Education module

If you’re a teacher, download lesson plans and our curriculum to help guide the creative writing process and provide fun activities that will get students thinking and excited about their contest entries.

Thank you from Habitat for Humanity Canada

Dear teachers,

Welcome to the Meaning of Home education module!

Your class’s participation is helping families in your community access safe, decent, and affordable housing. We hope the Meaning of Home contest inspires you and your students explore the importance of home and the power of community service.

This toolkit includes submission tips, resources and lesson plans to help you seamlessly integrate the Meaning of Home contest into your classroom activities.

Help us spread the word!

Please share the contest with fellow teachers at your school, within your network, or with your principal or school board.

We truly appreciate your support. Every submission counts — each one generates a $10 donation from sponsors, helping Habitat for Humanity build homes for families in need of housing across your community.

Thank you for your support,

Habitat for Humanity Canada

meaningofhome@habitat.ca

To find your local Habitat for Humanity, enter your school’s postal code here

Background

Are you looking for a meaningful way to engage your students in creative writing and community service? The Meaning of Home contest, in support of Habitat for Humanity Canada, invites Grade 4, 5 and 6 students from across the country to write a composition, essay or poem about what home means to them.

By participating in this national writing contest, students will not only have the chance to win great prizes — they also help support their local Habitat for Humanity and contribute to building safe, decent and affordable housing for families in their community.

The resources in this module are designed to help you seamlessly integrate the contest into your classroom. Whether to be used as a standalone activity or to enhance existing lesson plans in language arts, creative writing, or community service, these materials will support meaningful learning and inspire students to reflect on the importance of home.

Objectives and curriculum areas

The Meaning of Home contest offers a unique and meaningful way to engage students in creative writing while fostering a sense of community responsibility. Through this activity, students reflect on what home means to them and learn about the importance of giving back — while also meeting curriculum objectives in Language Arts.

This contest supports the following learning outcomes:

• Producing an original piece of work that encourages independent critical thought

• Developing proper grammar, spelling and punctuation

• Writing to express thinking and communicate personal opinions

• Organizing ideas and writing for an intended purpose or audience

• Fostering proofreading, editing and revision skills

Students will find the contest personally meaningful, as it challenges them to think creatively about a topic that directly impacts their lives. It also provides a platform to improve their writing skills in a real-world context.

Resources

• Lesson plans 1-6

• Habitat family story link

• Author’s main idea worksheet

• Getting involved in your community fact sheet

• Habitat for Humanity Canada fact sheet

• Writing tips for students

• Word searches

• Parental permission form

• Letter to parents example

• School newsletter example

Download lesson plans

Download colouring page

Tips for teachers

How to Submit Entries

Teachers can submit student entries in one of three ways:

Online via the Meaning of Home website
By mail to our PO Box
By email (scanned entries) to MOHentries@habitat.ca

Important Note:
Mailed or emailed entries will not appear on the website. While the student’s name and city will be included in the overall tally, their actual entry will not be viewable online.

If your students are unable to use computers and must handwrite their submissions, we gladly accept mailed or emailed entries. We understand that transcribing each one can be time-consuming.

To submit online, you’ll need to register as a teacher and provide your name, contact details, and school information. This will automatically be applied to each student entry you submit.

Collecting entries

If you plan to submit through the website, you will need each student's:

Name
Grade
Age
Title of entry
The entry itself

If your students are working on computers, consider giving them a simple template to fill out. Once they send you their completed entries, you can quickly copy and paste the information into the submission form, saving you valuable time.

Parental permission

Before submitting a student’s entry, you must confirm that they have received permission from a parent or guardian to participate.

You’re free to collect this permission in whatever way works best for you. To help, we’ve provided a sample letter you can share with families about the contest, as well as an optional permission form you may choose to use.

Please note: You do not need to send us a copy of the permission form, it’s for your records only.

Download parental permission form

Letter to parents example

School newsletter example

How to submit your student's entries

Sign in or create a teacher account to submit and manage all of your students’ entries below. For individual entries, please follow the parent submission link.

Contest details

The Meaning of Home contest is free to enter and is open to all Grade 4, 5 and 6 students across Canada, in both English and French. Students can help a family build a home — and win cool prizes — simply by sharing what home means to them, through a short composition, essay, or poem. Entries must be between 50 and 300 words and can be submitted online at meaningofhome.ca or by mail between January 5 to February 20, 2026.

Thanks to our generous contest sponsors, every entry results in a $10 donation to a student’s local Habitat for Humanity.