Social Studies Unit Plan

Unit Topic: Emily Carrs Influences and Impact

Grade: 9
Unit Objectives &
Rationale

To use Emily Carr as a jumping-off point to examine the changing

societal values and ideas during her lifetime, and help students
critically examine the origins of their own ideas and values.

Unit Big Ideas &

Curricular
Competencies

Emerging ideas and ideologies profoundly influence societies and

events.
Collective identity is constructed and can change over time.
Curricular Competencies:
- Use Social Studies inquiry processes and skills to ask
questions; gather, interpret, and analyze ideas; and
communicate findings and decisions
- Make reasoned ethical judgments about actions in the past
and present, and determine appropriate ways to remember
and respond
- Assess the significance of people, places, events, or
developments, and compare varying perspectives on their
historical significance at particular times and places, and
from group to group
- Compare and contrast continuities and changes for different
groups at the same time period

Lesson 1

Worldviews about the Environment

Specific Objectives

To examine differing worldviews about the environment during the

life of Emily Carr: colonial expansionist view, First Nations views, and
an emerging transcendental view of the landscape among
avant-garde Canadian artists.

Big Ideas & Curricular

Competencies

Social Studies 9: The physical environment influences the nature of

political, social, and economic change.
Art 9: The arts provide opportunities to gain insight into the
perspectives and experiences of people from a variety of times,
places, and cultures.

Methods/Activities

1. Teacher to introduce the concept of worldview (see Disagreeing

on the basics: environmental debates reflect competing world views.
Worldviews:
CC BY-SA 4.0 2016
Lizzy Segal, Sarah Matheson, Trevor Walker

Sets of commonly shared values, ideas, and images concerning the

nature of reality and the role of humans within it.
Colonial or Expansionist Worldview:
Material growth is necessary for human happiness and is
possible because of ever advancing technology and
abundant resources.
Ecological Worldview:
Earth is a finite system that cannot exhibit endless growth.
2. Students will be divided into equal groups of 4 - 6. Students in
each group will have 30 minutes to read texts that explore a
particular worldview about the environment during the time of of
Emily Carr.

Group One will explore First Nations views through two short
readings: 1) R
ainforest p. 28 - 30 and 2) Foreword by
Guujaaw / xii.
Group Two will explore colonial views toward the environment
by reading: 1) George Dawsons notes in his journal for
August 8th -10th 1878 and 2) George Mercer Dawson:
Pioneer Explorer of Western Canada.
Group Three will read about Canadian artists and the
transcendental movement: 1) The Secret: The Group of
Sevens infatuation with the occult mysticism of Madame
Blavatsky.* and 2) Emily Carr: Different Ways of Looking.
*This is a very engaging article but the teacher may want to
select part of it for the students to focus on, given its length
and vocabulary, or ensure that there are a few strong readers
in the group that can mentor the others through it.
-

Depending on the size of the class there may need to

be two of each of these groups.
Each student will have a Frame of Reference sheet
(p. 215 of The Anthology of Social Studies) to
complete while reading the texts. Inside the central
circle of their page they are to write the name of the
perspective that they are reading about (colonial
expansionist worldview, First Nations worldview, or
transcendental artistic views), in the large oval they
write the main details of of what they have read
(who?, what?, where?, when?, how?), and in the
remaining space of the page they write some of the
underlying beliefs that they encounter in the texts.
Each student is to independently fill in the sheets as
much as they can while reading.
CC BY-SA 4.0 2016
Lizzy Segal, Sarah Matheson, Trevor Walker

