THE CREMATION OF SAM MCGEE

Grade: 1-2
Topic: poetry (ballad), rhyme, reading, vocabulary, Canadian culture,
Canadian history, Canadian geography, Canadian regionalism, unique
perspectives, illustration of poetryAllotted Time: 45 mins - 1hr
Sources:
Service, Robert. Illustrated by Ted Harrison. The Cremation of Sam McGee.
Toronto: Kids Can Press, 2013.

INTRODUCTION (10-15 mins)

* Students have already been introduced to Ted Harrison in previous (Northern Alphabet) lesson. Have
students discuss for 60 seconds in pairs what they remember learning about Ted Harrison from the
previous lesson. Review Ted Harrison asking students to tell you what they know about Ted Harrison.
* Introduce students to Robert Service. Purposefully highlight similarities between Ted Harrison and Robert
Service (without explicitly telling students these are similarities).
* Give each student two sticky notes (two different colours, for instance green and yellow). Ask each
student to write one word that they think describes Ted Harrison (on green) and one word that they think
describes Robert Service (on yellow). Have students stick there definition sticky notes on the board
under the headings "Ted Harrison" and "Robert Service". Review the definition words with the students.
Ask half the class to come up and group similar word stickies together (for each Harrison & Service).
Then ask the other half of the class to come up and make a new group of sticky notes of definitions that
were used for both Harrison and Service. Review the word sort with the students.
TEACHING/LEARNING SEQUENCE: (60 mins including the art)
* Read illustrated poem on elbow projector (use audio from YouTube of Johnny Cash reading the
Cremation of Sam McGee). Instruct students to listen carefully for new words/vocabulary and ask them
to touch their nose when they hear a word they don't know. Pause at the end of each stanza/page review
unfamiliar vocabulary. Ask students for volunteers to define the words. (20 mins.)
* After finishing reading the book divide students into groups of 3-4. Hand out envelopes with the lines
from each stanza cut out and have students organize the lines in groups and try to recreate the poem.
You could hand out multiple stanzas in the same envelope if each stanza were typed in a different font or
on a different coloured paper. Have each student in the group read out loud (to their small group) the
stanzas they have organized and encourage the students to self-check their ordering. Provide guidance/
clues as needed.
* Give each group a large piece of white paper and have them work together to create a painting in the
style of Ted Harrison (bold colours and lines) that reflects the portion of the poem they organized. Glue
the text onto the side of the image (first help students verify the order) and then display these images in
order of the poem in the hallway.
CLOSURE: (10 mins)
* Have each student choose one word that stood out to them from the stanza(s) they illustrated. Have the
class form two circles (an outer and inner circle with the same number of students in each circle) and
have the circles turn in opposite directions while you play music and then when the music stops the
students on the outside have to act out the word they have in mind and the students on the inside have to
guess. Then the students on the inside act out their word and the students on the outside have to guess.
Repeat with music 2-3 times.

BC Curriculum Connections
Big Ideas
- Language and stories can be a source of creativity and joy.
- Stories can be told through pictures and words.
- Everyone can be a reader and can create stories.
- Playing with language helps us to discover how language works.
- Listening and speaking builds our understanding and helps us learn.
Learning Standards:
- Use play and other creative means to discover foundational concepts of print, oral, and visual
texts.
- Begin to use sources of information and prior knowledge to make meaning.
- Use age-appropriate reading, listening, and viewing behaviours and strategies to make
meaning from texts.
- Engage actively as listeners, viewers, and readers, as appropriate, to develop understanding
of self, identity, and community.
- Recognize the importance of story in personal, family, and community identity
- Exchange ideas and perspectives to build shared understanding.
- Plan and create a variety of communication forms for different purposes and audiences.
Assessment

LESSON OUTCOME
What will students learn?

SOURCES OF EVIDENCE
What product or action will show
what students have learned?

CRITERIA
What will you look for in this
evidence?

Discover foundational concepts

of print, oral, and visual text.

