The NS Department of Education and Early Childhood Development website provides access to curriculum, digital and online resources within the Educators section.
The Digital Video Library provides teachers in Nova Scotia with access to professional development video resources produced by LRTS. Videos can be viewed online, downloaded from the website, or DVD copies can be ordered from the Education Media Library.
Search by grade level, series, subject or keyword.
The Common Sense seal program recognizes outstanding media with an official seal for quality and impact. Common Sense Selections for Learning are best-in-class media resources and tools that facilitate great learning experiences for students and educators. Common Sense expert reviewers make hand-picked, official selections annually based on our independent rating criteria and pedagogical rubric.
The Notable Children’s Digital Media list includes real-time, dynamic, and interactive media content for children 14 years of age and younger that enables and encourages active engagement and social interaction while informing, educating, and entertaining in exemplary ways. This list represents the titles selected by the committee for the first half of 2021, and will include titles added in early 2022.
To find out about more great digital media for children, visit the page for ALSC's Excellence in Early Learning Digital Media Award.
The LGBTQ+ Health Guide is the result of a partnership between Dalhousie Libraries, the Nova Scotia Health Authority Library Services and Halifax Public Libraries. In partnering, resources from all three organizations are linked, including publicly available resources. The goal of the guide is to address the need for curated, trustworthy health information for this minority population that addresses the need for cultural respect and understanding of the particular health needs of individuals in the LGBTQ+ community.
The guide contains resources directed at three groups: researchers, clinicians and trainees, and community members. They conducted a survey prior to launching the guide and received excellent suggestions which they incorporated and welcome continued feedback and suggestions on the guide.
https://dal.ca.libguides.com/2SLGBTQIAHealth
SOGI 1 2 3 helps educators make schools inclusive and safe for students of all sexual orientations and gender identities (SOGI). At a SOGI-inclusive school, students' biological sex does not limit their interests and opportunities, and their sexual orientation and how they understand and express their gender are welcomed without discrimination.
The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) is the largest organization in the world committed to promoting excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all. NSTA's current membership of 55,000 includes science teachers, science supervisors, administrators, scientists, business and industry representatives, and others involved in and committed to science education.
Access to this site and associated online journals is restricted. Education and Child and Youth Study students can obtain login information by calling the CRC at (902) 457-6426 or emailing crc@msvu.ca.
Some of the websites recommended by the NSTA include:
Elementary Adventures in Chemistry includes lesson plans, classroom activities, and background science information, activity sheets and related reading, video demonstrations and molecular model animations (American Chemical Society).
Engineering is Elementary (Museum of Science, Boston) supports educators and children with curricula and professional development that develop engineering literacy. The 50+ video snippets can be used "to see firsthand examples of how developing enigneering habits of mind supports learning acorss the curriculum; and to observe real students and teachers engaged in the five steps of the EiE Engineering Design Process."
The San Fransisco Exploratorium Museum website includes Science Snacks, a section featuring hands-on, inexpensive, teacher tested science activities. The Designing Teaching and Learning Tools page also includes many useful links.
DK Findout! has easy-to-access, authoritative DK content and subject-based, curriculum-linked articles to support classroom learning and teaching, as well as up-to-date resources and ideas for projects and homework.
Markville History is an award winning website created by the York Regional District School Board and Markville Secondary School. The site includes interactive lessons and activities, curriculum guides for History in the higher grades and apps.
Frontier Life: Borderlands, Settlements and Colonial Encounters is a digital collection of primary source documents that helps us to understand existence on the edges of the anglophone world from 1650-1920. Discover the various European and colonial frontier regions of North America, Africa and Australasia through documents that reveal the lives of settlers and indigenous peoples in these areas. It is available free to libraries and educational institutions nationwide, including all library types: public, post-secondary, special, archives, museums and K-12 schools.
Bring Canada’s capital into your classroom with these free, bilingual teaching resources.
The Gathering Place: An Exploration of Canada’s Capital is a resource for teachers of grade 5 to 8 Social Science and History. The lessons and activities explore:
Canada’s Capital treasures (Gr. 6-9)
These seven lesson plans explore how some of the Capital’s most inspiring commemorations, heroes and symbols contribute to our sense of personal, community and national identity. The activities meet the curricular objectives in Social Studies, History and Geography programs in provinces and territories across the country. Five of the lesson plans also feature a media literacy activity.
Each year a committee of the Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature (CSMCL) identifies the best in multicultural books. According to the CSMCL criteria, "best" is defined as: worthy of note or notice, important, distinguished, outstanding. As applied to books, best should be thought to include books of especially commendable quality, books that exhibit creativity, and books of fiction, information, poetry and pictures for all age levels that reflect and encourage the interests of children and youth in exemplary ways. https://www.csmcl.org/best-books-2019
Media Smarts is a free Canadian non-profit resource for educators and families with direct ties to the NS Curriculum requirements. Search by province, subject or grade for lesson plans, games, media literacy research and resources.
"Media Smarts is Canada’s bilingual centre for digital media literacy. A registered charity, MediaSmarts has been conducting research, developing resources and advancing digital media literacy since 1996.
Digital media literacy is the ability to critically, effectively and responsibly access, use, understand and engage with media of all kinds.
Our work falls into three main areas: research and evaluation, education, and awareness and outreach.
Education - We create free, bilingual educational resources for educators, parents/guardians, and the general public, and provide internationally-regarded digital media literacy expertise.
Awareness and outreach - We work in partnership with organizations to advance digital media literacy in Canada and elsewhere. Learn how to get involved with our work. "