Activity overview

Students will follow the guidelines of the Lest We Forget program to create a biographical sketch of a soldier who served in the Italian Campaign.

Omer Eugene Bedard: http://collectionscanada.ca/obj/001056/f2/b/sww-25416-bedard-omer_eugene-e5580.pdf
R22eR Francophone, Preliminary probe into the Hitler Line May 19, 1944.

Gordon Yellowfly: http://collectionscanada.ca/obj/001056/f2/y/sww-27390-yellowfly-gordon-m102005.pdf
​​Blackfoot Reserve, Gleichen, Alberta, Seaforth Highlanders in Ortona, 27 Dec 1943.

 

Primary HTC concept(s) 
​explored in this activity

Perspectives guidepost 4 
​Taking the perspective of historical actors means inferring how people felt and thought in the past. It does not mean identifying with those actors. Valid inferences are those based on evidence. 

Secondary HTC concept(s) 
​explored in this activity
​
Evidence guidepost 2:  Asking good questions about a source can turn it into evidence.

In this activity, students will demonstrate understanding of how inferences are made based on the use of evidence, using what they learn about their soldier through his service file to build a picture of his experience of the Italian Campaign. Students should also be able to share their opinions regarding the strengths and limitations of soldier files as sources. Please see The Big Six Historical Thinking Concepts (2012) by Peter Seixas and Tom Morton, as well as the Historical Thinking Project website for further ideas for student assessment or to adapt these activities.

Questions posed to students in this activity

​Research question: What was your soldier’s experience of the Italian Campaign?

​Inquiry question(s): What would your soldier say about the success or failure of the Italian Campaign?

Considerations for teachers to introduce in student inquiry

​Additional guiding question for students: 
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• What do the documents reveal to you about your soldier?
• Is there another possible interpretation of your documents?
• How could you verify your interpretation?  Where might you need to search for relevant resources?
• How is your soldier’s information similar or different to information being researched by other students?
• How do you determine what resources are necessary to support your research?
• What, if any, events emerge out of the documents that you consider to be historically significant?
• Can you determine what other people or circumstances may be affected by the events that emerge out of the documents?
• How does your research connect to the issues at the time?
• What issues that you identified are still relevant today?  Explain your thinking.
• How is each issue similar or different from today and when written?
• Based on your research what information do you consider to be significant?  How did you determine this?