I Am Canadian Canadian Identity Grade 9

Objective Students will be able to identify a personal understanding of Canadian Identity by examining Canadian culture, values and norms. Terms you need to know:culture, values, norms, identity Students will celebrate and show their personal understanding of the Canadian identity.

Key Concepts in this Presentation  What is identity?  What shapes identity  evolution of identity  forces that shape identity  what does it mean to be Canadian?  Multiculturalism  CRTC

Identity What is identity? –It is a set of characteristics by which something is recognized or known

Personal Identity What makes up a person’s identity? What helps shape an individual’s identity? –Their background. (family) –Where they live (lived)/school. –Friends –Hobbies –early experiences: –As people grow older their identity changes due to life experiences and their environment.

What has shaped who you are? What words or images would describe you?

Identity Web Create a web with yourself in the middle and all of the things that have helped make who you are. Include the things that describe you as a person. ME ???

Canadian Identity If identity is a set of characteristics by which something is known, what does Canadian Identity mean? (Write your answer in your notebook.)

8 minutes in Groups What are the things that come to mind when you hear the word Canadian? (Things that we identify as being Canadian. Things we cherish as Canadian.)

4 minutes in Groups What things have shaped Canada’s identity?

The Forces That Shape a Nation’s Identity Geography Legal System Major Religions Government System Media History Main Languages Used Economic System Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms School Cultural and Ethnic Groups HELLO! BONJOUR!

Why is it Difficult to Describe Canadian Identity? With a group of 4, make of possible reasons.

Why is it Difficult to Describe Canadian Identity? Canada is young; Canada has many cultural groups and languages; Canada doesn’t have many historical tragedies; Canada has a large English and French debate; Canada is physically large.

Multiculturalism - A society that is characterized by various ethnic and cultural populations. An ideal of equality and mutual respect among a society’s cultural groups exists.

Pride shown in the media. (In the upcoming clips the actors point out some of the myths that other have of Canada as well as things that Canadians hold important. Make note of these.)

I’m Joe and I am Canadian

The Unofficial National Anthem

Enough is Enough

Pair and share In a group of 3-4 create two lists: 1.Stating all of the items that were mentioned in the videos poking fun at Canadians or the myths people have about Canadians. 2.Stating the ideas and items Canadians hold important

What are the things that were celebrated in those clips? Railroad Heritage Peacekeeping Symbols and Landmarks (flag, beaver Niagara Falls) Slang (toque, chesterfield, eh) Bilingualism Hockey That we are different from the US Size does matter to us. (2 nd largest nation) Proud of international opinion. –W–We’re big enough, smart enough and dog-gonnit people like us. We like to make fun of ourselves

What were the myths that were mentioned? That we are all Eskimos –Live in igloos –Own dogsleds That we are a giant mass of snow and ice. We are a bunch of dumb drunks. That we all wear toques. We are Lumberjacks We are behind the times No electricity Running water

Discuss Do the items mentioned throughout the videos reflect your idea of Canadian Identity?

Canada IsCanada Is… Roger Whittaker

Canadian Identity: How Others See Us

Canadian Identity: Perception  How we view ourselves + how others view us = Our Canadian identity  involves the mental perceptions people construct.  Canadian identity is composed of aspects that make Canadians different from citizens of other countries.  National identity = a composition of characteristics and traits that people recognize as distinctive of that country and may be considered a source of pride.

Canada and the United States

Canadian identity includes how other nations see us.Canadian identity includes how other nations see us. –Especially the United States –Can sometimes lead to an identity crisis. Why?Why? –One of the most influential countries in the world. US is our largest trading partner, and a large market for Canadian goods and services.US is our largest trading partner, and a large market for Canadian goods and services.

Poking Fun We feed off of the misconceptions and like to joke about them. We like to show how uninformed outsiders (Americans) are about Canada. Molson Canadian TV commercials Rick Mercer – Talking to Americans Bob and Doug MacKenzie How have we fed into the misconceptions in the upcoming movies?

Talking to Americans

Canadian Icons

More Bob and Doug

Misconceptions reinforced In the previous clips how did Canadian TV reinforce some of the misconceptions talked about earlier?

Cultural Protectionism What is protects our identity from being swallowed up by the US?What is protects our identity from being swallowed up by the US? –The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) was created in to regulate all broadcasting in Canada. –The CRTC ensures that 30% of Canadian radio must be Canadian content, and 60% of Canadian TV programming must include Canadian content. These rules do not apply to cable companies.

Symbolism Assignment

Symbolism Assignment What is a symbol? –A symbol is one thing that represents something else by association.

Symbolism Assignment What do you think are our biggest national symbols? Symbols that Canadians really hold dear. Find pictures of what you think are the 9 top symbols of our country. For each, include a 25 word write up telling why each symbol is so important to Canadians. (The symbols could be a popular place or structure, or person.)

Symbolism Assignment The first symbol will be given to you. It is the Canadian Coat of Arms. Find it and in your own words write an explanation behind each part of it. (ie. What do the lions represent? What do the maple leaves represent? What does the Latin saying mean? Etc.) You will probably need to research it. This write up should end up being close to 100 words.

Symbolism Assignment Using digital mediums, (PowerPoint, Prezi, SlideRocket, Ebook) create a digital book of Canadian symbols. Each symbol on a separate page with its write-up. Due date is Friday.

Marking Factors What will make an assignment great? –V–Visually attractive. Neatly presented –W–Write-ups are informative and without mistakes. –W–Write-ups are in your own words. –P–Proper format is followed. –W–Wow factor!