Instructional Programming
Literacy
Language instruction in grades 4-6 is designed to engage students in meaningful interactions with a wide variety of texts. They look beyond the literal meaning of texts and observe what is present and what is missing, in order to analyse and evaluate an author’s intent. Students learn to identify and explore multiple perspectives, question the messages in texts, and look at issues related to fairness, equity, and social justice. Students develop their abilities to monitor their own learning and select appropriate strategies that will help them to make sense of and create increasingly complex and/or challenging texts for personally relevant purposes.
The language curriculum for Grades 7 is designed to engage students in tasks that they see as meaningful in order to motivate them to analyse, evaluate, and create texts out of interest as well as to meet curriculum expectations. The expectations encourage students to explore issues related to personal identity and community concerns as they interact with increasingly complex and/or challenging texts; to critically analyse and evaluate perspectives in texts and the influence of media on their lives; and to write about and discuss topics of relevance that matter in their daily lives. The expectations also promote the use of language knowledge, skills, and strategies to facilitate learning in other subjects, such as science, mathematics, history, and geography, and as a tool to help students understand and participate in society beyond the school.
Mathematics
Success in mathematics has often been viewed as an important indicator of career success. The goal of the Ontario mathematics curriculum is to provide all students with the foundational skills required to:
- understand the importance of and appreciate the beauty of mathematics;
- recognize and appreciate multiple mathematical perspectives;
- make informed decisions and contribute fully to their own lives and to today’s competitive global community;
- adapt to changes and synthesize new ideas;
- work both independently and collaboratively to creatively approach challenges;
- communicate effectively;
- think critically and creatively and see connections to other disciplines beyond mathematics, such as other STEM disciplines.
Science & Technology
Science and technology are closely linked, especially through the skills of scientific inquiry, technological problem solving, and communication. The world as we know it today has been affected in many important ways by science and technology. For example, science has radically altered and expanded our understanding of Earth and space, of the workings Science and Technology of the human mind and body, and of the ways in which living organisms interact; and technology has revolutionized the way we communicate and has made vast changes in our lives through the discovery of new drugs and materials. It is important, therefore, that students see science and technology in this wider context – as endeavours with important consequences for people and other living things – and that they learn to connect their knowledge of science and technology to the world beyond the school.
Social Studies, History, and Geography
In social studies, history, and geography, students develop skills, knowledge and understanding, and attitudes that will serve them both inside and outside the classroom, including in their communities and the world of work. The focus of teaching and learning in the social studies, history, and geography curriculum is the development of transferable skills that students need in order to acquire and apply knowledge and understanding. Students apply these skills in a variety of contexts to examine information critically, to assess the significance of events and processes, to develop an understanding of and respect for different points of view, and to reach supportable conclusions and propose solutions to problems.