To help you start the school year and make the most of Elections Canada’s educational resources, here are our best tools to use with your students this fall and all year round.
Videos for Teachers
Most of our resources include a teacher-support video, which gives you a quick overview of the lesson. It shows you how to use the materials and gives you our tips about each resource. These videos can help you to decide what activity is best suited to your teaching goals. You can find the support videos on the Professional Learning page or by clicking the Enhancements tab on most lesson pages.
Videos for Students
Did you know that many of our learning resources include short videos for students? These can be found at the bottom of the lesson page. They introduce the content or consolidate the lesson.
You’ll find consolidation videos for the following resources: Voting Rights through Time, Mapping Electoral Districts, Election Simulation Toolkit and Does Voting Matter? These videos help students contextualize concepts, hear personal stories and understand how Elections Canada makes sure that all Canadians can access their right to vote.
Our videos also introduce content to students. In Which Election? students learn through videos about the different levels of elections and government responsibilities. In Civic Action: Then and Now, the videos provide important background context for the historical case studies of civic action. For the youngest students, the Choosing our Mascot videos invite early learners to sing along with five Arctic animal candidates, and listen to their speeches, as they learn the basics of elections.
Teacher Background Information
Our resources are designed to engage your students in inquiry learning, which means that they will ask more questions. If you’re new to teaching about elections and democracy, you might need more background knowledge to support your students. Our teacher backgrounders are there for your reference.
In Voting Rights through Time, you’ll find background information on the history of voting rights in general and specific supporting information for each of the five case studies. Civic Action: Then and Now also has more details for teachers to support both case studies. Mapping Electoral Districts provides a teacher fact sheet to give you the basics on the federal redistribution process, including links to Elections Canada’s Redistribution website.
Our website has all the background information you need to teach Election Simulation Toolkit. From the steps of an election to a student FAQ, Canada’s Elections features a rich array of accessible information for both teachers and students.
Slide Decks
Teachers asked, and we’ve provided, slide decks to support you to put those teacher guides into practice. The slide desks are not informational for students to copy, but instructional to help you guide your students through the activity. At the bottom of each resource page, you can download the slide decks in PowerPoint format.
Downloadable Formats
We know that teachers value the hands-on kits that we ship for free to all parts of Canada, but we also recognize that sometimes you just need something for tomorrow. That’s why you can find all the materials in a downloadable format right on all lesson pages.
Under the Getting Ready tab, you’ll find what you need to print, what to access digitally and any other materials that you might need, like sticky notes.
For example, the teachers’ guide for Geography of Elections features six diverse electoral district fact sheets. Under Getting ready, you’ll find a link to the fact sheets for all 338 ridings in Canada. You can download, print or display the fact sheet for the electoral district where your school is located.
Teachers trust Elections Canada for accurate, non-partisan information. You can also trust us to support your classroom needs so that you can effectively teach about elections and democracy. Order or download your free classroom resources today!
Wishing you a wonderful school year!