Victor Petrella

Amanda Zavos

Marlena Legault-Monton

EDEC 404 – Fourth Year Professional Seminar

Substitute Teacher Toolbox

Subject: History and Social Studies Cycle/Year: Cycle 1, Grade 8

Lesson Plan Title: Propaganda Time Period: 75 – 90 minutes

Learning Targets/Student Learning Objectives: Subject Are Competencies

- Competency #1= Examines social phenomena from a historical perspective

- Competency #2= Interprets social phenomena

Cross-Curricular Competencies

- Competency #1= Uses information

- Competency # 4= Uses creativity

- Competency # 8= Cooperates with others

- Competency #9 = Communicates appropriately

Broad Areas of Learning

- Citizenship and community life

o Key/Essential/Guiding Questions

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to…

1) More adeptly analyze historical primary sources, and use historical evidence to interpret historical

narratives.

2) Recognize propaganda texts and understand how they have been used throughout history to influence

people’s thought processes.

Lesson Process & Activities:At the start of this lesson, students must immediately take their seats and, on a sheet of loose-leaf paper, write down

an answer to the Reflection Question [see Appendix] that the teacher will display on the

chalkboard/whiteboard/Smart-Board. During this warm-up activity, the teacher will take attendance and do a

materials-check. Students are expected to have their agenda, writing materials (i.e. notebook, pens, pencils,

erasers, etc.), and water bottle with them at all times. Taking attendance and conducting the materials-check should

take no longer than 2 minutes, although students may be provided with a maximum of 10 minutes to complete the

warm-up activity.

Once students have finished writing down their working definition of the term PROPAGANDA, as requested by

the Reflection Question, the teacher must initiate a class discussion. All students should be encouraged to share

their answers/definitions with the class, as well as expand upon the answers of their peers. This segment of the

lesson should last for no more than 5 minutes.

Afterwards, the teacher will provide students with a clearer definition of PROPAGANDA, while also incorporating

elements from the working definitions that they wrote in the previous activity. Furthermore, the teacher will also

provide a brief explanation of how propaganda is used. This explanative segment of the lesson will be very brief,

lasting no more than 5 minutes.

During the next phase of the lesson, the teacher will present the class with several examples of propaganda to be

analyzed. The propaganda texts used [see Appendix] will include several posters from the 1917 Quebec

Conscription Crisis. The teacher may take a few minutes to briefly describe this event to the class and provide

students with helpful contextual information; however he/she should not engage in a fully-fledged lecture, as the

focus of this particular lesson is propaganda more generally. Students will be instructed to break up into groups of

4 or 5 and analyze one of the posters being displayed on the Smart-Board/projector screen. The teacher should also

instruct students to take note of the text, colours, and imagery used by the propaganda posters, and to use the

elements to help them discern the deeper themes or messages that are being transmitted. After having provided

students with ample time to work together, the teacher will ask each group to share their observations with the rest

of the class. This activity will last for a maximum of 20 minutes.

The remainder of the class will be spent with students (still in their groups of 4 or 5) designing their own

propaganda posters. Each group will be provided with a white poster, markers, coloured paper, and other art

materials so that they can work on this assignment. Students’ propaganda posters should revolve around a

contemporary issue (i.e. bullying, poverty, etc.) and make creative use of text, colour, and imagery. Once students

have completed their posters, the last few minutes of class time will be spent showcasing each group’s finished

product. This activity will last for 30 minutes, until the end of the class.

At the end of the lesson, the teacher will collect all student work for evaluation, and dismiss the class.

Materials/Resources: Pens, pencils, and erasers

Colours, markers, crayons, etc.

White Poster Boards

“Quebec Must Not Rule All Canada” poster

Your Chums are Fighting, Why Aren’t You?” poster

“Canadiens-Français Venez Avec Nous Dans Le 150ieme Bataillon C.M.R.” poster

Laptop computer

Projector

Projector screen and/or smartboard

Appendix:

Reflection Question:

“In your own words, try and define the term ‘propaganda.’ What is it, and how is it used?”

“Quebec Must Not Rule All Canada” poster

Your Chums are Fighting, Why Aren’t You?” poster

“Canadiens-Français Venez Avec Nous Dans Le 150ieme Bataillon C.M.R.” poster