3. After the 30 minute reading period ask students to spend 10

minutes comparing their answers with fellow group members, to add
any more information that they would like, and to write their name on
the sheet for it to be handed in at the end of class.
4. 15 minute Jigsaw Activity. Each student leaves their group and
joins a new group (called a council) and shares the point of view from
the original group to the new group.
Each council formed consists of one student from each of the
previous groups (depending on the # of students there may
be 1 or 2 students to represent each worldview).
Each council is to brainstorm (using a large sheet of paper
and markers in the centre of the table) answers to two
questions: 1) In what critical ways did these groups relate to
the environment differently? 2) What is the historical
significance of the way that each group viewed the
environment?
Teacher to circulate and provide formative assessment.
Refer to your understanding of Buried Epistemologies: The
Politics of Nature in (Post) Colonial British Columbia to help
students question how First Nations people were viewed in
the environment and the historical significance of that in
terms of opening up lands for colonization.
After 15 minutes reconvene as a class for a 5 minute group
discussion.
5. Concluding activity: as a class watch the documentary W
inds of
Heaven.
6. Homework. Students to write a one paragraph (minimum)
reflection on the jigsaw activity and the documentary explaining how
colonial society, First Nations people, and Emily Carr each related to
the environment.
Content/Resources

Wade Davis, text in Graham Osborne, Rainforest

(Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1998), 28
Emily Carr: Different Ways of Looking
http://www.museevirtuel.ca/sgc-cms/expositions-exhibitions/e
mily_carr/en/resources/sec_act1_app.php
The Secret: The Group of Sevens infatuation with the occult
mysticism of Madame Blavatsky, by Brett Grainger.
Https://thewalrus.ca/the-secret/
Winds of Heaven: https://carrdoc.wordpress.com/about
George Mercer Dawson: Pioneer Explorer of Western
Canada from
http://www.geosociety.org/gsatoday/archive/12/8/pdf/i1052-51
73-12-8-16.pdf

CC BY-SA 4.0 2016

Lizzy Segal, Sarah Matheson, Trevor Walker

Assessment Strategies
& Criteria

George Dawsons notes in his journal for August 8th -10th

1878. From, Cole, D., and Lockner, B., eds., 1989, T
he
Journals of George M. Dawson, British Columbia,
18751878: Vancouver, University of British Columbia Press,
2 volume.
Foreword by Guujaaw / xii:
http://www.ubcpress.ca/books/pdf/chapters/fedje.pdf
Taylor, D. (1992). Disagreeing on the basics: environmental
debates reflect competing world views. A
lternatives:
Perspectives on Society & Environment (18, 3), p. 26.
Teacher to read p. 12 -18 of Buried Epistemologies: The
Politics of Nature in (Post) Colonial British Columbia by
Bruce Willems-Braun in the A
nnals of the Association of
American Geographers Vol. 87, No. 1 (Mar., 1997), pp. 3-31
(available online at:
http://biophilosophy.ca/Teaching/4160materials/Willems-Brau
n.pdf). The intention of reading this is to be able to help
students understand the significance of the differing
worldviews about the environment. In particular, note Brauns
comment At the same time that Dawson placed native
peoples on view, he displaced them both temporally and
geographically from their surroundings, as this led to the
ghettosation of First Nations people in BC onto small
reserves.
Case, Roland. Clark, Penney (Eds.) (2016). T
he Anthology of
Social Studies: issues and strategies for elementary teachers.
Vancouver, BC: The Critical Thinking Consortium.
-

Critical thinking

Lesson 2

Students will hand-in their Frame of Reference Sheet

and their reflections. The sheet will be used to assess
participation and the reference sheet will be marked
using the Reflections section of Figure 34.10 Portfolio
Assessment Rubric (p. 396) in The Anthology of
Social Studies.
Teachers will observe group activity for participation,
respectful conduct, and meaningful contributions.

Students must assess the significance of people, places,

events, or developments, and compare varying perspectives
on their historical significance at particular times and places,
and from group to group.

Victorian Aboriginal Art: Appropriation or Appreciation?

CC BY-SA 4.0 2016

Lizzy Segal, Sarah Matheson, Trevor Walker

Specific Objectives

Consider the colonial attitudes towards indigenous people at the

time of Emily Carr, as inferred from her paintings

Big Ideas & Curricular

Competencies

Big Ideas: SS9 -Disparities in power alter the balance of

relationships between individuals and between societies.
ART9 - The arts provide opportunities to gain insight into the
perspectives and experiences of people from a variety of times,
places, and cultures.
- Explain and infer different perspectives on past or present people,
places, issues, or events by considering prevailing norms, values,
worldviews, and beliefs
- Recognize implicit and explicit ethical judgments in a variety of
sources (ethical judgment)
- Make reasoned ethical judgments about actions in the past and
present, and determine appropriate ways to remember and
respond(ethical judgment)

