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Primary Junior Social Studies Teacher Resources

Here you will find teacher and classroom resources to support The Ontario Curriculum: Social Studies, Grades 1 to 6 (2018).

PJ Education Librarian

Profile Photo
Brenda Reed
Contact:
brenda.reed@queensu.ca
613-533-6000 x 77644

Hands-On Series eBooks

We support your Social Studies teaching:

  • book lists curated to support the Ontario Social Studies curriculum
  • picture books & novels to enrich the Social Studies topics you are teaching
  • Social Studies textbooks & teacher guides used in Ontario
  • Social Studies lesson plans for the Ontario curriculum
  • print and online access to professional journals for Grade 1 to 6 Social Studies
  • online video on topics covered in Ontario's Social Studies curriculum

Location of Teacher and Classroom Resources

Floor 1:

Children's Collection: Children's fiction and information books

Teacher Resource Room: Hands-on resource kits, big books, puppets, DVDs, posters, and more.

School Textbooks: K-12 student textbooks with accompanying teacher guides

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Floor 2:

Teaching Collection: Professional resources for teachers including lesson plans, instructional strategies, and more.

French Collection: Children's books and teacher resources in one collection.

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Floor 3:

Research Collection: Scholarly resources that report on past and current research in the field of Education. The collection focuses on Canadian and Indigenous education, curriculum, social justice, instructional strategies, and research methods.

More Online:  ebooks for children & teachers, video from CBC's curio.ca, NFB's CAMPUS, On-Core, and more.

Evaluating Children's Books with Indigenous Content

While some children's books present Indigenous peoples and themes in an honest, sensitive way, others reinforce negative stereotypes. Resources listed below are meant to assist you in evaluating children's literature for bias.

Titles on the Trillium List

trillium list logo

The Trillium List is the list of classroom resources that have been approved for use by the Ontario Ministry of Education.

The Nelson Canada series is currently the only title listed on Ontario's Trillium List for Social Studies, Grades 1 to 6.

This Nelson series plus other relevant textbooks and teacher guides that could be used for lesson planning for the Ontario Social Studies curriculum are listed by grade and strand on the pages linked to the left sidebar menu.

Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People

Open Access Lesson Plans

Book Lists

The Canadian Children's Book Centre staff have carefullly selected a list of Canadian children's books on topics in history. Teachers will appreciate that the book recommendations in the History Book Bank include a concise summary and a suggested grade and age range..

ccbc history bank image

The website Mirrors Windows Doors, created and maintained by Marjorie Coughlan, is an excellent source of children's & YA literature titles on a range of diverse issues.  See especially, the link to online reading lists on topics celebrating diversity in literature, including adoption, refugees, and countries around the world.

Recommended Reading

Ministry of Education Teacher Support

FREE Resource Alert!

Canadian Museum of History Teacher Resources

View artefacts, activities, and lesson plans relating to all aspects of Canadian History.