Lesson Plan: A Golden Tour

Lesson Plan

Introduction

In the 60 years she has been on the throne, Queen Elizabeth II has visited Canada 22 times. Her visits have included every province and territory, and she has visited small towns and large cities. While she has met thousands of people throughout the nation, she has had a positive impact on even more of them.

Have students read the text on the download sheet A Golden Tour.

The Task

Students will be writing a proposal for an appropriate royal tour of Canada to celebrate the Queen's 60 years on the throne. Students prepare a mock itinerary for a royal visit to Canada. Students may write the proposal based upon a visit to their own town or province or for a cross-Canada tour. Students should consider the following when creating their itinerary:

Why did the Queen visit various sites in the past?

What is an important site that you think she should now visit? Why?

Is this site of some historic significance?

What should her role be in visiting this particular place?

What arguments should be presented to make the visit viable?

Students' proposals should include a formal letter, travel information, time frame, reasons for selecting specific sites, details about the purpose of the visit, and the site specifics. Depending on the site, students may need to determine which political or social figure(s) will host the Queen.

The Process

Students will begin their site selection and itineraries on the topic Canada's New Queen on the CBC Digital Archives website. Students should thoroughly review the topic, including the Did You Know? text before expanding their research to include other internet resources. Students must ensure they cite and credit all sources as necessary.

Conclusion

Have students work together in small groups to share their proposals prior to submitting them to the teacher. Students should be prepared to ask and answer questions, giving their reasons for choosing their site(s) for a royal visit and be able to provide supporting details from their research. Students may choose to revise some entries based on peer feedback. Following any final revisions, the class may choose to select one group's proposal to send to the appropriate government representative for consideration.