Found this blog which gives a link to the Ultimate Canadian History Site and a valuable critique of its usefulness and short comings. The Ultimate Canadian History Site offers unique ways to get students interested in Canadian history such as; sing along with a song entitled "Louis Louis Riel. The website also offers history quizzes that allow to students to find out which historical figures they are most like, and mini projects which are meant to encourage students to think about what it means to be Canadian. These history related class activities don't allow a simple little answer that we can all memorize before we move on to our next social studies lesson. Instead, it leads to more question and critical thinking. The link could be valuable when trying to reach students who need to be drawn in by media or funny curriculum related 'hooks'.

In this article the author discusses the importance of separating myth from history for social studies teachers. It argues that there has been resurgence in our schools to heighten the historical consciousness of our students. According the article many teachers have been able to provide the time and focus for students to become increasingly proficient at, and increasingly committed to, the difficult work of looking at the past critically. Since history is part of our core curriculum, schools actually have had the time to develop thoughtful and subtle complexity in students' historical thinking. One of the most important parts of the article talks about what the goal of teaching history in our schools should be and the importance of history in knowledge-making.

This article is great for computer-savvy teachers or historians who are interested incorporating computer gaming into their history lessons. Bitcasters, Telefilm Canada and Canada's National History Society have joined together to make an application which can be added to the Civilization III which uses Canadian history as a bases for the gaming environment. This is a unique way to make history lessons more interesting especially for those gamers in your class. The only difficulty I see with using this in the classroom is how to incorporate it to the curriculum and limited class time allotted for history. To help keep the game tied to the curriculum, HistoriCanada includes historical references such as the Canadian Encyclopedia, which are integrated directly into the game. An added bonus for teachers is that the game allows teachers to track progress on the game's web site, which will also provide further background information on the actual course of Canadian history.

Interesting journal article which sources recent research in brain research and research on constructivist theory to argue that the reflective inquiry tradition of social studies which has been shown to be a powerful model for developing a citizenship centered education, has been for the most part been unfulfilled in many social studies curriculum documents and classrooms. The article is important for any educational minister or teachers who are involved in developing curriculum for social studies. Article also gives some background and reasoning for ensuring that the students play an active role in conducting in class investigation well the teacher's acts as facilitators (Accountable Talk).

Found this journal article written primarily for education professionals, in which the author explores B.C and Canada's social studies curriculum in the age of globalization. In her belief the "absent curricula" is failing to create students who are well informed global citizens. The paper explores the reasons why are curricula is failing and provides suggestions as to how to address them. In addition the article does a great job of comparing our Canadian social studies curriculum to the U.S and U.K curriculum. The article goes on state that In "order to develop a better understanding of our world today, as well as foster critical thinking, students should be introduced to the histories of many nations, both past and present." In addition the paper emphasis the importance of authentic assessment, rather than testing of rote learning. The author also suggests that teachers should mark social study students based on more globalized themed projects and assignments rather than multiple choice, fact-based tests.

This great newspaper article printed in The Halifax Commoner gives a good description of the teacher I think we all would like to become. William is a secondary school teacher in Nova Scotia which believes that history can be meaningful to the students, if a teacher can show them how it relates to their own lives. Once the teacher is able to make this connection, students become engaged and understand history's relevance. However, with the limited time allocated towards teaching history in elementary and secondary it can be difficult to teach lessons which incorporate a critical-thinking aspect in them. What students (in most) cases are left with is lesson plans that are overburden with dates and boring facts rather than a lesson plans that is able to engage students in meaningful discussion and debate. Drawing from statistics from the Historica-Dominion Institute in 2010 the author paints a very dismal picture of Canadians historical knowledge and the current state of our history curriculum.

Take a look at this research journal article, (Falling voter turnout: Is it linked to diminished civics education?) it tries to shows a statistical correlation between the decline in Canadian voter turnout and a decrease in time spent on learning/teaching social studies. The authors of the report argued that this decline young voter participation reflects a "diminishing student awareness of some of the basic knowledge that informs a functional Canadian and global citizen." The article was released by the (CCL) produces a wide variety of material to aid researchers and policy-makers working in the realm of Canadian education. Good article for advocating for an increased focus on social studies in our school and a renewed focus on educating young Canadians about our cherished democratic system.

Hi again, found this short exert from Teaching and Testing to Continuous Learning and Improvement by John Jay Bonstingl which looks at the quality paradigm shift in education. The book was originally intended for teachers and curriculum development committees but offers useful information for anyone in the education community. The main body of the article is broken into two main parts. In the first part of the article the author compares the old paradigm of teaching and testing to the new paradigm of continuous learning and improvement and in the second part the author shows a comparison of these two techniques when applied to social studies. This could be useful as a point of reference when developing lesson plans which are intended to engage and stimulate students.

This blog which is intended for teachers and academics, uses a short summary of a discussion between two friends at an education- themed discussion salon to investigate the importance of learning geography and memorizing geographical facts. It describes why it is important in social studies (Geography) that a teacher shows a student the relevance of the material they our learning as a way of motivating them. This point-counter point conversational debate investigates some unique perspectives on both sides of the issue and gives the reader some useful examples of how we use geographical facts in our everyday life without even knowing it. This topic would certainly strike up some interesting discussion in any classroom.