Much Ado About the Canadian Flag

Much Ado About the Canadian Flag Instructional Focus IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS OF SEQUENCE TEXT PATTERN Sequence text pattern shows order. A wide variety of forms are organized using sequence text pattern, such as alphabet, counting, and how-to books, as well as history books, journals, and diaries in which events are shown in chronological order. Key words and phrases may include on (date), after, then, now, next, before, to begin, first, second, and finally. Instructional Approach GUIDED OR INDEPENDENT READING Much Ado about the Canadian Flag Student Book 5b, p. 82 Guided and Independent Reading Kit Expectations Student Book 5b, pages 82 85 Applying Strategies LANGUAGE O: Oral R: Reading W: Writing ML: Media Literacy O Communicate ideas and information orally in a clear, coherent manner R Identify a variety of organizational patterns in texts and explain how they help readers understand texts W Sort and classify ideas and information in a variety of ways ML Produce media texts for specific purposes and audiences, using appropriate forms/conventions/techniques SOCIAL STUDIES CONNECTION Aspects of Citizenship and Government in Canada: Explain the significance of civic buildings and symbols. About This Selection This informational report describes the controversies and debates surrounding the choosing of Canada s new flag in the 1960s. The simple sentence structure used in most of the selection, coupled with visual support, will make this article accessible to most students, although some vocabulary may be challenging. ACCESSIBILITY Easy Average Challenging Selection available on audio CD. ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING Ongoing Observation Students who understand will identify words that show the order in which things happen identify time words explain how knowing the characteristics of sequence text pattern helps the reader to understand what is read Differentiated Instruction If students do not understand, provide extra support in a guided reading lesson (see Differentiated Instruction: Guided Reading, p. 35) use Order Events by Time (see Differentiated Instruction: Extra Support, p. 35) If students find this text difficult to read, use a shared reading approach, allow them to listen to the selection on the audio CD, or choose an alternative selection from your school collection Assessment Demonstration Task, p. 39 Key Assessment Question How did knowing the characteristics of sequence text pattern help you understand Much Ado about the Canadian Flag? Assessment Tools BLM 2: Oral Language Tracking Sheet BLM 3: Small-Group Observation Tracking Sheet BLM 4: Self-Assessment Checklist and Personal Goal Setting BLM 9: Strategy Rubric Strip Sequence Text Pattern BLM 10: Demonstration Task Sequencing the Events Much Ado About the Canadian Flag 33

Before ACCESSING PRIOR KNOWLEDGE 1. Display the Canadian flag and, if possible, a flag from another country. You may also display other flags, such as a flag from a local sports team. Ask students the following questions and record their responses. Where do you see flags? (outside government buildings; on flagpoles; at the sports arena) What do you see on flags? (pictures; colours; designs) Why do people wave or display flags? (when they are celebrating something like Canada Day; when our hockey team wins) If we were designing a flag for our school, what would we need to think about? (what is special about our school; what our school colours are; our school logo) During by Vivien Bowers Applying Strategies Identifying Characteristics of Sequence Text Pattern As you read, look for these characteristics of sequence text pattern: Look for words that show the order in which things happen. Look for time words. Hoist the flag! The Canadian flag is the most recognized symbol of Canada. Red maple leaves flutter from flagpoles all across the country. The flag is even found in space on Canadarm, the mechanical arm used on the space shuttles. But deciding on this flag was not an easy process. Before 1965, Canada was using a flag called the Red Ensign. The Red Ensign was created in 1701 as the flag of the British Merchant Marine. Canada adopted the flag and made changes to it over the years. The Red Ensign is made up of the Union Jack, which is the national flag of the United Kingdom, and the shield from the Canadian Coat of Arms. I m shocked that nobody suggested putting a stylish moose on the flag! What about a Canada goose flapping in the breeze? Or a cuddly beaver? INTRODUCING THE TEXT 1. Ask students to read the title and the headings, and to look at the visuals and read their captions. Ask: What do you think this article will be about? (how Canada got its flag; the new flag of Canada) What do you think Much Ado means? (a lot of talking or arguing; a big fuss) 2. Read the introductory paragraph to students. Ask: Which sentence in this paragraph tells you what the article will be about? ( But deciding on this flag was not an easy process. ) 3. Direct students to Applying Strategies on Student Book page 82 and read it aloud. Ask: What will you look for to help you read and understand this article? (words that show the order; time words) 82 Citizenship and Government Vocabulary The Canadian Red Ensign adopted taken as your own coat of arms a design containing symbols that stand for special things about a family, government, or city debate argue or discuss both sides of a subject emblem a symbol; anything that stands for something else Legionnaires soldiers or former soldiers who are members of the Royal Canadian Legion opposition people on the other side in a debate proclamation an official announcement; a public declaration Strategy Tip: Using a dictionary Ask students if they have ever looked up the meaning of a word in a dictionary, and the meaning given was another word that they didn t know. Ask what they should do then. (look up the meaning of the second word) For example, if they looked up emblem in the dictionary, the meaning might be given as a symbol. If they didn t know what symbol meant, they would have to look up symbol. They would then know that emblem and symbol mean the same thing. 34 Nelson Literacy 5 Teacher s Resource: Citizenship and Government

