15 Sources of Canada Day Activities

 Well, it is June and there is no better time to introduce the Canada Day holiday to your students.  I have searched the web and have asked colleagues about favourites for teaching about Canada and Canada Day.  Since150 would put this post way over the maximum word count, I have pulled together 15.  I hope this helps you and your students with your holiday preparation.   The resources are listed in alphabetical order. If you have any that I have missed please add them through the comments feature below.

Happy Canada Day!

Resources for a happy Canada day and beyond

The Canada Network has shared some introduction to Canadian culture lessons that may be useful for you Canada Day lesson.  The activities, Canadian culture, Canadian history and Canadian ESL are downloadable and printable.

The I Spy Canada Game is a printable Where’s Waldo style game for three levels. It contains a worksheet and an answer key. It is a short activity but might be used as an ice breaker or a bridge into Canada Day.

This page provides a bevy of ideas for learning about Canada and Canada Day with younger learners.  Most of the linked activities require membership.

This sample podcast features a reading about Canada Day. Start listening at 23 seconds with your students. Students listen to basic vocabulary and concepts about Canada Day.  With a subscription, this lesson includes vocabulary review worksheets and an information gap activity.

ESOL Course’s Free English Lessons online has shared a mix of Canadian themed activities. The videos comprehension activities provide students with instant feedback

If you and your students cannot make it to Ottawa, the government of Canada has two resources, The Gathering Place and Canada’s Capital Treasures.   These are complete themed lessons with multimedia activities.  The complete set of lessons and activities can be downloaded and printed in PDF format.  Also have a look at the Canada Day Teachers’ Resources page (http://bit.ly/2tdi2m6)

Ok so my bell-bottoms are showing.    Explore Canada was a program distributed to LINC centres across Ontario around 1998.  If you still have a class set of CDs you may be able to have the students complete some of the Canadian language learning activities on laptops that still have CD players.

ISS of BC hosts Janice’s ESL page that includes quite a few Canada themed online learning activities. Most of these are curated, but I suspect that some have been created in house using tools such as Hot Potatoes.  This site contains a lot of links to listening, reading, grammar, vocabulary and quizzes within the Canadian category.

Canadian Corner has two sections, Canadian Readings and Canadian Citizenship Test. The citizenship test questions are multiple choice.  The readings draw on several Canadian historical and cultural topics. The readings are supported with a variety of activities to promote comprehension and communication in the classroom.

Most of us are very familiar with the LINC learning objects.  In each of the levels one through four there is a Canada and a Canadian Culture theme. Some of these could be used to generate some awareness and excitement for celebrating Canada Day.

Pinterest is a visual social media repository of community contributed resources.  In the 150 and Canada Pinterest search result, there are a mountain of infographics, recipes, worksheets and more activities for you to use with your students.

Pinterest is not just for wedding planners and recipe swappers!  Have a look a t this Pinterest collection of lesson ideas for all types of classes.  As with the previous entry there are so many of resources that you may have to set a time limit before you start looking.

There are many resources on this page that can be leveraged by creative instructors.  An example is the infographics page.  It contains thirty-six printable infographics presenting Canadian characteristics in a contemporary and visually pleasing way.

The Teacher Planet folks have curated Canadian activities and resources from others sites. There are a few lesson, printables and activities at this location.

What’s your favourite resource?

So, there you have it. Fifteen Canada Day + resources that you can use in your classroom.  And if you don’t have time to teach it before Canada Day this year, most of these are a great resource any time of year.

Let us know what you’re favourite Canada themed resource is by posting it below.

Hi—I'm John Allan. I am an educator who works in the technology enhanced language learning field. I create online learning opportunities and mentor instructors on the Avenue project. I have experience teaching ESL and EFL in Canada and the Middle East. I hold an MSC in Computer Assisted Language learning, a M.Ed. in Distance Education, TESL B. Ed., a B.Ed. (OCT), and a variety of TESL relevant certifications from TESL Canada, TESL Ontario and the Ontario Ministry of Education. For more articles, learning objects, projects and blog links see https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnharoldallan

POST COMMENT 8

8 thoughts on “15 Sources of Canada Day Activities”

  1. Happy Canada Day John. Keep the Maple Leaf flying.

    Awesome list.

    I’d add Historica.ca – which includes TCE – The Canadian Encyclopedia (not sure if it is updated but Mel Hurtig’s chef d’oeuvre was my go-to resource as a new Canadian. No bell bottoms. Think big shoulder pads…)

    1. Claudie, thanks for this interesting and useful resource. It would be great if one was setting up a WebQuest on Canadiana.

    1. Mike, thanks for this post on Canada Day. Also, thanks for the reminder of the emerging Canadian rich Ancestry Project.

  2. Cecillia, thanks for flagging the Pier21 resource. There certainly is a lot to learn and possibly contribute to here. I think the Culture Trunks has great potential to become a treasure of experiences for our students and us to read and use int he future.

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