Women's Suffrage

THE DOOR STEADILY OPENS

The broom reads "women's suffrage" and each of the men at the table are labeled with things such as "special privilege" and "vice". I like the devil in the background serving drinks. Of course the idea is that by allowing the woman into the room, she will be able to sweep out corruption from society. Corruption fueled primarily by alcohol, as in 1900 prohibition was seen as a woman's response to a man's problem. Interesting...

Many of the cartoons that I use in class were taken from this book by Charles Hou (former Socials 10 teacher in BC):

Great Canadian political cartoons, 1820 to 1914

Historica

The historica site features one-minute videos on Canadian history topics. Do not expect large (and more helpful) themes like "National Policy", but you will find interesting biographies and short summaries of events in our past. Of interest to Socials 10 content, you will find a one-minute video on topics such as:
- The Underground Railroad
- Louis Riel
- Laura Secord
etc.

If you click on the "education" link, there are "lesson plans" provided for various topics. I didn't find these too helpful (how much of a lesson can really be based on a one-minute video?) but they did give some ideas to explore.
I personally have used these videos when doing a lesson on Prairie settlement. It also provides some examples of women in our history that is lacking in the textbook. Search for your topic and you never know.. there may be a helpful one-minute video to add into your lesson!

Days of the Rebels

Margaret Atwood is a famous Canadian author and wrote this non-fiction book called "Days of the Rebels" in 1977. The most interesting part for me was the focus on the social context of the time. You really get a sense of what it would have been like to live in the early 1800's in Canada and what the 'regular' people in Canada were going through. Of course, it also details what happened in the aftermath of the rebellions and the backlash against those who dared to speak against the government.
There are interesting sections throughout the book, although much of it I was familiar with. The most useful part in Socials 10 is the second chapter that includes primary source quotes from the journals of pioneer women. The Socials 10 learning outcomes talk about the role of women in Canadian history, but there is very little in the textbook apart from a short biography of Emily Stowe to satisfy this. However, you can use some of these primary source quotes or even the whole chapter by Margaret Atwood as the basis for a brainstorming exercise "what was life like for pioneer women" or "write a journal from the perspective of" assignment.
I did a quick search and the cheapest place to purchase this seems like amazon.
Days of the rebels: 1815-1840 (Canada's illustrated heritage)