Lester Pearson was prime minister from 1963 to 1968. The Canadian government started looking at ideas for a new flag in 1925 and again in 1946. Then again in 1964. Hey, no rush. In 1964, the government set up a committee to decide on a new flag. It received more than 2000 ideas. Red and white were already Canada s official colours. For years, Canadians had been using a maple leaf as a national emblem. The maple leaf has been a symbol of Canada since the 1700s. It has been used on uniforms, in coats of arms, in pictures, and on posters about Canada. Many people thought the flag should include red, white, and maple leaves (as in the Coat of Arms). Some people wanted three maple leaves. Others formed The Committee for a Single Maple Leaf to push for just one. Prime Minister Lester Pearson wanted a totally Canadian flag without any British or French symbols. This was the flag Prime Minister Pearson liked. 83 Differentiated Instruction: Extra Support Order Events by Time 1. Ask students to skim the article to find the dates and any time words associated with them. List these on the board as they provide them. (before 1965; 1701; 1925; 1946; 1964; since the 1700s; 1963 to 1968; December 15, 1964; February 15, 1965) Tell students that they are going to make a timeline to show the events associated with each date in sequence. Ask them to reorder the dates by time, and list these on the board again, one under another. 2. Ask what happened on each date and jot students responses beside each date. For example, since the 1700s: maple leaf used as symbol of Canada; 1701: Red Ensign created as flag for British Merchant Marine; 1925: Canadian government looks at ideas for a new flag; and so on. 3. Ask students to retell the events using the timeline and any time or sequence words needed. Discuss how using the timeline and the words helped them organize the information. READING THE TEXT INDEPENDENTLY Invite students to read the selection independently, using what they know about sequence text pattern to aid comprehension. Provide students with sticky notes to mark places in the text where sequence text pattern helped them understand what they were reading. OR FOR THOSE STUDENTS WHO NEED ADDITIONAL SUPPORT DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION: GUIDED READING 1. Read the text in the section headed The Flag Debate on Student Book pages 82 and 83 with students. Ask: How does the writer show the order in which things happened? (uses dates; time words such as before, over the years; words that show order, such as started, then, since, again) What flag was Canada using first? (the Red Ensign) Did this flag stay the same? (no; it changed over the years) When did the Canadian government look at ideas for a new flag? (started in 1925; again in 1946; again in 1964) When was the new flag chosen? How do you know? (in 1965; before 1965, the Red Ensign was used) Why was the maple leaf chosen for the new flag? (used as a symbol of Canada since the 1700s) 2. Ask students to look at the visuals and read the captions on these pages. Ask: Why do you think the cartoon characters are shown? (to give us more ideas of Canadian things that could be on the flag) Who was the prime minister during the flag debate? (Lester Pearson) CONTINUED Much Ado about the Canadian Flag 35

