Teacher’s Guide for After the Tour of the Sir Sam Steele Collection
Teachers have had an opportunity to introduce students to some key events in the history of Western Canada through the eyes of an important Canadian, Sam Steele.  Sam Steele’s historical perspective was shaped by his family background, his professional training and his experiences in the field as a militiaman, police officer and army officer.  Teachers have introduced students to many of the historical thinking concepts such as continuity and change, primary evidence, historical significance, cause and consequence, and historical perspective.  Students should be expected to explore one or more of these concepts in their reflective piece or demonstration following the virtual or personal tour of the Sir Sam Steele Collection.
Some teachers may wish to provide their students with an opportunity to demonstrate their learning in a summative activity.  There are a number of options.  
1. Teachers may use the Heritage Fair model to have students individually or in small groups select a significant historical event and prepare a multi-dimensional demonstration that includes a visual representation, oral presentation and written explanation or defence.  Students may be asked to select a significant event or turning point in Sam Steele’s career and/or the development of Western Canada and justify their choice based on their research from the Sam Steele resources.  Based on the Social Studies outcomes in the specific grade, teachers may ask students to select the historical event from the most relevant theme(s) in the exhibition.  In this way the students may focus on a fairly specific topic, but through their class presentations inform the entire class on the broad range of experiences that Sam Steele had in his very eventful career. The criteria for assessing a person’s or an event’s “historical significance” were explored in-depth at the end of Theme 2 and Theme 5 and can be reviewed with students before they embark on this project. 
2. Teachers may also decide to incorporate drama in the summative task.  Students could be invited to assume roles as Sam Steele and/or member(s) of his family or other historical actors, when confronting a specific historical situation.  Students could also present an interview of Sam Steele focused on one aspect of his career.  Students would be assessed based on their research, defence of the historical event that they have selected, and their oral performance.  For example students could write a script and perform the dialogue between Sam Steele and the female Toronto newspaper reporter who had filed a report of the execution of 4 suspects in Dawson city whose actual execution was stayed later in the day. Students should be encouraged to draw on as many historical sources as possible to support the historical perspective presented in their presentation. These sources are available on the University of Alberta’s Sam Steele website and have also been transcribed for ease of use in each of Teacher’s Guides and Student Activities developed to support teachers’ use of these primary sources.
3. Teachers may wish to have their students use their computer research skills to investigate the rich set of historical documents that have been transcribed from the Sam Steele Collection to explore the relations between Sam Steele and his children between 1900 and 1918 as seen through their letters.  These letters between Sam, Flora, Gertrude and Harwood are interesting primary sources that would require students to use both their computer skills and their skills as historians to create an interesting picture from the past.  Teachers could ask students to provide text copies of the letter(s) that they select, explain the reason for their choice of document(s), and allow students to provide a dramatic reading, a role play between the parent and child with a classmate, or create a visual representation of the historical situation.  
4. Teachers may also ask students to write a reflective piece that considers Sam Steele’s historical significance in the history of the NWMP and Western Canada.  Model assignments on historical significance were provided at the end of Theme 2 and Theme 5 which could provide students with an opportunity to practice these skills.  Teachers could also have students do one of these historical significance tasks in pairs as a formative assessment to prepare them for this later, formal evaluation.  Given the time constraints in the classroom teachers may wish to assign this task early in the term and help students work towards this written product.  
The key components of historical significance from the Historical Thinking Project (www.historicalthinking.ca) are summarized below, and a student work sheet is provided as a guide.  Teachers are encouraged to customize this task to make it grade and age appropriate.
Historical Significance
What is the Historical Significance of Sam Steele and the North West Mounted Police in the Development of Western Canada from 1874-1899?
Students should be asked to select a number of key events (e.g. 3, 5 or 7 depending on the amount of time spent on the topic or theme(s)) in Sam Steele’s career, explain why each was significant, rank their list, and explain why the event they have selected is number 1. The chart below suggests 3 events, but it may be expanded.
Yes, Steele and the NWMP were really important in the development of Western Canada.  We have a lot of information about the circumstances in Western Canada and the many things that Steele and the force did.  But historians and students of history have a special way to think about how important people, organizations, events, or developments really were.  They call this approach the tests for historical significance.

These tests are set out in 3 questions:

1. Did this person, organization or event produce consequences that were 
deep,
widespread, and 
lasting?	

2. How prominent was the person, organization or event at the time and 
     did the effects of their actions and inactions last ?

3. How revealing were the actions of the Steele and the NWMP about
     the time when they lived and the events that happened? 
    Is the person, organization or event 
    remembered (celebrated, criticized, regretted)?

So how do Sam Steele and the NWMP measure up between 1896 and
    1899 in the history students' tests for historical significance?
 
What is your judgment based on what you have read, researched and learned to this point?  Remember that historians keep an open mind and are always ready to look at new evidence and listen to new arguments.  

Consult Timeline A on Sam Steele’s Life and Career and Timeline B – Milestone Events in General on the Sir Sam Steele Collection website-
http://steele.library.ualberta.ca/index.html

You may wish to consult some additional sources on the history of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and websites such as:
http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/hist/ori-deb/index-eng.htm

  Testing the Historical Significance of Sam Steele and the NWMP in the Development of Western
       Canada from 1874 to 1899       

Your  Choice of the Top 3  Actions taken by Sam Steele	Were the Consequences deep, for many people, 
for a long time?	Was the Action recognized as Prominent: Then and Now?	Was it Revealing and is it still Remembered?	

				

				

				
Your Conclusions: Sam Steele was significant in the development of Western Canada because…

1. How can you best present your findings?

2. What are the sources of your evidence?

3. Would any other people at the time or since have a different view of Sam Steele and the contribution of the NWMP?

4. Would the critics of Sam Steele and the NWMP question or dismiss their importance?

5. Would people who disagreed with the way that Western Canada developed such as the First Nations, the Métis or some Americans question the significance of Sam Steele?  How can you find out?