Methods/Activities

We will begin by showing the painting Zunoqua of the Cat Village,

(1931). There will be a 5 minute beholding exercise where the
students individually observe the image and write down any and all
word associations that they think of while beholding the painting.
We will split them up into groups of threes. They will share their
observations and feelings about the painting with their group. They
will then be prompted to discuss the following questions:
-What do you think Carr thought about Aboriginal art - aka. Totem
poles?
-Can you guess how she felt towards the people who lived in that
village? What did she think would happen to their way of life?
- What does this painting tell us about the attitudes of westerners
towards aboriginal peoples in BC in the 1930s?
- Carr wrote that the totem was female - it was in fact intended to be
male. Does her lack of understanding/context change the meaning
of the painting?
After 10 minutes for discussion, each group will share an idea with
the class.
Introduce the concept of appropriation. Show segment of
Appropriation vs. Appreciation video. As a class, brainstorm criteria
that separates the two concepts and write it on the board.
Share links to Emily Carr research resources and split the class in
half. Explain that the next project is a debate- Emily Carr:
Appropriation or Appreciation. One side will argue that she
appropriated Aboriginal culture, and one side will argue that she

CC BY-SA 4.0 2016

Lizzy Segal, Sarah Matheson, Trevor Walker

appreciated it. Both sides must consider how her appropriation or

appreciation was typical or atypical for the 1930s.
Give the class time for reading and research. They can use the
resources provided to start out and then find their own information.
Each student should prepare a list of supporting arguments from the
research.
Debate: As a team, students will compile their individual lists of
points into one debate list, eliminating repetitive ideas. The two
sides will alternate speaking until everyone has a chance to speak,
consensus is reached, or all points are exhausted.
If necessary and if time allows, there can be a full class discussion
and debrief on how the debate went and how/if it changed the
students feelings about Carr.
Content/Resources

Zunoqua of the Cat Village:

http://www.museevirtuel.ca/sgc-cms/expositions-exhibitions/emily_c
arr/en/popups/pop_large_en.php?worksID=1135
Information on actual totem that inspired Zunoqua of the Cat
Village and indigenous perspectives on it.
http://www.emilycarr.org/totems/exhibit/kwak/xwintro2.htm
Appropriation vs. Appreciation:
http://www.powwows.com/2016/11/01/appropriation-vs-appreciation
/
https://www.historicacanada.ca/content/education/big-raven-emily-c
arr
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/emily-carr/
https://canadianart.ca/microsites/cover-stories/1993-fall.pdf

Assessment Strategies
& Criteria

Students will hand in individual list of debate arguments. They will

be assessed for:
- evidence of complex thinking
- reference to 1930s attitudes
- relevance to the topic
- evidence of independent research
Teachers will observe group discussions for participation, respectful
conduct, and meaningful contributions.

Critical thinking

-Students must consider inferences and implications by interpreting

Zunoqua of the Cat Village

CC BY-SA 4.0 2016

Lizzy Segal, Sarah Matheson, Trevor Walker

-Students must contextualize their own understanding of

appropriation in order to produce criteria for defining it.
-Students must research multiple sources and points of view for
evidence and synthesize the information into succinct points.

Lesson 3

Carr and Canadian Nationalism

Specific Objectives

The concept of Canada changed greatly between the 19th and early
20th centuries. How do Carrs art and stories represent this
change? How did she help bring it about?
Interrogate Carrs influence in Canadian art and culture, specifically
in relation to the womens movement.

Big Ideas & Curricular

Competencies

Personal and Cultural Identity--gain understanding of how Canadas

image was created and some of the people involved.
Collective identity is constructed and can change over time.
Assess how prevailing conditions and the actions of individuals or
groups affect events, decisions, or developments.
Emerging ideas and ideologies (represented most clearly in art)
profoundly influence societies and events.

