Teaching Eastern Townships History in Elementary School

Our educational materials for elementary students are designed to deepen the understanding of Canadian, Quebec and Eastern Townships’ history. Our pedagogical approach focuses on historical thinking and the analysis of primary sources from the ETRC’s archives, making them truly unique and relevant to school curricula. All our educational resources for meet the criteria of Quebec’s Ministère de l’Éducation et de l’Enseignement supérieur and encourage students to reflect on Canadian, Quebec and regional history.

Minnie H. Bowen’s Canada

Geography, History and Citizenship Education Program: Grade 6

Society Under Study: Quebec society circa 1905

Competency 2: Interpret changes in a society and on its territory

Learning Outcomes: Individuals who have had an influence on these changes / Events that have had an impact on these changes

Keywords: Canadian flag, regional history

This activity aims to explore Quebec Society around 1905. Students will be asked to interrogate archival evidence of an Anglophone woman of the Eastern Townships who lived from 1861 to 1942. Born to a wealthy Sherbrooke family, Minnie H. Bowen was an educated woman. As such, she became one of the first women to publish her writings in newspapers. At the time, women were rarely present in the public sphere. Minnie H. Bowen was very involved in various political and social spheres. She was a member of several associations, some of which fought for women’s right to vote. Moreover, she was interested in Canadian politics and in the symbol that the Canadian flag represented.

Agriculture: Dear Diary…

Program: Geography, History and Citizenship Education

Society Under Study: Quebec society around 1820

Competency: Reading about a society’s organization on its territory

Knowledge: Societal elements that have an impact on the organization of the territory

This activity aims to study Canadian society around 1820 from a local perspective, that is, from the perspective of the Eastern Townships. This society began developing in the nineteenth century, bringing about significant changes to the territory. Throughout this activity, the theme of agriculture will be studied. Indeed, before industrialization and urbanization, which would come later in the century, the beginning of the 1800s was characterized by the clearing of forests and the expansion of agriculture. Approximately 85% of families lived off the land at this time, representing nearly 5000 families. This activity will enable students to explore the daily lives of farmers and their cultural realities. Through the examination of several historical documents, students will write a diary that reflects a day in the life of an Eastern Townships farmer.

The Settlement of the Eastern Townships by Loyalists

Geography, History and Citizenship Education Program: Grade 6

Society under study: Quebec society around 1829

Competencies: Read about the organization of a society on its territory (CI) / Analyse and understand changes in a society and on its territory (C2)

 Learning Outcome: Influence of various characters and impacts of events on the social organization of a given territory

In this learning situation, students are made to explore several documents in order to understand the context in which Loyalists arrived in the Eastern Townships. These activities aim to illustrate how these refugees experienced this migration. What were their living conditions and how did they succeed in settling?