Social Studies 1-8

The Ontario social sciences curriculum includes expectations that incorporate media education themes. The grade curriculum document Social Sciences and Humanities (2013) includes a section that demonstrates the complementary relationship between the critical thinking approach of media education and social sciences:

Similarly, social studies, history, and geography lessons can be used as a vehicle for instruction in critical literacy. Students learn to critique media messages, determining the intended audience, the authors’ intentions, the missing voices, and the underlying values. They analyse a variety of primary and secondary sources, such as letters and diaries, news stories, paintings and photographs, annotated maps, and government websites, interpreting information and assessing the strength of various positions on issues related to social studies, history, and geography.

On the sidebar you will find outcome charts containing media-related learning expectations from the social sciences curriculum, with links to supporting resources on the MediaSmarts site. As many of our lessons can be adapted to suit different grade levels and abilities, specific lessons may be listed for more than one grade. Teachers should also note that individual lessons often satisfy a number of expectations.