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION: GUIDED READING 3. Read The Debate Continues on Student Book pages 84 to 85 with students. Ask: What happened first? (there was a huge debate in Parliament) What happened next? (the prime minister ended the debate on December 15, 1964; there was a vote in Parliament; a new flag was chosen) What happened next? (two days later the Senate approved the flag) What happened last? (the Queen issued a proclamation declaring that as of February 15, 1965, Canada would have the new flag) 4. Ask students to read When You Make a Canadian Flag on page 85. Ask: If you made a Canadian flag, what should it look like? (twice as long as it is wide; white part is an exact square; red maple leaf has 11 points) The opposition wanted to keep a Red Ensign to show that Canada was still part of the British Empire. There was a furious debate in Parliament. It went on and on. Even the Canadian public got into the battle. Here are a few headlines from newspapers at the time. When the prime minister finally ended the debate on December 15, 1964, his side stood up and sang O Canada. The other side sang God Save the Queen. Obviously they still didn t agree. But the majority rules, so we finally got a new Canadian flag. The vote was 163 for and 78 against. The flag looked like this. The winner! Here are five other proposed flag designs. After These questions and activities give students the opportunity to share and consolidate their learning about sequence text pattern. You may use BLM 2: Oral Language Tracking Sheet and BLM 3: Small-Group Observation Tracking Sheet to track student progress through the unit. REFLECTING ON THE STRATEGY 1. Read the Strategies question with students at the bottom of page 85. Discuss it with students, encouraging them to use examples from the selection to illustrate their answers. 2. Read the Connections questions. Arrange students in small groups to discuss the questions, using what they know about flags from the article and personal experience. Prior to the discussion, you may wish to bring to class different flags or ask students to bring in flags to compare. Citizenship and Government 36 Nelson Literacy 5 Teacher s Resource: Citizenship and Government 84 About the Author: Vivien Bowers Vivien Bowers discovered a love of travelling very early. Her studies in university and teacher s college were mixed with many trips across Canada and the world. After teaching fifth grade for several years, Vivien decided to write books for children. She loves the creative part of being a children s author exploring a new idea and finding an interesting way to explain it to her readers. She also enjoys doing her own research, such as following muskoxen across the tundra in Nunavut for her book Wow Canada! Her two sons often come along for the ride, and are an inspiration for her work. Vivien has been a freelance writer for over 25 years. Besides her books, she has written materials for schools and magazines. She has won the Red Cedar Book Award and the Sheila A. Egoff Children s Award, among others. Vivien lives near Nelson, British Columbia, a town in the Selkirk Mountains.

Two days later, the Senate also approved the flag. Queen Elizabeth herself issued this proclamation, which declared that from February 15, 1965, the flag you see in the centre of the proclamation would be the national flag of Canada. The flag is supposed to be twice as long as it is wide. The white part in the middle is an exact square. The red maple leaf has 11 points (no reason why the designer just thought it looked good that way). Reflect on Strategies: How did identifying the characteristics of sequence text pattern help you to understand what you were reading? Connections: Think about flags you have seen. What do these flags have in common? What makes each flag unique? 85 ORAL: DISCUSSING THE TEXT 1. Why were the colours red and white and the maple leaf chosen for the new flag? (red and white are Canada s official colours; the maple leaf has been a symbol for Canada since the 1700s) 2. What did each side in the debate want? (one side wanted red and white and the maple leaf; the other side wanted to keep the Red Ensign) 3. If you had been in the flag debate, which flag would you have supported? Why? 4. Six other suggested flags are shown in the article. Do you know any of the symbols used on them? What do the symbols represent? 5. Read to students the proclamation for the new flag on the following page while students look at it on Student Book page 85. Ask: Why do you think Queen Elizabeth made this proclamation? (she is the head of state for Canada) Why do you think the proclamation uses the language it does? (it is very formal language; it s an older style of language that is used for legal documents) WRITING: CREATING POETRY Brainstorm with students different ways they could share their personal feelings about the Canadian flag through poetry. For example, they could write a free verse poem; write a poem around the outline of a maple leaf; choose a word or words such as Canada, maple leaf, or our flag and write a line for each letter of the word; or choose a form they are familiar with, such as diamante, haiku, or cinquain. WRITING: WRITING A JOURNAL ENTRY Ask students to imagine a typical day in their lives that would tell a person from another country what it is like to live in Canada. Then ask them to write a journal entry of the day, highlighting their main activities. Encourage them to use sequence text pattern, using time words and words that show the order of events. MEDIA LITERACY: DESIGNING A FLAG Discuss with students the kinds of groups or organizations for which they could design a flag, such as their family, their favourite sports team, or a club they belong to. Discuss what they have learned about flag design from the examples shown in the selection or other flags they have seen. For example: the design should be simple do not use too many colours, and separate the light colours from the dark use one or maybe two symbols that can be easily seen and understood Ask students to design a flag for their chosen group. Encourage them to share their designs in small groups, explaining the colours and symbols they used. Much Ado about the Canadian Flag 37

