Komagata Maru Drama Circle | Paper

Learn about how Canadian immigration policies were forced to be changed after the arrival of the Komagata Maru ship in Vancouver with this simple drama activity. Passengers were forced to stay aboard the ship because of discriminatory immigration policies. It only takes moments to prepare the cards which take students about half an hour to an hour to complete.

This resource is included in our Drama Circle Bundle! 

Drama circles are similar to readers' theatre activities where students read small sections of text. They encourage listening and reading fluency. Best of all, they require only moments to prepare, but students are engaged and learning for an hour or more.

This engaging activity includes:

• directions on how to run a drama circle.
• a teacher quick guide.
• a set of 40 cards (in colour and ink-saving versions).
• a set of discussion questions to do after the drama activity.
• a variety of reading difficulties and amounts of text on the cards so you can differentiate easily for your students.
• a few blank cards if you need to change the language on a card.

If you teach in Alberta, be aware this resource was written for the old Social Studies Program of Studies. It has not been reviewed or adjusted for the new Alberta social studies curriculum which is being piloted in the 2024-25 school year. To learn about how we plan to address the changes, visit our site https://brainninjas.ca/social-studies-in-alberta/

This activity supports:

• any lesson about discrimination in Canada.
• any lesson about Canadian history.
• any lesson about Asian heritage in Canada.

Ninja Note:  This resource requires downloading the PDF, printing the cards, and cutting them apart before beginning the activity.

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