Program Planning & Considerations

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Instructional Approaches

Teachers in the school are expected to:

• Clarify the purpose for learning

• Help students activate prior knowledge

• Differentiate instruction for individual students and small groups according to need

• Explicitly teach and model learning strategies

• Encourage students to talk through their thinking and learning processes

• Provide many opportunities for students to practise and apply their developing knowledge and skills

• Apply effective teaching approaches involve students in the use of higher-level thinking skill

•  Encourage students to look beyond the literal meaning of texts

Teachers use a variety of instructional and learning strategies best suited to the particular type of learning. Students have opportunities to learn in a variety of ways:

• Individually

• Cooperatively

•  Independently with teacher direction

• Through investigation involving hands-on experience

• Through examples followed by practice

• By using concrete learning tools

• By encouraging students to gain experience with varied and interesting applications of the new knowledge. Rich contexts for learning open the door for students to see the “big ideas”.

Program Considerations for English Language Learners

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Teachers must incorporate appropriate strategies for instruction and assessment to facilitate the success of the English language learners in their classrooms. These strategies include:

• Modification of some or all of the subject expectations depending on the level of English proficiency

• Use of a variety of instructional strategies (e.g., extensive use of visual cues, graphic organizers, scaffolding; previewing of textbooks; pre-teaching of key vocabulary; peer tutoring; strategic use of students‟ first languages)

• Use of a variety of learning resources (e.g., visual material, simplified text materials that reflect cultural diversity)

• Use of assessment accommodations (e.g., granting of extra time; use of oral interviews, demonstrations or visual representations, or tasks requiring completion of graphic organizers and cloze sentences instead of essay questions and other assessment tasks that depend heavily on proficiency in English)

Antidiscrimination Education

Learning resources reflect students' interests, backgrounds, cultures, and experiences. Learning materials should:

• Enable students to become more sensitive to the diverse cultures and perceptions of others, including Aboriginal peoples

• Discuss aspects of the history of mathematics to make students aware of the various cultural groups that have contributed to the evolution of mathematics over the centuries

• Illustrate to students that everyday people use mathematics in their everyday lives, both at work and at home connect mathematics to real world situations and human affairs such as health, science

Literacy and Inquiry/Research Skills

The school emphasizes the importance of the following:

• Using clear, concise communication in the classroom involving the use of diagrams, charts, tables, and graphs

• Emphasizing students' ability to interpret and use graphic texts.

• Acquiring the skills to locate relevant information from a variety of sources, such as books, newspapers, dictionaries, encyclopedias, interviews, videos, and the Internet.

• Learning that all sources of information have a particular point of view

• Learning that the recipient of the information has a responsibility to evaluate it, determine its validity and relevance, and use it in appropriate ways.

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