Lesson 3: Writing and Designing a Commemorative Story Map

Big IdeaStory maps are effective commemorations because they connect narratives, events and places through digital mapping and rich media using interactive tools to co-create, peer review, iterate and share content to a wide online audience.

Inquiry QuestionHow can we commemorate Canadians who participated in the Northwest Europe Campaign and the Liberation of the Netherlands?

Overall DescriptionIn this lesson, students use the resources and assets from the VEDay 75 Defining Moments Canada website to research, write and design a story map for one of 6 Canadian soldiers and the Dutch cities they helped to liberate. Students will analyze their research using the historical thinking concept of cause and consequence, write their story using the 7 Sentence Story Structure , then create a storyboard from which to build their story map in Lesson 4.

Time Needed80-120 minutes

Competencies and Skills● Recognize how historical interpretations connect to broader narratives of human

responses to conflict.● Recognize the role of particular events, people and developments within a story.● Analyze of the causes and consequences of events and developments ● Build knowledge on the role of Canadians in “Normandy to the Netherlands.”● Assess, select and organize digital assets to complement a historical narrative

MaterialsOnline access to Defining Moments Canada siteOnline access to Project 44Worksheet 1: Deconstructing the Mona Parsons Story MapWorksheet 2: Cause and Consequence AnalysisWorksheet 3: Writing and Designing a Story Map

Minds On: The 7 Sentence Story Structure

The 7 Sentence Story Structure is a simple method to help students construct a story using 7 sentences to define distinct sections within a story. Each of the 7 sentences is worded in familiar “story book” language to help students organize their search for information. Each section of the structure includes multiple questions that help guide them in the development of their story.

In the following activity, students re-organize the information from the George Pollard’s Last Stand story map into the 7 Sentence Story Structure to prepare them to create their own story maps using the same framework.

● Handout a copy of the 7 Sentence Story Structure to each student● Divide the class into 7 groups ● Assign one of the 7 main headings of the 7 Sentence Story Structure to each group ● Give each group the task of answering the questions from their section from the story

map in note form● Have a representative from each group write their question and responses in large

letters on a piece of chart paper or the classroom whiteboard

When all groups are done, review their responses as a class. Emphasize that when they make their own story maps, they are not limited to the guiding questions under each of the 7 sections.

Development

Peter Seixas and Tom Morton in their book, The Big 6: Historical Thinking Concepts, describe that students must know enough about a period in question to make connections between then and now. In doing so they, they build narratives of their own where significance emerges.

One way that students can develop the historical thinking concept of significance is by deconstructing an historical account. In the process, they recognize how events, people or developments occupy a meaningful place in a narrative.

In the following activities, students examine this construction process by: identifying large questions or issues in a narrative, describing the plot, and identifying the particular role of people, events or developments (Seixas & Morton, 2013, p.21).

References

Denos, M., Case, R., Seixas, P. C., & Clark, P. (2006). Teaching about historical thinking: a professional resource to help teach six interrelated concepts central to students ability to think critically about history. Vancouver, BC: Critical Thinking Consortium.

Seixas, P., & Morton, T. (2013). The big six historical thinking concepts. Toronto: Nelson Education.

Activity 1Exploring the Construction of an Historical Narrative

In order for students to recognize the significance of the contribution of Canadians fighting against Nazi Germany in Europe in the larger narrative of the Victory Campaign, they must examine the events and developments of the last 11 months of the war in context.

Write the following on the board:

“...because it was important, it was right, and mostly, because the alternative was unthinkable.” (Mike Bechthold, historian).

Ask students to determine what question is being answered and to whom it refers (Canadians who chose to join the fight against Nazi Germany).

This assessment for learning will help to determine the extent to which students understand what was at stake for the world if the Nazis had won the war and the gravity with which Canadians perceived such a future.

Watch CBC video: CBC The National: Mona Parsons: Forgotten Hero

Think-Pair-ShareAsk students to identify the overarching questions or issues presented in the video, then discuss the following question with a partner:

What is the big question or issue that the Mona Parson story addresses?

Review their responses as a class, focusing on ones like the struggle against tyranny or resistance to occupation.

For the next activity, show students how to navigate to Project 44’s Mona Parson Story Map from the Defining Moments Canada website on their computers or mobile devices using the 7 Sentence Story Structure.

