Your overall goal will be to develop a deep understanding of your topic based on the question, respond to the question based on what you have come to understand, and then communicate what you have learned to others in the class at the end of the project. The form of the final presentation (your representation of what you have learned) will be decided by your group; however, it needs to be relatively interesting to the audience (the class). Ideally, you will incorporate technology into your presentation. Some ideas could include creating a website, a Prezi, a blog, a film, or some other media rich format.
This project asks you to do a number of things:
1. Begin identifying what you might already know by responding to the questions on the “What Do We Already Know?” page.
2. Form groups of 4 or 5 people each.
3. Read the United Nations definition of genocide.
4. Start adding to what you already know about Indian Residential Schools in Canada by doing research with your group.
In your groups decide how you will approach this and how you will proceed. As you do your research, you are encouraged to begin sharing your ideas about how you would answer the guiding question. Use the “Questions/Discussion” page to ask questions, share ideas with other groups etc.
Investigate a variety of resources including both print and visual materials. It is important to also seek out Residential School survivor stories. See the “Potential Resources” page to access some of these stories online.
5. After you have done some research, your group you will need to come to a consensus as to how to answer the question. You will then need to develop a short presentation for the class that responds to the question, and importantly, shows how you came to decide on your answer. In other words, you will need to support your decision with examples from your research.
6. Participate in large class “debrief” discussion following presentations.
7. Complete assessments (see “Assessment” page).