Join us and explore how to leverage digital interactive maps to bring global issues to life in your classroom! Centered on A Sustainable World, an engaging online platform developed by Aga Khan Foundation Canada in partnership with Canadian Geographic, this session introduces an interactive map designed for students aged 12–18.
You will explore how the platform supports inquiry-based learning while deepening students’ understanding of world geography and key global challenges. Through themes such as climate change, health, education, and gender equality—aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—the resource encourages students to think critically and act as informed global citizens.
The session will also highlight the platform’s multimedia and classroom resources, offering practical strategies for integrating global citizenship education into diverse classroom contexts. You will leave with ready-to-use ideas and tools to foster meaningful discussions, enhance student engagement, and connect curriculum to real-world issues.
Can't wait to share this exciting resource with you! (Div 3, 4)
Sport can bring students together, but it can also surface difficult moments around race, culture, identity, and belonging. This interactive session creates space for coaches, teachers, and administrators to openly discuss sensitive issues that often go unaddressed. Through real-world case studies, participants will explore challenges such as the use of the n-word, microaggressions, and religious clothing or accessories. Together, we’ll practice strategies for responding effectively, building inclusive team cultures, and turning moments of tension into opportunities for growth. (Div 3, 4)
Join us in showcasing Indigenous Voices; a dynamic new media-based learning resource from the NFB. Designed by Indigenous educators, this innovative platform offers students across Canada an authentic and meaningful opportunity to engage with themes of history, community, justice, and Reconciliation as they relate to the Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island. Grounded in the powerful lived experiences of young Indigenous mentors, Indigenous Voices is an interactive learning journey in which activities are anchored by the NFB’s rich catalogue of Indigenous-made cinema - bringing storytelling, perspective, and critical reflection into the classroom in a compelling and accessible way. More than a resource, Indigenous Voices is a framework for transformative learning. It has been developed in the spirit of “nothing about us, without us,” through meaningful collaboration with Indigenous leaders and communities, guided by the five R’s of ethical engagement—Respect, Relevance, Reciprocity, Responsibility, and Relationship.
This session explores how sports—from ancient games to modern athletes—can serve as a powerful lens for teaching complex social ideas in upper elementary. Participants will see how literature, historical artifacts, and archaeological evidence can help students investigate culture, identity, fairness, ethics, and social change. By examining the rules, practices, and stories behind sports, students can grapple with questions about power, inclusion, citizenship, and community values, while connecting past traditions to contemporary issues. Attendees will leave with practical strategies, lesson ideas, discussion prompts, and texts that integrate critical literacy, inquiry, and Alberta’s new Social Studies curriculum, helping students think deeply about the ways sport reflects and shapes society.
This session will work through a number of lesson plans and activities that include topics of Canada’s Natural Regions, Alberta’s Natural Regions, Treaties, Indigenous and Metis Territories and Settlements, Alberta’s Natural Resources (Renewable and Non-Renewable). Come away with the knowledge and confidence of how to run the simulator and classroom ready lesson plans and activities in this interactive hands-on session. Bring your own computer if you can!
This informative session will familiarize participants with Historica Canada’s free, bilingual, and online resources, which are designed to promote critical thinking, inquiry, and bring diverse perspectives into history and social studies classrooms. Sports are a great uniter (and a great divider!), but their importance to the national psyche cannot be underestimated. The cultural commemoration of sport and the pride we take from that as Canadians are important parts of the historical record. From iconic sporting moments to athletic heroes themselves, our programs have captured these proudly Canadian stories. While mainstream sports have not always been an inclusive platform, people of all backgrounds have always played sports. Our multimedia resources, from videos to pedagogical activities to quizzes to research articles, cover not just the biggest victories, but also reflect milestones important to Canada’s diverse communities. Our resources explore all kinds of watershed moments, people, and events in sports history and culture. Historica Canada’s programs encourage students, educators, and the general public to explore, learn, and reflect on Canada’s history, and what it means to be Canadian. Our thematic education guides, which feature interactive lesson plans built around curriculum topics, are supplemented by multimedia resources, including videos (including the Heritage Minutes), podcasts, quizzes, and archival photographs that aim to promote historical thinking and inquiry among students. This session will equip teachers to use Historica Canada’s free resources and help them recognize the value of incorporating multimedia resources into their classroom. Historica Canada’s most recent and popular projects will be featured as case studies during the session and will include resources that highlight perspectives of diverse Canadians.
Session participants will recognize the importance of sport in a historical context, both as a unifier and a divider. They will explore how sport is reflected in our resources, and how incorporating multimedia resources in the classroom can expose students to a greater diversity of historical narratives and allow them to engage more deeply with the past. Session participants will explore multimedia content that appeals to different learning styles, allowing students to develop their critical thinking skills by engaging with stories and sources presented through text, quizzes, videos, and podcasts. Session participants will learn about Historica Canada’s programs and multimedia resources, which are produced in collaboration with educators, subject matter experts, and community stakeholders. Teachers will leave the session ready to incorporate Historica Canada’s multimedia content into their classrooms, including ready-to-use education guides, lesson plans and hands-on activities built around curriculum topics.