Activity 2Deconstructing the Mona Parsons Story Map

Handout Worksheet 1: Deconstructing the Mona Parsons Story MapAsk students to list the events and developments of the story map using the 7 Sentence Story Structure:

How do you see defiance and resilience represented?

What was her role in the story? How did her role connect to the big question or issue?

Teachers Note: Take time to explore the concept of defiance and resilience. Defiance - or standing-up to an unjust authority - can take many forms. For the people of Europe living under Nazi oppression, individual and groups acts of defiance included opposition or non-compliance to the rules and restrictions imposed on them. For Jewish families in hiding, it meant practicing their religion in secret (spiritual defiance), or reading and learning from books banned by the Nazi’s (intellectual defiance). Resilience is the capacity to endure hardship, challenge and injustice. It implies strength of purpose and an ability to recover from adversity against the odds.

Mona Parsons displayed defiance by hiding and transporting downed Allied airmen, calmly accepting her death penalty verdict and surviving imprisonment in the face of her captors. She displayed resilience by enduring sickness, starvation and evading capture as she escaped across Germany back to the Netherlands. Her role in the story was a hero who worked as an operative in the Dutch resistance. Her story demonstrates how civilians fought back against Nazi occupation from within the Netherlands and how the struggle against oppression and tyranny became a call to action for Dutch citizens.

Discuss responses as a class. Extend the discussion by asking students how we see defiance and resilience in conflicts today.

Activity 3Context, Resources and Analysis

Ask students to refer to the Historical Overview resource and identify the main events and developments from December 1944 to May 1945. Create a timeline on the classroom whiteboard to help students recognize how they unfolded. (Alternatively, use a digital timeline platform such as the free demo version of Tikitoki).

Students select one of Six VEDay Veteran Stories/Dutch city subject combinations for which they will research, write and design a story map of their own. The first step in the process involves students conducting research to gain the knowledge and context necessary to connect the people, events and developments of the period. The resources page of DMC VEDay 75 website includes:

● 9-Part Thematic guide by historian, Mike Bechthold● The Six VEDay Veteran Stories● Digitized artifacts from the Canadian Research and Mapping Association: Project 44

○ Six overview soldier/city story maps ○ war diaries○ Interactive maps○ Aerial photographs○ Digitized period maps

Go through the resources with the students. Instruct students to select their focus city and featured soldier from the 6 overview story maps, then research the main events and developments.

Handout Worksheet 2: Cause and Consequence Analysis. This activity helps students to make reasoned connections between causes and consequences.

Explain that just because an event happened before another (its antecedent), does not mean that it caused them or contributed to them. Likewise, not all events that occur after (subsequent to) another, are consequences of them.

Each main event or development in their story requires a separate sheet. Their task is to list the associated events, then determine whether it is antecedent, cause, consequence or subsequent. They respond to the questions below when they have completed the chart:

● Rank your causes in order of their effect on development. Explain your reasoning.

● Identify your consequences as direct or indirect, and intended or unintended. What does this say about the predictability of events and reactions during conflicts?

Consolidation: Designing a Story Map

Students should now be prepared to create a story map that addresses the question:

How can we commemorate Canadians who participated in the Northwest Europe Campaign and the Liberation of the Netherlands?

Their task is to write a story about one of the six VEDay veterans connected to a focus city in the Netherlands using the 7 Sentence Story Structure. In the process, they must:

● Apply their understanding of historical narrative construction● Consider their analysis of the causes and consequences of events and

developments ● Use their new content knowledge● Select and apply appropriate assets

Handout Worksheet 3: Writing and Designing a Story Map to organize their story into the 7 Sentence Story Structure. Ask students to outline their story in point form on a new copy of Worksheet 1 as they did with the events in the Mona Parsons story map in Activity 2. Limit the text on each of the 7 sections to 6 bullet points on their outline or 100 words in paragraph form on their final storyboard.

Show students the following image as an example using the mind-mapping platform, Popplet:

Popplet can be used as an alternative to Worksheet 3. It is a free mind-mapping platform that can be used for storyboarding. It has expandable text boxes that hold text and images that can all be connected in a sequence. It can also allow students working in pairs or groups to contribute content remotely and collaborate with each other through comment call-outs.

In Lesson 4, students will peer-review each other’s storyboards, then build into story maps using the Creation Tools in Google Earth.

