Text: Death on the Ice by Cassie Brown
Total Number of Lessons: 6
Time of Each Lesson: 50 minutes

Basic Premise: To use the creation of a website as a means of discussing non-fiction, and the impact of historical events on society.  This exercise will help students to gain an appreciation for the overall impact of the Great Sealing Disaster of 1914, and what groups and individuals were impacted by this tragedy.  It will also help students to gain an appreciation for how different groups and individuals interact in society, and with the media, and how the mass media react to, and handle the events which shape our daily lives.
 

Related Curriculum Outcomes:
(From the Atlantic Canada English Language Arts Curriculum Guide: Grades 10-12)

Speaking and Listening:

     •    Examine the ideas of others in discussion to clarify and extend their own understanding.
     •    Construct ideas about issues by asking relevant questions and responding thoughtfully to
     questions posed.
     •    Present a personal viewpoint to a group of listeners, interpret their responses, and take
     others’ ideas into account when explaining their positions.
     •    Listen critically to analyse and evaluate ideas and information in order to formulate and
     refine opinions and ideas.
     •    Recognize that communication involves an exchange of ideas and an awareness of the
     connections between the speaker and the listener; use this awareness to adapt the
     message, language, and delivery to the context.
 

Reading and Viewing:

     •    View a variety of media and visual texts, such as broadcast, journalism, film, television,
     advertising, CD-ROM, Internet, music videos.
     •    Demonstrate an understanding of impact literary devices and media techniques have on
     shaping the understanding of a text.
     •    Articulate personal responses to a text by expressing and supporting a point of view about
     the issues, themes, and situations within texts, citing appropriate evidence.
     •    Respond to the texts they are reading and viewing by questioning, connecting, evaluating
     and expanding.
     •    Make thematic connections between print texts, public discourse, and media.
 

Writing and Other Ways of Representing:

     •    Use writing and other ways of representing to:  extend ideas and experiences; reflect on
     their feelings, values and attitudes; describe and evaluate their learning processes and
     strategies.
     •    Choose language that creates interesting and imaginative effects.
     •    Demonstrate skills in constructing a variety of texts for a variety of audiences and
     purposes.
     •    Experiment with the use of technology in communicating for a range of purposes.
     •    Demonstrate commitment to crafting pieces of writing and other representations.
 

Overview of Lessons:

Lesson 1:  Discussing the Impact of the “Great Sealing Disaster of 1914"
Lesson 2:  Study the Role of the Media in Breaking News Such as Tragedies
Lesson 3:  Preparing Mock Media Releases for a Cassie Brown “Breaking News” Website
Lesson 4:  Preparing a Website Layout, and Writing Mock News Stories
Lesson 5:  Creating the Website
Lesson 6:  Completing the Website / Wrapping Up