OESSTA has developed this ESL/ELD resource to support English language development for ESL/ELD students within the context of the 2023 Social Studies Geography & History curriculum. It is designed to supplement and enhance existing classroom resources to make learning more accessible and meaningful for multilingual learners.
For each strand of the curriculum, there are two components to this project:
- A comprehensive, multilingual vocabulary list (glossary) related to each Social Studies History and Geography grade and strand (grades 1-6). This component includes simplified definitions, images, and links to Google pronunciation.
- A visual guide that includes an overall vocabulary list followed by key word links to images that represent the words/concepts. We have included the phonetic pronunciation and links to listen to English pronunciations. The diverse images have been selected to support an understanding of the vocabulary and to be provocations to support discussion.
We suggest that the resource can used in the following ways:
- Use the multilingual glossary to connect a student’s first language to key vocabulary in each strand.
- Use the images in the Visual Guide to brainstorm vocabulary, read and listen to pronunciations, generate discussion questions, and make connections to their home country and/or to the Canadian context
General Uses
Teachers may use the images in the Visual Guide as a minds on activity to introduce concepts and vocabulary in the broader classroom. Consider relating the images to Social Studies thinking concepts (i.e. significance, continuity and change) and aspects of inquiry (i.e. developing questions, analyzing resources).
Note: The selected images are royalty free or free to use within an educational context. Users should also be aware that some of the links to external websites will break over time.
These resources reflect grades 1-6 in the 2023 Revised Social Studies Geography & History curriculum document.
PDF Files
Grade 1 Strand A – Glossary Grade 1 Strand A – Visual Guide
Grade 1 Strand B – Glossary Grade 1 Strand B – Visual Guide
Grade 2 Strand A – Glossary Grade 2 Strand A – Visual Guide
Grade 2 Strand B – Glossary Grade 2 Strand B – Visual Guide
Grade 3 Strand A – Glossary Grade 3 Strand A – Visual Guide
Grade 3 Strand B – Glossary Grade 3 Strand B – Visual Guide
Grade 4 Strand A – Glossary Grade 4 Strand A – Visual Guide
Grade 4 Strand B – Glossary Grade 4 Strand B – Visual Guide
Grade 5 Strand A – Glossary Grade 5 Strand A – Visual Guide
Grade 5 Strand B – Glossary Grade 5 Strand B – Visual Guide