The Greatest Prime Minister (Grades 7-9)

To the Teacher

ASSESSMENT

• You may wish to develop a rubric for assessing the students' performance in this activity. Before the students begin their assignment, inform them of the following assessment criteria:
  • describe the complexity of the role of prime minister
  • accurately explain the life and contributions of one or more prime ministers
  • connect individual prime ministers and the political events with which they were involved
  • generate a reasonable decision based on factual information
  • communicate and support their decision about their chosen prime minister
• You may also wish to use Assessing Teamwork Skills.
• You will find a summary of the correlation with the curriculum for your province or territory. A more detailed explanation of the links between each activity and each provincial/territorial curriculum is found in the Curriculum Correlations section.
   

TEACHER TIPS

• Groups of five will work well for this activity.
• Begin this activity with a class discussion about what qualities effective leaders demonstrate.
• Sample job description formats can be obtained from human resources departments in your school board or district or from local businesses. Students may use these formats as a guide for completing Question #3 in the main activity (prime minister's job description).
   

Click here to view a larger version of this image. (This image is larger than 450 pixels) Persons of National Historic Significance: Sir Wilfrid Laurier © NAC/C-3930, L.P. Picard Lester B. Pearson © NAC/C-94168 John George Diefenbaker © NAC/Neg No 16063 William Lyon Mackenzie King © NAC

RELATED ACTIVITIES

• Invite students to prepare a news report based on a mock interview with Sir John A. Macdonald. Macdonald is usually ranked among the greatest of Canada's political leaders. Encourage students to examine the reasons why Macdonald went to the Charlottetown Conference in Prince Edward Island in 1864, his role in the formation of the country, and how he was able to convince the other provinces that union was a good idea. Students could use the video A Great Dream: The Charlottetown Conference 1864 to research the topic and prepare for the interview.
• Have students use a graphics program to create a tri-fold promotional brochure to encourage other students to visit one of the national historic sites that commemorates a specific prime minister. They can include biographical information, a timeline of important events in the prime minister's life, greatest achievements, a picture, and what visitors will find at the site.
• Have students create cards with answers and questions about the prime ministers that can be used to create crossword puzzles or to play a Jeopardy-type game.