Teaching with Dear Canada Books, Vol. 1

Elizabeth Fisher is a former elementary-school principal in Toronto, who
spent 10 years as a teacher-librarian.

Amy von Heyking is a professor in the Department of Elementary Education
at the University of Alberta. She is also the lead author of Social
Studies Through Literature K–3 and the series Social Studies Through
Literature 3–6.

Teaching with Dear Canada Books is her teachers’ guide to the
following four historical fiction diaries from the award-winning Dear
Canada series: With Nothing But Our Courage: The Loyalist Diary of Mary
MacDonald by Karleen Bradford, Footsteps in the Snow: The Red River
Diary of Isobel Scott by Carol Matas, Orphan at My Door: The Home Child
Diary of Victoria Cope by Jean Little, and A Prairie as Wide as the Sea:
The Immigrant Diary of Ivy Weatherall by Sarah Ellis.

The book is an invaluable accompaniment to these four Dear Canada
novels. Teachers will find excellent sections to direct and enhance
teaching and learning. The “What’s Going On in the World” section
broadens the scope for the social studies element, while the section on
teaching social studies with historical fiction discusses how one
subject may overflow into another. There is a comprehensive bibliography
for each book. The activities to establish prior knowledge and the
discussion questions are wide-ranging. Comparable descriptions, opinion,
and recording are among the skills covered in this guide. Highly
recommended.