One of my favourite
assignments was developed by an Education professor and me specifically for her
class. The Archives has over 80 World War One recruitment, war bond, and Canada
Food Board posters available both originally and digitally for our students. This
assignment makes the most of the posters, relating them directly to the
grade-school curriculum and using them as a teaching tool.
We bring the students
to the Archives for a workshop with the posters. Using a few examples that I
have pre-selected, the students work through the questions on their assignment as a
practice run. The assignment is two-fold: one, the students answer questions from
the perspective of students taking a secondary school history class; and, two,
the students put together a lesson plan from the perspective of a teacher for
that history class. Both the original and the digital posters are used in the assignment.
(Here is the address for the posters: http://openarchive.acadiau.ca/cdm/landingpage/collection/ww1posters)
The Conference
In October 2013, this
assignment was the basis of a presentation made by the professor and me at the
Nova Scotia Teachers Union conference for the Social Studies Teachers
Association. Our presentation discussed the method for creating the assignment,
the lesson plan, and the material needed. We also provided advice for
practicing teachers who may want to adopt a similar assignment. Some attendees
were former students who had done the assignment a few years ago and could
speak from personal experience. I hope that more teachers will find these posters a
helpful tool for instruction.Note: An excellent secondary source to accompany the propaganda posters assignment is Selling Canada: Three Propaganda Campaigns that Shaped a Nation by Francis Daniel (2011).
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