Huron Park Secondary, Woodstock (Ontario)
Lindsay Hall's grade 10 summative task, “Historical Sources for the 21st Century; Significant Canadian WWII Battles and Contributions” concludes a unit on WWII, during which students hone their skills in source evaluation using alternative historical sources.
Students progress through a variety of lessons and work stations, completing a series of tasks designed to hone their research and historical inquiry skills. Using video games, movies, graphic novels, newsreels and slide presentations students learn about the battles of the second world war, studying the role that Canadians played in Hong Kong, The Dieppe Raid, The Battle of Britain, The Italian Campaign, the war in the air and at sea, D-Day and The Liberation of the Netherlands.
The summative activity has students apply their skills to create a final product, in the form of a movie or comic. The entire class then shares their work in a “Gallery Tour” format, with the assignments expected to be “usable” sources for future classes. By using media that today's youth are familiar and adept at, Lindsay Hall builds on these competencies to teach her students how to evaluate the reliability, accuracy and historical authenticity of sources.