Our Canada, Vol. 1: a real book in our school library

The unit ends with a class-published book. Every student writes one chapter about a community or person who shaped Canada. The class launches it in the library, and a new volume joins the shelf every year.

How it builds

• Lessons 1–20: one notebook page per lesson. By Lesson 22 everyone has a bank of ideas.
• Lessons 21–22: read two model chapters, then pick a topic and upgrade a personal question.
• Lessons 23–31: writing studio days (Mission: Find It → Figure Out & Decide → Map It → draft → publish). These double as Language writing time.

Every chapter (solo, 1–2 pages)

1. Title and a hook
2. Who, when, where
3. The moment that mattered
4. Why it still matters
5. Source box
6. Image or map with a caption

Topics

• A menu of about 35 topics, plus “pitch your own”.
• Split classes: Grade 5 picks pre-1713, Grade 6 past and present, Grade 7 1713–1850, so the book becomes a full timeline.
• Every personal or family-story option has an equal non-family alternative.