CBC Archives

If students have completed the activity Newfoundland Joins Canada, have them refer to the class chart of information they gathered about Newfoundland becoming a province of Canada. If they have not completed this activity, they should do so now.

As a class, create a timeline to show the major events that led to Newfoundland becoming a province.

Direct students to the topic Has Confederation Been Good for Newfoundland? on the CBC Radio and Television Archives Web site. All students should view Clips #1 to #10, focusing on major events. Then break the class into 10 groups. Assign one clip to each group and have the group view it and create a two-column chart. In the first column they should list all of the events discussed or shown, and in the second column they should list the impact of these events.

Have groups display and explain their completed charts. Each group should describe its event and the impact it had. Students can discuss how they would feel if faced with the impact of each event (for example, being without electricity during the winter).

Students can interview someone who was living during the time that Newfoundland joined Confederation to get that person’s perspective on this event in recent history. Alternatively, invite a speaker to talk to the class about living through this event.