Worksheet 1: Deconstructing the Mona Parsons Story Map

At the Beginning

A Day in the Life

And then one day

Because of This

Not only but also

Moment of truth

Ever since that day

How do you see defiance and resilience represented?

What was her role in the story? How did her role connect to the big question or issue?

Lesson 3 Worksheet 1: Deconstructing the Mona Parsons Story Map

(Completed Example)

At the Beginning

● born on February 17, 1901, in Middleton, Nova Scotia● moved to Wolfville● excelling in music, painting, and expression

Asset (map, photo):

A Day in the Life

● graduated in 1920 with aspirations of becoming a serious dramatic actor● moved to New York, where she worked as a chorus girl● returned to her home in Wolfville to tend to her ailing mother.● returned to New York to study nursing● 1939 married millionaire Dutch businessman Willem Leonhardt● honeymoon interrupted by start of war

Asset (map, photo):

And then one day

● May 1940: The Netherlands surrenders to Nazi Germany● Mona and Willem join Dutch resistance assisting downed Allied airmen● arrange safe houses, food, clothing and money● used their home to hide airmen Moir and Pape

Asset (map, photo):

Because of This

● couple in the town of Leiden betrayed the airmen to the Nazi secret police, the Gestapo● Willem leaves● Mona arrested by Gestapo● Dec 21, 1941: sentenced to death but impresses judge with composure who suggests she

appeal

Asset (map, photo):

Not only but also

● Mona wins appeal and sentenced to prison in Anrath, Germany● reunites briefly with Willem, who was captured● endures hard labour and malnutrition in prison● Sept 23, 1944 Allied troops advanced rapidly through France and into Belgium and the

southern Netherlands● Mona transferred to Camp 3 at Wiedenbrück

● meets 2 female allies on train to Vetcha Prison

Asset (map, photo):

Moment of truth

● Mona plots escape with friend Wendelien van Boetzelaer● March 23, 1945, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery’s forces crossed the Rhine River in a

massive assault● Allies bomb Vetcha's airbase● prisoners released by director to take their chances● Mona and Wendelien travel 150 km through fighting and wet to the Netherands● taken to Canadian unit, the North Nova Scotia Highlanders who were liberating town in the

region

Asset (map, photo):

Ever since that day

● Mona and her husband Willem were reunited in Laren● Mona was presented with citations from General Dwight D. Eisenhower, commander of the

Allied Expeditionary Forces, and from Air Chief Marshall Arthur Tedder of the Royal Air Force, in gratitude for helping Allied airmen evade enemy capture.

● Willem died in 1957 from war injuries● 1959: Mona returned to Nova Scotia and married Major General Harry Foster● Mona moves back to Wolfeville in 1964 after Harry died.● Mona died of pneumonia in 1976

Asset (map, photo):

Worksheet 2: Cause and Consequence Analysis

Distinguish between causes and antecedent events and consequence and subsequent (after-the-fact) events associated with a development in your selected Project 44 Liberation Story Map.

Instructions:● Identify and describe a development in your chosen story map. ● Determine whether associated events are: antecedent events (preceding but not causal),

causes, consequences, or subsequent events (after-the-fact) by placing an “X” in the appropriate column on the right.

● Complete the questions at the bottom of the page

Development in the Story: Pre- Post-

AntecedentEvent

Cause Consequence Subsequent Event

Associated Event Description:

Associated Event: Description:

Associated Event: Description:

Rank your causes in order of their effect on development. Explain your reasoning.

Identify your consequences as direct or indirect, and intended or unintended. What does this say about the predictability of events and reactions during conflicts?

Worksheet 3: Writing and Designing a Story Map

Write the story of one of the featured Canadian soldiers and their role in the liberation of a focus city in the Netherlands. Use Activities 1 and 2 and the resources on the Defining Moments Canada page: VEDay 75: Normandy to Netherlands to create a story map using the 7 sentence story structure. Use the Project 44 story maps as a design guide to envision your final product.

Soldier:________________________________ City: __________________________________

At the Beginning

Asset (map, photo):

A Day in the Life

Asset (map, photo):

And then one day

Asset (map, photo):

Because of This

Asset (map, photo):

Not only but also

Asset (map, photo):

Moment of truth

Asset (map, photo):

Ever since that day

Asset (map, photo):