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Learning from Labour |
Intermediate ETFO Resource
| www.etfo.ca
Every Day is Labour Day!
Lesson Plan
Curriculum Expectation(s) and Big Ideas and Concepts
Unit
Grade
Teacher(s) Timeline:
Every Day is Labour Day!
Grade 7 and 8
45 minute lesson
Lesson Description
Students will select and explore one of three aspects of ‘Labour’ which positively impact our society yet are taken for granted: Labour
Day and the labour movement, current Employment Standards and Health and Safety Regulations in Ontario and Organized Labour.
Students will make connections as to how unions have impacted past and present society.
Curriculum Expectations(s)
Big Ideas and Concepts
History
Use the historical inquiry process to investigate perspectives of
different groups on some of the significant events, developments
and/or issues that affected Canada and/or Canadians.
Describe various significant events, developments and people in
Canada between key dates indicated and explain their impact.
Analyze key similarities and differences between Canada in the
key dates indicated and in the present day, with reference to the
experiences of and major challenges facing different groups and/
or individuals and to some of the actions Canadians have taken to
improve their lives.
The Big Ideas
The benefits and rights we enjoy as citizens are the result of
the struggles of others. Their actions in the past are significant
because they impact me today. (Historical Significance)
There are ways that we collectively recognize and celebrate
those efforts in statutory holidays and festivals. (Cause and
Consequence)
Our families are part of this history as we are all part of labour in
some way. (Continuity and Change)
The Framing Questions
In what ways are Canadian human rights and labour standards
a result of the struggles of people in the past? How do these past
events impact upon me today?
What are the accomplishments and how are they recognized?
How have those accomplishments changed over time?
What can we learn from the ways in which people met challenges
in the past? What agency can we demonstrate in the future when
faced with similar challenges?
(
Extension: Collecting Oral History: What have your family
experiences ‘labouring’ been?)
Reading
Accommodations/Modifications
The Origins of Labour Day and the Labour
Movement
Dawson, J. (2015) The First Labour Day. Retrieved June 21, 2015
from http://www.canadashistory.ca/Magazine/Online-Exclusive/
Articles/The-First-Labour-Day
Frank, D. (2014, August 30). Frank: Labour day belongs to us all.
Retrieved May 29, 2015 from http://ottawacitizen.com/news/
national/frank-labour-day-belongs-to-us-all
Arrange students in mixed ability groupings.
Select the website to be read.
See ETFO Special Education Handbook for suggestions on how to
meet the needs of all learners.
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