CBC Archives

Brainstorm with students what they know about World War II and Canada’s contributions to the Allied effort. List their responses, then put the events in chronological order. Keep the list for follow-up discussion at the end of the activity.

Have students examine all of the 1939-1945: A Soldier's War topic on the CBC Radio and Television Archives Web site to find out about Canada’s participation in WWII. Through their research on this and related sites, students should develop a list of battles, campaigns, events and other involvement of Canada in the war.

Using presentation software, students should create a timeline, extending from 1939 to 1945, that illustrates in chronological order a minimum of ten major and five minor examples of Canada’s role in the war. For each point, students should include a brief explanation of the Canadian role.

Students should then select at least 5 of the Clips from the CBC Radio and Television Archives Web site and place these in the appropriate place on the timeline.

Ask the students to show their timelines to the class and to explain why they identified the ten events chosen as the most important over the time period. When all students have shared their work, students can work as a class toward a consensus about which are the ten most important events of the war.