Students will create an article for an online history magazine to communicate whether they believe the actions of their selected nation–state during the Second World War were nationalistic or ultranationalistic.
Instructional Support
A number of possible tasks are provided in this suggested activity. It is not intended that you work through all of the tasks, but rather select those tasks and resources that will best meet the learning needs of your students. The focus should be on ensuring that students have the background and support to be successful with the skill that is the focus for assessment (communicate information).
Setting the Context for Learning
- To engage students in thinking about effective communication, ask them the following:
- Think of, locate and/or discuss a magazine article or other form of media that grabbed your attention and made you keep reading.
- Think of, locate and/or discuss a magazine article or other form of media that you quit reading almost immediately after you started.
- As a class, discuss the qualities of the articles that grabbed students' attention and the qualities of the articles that left students uninterested.
Communicate Information
- Provide samples of a variety of magazine articles that use text and images. Engage in a discussion with students about which articles they believe are most effective and why.
- Brainstorm a list of characteristics present in an effective article. Some suggestions may include the following:
- balances text and other elements
- uses tone and language appropriate to the audience
- provides succinct and relevant information
- engages the reader.
- If, during the brainstorming, student responses focus too much on writing conventions, such as spelling and punctuation, guide students toward characteristics such as those provided in the list above. The learning outcomes from the Social Studies 20-4 Program of Studies focus more broadly on the effectiveness of communication rather than on the fine detail of conventions.
- Share with students a piece of writing with many spelling, punctuation, grammatical, word choice and/or sentence construction/clarity errors. Ask students to brainstorm how these errors limit the effectiveness of communicating the author's ideas. Remind students that although there may not be an emphasis on marks for writing conventions in social studies, such conventions still impact the effectiveness of communication.
- Discuss with students the importance of organizing their ideas in a logical order to provide clarity for the reader. Again, remind students that although there may not be an emphasis on marks for organizing information in social studies, good organization is a very important aspect of effective communication.
- Provide students with photographs from newspapers or magazines. Ask students to examine the captions to determine key elements of caption writing, such as including several of the 5Ws in the same sentence. It is important that students understand that captions:
- clarify what the photograph is illustrating
- help the reader understand the significance of the photograph
- support a specific position.
- Brainstorm a list of factors to consider when selecting effective photographs to support the position a student has taken (see the Critical Challenges resources for this suggested activity).
Formative Assessment
Throughout this suggested activity, you will support students in achieving the following skill that is the focus for assessment:
The following formative assessment opportunity is provided to help students unpack and develop the focus skill for assessment. Feedback prompts are also provided to help students enhance their demonstration of the focus skill for this activity. Formative assessment support is not intended to generate a grade or score.
Formative Assessment: Assessment for Learning Opportunity
Communicate Information
Involve students in peer coaching to provide and receive feedback on how effectively they have communicated their ideas. Use the feedback prompts below to provide structure in guiding students through this formative assessment opportunity.
Feedback Prompts for Magazine Article:
- Do I use appropriate tone and language for a magazine article?
- Do I share the information in a concise manner?
- Does my writing interest the audience?
Feedback Prompts for Images and Captions:
- Do my images and captions relate to the experiences of the selected nation–state?
- Do my images and captions connect to the background information provided in my article?
- Do my images show how people's lives were affected?
These feedback prompts have been incorporated into the Communicate Information: Peer Coaching Tool 
, which can be copied or adapted for student use. Samples of tools created for a similar skill within a different formative assessment context may be found in the Social Studies 20-4 Formative Assessment Summary 
.
Linking to the Summative Assessment Task
- As students communicate information through the suggested activity Communicating for Maximum Impact, they will have completed the Summative Assessment Task – Ultranationalism: Nationalism Gone Too Far?
- Students should consult the assessment task and the assessment task rubric to ensure that they have provided the information required.
- Encourage students to use the feedback received through the formative assessment opportunity to make enhancements to their work in progress.
- If necessary, continue to use the feedback prompts from the formative assessment opportunity to coach students toward completion of a quality product.
- If student performance does not yet fall within the three levels described in the summative assessment task rubric, work with the student to formulate a plan to address the student's learning needs.
Suggested Supporting Resources
Textbook References
Student Basic Resource—McGraw-Hill Ryerson, Understanding Nationalism:
- Pages 130–147 Nationalism and Ultranationalism
Teaching Resource—McGraw-Hill Ryerson, Understanding Nationalism:
- Reproducible 2.6.2 Factors That Can Contribute to the Development of Ultranationalism
Web Resources
Web Links for Online Sources:
Videos:
- LearnAlberta.ca:
- YouTube.com website:
Distributed Learning/Tools4Teachers Resources:
Critical Challenges:
