Social Studies 1: Teacher Knowledge

A fun article from French.org about surprising facts regarding French culture.

Core concepts of Francophone culture are discussed in this article from the Cultural Atlas

An interesting article from Babel Magazine about the French language and why it is one of the most spoken languages in the world

As this video from the Atlantic says, the worst conversation to have with kids about race is no conversation at all.

A site to support infusing Cree ways of knowing and being into curriculum. You'll find planning supports, videos, and learning guides.

A great guide for incorporating indigenous perspectives throughout the social studies curriculum.

A Wikipedia article that lists all the Francophone countries and territories in the world

The National Centre for Collaboration on Indigenous Education (NCCIE) presents lesson plans, videos, and a online library of resources for teachers

A 2017 Quebec government report on the policy on Québec affirmation and Canadian relations.

Rupertsland Centre for Teaching and Learning (RCTL) proudly offers a large selection of Métis Education Resources for lifelong learning.

This lesson explores the importance of listening to stories, the issues of appropriation of Indigenous stories, and the protocols around telling a story.

Interesting statistics about Canadian Francophonie from the Government of Canada

This handbook is a helpful guide and sensitive document written to enable educators to meet the challenge of addressing Islam in the classroom.

This page provides links to videos for an 8-part series for students by the GEDSB Indigenous Education group.

Learn what land-based education is and how it connects to Indigenous knowledge.

You'll find activity guides for Summer, Fall, and Spring on this page from the Treaty Education Alliance.

A playlist of videos from Rocky View Schools that shares the teachings of Elder Saa'kokoto, who shares stories & knowledge about Indigenous Ways of Life.

Listed below are an abundance of easy place-based lessons that you can do daily, weekly, or seasonally

A digital map of treaty areas and traditional lands of Indigenous peoples around the world.

This guide includes detailed instructions on how to use Native Land in the classroom. The Guide discusses the pros and cons of the map itself and provides resources for teachers to learn more.

The Canada Guide is an in-depth reference website for all things Canadian, and one of the web’s leading sources of information on Canada for students and teachers.

What images come to mind when you think of Canada? Red-coated Mounties? The maple leaf? Weird animals like beavers and black-headed geese? But what about Canadian food?

Learn the history and Indigenous origins of lacrosse and the evolution of the modern game. Be sure to watch the embedded video The Stickmaker.

“What does it mean to be Canadian?”. Are Canadians defined by the sports they play? The foods they eat? The answer is all of the above! Learn more about the culture of Canada here!

This special 54-minute episode from CBC Radio takes a look at lacrosse, also called The Creator's Game. Learn about the origins of lacrosse and its spiritual connection.

Students will learn about the symbols of Canada including the beaver, the maple tree, and the Canadian flag.

Lake Louise is one of the best known natural landmarks in Alberta. Learn more about it here!

It’s hard to believe this landscape, which is more suited to the Sahara Desert, is found in the northeast corner of Alberta.

Athabasca Glacier is North America's most-visited glacier. Although it has receded over the last 125 years, the glacier still covers approximately 6 sq km

The largest river in Alberta is the Athabasca. If flows from the Jasper National Park all the way up to the Arctic Ocean, a length of 1,538 km!

Cameron Falls are a wonderfully geometric falls located in Waterton Provincial Park.

In addition to its particularly beautiful scenery, Dinosaur Provincial Park – located at the heart of the province of Alberta's badlands – contains some of the most important dinosaur discoveries

Dry Island Buffalo Jump is the tallest buffalo jump in the world. It's height made it one of the best places for Indigenous peoples to use to hunt buffalo.

The first half of this video shows off the beautiful Willow Creek Hoodoos in southern Alberta.

Drone footage of the tallest waterfall in Alberta: Kakwa Falls. They are located southwest of Grande Prairie

From sod huts to towering skyscrapers, the buildings of western Canadian communities have influenced the development of our culture

This prominent southern Alberta geological landmark is a historical site of great spiritual significance to the Blackfoot peoples.

Many Indigenous place names have been replaced by colonial names. By supporting the reclamation of Indigenous place names in the sites, Parks Canada is taking steps toward reconciliation.

The Willow Creek hoodoos are among Alberta’s most popular and widely-recognized geological formations

The most striking feature in Red Rock Coulee is the amazing round red rock boulders it’s named for. They strangely exist in the middle of a prairie.

A map of Canada overlaid with the names and locations of Indigenous peoples

A long time ago, a charismatic chief from the south east of Turtle Island followed a vision leading his people to the shores of the sacred Lake Wakamne, or God's Lake

For First Nations, their identity, nationhood, and cultural survival are all interconnected to their relationship with the land and cannot be separated out from their specific lands.

Tribes of Indigenous peoples used to gather at Head-Smashed-In to hunt buffalo for their food.

The official site for Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump has information about Blackfoot History, how the site got its name, and school tours.

This space was used for centuries to forage medicines for healing purposes. In Cree, kihcihkaw askî means this place here is sacred land.

First called Wakamne by the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation who live on the west end of the Lake and Manito Sahkahigan by the Cree.

This prominent southern Alberta geological landmark is a historical site of great spiritual significance to the Blackfoot peoples.

Before Lake Louise received its well-known title, it was called Horâ Juthin Îmne, which translates into 'lake of the little fishes'

In Canada close to 30,000 official place names are, or may be, of Indigenous origin. Learn about a small sample of those names here!

Can changing the title of a mountain or river make it more culturally accessible? Our answer is YES!

This list of place names in Canada of Indigenous origin contains Canadian places whose names originate from the words of the First Nations, Métis, or Inuit peoples.

An academic journal article about young children's ability to learn historical thinking skills

Children can learn to evaluate history as they gain skills in thinking critically about historical events and records

A matrix that explores aspects of each HTC, how students can demonstrate of each HTC, and suggested student tasks