Who Was Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae?
LESSON Plan 4:

Time Period: 1872 – 1918 (Plus WWI)

PRESCRIBED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Grade Level - K – 12:

• Identify and explore the many events in the life of John McCrae and his role as a soldier, physician, teacher, author & poet  (K – 12)
• Gain insight into the story behind John McCrae’s war medals and museum (K – 12)
• Demonstrate an awareness of how John McCrae’s love for the military & medicine were often at conflict during WWI (Grade 5 – 12)

TIME: This lesson plan may take 1 - 2 (45 minute) classes or can be edited as required.
OBJECTIVES Students will be able to:

• Develop a deeper understanding of the events that shaped John McCrae as a person
• Gain an appreciation of John McCrae’s many accomplishments and the contributions he made
• Demonstrate an awareness of the importance of preserving the memory of John McCrae as the author of the In Flanders Fields poem
• Gain a sense of how dangerously close we came to losing John McCrae’s war medals and his birthplace, (now the John McCrae Museum)
• Construct a brief time line of John McCrae’s life

INTRODUCTION & OVERVIEW
Although recognized as the author of the world’s most beloved war memorial poem (In Flanders Fields), John McCrae accomplished a great deal more in his short life. This lesson will introduce the many other achievements of John McCrae and briefly explore the conflict between McCrae’s love of the military and his love for medicine. Students will also explore the stories behind saving John McCrae’s war medals and his birthplace, McCrae House museum.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
John McCrae inherited his father’s love of the military and along with medicine, the military figured prominently throughout McCrae’s life. Explore the many other achievements of John McCrae. McCrae was the first student ever to be awarded a scholarship to the University of Toronto; was a soldier in the Boar war, was a member of the Royal College of Physicians in Britain; ran his own private medical practice; was a contributing writer of the textbook “Osler’s Modern Medicine”; co-authored a textbook on Pathology; was expedition physician to Governor General Lord Grey’s Hudson Bay canoe trip; plus, was the first Canadian ever appointed as Consultant Physician to the British Armies in the field.

Refer to Student Data Sheet #4 and John McCrae’s Timeline in Appendix 3
MATERIALS NEEDED

• Data Sheet #1A – IN FLANDERS FIELDS Poem
• Data Sheet #4 – The Story of John McCrae
• IN FLANDERS FIELDS music CD, CD player
• Black Line Master H - “Complete the Timeline of John McCrae’s Life” (5 – 12)

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