facts

Another New Ireland Lost: The Irish in New Brunswick by Peter Toner

Almost as Bad as Ireland: The Experience of the Irish Immigrant of Canada, Saint John, 1847 by James M. Whalen

Timothy Warren Anglin: Irish Pioneer in New Brunswick

A Famine Journal: The Journal of Gerald Keegan

Saint John, New Brunswick: The Irish Story

Who Were the Celts?

Map of Ireland

Maps Of New Brunswick and its Counties

3. As the students move through the lesson activities, encourage them to continue to record information about Ireland and the Irish in New Brunswick on the wall chart. Post this chart as a shared resource for further lesson activities.

4. After the wall chart is complete, ask each group to create a brief paragraph describing how it collected and categorized its information. Have each group share its paragraph with the class. Lead a class discussion on the following questions:

– What were the most useful sources of information?

– What would you do if you were to find conflicting information?

– What were the most effective strategies for categorizing information?

– What did you learn from your research about searching for information, summarizing information, and analyzing information?

5. Ask each group to select one information source that it found to be extremely helpful, and share it with the class. Have the students discuss the reasons for their selections, and compare similarities and differences in each group’s choices. After all the groups have presented their favourites, assist the students to create a class rubric (set of rules or criteria) for rating information sources. After completing their rubric, have the students visit the following Web site:

University of Nebraska – Rubric for evaluating a website

Compare and contrast the class rubric with suggestions from this Website.

Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan One

Grade level: High School

Standards

Language Arts
Level IV: Grades 9-12

Writing

Standard 1 – Uses the general skills and strategies of the writing process
http://www2.mcrel.org/compendium/standardDetails.asp?subjectID=7&standardID=1

Uses strategies to adapt writing for different purposes (e.g., to explain, inform, analyze, entertain, reflect, persuade)

Standard 4 – Gathers and uses information for research purposes
https://www2.mcrel.org/compendium/standardDetails.asp?subjectID=7&standardID=4

Organizes information and ideas from multiple sources in systematic ways (e.g., time lines, outlines, notes, graphic representations.

Reading

Standard 7 – Uses skills and strategies to understand a variety of informational texts

http://www2.mcrel.org/compendium/standardDetails.asp?subjectID=7&standardID=7

Uses reading skills and strategies to understand a variety of informational texts (e.g., textbooks, biographical sketches, letters, diaries, directions, procedures, magazines, essays, primary source historical documents, editorials, news stories, periodicals, catalogues, job-related materials, schedules, speeches, memoranda, public documents, maps)

Media

Standard 10 – Understands the characteristics and the components of the media
http://www2.mcrel.org/compendium/standardDetails.asp?subjectID=7&standardID=10

Understands how different media (e.g., documentaries, current affairs programs, web pages) are structured to present a particular subject or point of view

Life Skills – Working With Others

Standard 1 – Contributes to the overall effort of a group
http://www2.mcrel.org/compendium/standardDetails.asp?subjectID=22&standardID=1

Demonstrates respect for others’ rights, feelings, and points of view in a group
Helps the group establish goals, taking personal responsibility for accomplishing such goals

Science

Standard 6 – Understands relationships among organisms and their physical environment
http://www2.mcrel.org/compendium/standardDetails.asp?subjectID=2&standardID=6

Knows ways in which humans can alter the equilibrium of ecosystems, causing potentially irreversible effects (e.g., human population growth, technology, and consumption; human destruction of habitats through direct harvesting, pollution, and atmospheric changes)

Geography

Standard 17 – Understands how geography is used to interpret the past
http://www2.mcrel.org/compendium/standardDetails.asp?subjectID=8&standardID=17

Understands the ways in which physical and human features have influenced the evolution of significant historic events and movements (e.g., the effects of imperialism, colonization, and decolonization on the economic and political developments of the 19th and 20th centuries; the geographical forces responsible for the industrial revolution in England in the late 18th and early 19th centuries; physical and human factors that have led to famines and large-scale refugee movements)
Knows physical factors that have led to famines
Knows human factors that have led to famines

Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan One

Grade level: High School

Learning Objectives

1. Students will conduct Internet research on the history of Ireland and the Irish in New Brunswick.

2. Students will create a rubric (set of rules or criteria) for evaluating information sources.

3. Students will synthesize information from varied sources to create a research-based presentation.

4. Students will learn how people in varied disciplines use information to learn about past societies.

Review the following sites and articles and also view the links in the “Procedures for Teachers” section:

Who were the Celts?

What is a Celt and Who are the Glasgow Celtics?

The Six Celtic Languages

Irish and Scots are the Same Tribe

Passage Tombs of County Meath

National Geographic – Archaeology

Climatologist Toolbox – Dendrochronology

Principles of Dendrochonology

Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan One

New Perspectives on Canadian History and the Role Played by Our Early Immigrants

Grade Level: High School

When trying to gain insight into times long past, it is important to obtain information from a variety of different disciplines. In this lesson students will learn how various disciplines contribute to our knowledge of early New Brunswick society. The students will read selected essays within the Virtual Irish Trail section of the ICCANB website and suggested links, then participate in activities designed to further their understanding of the subject material while strengthening their skill sets across various learning disciplines.

Lesson Plan One contains the following sections:

Learning Objectives

Standards

Procedures for Teachers:

– Background Activities

– Activity One

– Activity Two

– Extension Activities

Lesson Plan