CBC Archives

Review with students the general format and purpose of personal letters. Develop a list of criteria for a very personal letter and record these on the board or chart paper. Ask: What might you find in a personal letter that you wouldn’t find in a business letter? What would be in a business letter that wouldn’t be in a personal letter?

Direct students to the topic A Lost Heritage: Canada’s Residential Schools on the CBC Radio and Television Archives Web site. (Note that the clips being reviewed are disturbing and may not be suitable for some students.) Allow students at least 30 minutes to review the site, particularly Clips #4, 5, and 6. Provide students with the download sheet A Letter from School to assist them in taking point-form notes about events, ideas, or other pieces of information that seem important.

After viewing, allow students to clarify any questions they may have. Students will then write in role as an aboriginal student writing home from a residential school. Students should remember that this was an era very different from our own and think about the kinds of topics that the aboriginal students would have been comfortable discussing.

Have students share their letter in a think-pair-share. Divide the group into pairs or have students choose a partner. In each pair, students exchange letters and offer helpful comments and reactions to one another. Students can revise their work based on their partner’s comments.

Invite interested students to read their letters out loud. Ask: Why might this type of letter have been difficult to write? Post some or all of the letters in the classroom.

Consider inviting a school or community counsellor to discuss the problems of abuse that young people face, and the strategies they might apply to deal with abuse.