Given that Culture and Citizenship in Québec (CCQ) is a fairly new course, there are not many relevant resources to turn to, which can make lesson planning a little tricky. In this article, we share seven resources from Alloprof that you can use as a starting point for CCQ learning activities.
While they are not necessarily labelled as such, the Alloprof Teachers website contains many useful resources for developing CCQ skills. Here are a few examples:
Young students do not always have a lot of vocabulary for their emotions. They may have trouble expressing how they feel beyond “I’m angry,” “I’m sad,” or “I’m happy.” One of the key features of the competencies developed in Cycles 1 and 2 of the elementary CCQ program is Considers emotions. This feature is broken down into the ability to recognize emotions, associate reactions with emotions, and, in Cycle 2, identify possible triggers for emotions.
The Emotion Wheel, which contains 20 terms for a range of emotions, gives students more precise language with which to talk about their feelings. Why not have your students print it out and glue it to the front page of their CCQ notebooks so they can easily refer to it throughout the year?
Another excellent resource for expanding your students’ emotional vocabulary is our list of reading suggestions for learning to put emotions into words. Reading naturally leads students to think about what the protagonists are going through and how their emotions affect the other characters.
To vary assessment methods and demonstrate pedagogical flexibility, consider having your students synthesize their learning in the form of an oral presentation.
Our current events podcast activity can be easily adapted to any topic you discuss in class. After a class activity, you can have students present what they learned by creating a podcast in groups or two or three.
For example, you can ask them to discuss cultural realities by identifying characteristics of the relationships between people, groups, or institutions, comparing them, or assessing the relevance of their observations.
You could also assess the Examines points of view component of Cycle 3 by encouraging your students to compare the points of view of multiple people, identify similarities and differences, and draw conclusions.
Just about any activity can become an opportunity to help students hone their critical thinking skills, including browsing the internet, looking at news or social media, and doing research. Alloprof’s How to Spot Fake News poster, which you can put up in your classroom, is a handy tool for reminding students to view sources through a critical lens.
This theme dovetails with the Reliability of information on digital platforms component of the CCQ program. Though listed as Grade 3 content, this component is useful for all grade levels. We recommend reading our article on explaining website credibility to kids and our website credibility concept sheet (French only) for more ideas on broaching this topic.
You can tie in the Considers emotions feature of the Examines cultural realities competency by getting students to reflect on their emotions when they are on the internet. How do sites with intrusive pop-up windows affect their mood? How does that compare to visiting sites that are pop-up-free? How do they feel when a website is bursting with colours and images versus understated or plain?
Many other resources on Alloprof’s website can be used to explore themes in the Culture and Citizenship in Québec program.
Since we did not specifically develop this content with CCQ in mind, it is essential to maintain the impartial stance that the program requires. In other words, you must remain objective and encourage students to develop their own point of view.
Our video on puberty explains the various physical and mental changes that can happen when kids go through puberty. While it examines the subject from a biological standpoint, the video can easily be used to start a conversation about how puberty affects interpersonal relationships.
For example, you could open the discussion by asking students whether they have noticed any changes in their older siblings or other relatives. Has puberty affected their relationship with them or changed their family dynamics?
Our website includes an interdisciplinary LES (English and Art) titled Deconstructing the Cereal Box. There is much to glean from analyzing cereal boxes as a medium. The exercise is a perfect way to get students thinking about the reliability of information and what exactly constitutes a medium.
Possible discussion questions include:
You can use questions like these to encourage students to compare different points of view, such as professional nutritional advice versus nutrition claims presented in advertising. You can also engage their critical thinking skills by having them evaluate the relevance of different pieces of information.
If you are reading this during the lead-up to the holidays, it is a perfect time for students to learn about different holiday traditions in Quebec. Though most Quebecers celebrate Christmas, many observe other winter customs.
Whether you want to focus on rituals and celebrations (Grade 2) or examine the diverse make-up of Quebec’s population and different cultural references (Grade 5), our Winter Celebrations Around the World tool is an excellent place to start.
In Quebec, there are communities that celebrate Hanukkah, the Epiphany, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, Dongzhi, and many other festivals. You could compare different traditions in class and perhaps learn about what your students observe with their families.
You can also compare Alloprof’s recommended Christmas reading lists, which feature books, comics, and stories. This is a great activity to add to a classroom Advent calendar!
The One Year of Environmental Education is a framework for the school year that consists of 10 themes related to the environment and ecological transition. It contains a wealth of information you can use to address the Culture and Citizenship in Québec theme of Relationships between humans and the environment. As previously mentioned, it is crucial to present these themes impartially to maintain the critical distance required in the CCQ program. The One Year framework is nevertheless a good starting point for introducing students to existing environmental resources.
Some of the stories in the French version of Alloprof’s Book of Spells game come from Native communities (e.g., Minic, une histoire de bleuets, Louta et le pipon, and Louta et le sikon). Reading them in class not only helps students improve their French reading comprehension, but also teaches them a bit about Indigenous culture.
By offering a glimpse of different cultural realities, these stories provide an avenue for students to draw comparisons with either their own lives or traditional Quebec culture.