Greg Harris now works at Lakehead University – Orillia as an instructor to Teacher Candidates in Language Arts and Classroom Assessment, Management and Planning. You may email me at gharris@lakeheadu.ca for questions, ideas and support.
This was last updated in January 2019. Information updates frequently. The information here is best used to get ideas and starts.
If you find broken links or better links, please let me know and I will update.
Parent/Guardian information regarding Heritage Fair << Click here
Last update: January, 2019
Student information:
Pick a topic you are very interested in, know some info about it and want to learn more about it. Read a lot of different books, articles and website links. Watch videos. You should be able to talk to people about your topic BEFORE you start writing. This makes it easier to write because you will be writing in your own words AND you will understand what you are writing. This makes it easier to present because you can already talk about your topic.
Aside: Family members often have great stories and ideas. You should listen to them. However, if the topic is NOT interesting to you, you likely should find another topic. Students who didn’t care about ‘family-selected topics’ had projects that reflected their lack of interest AND they often couldn’t answer questions about the topic because they just didn’t care enough to understand and know what they should have.
List your references: Record information about each book (title, author, date published), and copy the website URL (address) into a DOC if you think the information is good and you will use the info again. It is very important to give credit to the sources you use. Many students add the website link to their caption for photos, maps and other visuals. Doing this shows you have considered the knowledge of other smart people and that you are respectful. When presenting, you should expect to be asked, “What were your most valuable sources of information? Why were these so valuable?”
Your first inquiry QN: Why is your topic important to Canadians and Canada’s Heritage? You need to be able to tell/show/explain why your topic matters.
For your next inquiry QN(s), use this link >>> Critical Thinking Cheat Sheet <<< It’s so helpful!
Reliable websites include Historica Canada Canadian Encyclopedia Canadian Biography Canadian Archives for students
Reliable websites you may need some help with Archives of Ontario Canadian Archives
Topics: some of the information is old ~ check dates of resource: earlier than 2019 indicates there likely is more-up-to-date info.
Topics are in alphabetical order by first name: For example, Bobby Orr would be found under B.
Astronauts Chris Hadfield Roberta Bondar
Barrie Symbols – Arch, Dream Catcher
Black History Month – February & many other links to Canadian Black History
Canada becoming a country ~ Confederation
Canadian Football League (CFL) and Grey Cup
Chippewas of Rama, near Orillia
Citadel Hill – Halifax, Nova Scotia
Clara Hughes … Autobiography in our library too!
Confederation ~ Canada becoming a country
Diabetes, Dr. Banting, Dr. Best, Insulin
Endangered Canadian Animals see Canadian Wildlife
Figure skating scandal – Jamie Sale and David Pelletier
First Nations – Idle No More & Residential Schools
Freestyle skiing and snowboarding
GRAND-PRÉ NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE
Hockey – early ice hockey history just before the NHL started
Hockey – Stanley Cup Lord Stanley
Huronia Regional Centre – mental health
Hurricanes ask if you need help to find others
In Flanders Fields … see John McCrae
Inuksuk >>> Inuit and Canadian governments prefer us to spell Inuksuk without the ‘h’
John McCrae author of poem In Flanders Fields
Kaillie Humphries
L.M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables
Micmac — Use … Aboriginals in Ontario Chippewas of Rama, near Orillia
Montreal Canadiens >>> Ardagh library has very good non-fiction books and picture books
Montreal Massacre >>> This is sensitive with violent information.
Moose >>>> go to Canadian Wildlife
Pace maker inventor Dr. Bigelow
Rights – Womens’ Rights Famous 5
Rights – Womens’ Voting Rights in Canada
Roberta Bondar – 1st female Canadian astronaut
Sled dog >>> Canadian Inuit Dog
Tim Hortons – store and the man and the hockey player
World War 1 and 2 > are too big to be a topic > you need to pick a specific focus > e.g., Vimy Ridge, Dieppe, Women in WW2 …