I don t have Gr. 5 SB to refer to. I have placed photo supplied to me by Kathrine Pummel at 90% to fit within text column 38 Nelson Literacy 5 Teacher s Resource: Citizenship and Government

Word Study Capitalization 1. Ask student pairs to skim through the selection Much Ado About the Canadian Flag and find the words that begin with a capital letter. 2. Discuss the rules for capitalization and record them, along with examples, on chart paper for future reference: first word of a sentence (The first word of this sentence is capitalized.) important words in a title (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) proper nouns; specific people, places, and things, including titles when used with a person s name (Senator Lee) continents, countries, provinces, cities (Asia, Poland, Alberta) days of the week, months of the year (Tuesday, July) holidays, festivals (Labour Day, Divali, Chinese New Year) buildings, organizations (Royal Ontario Museum) proper adjectives that describe people or places (Canadian, French) 3. You may wish to use Word Study Master 4. ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING Checking Progress Demonstration Task Have students list the time words, words that show order, and dates in The Flag Debate and The Debate Continues. Then ask them to use these words/dates to list the main events, and use the words/dates in the events. Students can record their words and events on BLM 10: Demonstration Task Sequencing the Events. Key Assessment Question Students may respond to the Key Assessment Question either in writing or orally in a conference. Ask: How did knowing the characteristics of sequence text pattern help you understand Much Ado about the Canadian Flag? Record individual progress on BLM 9: Strategy Rubric Strip Sequence Text Pattern. Next Steps Use the following resources to give students further opportunities to practise their reading strategies in small groups, independently, or in literature circles. Nelson Literacy Guided and Independent Reading Kit #25 Well Below: Tour Time on Parliament Hill #26 Easy: Bob Goes to Parliament #27 Average: Governments Working Together #28 Challenging: Thank You, Nurses! Other Nelson Resources Reading for Real 5: Canadian Festivals Strategy Rubric Strip: Sequence Text Pattern A full-size version of this rubric, suitable for recording assessments, is provided on BLM 9. Criteria Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 identifies words that show the order in which things happen with limited with some with considerable identifies time words to determine the sequence of events with limited with some with considerable explains how knowing the characteristics of sequence text pattern helps the reader to understand what is read with limited with some with considerable Cross-Curricular Application applies the knowledge of sequence text pattern in other areas of the curriculum with limited with some with considerable Student Self-Assessment Encourage students to think back to their learning with How to Become a Canadian Citizen and Much Ado about the Canadian Flag and reflect on their ability to use and understand sequence text pattern as a reading comprehension strategy. Ask them to describe, while conferencing with you or a peer, how they might have used this strategy in other subject areas. Then, direct them to check off the appropriate box on BLM 4: Self- Assessment Checklist and Personal Goal Setting. Much Ado about the Canadian Flag 39