History & Geography · Grade 8

Active learning ideas

The Laurier Era: 'Canada's Century'

Active learning works especially well for the Laurier Era because it transforms abstract political debates into lived experiences. Students need to feel the tension between compromise and conviction that defined Laurier's leadership, and structured role play or debates make these historical choices tangible and memorable.

• Ontario Curriculum Expectations
• ON: History: Canada, 1890–1914: A Changing Society - Grade 8

• 40–50 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 3 activities

Activity 01

• Formal Debate
• 50 min · Whole Class

Formal Debate: The Naval Service Act

Divide the class into three groups: Imperialists (who want to give money to the British Navy), Nationalists (who want no navy), and Laurier's supporters (who want a Canadian Navy). Students debate which path best serves Canada's future.

Analyze how Laurier navigated tensions between English-Canadian imperialism and French-Canadian nationalism.

Facilitation Tip

For the Gallery Walk, curate artifacts that reveal contradictions in the era’s growth, such as newspaper clippings about immigration alongside ads for industrial machinery.

What to look for

Pose the following question to small groups: 'Imagine you are advisors to Prime Minister Laurier. Given the deep divisions over the Boer War, how would you advise him to use his 'Sunny Ways' to address both English-Canadian imperialist sentiments and French-Canadian nationalist concerns? What specific actions could he take?'

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Self-Management
• Decision-Making

Activity 02

• Role Play
• 45 min · Pairs

Role Play: The Manitoba Schools Question

Students act as Laurier and Premier Greenway of Manitoba. They must negotiate a 'Sunny Ways' compromise that addresses the rights of French Catholic students without alienating the Protestant majority in the West.

Explain the impacts of the 'Sunny Ways' approach to the Manitoba Schools Question.

What to look for

Provide students with a short excerpt from a speech by Laurier and another from a prominent nationalist or imperialist figure of the era. Ask students to identify one key argument from each excerpt and explain how Laurier might have responded to the nationalist/imperialist argument using his characteristic approach.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

Activity 03

• Gallery Walk
• 40 min · Small Groups

Gallery Walk: Canada's Century

Display posters and advertisements from the Laurier era promoting Canada's growth. Students analyze the imagery to identify who the 'vision' of Canada was intended for and who was excluded from this prosperity.

Evaluate Laurier's economic policies and their contribution to national growth.

What to look for

On an index card, have students write: 1. One economic policy Laurier implemented. 2. One sentence explaining its intended impact on Canada's growth. 3. One potential challenge or criticism of that policy.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

A few notes on teaching this unit

Experienced teachers approach this topic by focusing on the gap between Laurier's rhetoric and reality. Avoid framing his policies as successes or failures in isolation. Instead, help students analyze how compromise shaped Canada's development, using primary sources to show the human cost of political decisions. Research suggests that students retain more when they see history as a series of negotiated outcomes rather than inevitable progress.

Successful learning looks like students recognizing the complexity of Laurier's compromises, not just memorizing his policies. They should articulate how his 'Sunny Ways' often left stakeholders unsatisfied yet maintained national unity, and explain how economic and diplomatic decisions reflected Canada's evolving identity.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During the Structured Debate on the Naval Service Act, watch for students assuming Laurier's compromise fully satisfied either side.

  Use the debate's closing statements to highlight how Laurier's 'Sunny Ways' often left both imperialists and nationalists frustrated, not convinced. Ask students to reflect in writing on why compromise rarely leads to complete satisfaction.

• During the Role Play of the Manitoba Schools Question, watch for students believing the issue was resolved fairly for all groups.

  After the role play, have students review the actual outcomes of the Laurier compromise and write a short analysis of which communities gained or lost the most, using primary sources from the activity.

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Methods used in this brief

• Formal Debate
• Role Play
• Gallery Walk