AT HOME IN OUR COMMUNITY AND THE WORLD
Around Windsor
Victoria Avenue Walking Tour
There's a cool lesson my seniors did one fall that I would like to share with ESL teachers in Windsor's downtown core. Inspired by Doors Open Windsor and ever eager to take advantage of free cultural events, the students asked to study local architecture in a bit more depth. I told the students that I had printed off the Windsor Municipal Heritage Register and used it as a way to get myself out on my bike for exercise. My partner and I would make a game of finding the houses that are protected or being considered, I told them. We enjoyed reading the year the house was built and why it was designated. When the students all perked up and seemed REALLY interested in this pastime of mine, I offered to give them an architectural tour of the street our school is on. They were KEEN!
I was so pleased to find a Walking Tour of Victoria Avenue online and free for download. We scheduled a field trip for a pleasant fall day and then started boning up on our terminology. We learned about the six or eight main architectural styles that we might encounter during our walk up and down that once majestic boulevard: Queen Anne, Italianate, Craftsman Bungalow, American Foursquare, etc. We learned just one or two features of each style to help us recognize it. For example, a two-story symmetrical house with a central dormer might be an American Foursquare. A house with Victorian laciness, a dominant front gable (set to one side) and wrap-around porch is Queen Anne. We drilled each other using a matching worksheet which I cannot share because of copyright restrictions on the graphics. I will work on developing some sharable graphics for that. For conversation time, we did a peer survey of at least six classmates, asking such questions as : "Which style do you hope we'll see on our walk?" and "Would you rather live in an older house or a new one?"
When we finally set off, it was like a scavenger hunt! I enjoyed challenging the group, "Who knows what style this house is?" They really got good at it by the fourth block. They were very excited when one homeowner even came out to explain the way they were lovingly restoring the only Italianate house on the street.
Later we even compared the original prices of the houses, provided in the walking tour booklet, to current prices listed on Realtor.ca. If you decide to do this walking field trip with your class, give me a shout.
There's a cool lesson my seniors did one fall that I would like to share with ESL teachers in Windsor's downtown core. Inspired by Doors Open Windsor and ever eager to take advantage of free cultural events, the students asked to study local architecture in a bit more depth. I told the students that I had printed off the Windsor Municipal Heritage Register and used it as a way to get myself out on my bike for exercise. My partner and I would make a game of finding the houses that are protected or being considered, I told them. We enjoyed reading the year the house was built and why it was designated. When the students all perked up and seemed REALLY interested in this pastime of mine, I offered to give them an architectural tour of the street our school is on. They were KEEN!
I was so pleased to find a Walking Tour of Victoria Avenue online and free for download. We scheduled a field trip for a pleasant fall day and then started boning up on our terminology. We learned about the six or eight main architectural styles that we might encounter during our walk up and down that once majestic boulevard: Queen Anne, Italianate, Craftsman Bungalow, American Foursquare, etc. We learned just one or two features of each style to help us recognize it. For example, a two-story symmetrical house with a central dormer might be an American Foursquare. A house with Victorian laciness, a dominant front gable (set to one side) and wrap-around porch is Queen Anne. We drilled each other using a matching worksheet which I cannot share because of copyright restrictions on the graphics. I will work on developing some sharable graphics for that. For conversation time, we did a peer survey of at least six classmates, asking such questions as : "Which style do you hope we'll see on our walk?" and "Would you rather live in an older house or a new one?"
When we finally set off, it was like a scavenger hunt! I enjoyed challenging the group, "Who knows what style this house is?" They really got good at it by the fourth block. They were very excited when one homeowner even came out to explain the way they were lovingly restoring the only Italianate house on the street.
Later we even compared the original prices of the houses, provided in the walking tour booklet, to current prices listed on Realtor.ca. If you decide to do this walking field trip with your class, give me a shout.
Windsor Sculpture Park
The seniors truly enjoyed using the activities in this booklet [Windsor Sculpture Park: Language Activities for Newcomers] to prepare for a trip to Windsor's beautiful sculpture park--easily accessible on foot from the downtown core.
The book includes a warm-up exercise, an information gap activity, and a jigsaw activity for a group of 15. It was designed for a multilevel group where skills range from CLB 2 to 8, but can be modified. You are free to simplify and shorten the more advanced texts to suit lower levels, and you can add an additional sculpture description to use the jigsaw with a larger group.
The seniors truly enjoyed using the activities in this booklet [Windsor Sculpture Park: Language Activities for Newcomers] to prepare for a trip to Windsor's beautiful sculpture park--easily accessible on foot from the downtown core.
The book includes a warm-up exercise, an information gap activity, and a jigsaw activity for a group of 15. It was designed for a multilevel group where skills range from CLB 2 to 8, but can be modified. You are free to simplify and shorten the more advanced texts to suit lower levels, and you can add an additional sculpture description to use the jigsaw with a larger group.
Weather and Seasons
For leisure activities, please see Canadian Culture on the SETTLEMENT THEMES menu.
- Check out Joan Acosta's true story about frostbite in Best of the Reader - Amazing Stories (easy)
- The Canadian Government has some great resources on winter safety.
- Here are both information and resources for preparing for severe weather.
- Settlement.org has a wonderful wordless animated video and handout to help illustrate the importance of dressing children for winter. This resource could also be used in a multi-level or higher level class because the students could provide the language!
For leisure activities, please see Canadian Culture on the SETTLEMENT THEMES menu.
