Teacher Resources

You can participate in the Heritage Fair program by doing what you are already doing in your classroom! The provincial curriculum requires inquiry learning in all Saskatchewan classrooms. The focus of the Heritage Fairs program is on connecting inquiry learning with provincial curriculum. 

The Heritage Fair program is a province-wide initiative that encourages an interdisciplinary approach which combines English Language Arts and Social Studies outcomes so that students can explore their Saskatchewan and Canadian identities.

The English Language Arts K-12 goals include developing student's abilities to view, listen, read, represent, speak and write. What better way to develop these skills than by engaging in a student-centered research process and the Heritage Fair program gives students the opportunity to do just that! The research process, visual display, written report and oral presentation components of the program support all of these goals. You could also incorporate the English Language Arts Social, Cultural and Historical Contexts for grade 4 to 8 as possible themes including Saskatchewan (Gr. 4), Canadian identity, heritage, history (Gr. 5), peace and conflict (Gr. 6), Voices Through the Ages: Reconstructing the Past (Gr. 7) and Adventure and Adventurers (Gr. 8).

Connections with the Social Studies curriculum are abundant. In the past, students have explored topics ranging from their own immigration story (Social Studies Outcomes - IN 4.2, IN 8.1, IN 8.2), landscapes such as Cypress Hills, Drumheller and Buffalo Pound and their impact on our lives (DR 6.2, DR 7.2), Saskatchewan resources and technological innovations from Red Fife Wheat to Medicare (RW 4.3), the evolution of our Canadian identity from Les Voyageurs to Cirque du Soleil (DR 8.1) as well as Canada's political evolution from First Nations leaders such as Big Bear to former Prime Minister Jean Chretien (PA 5.1).

What skills do we hope students develop through this experience? The Heritage Fair program promotes lifelong learning through the development of 21st century skills for the future:

• improved literacy and digital literacy skills
• improved communication and research skills
• development of critical and creative thinking and problem solving skills
• opportunity to apply what they are learning to their own experiences to; develop a deeper understanding of subjects
• development of personal understanding of citizenship and their connections with their community
• opportunity to teach and learn from other students
• opportunity to learn to cope with problems that may not have clear solutions and manage changes and challenges to understanding

• Primary Junior Media and Digital Literacy

  • This library guide, created by Queen's University Library, provides links to lesson plans, teaching guides, fact checking sites, and other materials related to improving media literacy in the classroom. 

• Indigenous Education: The National Centre for Collaboration

  • This website, hosted by First Nations University of Canada, is great for teachers to find resources on Indigenous education. There is a section of the website that has a lesson plan search feature. These lesson plans are categorized by topic and learning level/grades. Each lesson plan can be downloaded and includes learning outcomes, activities, etc.

• National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation - Education

  • On the Education through Reconciliation page, links to teaching resources for preschool age to adults are provided. These resources range from digital copies of fiction and non-fiction books, educational packages, language resources, teaching guides on various subjects, etc.

• Canada Sports Hall of Fame - Indigenous Education Hub

  • This interactive education hub provides access to curriculum-aligned resources, educational interactivities, a digital book on Indigenous sports heroes, educator toolkit, and provides opportunities for classrooms to be involved with nominating an athlete for the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.  

• Historica Canada - Education Portal

  • Provides a searchable database of educational resources for teachers on various historical topics.

• The Saskatchewan Archaeological Society - Educational Resources

  • This link will take you to the Saskatchewan Archaeological Society's edcuational resources page, which includes information on renting their classroom Archaeokits, information on purchasing their Trappers and Traders game, their archaeology and geology guides, and many links to additional archaeological resources. 

• Choose Your Voice

  • Canadian curriculum resources about human rights for Grs. 6-8 (No cost) Includes information for students.

• Voices Into Action

  • Canadian curriculum resources about human rights for Grs. 8-12 (No cost) Includes information for students.

• Concentus Citizenship Education Foundation

  • Education resources for K-12 citizenship education

• Defining Moments Canada

  • Resources about researching, storytelling, and writing history, using various case studies on important Canadian events (Grades 6+). 

• Royal BC Museum's Heritage Fair Resources

  • This learning portal includes many resources for implemeting the Heritage Fairs program in the classroom.

• The Historical Thinking Consortium

  • The Historical Thinking Consortium is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting critical, creative and collaborative thinking. They offer professional learning and support, digital and print resources (some at a cost), partner and member benefits, and custom resource development. 

• The Historical Thinking Project

  • This website contains information on each of the six historical thinking concepts, and includes worksheets, lessons, and other resources. 

• Heritage Fair Made Easy

  • A step-by-step guide to creating a Heritage Fair project. 

• The Internet Archive

  • An online repository with books, video, archived news articles, photos, archived websites and more. This is a great site for finding resources on Saskatchewan history, and Canadian history more broadly. If students are unable to find a print copy of a resource, this website is a great place to look.

• Canada's History Lesson Plans

  • Canada's History provides lesson plans on a variety of topics for a range of grade levels. 

• Saskatchewan Prairie Conservation Action Plan

  • Educational sheets, colouring sheets, and links to other nature-related organizations. 

• Beyond the Win Education Programs

  • Engaging programs for a range of grade levels, presented by Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.