Methods/Activities

Watch Emily Carr CBC clip (5min)

- From the video or earlier lessons, discuss with a partner:
Why is she such a famous Canadian artist? Why does she
appeal to a world audience?
- Have a few partners share
Introduce Carr and the Group of Seven: how they helped create our
image of Canada (powerpoint 10 min)
- What did they paint? Canadian shield, West Coast, rugged
forests, winters, natural beauty--images students likely have
of what Canada is
- Where did they exhibit? National galleries and in Britain, all
artists as a living
- Supplemented Canadian literature of survival in harsh,
rugged climate and celebration of nature
Segway: Canadian Encyclopedia reads that Carr was one of the
only major female artists in either North America or Europe of that
period (the early 20th century) and The fact that she was a woman
fighting the overwhelming obstacles that faced women of her day to
become an artist of stunning originality and strength has made her a
favourite of the women's movement

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Lizzy Segal, Sarah Matheson, Trevor Walker

Read excerpts (15min) from K

lee Wyck, Gold Rush Queen, and
Legends of Vancouver to spark discussion of the role of women in
turn of the century BC
- Compare the narratives of Carr and Nellie with Pauline
Johnson. Are there commonalities in the experiences of
settler and indigenous women?
- These women all made themselves wealth and careers.
How did society regard that?
- How do their narratives fit into Canadas grand narrative?
What is suffrage? (15min) Think-Pair-Share; students write what
they think the term means on their own then in partners find a
definition. Volunteers can share their definition with the class.
Along with definition, brainstorm:
- Who supported it?
- When did women win the vote? Who was left out? (Asians
didnt receive the vote until after WWII; Indigenous women in
1960)
- What did women campaign for?
- Why was the vote initially denied?
General class discussion (8min): how does what you now know
about womens roles in early 20th century Canada affect your
impressions of our national history?
- Where do those impressions come from?
- Who created our national story and culture? (return to earlier
discussion of group of seven)
Content/Resources

- Gold Rush Queen (2016) by Thora Kerr Illing

- Legends of Vancouver (1911) by Pauline Johnson
- Klee Wyck (1941) by Emily Carr
- CBC news clip Emily Carr
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/emily-carr/
- Emily Carr in the Canadian Encyclopedia:
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/emily-carr/
- powerpoint presentation

Assessment Strategies
& Criteria

Students will receive a participation mark for contributing to class

discussion at least once, making notes in the suffrage exercise, or
reading an excerpt aloud.

Critical thinking

Understand the bias of national narratives and that there are often
voices left out.
Be able to quickly find and understand a new vocab word and how it
relates to the lesson and life.
Understand the impact of art on nationalism.

CC BY-SA 4.0 2016

Lizzy Segal, Sarah Matheson, Trevor Walker

Lesson 4

Emily Carr house visit and Museum proposal

Specific Objectives

Our private/family lives influence how we view the world. Primary

sources like historical homes can thus give us a window into how
past people lived, worked, and learned. Visit Carr House to find out
more about Carrs childhood and family home.

Big Ideas & Curricular

Competencies

Assess the significance of people, places, events, or developments,

and compare varying perspectives on their historical significance at
particular times and places, and from group to group.
Explain and infer different perspectives on past or present people,
places, issues, or events by considering prevailing norms, values,
worldviews, and beliefs.

Methods/Activities

Before students arrive at or enter Carr house, have them do a 3

minute free-write of what they expect it to look like inside. Prompting
questions: How do you think the Carrs mightve decorated? What
kind of art might they have? How might their house have felt to
visitors in their time? Etc.
Introduction to Carr House talk with visitor guide
Carr House student activity guide
Introduce unit project (RBCM proposal)
Before boarding the bus, do another free-write. Ask students to
reflect on their expectations and initial impressions. How did they
compare?

Content/Resources

Carr house student guide, Emily Carr: The Artist and Author
(contact house at https://www.emilycarr.com/visit-us/)

Assessment Strategies
& Criteria

Students begin making a proposal for one thing that should be

included in the RBCMs new Emily Carr exhibit

Critical thinking

How primary sources like these inform our understanding of past

people and their values, and how our own primary sources (our
homes, art, possessions, etc.) impact our own values.

CC BY-SA 4.0 2016

Lizzy Segal, Sarah Matheson, Trevor Walker