CBC Archives

Explain that students will learn about Lucy Maud Montgomery by exploring the CBC Radio and Television Archives Web site. Show the class a copy of Anne of Green Gables. Ask: What do you already know about the author and the character, Anne Shirley? Tell them that Montgomery was an interesting woman who revealed her thoughts about her life and a fascinating period of Canadian history in her journals.

Divide the class into groups of three. Direct students to the topic Beyond Green Gables: The Life of Lucy Maud Montgomery on the CBC Radio and Television Archives Web site. Tell them to browse the site to find quotations from the writings of Lucy Maud Montgomery that they find inspiring, revealing, and/or controversial. They can record the quotations on the download sheet Quotations of Lucy Maud Montgomery.

Ask students to share their findings with the class. Write the quotations on the board or on an overhead transparency. Invite students to add any quotation they particularly like to their own lists. Then have them copy their three favourites into their notebooks and write a personal reaction to each one. As they reflect, they can ask themselves: What does the quotation reveal about the author? Does the author seem to be like her character(s), and if so, how? Why did she say that? What did she mean? How do I feel about what she said?

Students can collect quotations to use as introductions or springboards for their own writing, just as Lucy Maud Montgomery did. The quotations can be posted in the room to serve as the focus for discussions, bulletin boards, and writing assignments.