Democracy

Canadian Democracy Information and Links
Parliament virtual tour...
http://www.ottawakiosk.com/panos/parliament_2.html

http://www.collineduparlement-parliamenthill.gc.ca/index-eng.html

Government site on democracy
http://www.international.gc.ca/glynberry/transitions.aspx?lang=eng

http://canadaonline.about.com/od/whodoeswhat/Who_Does_What_in_the_Federal_Government.htm

Lesson 1:
Big Question: What governments expected to do? Answers will be written in the form of a Brainstorm Web on (5 minutes)

Body of Lesson:

After the brainstorm, you will be split into three groups, A, B and C. Each group is now an independent country. Your group will need to come up with a name for their country and then pick someone in the group to represent you. The representative of each group will be given a cue card, which will state the type of government that their country uses.(See your slide show notes on comparitive governments). (5 min)

Your government must now deal with an issue. This issue is how pollution and how it is impacting your country and the citizens. How will your  government deal with the problem? (20 minutes)

Final Question: How did you feel being a citizen that country? How did the form of government affect the decisions that were made and the say you had in the government?( For example if you were part of the Dictatorship group, how did you feel about not having a choice in the decision of their country? (10 minutes)

Reflection:
Have your answers changed about government, and the best form of government?
 What do we expect of a democratic government and how is this different from the role of government in other countries?

Assessment:

You will be assessed for understanding on the basis of their participation in the activity.

Lesson 2:
Big Question: How do the different levels of government in Canada affect you?

Objectives:

• Identify the three levels of government in Canada: Federal, Provincial, and Municipal
• Understand that the Canadian Government is a constitutional  monarchy, where our Parliamentary system contains three branches, the Legislative, the Executive and the Judiciary.

Discussion: What type of government does Canada have? (Representative Democracy)
How is this different from Direct Democracy?

“How has government affected you since you woke up this morning?
 
Explore notes and handouts on Canadian Government... See notes in class.
See below and download if needed:


Government notes -

Reference links:
http://www.library.ubc.ca/edlib/lessonplans/sec/ssed314/Grade%2011/Gr.%2011-Canadian%20Government-G.%20Chapman.pdf

Blogging Lit Circles

The lastest "Tech Project" is blogging with Literature Circles. So far it is going realllllllllllyyyyyy well. The engagement is really high. Rather than reams of handouts to correct, I know how tons of blog postings... at least it's less strain on my back and trees! I have the documents on my classroom blog. I uploaded all the handouts using docstoc.com and now the kids can just download the information for the roles and blog journals as they need them. I am really excited about the project. You can check out what we have been doing on Literature Circles page of stewiessmartthoughts.blogspot.com.

The blogging with Cpl. Hamelin (peace keeper in Sudan) is really connecting well with the uprisings in the Middle East and our Social Studies unit.