When historians study the past, they use a variety of information sources to make sense of what happened. They address such questions as:

• What helps us to understand why the event occurred?
• Did the event result from a single factor or a mix of factors?
• Did the event have to happen in the way it did?
• How does this event relate to some of the things that are going on today?

After Newfoundland and Labrador became Canada's tenth province, scholars began to examine what led up to the event. In this lesson, you will engage in tasks similar to those that concern historians. More specifically, you will focus on a key question

"How can the success of confederate forces be explained?"

To help you in this task, the following exercises and suggestions are offered.

Exercises and Suggestions:

1. Take time to explore the materials in the Resource Room and identify information that relates to the focus question.
2. Develop a series of sub-questions you would like answered. For example, how did Great Britain influence the final referendum outcome?
3. Read again the information you identified in the Resource Room and answer your questions as you do so.
4. Write a short classroom report to summarize your findings.
   • The opening paragraph should introduce what your report is about and get the attention of the reader.
   • The middle or main body of your report will contain the questions you generated and the answers to them. You may wish to develop a paragraph around each question.
   • The ending paragraph should tie together what you have said and your position on the focus question.
5. After you have written the first draft of your report, read it again and have someone else review it. Together, discuss how your report could be revised. You may use the following guidelines to revise your report:

   Content:
   Did you give enough details, and describe and explain them well?

   Organization:
   Did you arrange your ideas so that they make sense, and did you write a good opening and closing?

   Sentence fluency:
   Did you change your sentence structure from time to time to make your writing interesting?

   Word choice:
   Did you use words that clearly and interestingly express your ideas and feelings?

   Conventions:
   Did you carefully and accurately use punctuation, capitalization, spelling, grammar and paragraphing?

6. Write the final draft.