Listening to and viewing the

story (oral).
Observe and reflect on bolded
words.

Actively participation in
discussion of the text.

Use sources of information to

build knowledge.

Define words by drawing

knowledge from the illustrations.
Use dictionaries.

Interpreted meaning through the

illustrations and using
dictionaries.

Use creative means to practice

foundational concepts of print,
oral, and visual text.

Both in listening to the text being

read and illustrating their own
texts students will practice print,
oral, and visual text.

Produce page of written and

illustrated text using vocabulary
linked to their experience/
community and letter.

Practice and engage actively in

listening, reading, and viewing.

See above.

See above.

Awareness of First People's

culture.

Book presents aboriginal

perspective.

Discuss and respond to

questions informing aboriginal
cultural awareness.

Exchange ideas and

perspectives and build shared
understanding.

Create their own sentences,

stories based on their
perspectives.

Well composed complete

sentences depicted in colourful
illustration.

Resources, Material and Preparation

What resources, materials and preparation are required?
- Ted, Harrison. A Northern Alphabet. Toronto: Tundra Books, 2009.
- Electronic device with internet access.
- Elbow projector.
- White board (or smart board)
- Blank paper for illustrations (cut to size for mounting on construction paper)
- Lined paper for writing sentences (cut to size for mounting on construction paper below
illustrations)
- Pencils for writing sentences
- Construction paper for mounting illustrations and sentences
- Pencil crayons, crayons, pastels, felts, or paint for illustrations (depending on targeted art
learning standards)
- Laminating and binding supplies

Further Thoughts / Activities

* If students are unable to complete their page in the allotted time they can put it in their
portfolio and it could be continued at another time (this lesson would also fit the big ideas and
learning standards for social studies and fine arts and could be continued during those class
times).
* You could divide this activity between english and fine arts. For the language arts component:
- Instead of helping the students find the definition of unfamiliar vocabulary through
conversation while reading the book simply write down on the white board every word
that they indicate that they do not know. After reading the story have them copy these
words into their personal dictionary journals and ask them to find the definitions of these
words. They could work in pairs and share the information that they find. (Learning
standard: Begin to use sources of information to build understanding and knowledge.)
- Another alternative english language arts activity could then have them begin by writing
their assigned letter in creative typography and then write a sentence beginning with
their letter and including at least two words beginning with their letter. Explain to the
students that their sentence should be the beginning of a story. In the next language
arts class have students continue their stories with 2-3 sentences on lined paper (assist
weaker students and challenge advanced students to write more). Prepare drafts of
these sentences and then good copies. The students could cut out their continuing
sentences and glue them to construction below their original page. If you are
using this activity ensure that the the original paper children use is an appropriate size to
leave room on their construction paper for their sentences. Complete the illustrations in
fine arts class. This activity is suggested by the author, Ted Harrison, in a prologue at
the beginning A Northern Alphabet.
- You can complete the illustration component of these activities in fine arts focusing
on particular fine arts targeting the appropriate particular curriculum learning standards.
* If using the above combinations of language arts and fine arts this activity could take place
over multiple days. Perhaps over the course of a week.

Adaptations:
- Have students work in teams to balance weaker students with stronger students.
- Create the sentences together as a class and then have individual students copy and
illustrate one sentence and continue the story with 2-3 sentences of their own.
- Allow/encourage students to write their sentence in a creative font.
- If the class has computer lab time have the students first write their sentences during their
regular class time and then type and print their sentences during their computer lab time. You
could allow them to play with size, font, bold, italic, underline, etc... (Ensure that their font is
not so large that the sentences will not fit in the allocated space on the construction paper for
their sentences).
- Allow weaker, struggling students to write fewer sentences.
- Have all the students prepare a draft of their students which you will circulate and help them
correct prior to them writing their final copy. This will be of particular benefit to students who
may struggle with sizing and spacing of letters, reversals, punctuation and spelling.
- Special needs students who may be lagging and reading and writing could dictate their
sentences to a scribe and then copy these sentences.