Subject

Arts
(Collective)
dance,
drama, music,
visual arts
Document:
http://www.ed
u.gov.on.ca/e
ng/curriculum
/elementary/a
rts18b09curr.
pdf

Methodologies & Assessment

The arts curriculum places emphasis on doing
teachers should provide as many hands-on activities
as possible, since many of the skills emphasized in this
curriculum are best taught and learned through
participatory, creative experiences with concrete
materials (pg 36). There is also high demand for
variety of settings, assignments, materials. Elements
such as cultural context and interpretation are
important to implement and address within a larger
context of the Arts.

French (Core
Gr 1-8,
Immersion Gr
4-8)
Document:
http://www.ed
u.gov.on.ca/e
ng/curriculum
/elementary/f
sl182013curr.pdf

Assessment is based upon students abilities to use the

creative process and integrate it with the use of the
critical analysis process (pg 19). The chart outlining
the different stages of the creative process, as well as
the student and teacher expectations at each stage is
a great guideline to base assessment around (pg 21-22
for the chart). From there, the four broader strands of
Knowledge and Understanding, Thinking,
Communication, Application can be applied in the
assessment of the student.
The FSL curriculum states that Instruction should
include a balance of direct, explicit instruction; teacher
modeling; shared and guided instruction; and
opportunities for students to practise, apply skills and
strategies, and make choices (pg 32) making
specific emphasis on daily opportunities to speak and
interact in French. The instructional strategies
suggested include structured simulations, guided
inquiry, cooperative learning, and open-ended
questions (pg 33), leaving room for student strengths
and interests.

Health and
Physical
Education
Document:
http://www.ed

The curriculum heavily emphasizes balance across the

four strands, especially because of the nature of the
different strands in relation to the different learning
styles of students (strands include A. Listening B.
Speaking C. Reading D. Writing).
The H and PE curriculum makes explicit reference to
instruction emphasiz[ing] constructivist teaching and
experiential learning (pg 49). Furthermore, this frame
of instruction allows the teacher to respond to a range
of experience, backgrounds, and abilities [] and to

u.gov.on.ca/e
ng/curriculum
/elementary/h
ealth1to8.pdf

Language
Document:
http://www.ed
u.gov.on.ca/e
ng/curriculum
/elementary/l
anguage18cu
rrb.pdf

Mathematics
Document:
http://www.ed
u.gov.on.ca/e
ng/curriculum
/elementary/
math18curr.p
df

respond to a range of needs and experiences when

addressing healthy living topics and concepts (pg 4950). Similar to the arts, instruction is heavily based
upon a wide variety of experiential learning, combined
with opportunities to apply higher order thinking to
their choices.
Considering the emphasis on constructivist instruction,
thereby positioning the teacher as a co-learner, it is
essential that learning goals and success criteria are
laid out at the beginning of learning (pg 42). Much of
the evaluation is based on observation, as the
students demonstrate their understanding of the goals
through the different activities. Otherwise, discussion
about understanding particularly with regards to
healthy living choices is necessary.
The language curriculum states that instructional
approaches should allow students [to] be given
opportunities to experience reading and writing,
listening and speaking, and viewing and representing
as interconnected processes requiring a set of skills
and strategies that cannot be separated and that build
on and reinforce one another (pg 23). Similar to
French, instruction should include a balance of direct,
explicit instruction; teacher modeling; shared and
guided instruction; and opportunities for students to
rehearse, practise, and apply skills and strategies to
make choices (pg 23). Also, similar to French,
metacognitive practices greatly improve student
awareness and knowledge of their own strengths and
needs when studying language.
Considering the emphasis on interconnectedness of
the complimentary skills and strands in the subject,
there should be a balance and variety of assignments
for each skill for each unit similar assessment
strategies to that of French.
The mathematics curriculum emphasizes the
importance of learning in a variety of ways
individually, cooperatively, independently, with
teacher direction, through hands-on experience,
through examples followed by practice (pg 24).
Furthermore, the curriculum states that an
investigative approach, with an emphasis on learning
through problem solving and reasoning, best enables
students to develop the conceptual foundation they

need (pg 24). The curriculum also mentions the

importance of oral communication in mathematics,
moving towards classroom discussions, with writing as
an added responsibility.

Native
Languages
Document:
http://www.ed
u.gov.on.ca/e
ng/curriculum
/elementary/n
ativelang18cu
rr.pdf

Science and
Technology
Document:
http://www.ed
u.gov.on.ca/e
ng/curriculum
/elementary/s
cientec18curr
b.pdf

Goal setting and opportunities for student assessment

of their learning and success are important to build
motivation and to further student success. As
mentioned before, the combination of discussion and
written assignments, which can also be varied by the
ways of learning individual, cooperative, teacher
directed, hands on etc. all contribute to the manner in
which assessment is brought about. Rather,
assessment should be planned first and the teacher
can cater the learning to the essential skills and goals.
Similar to the other language studies courses, Native
languages is best suited to daily practice and
opportunities to interact with peers, with specific
emphasis on context (pg 10). The curriculum mentions
that strategies should be catered to the learner,
making use of subjects such as geography and history
to instill motivation and understanding (pg 11).
There is strong emphasis in the curriculum for the
development of the oral language skills. Furthermore,
it is stated that listening and oral communication skills
should be used first to build vocabulary before
attempting reading and writing of the languages (pg
15). This complicates assessment and puts a larger
weight on the oral and listening skills of students.
The opening line to the instructional approaches in the
curriculum is that the science curriculum should
develop curiousity and wonder (pg 28). In order to do
this, the curriculum is very broad in its instructional
suggestions stating the strategies teachers employ
will vary according to both the object of the learning
and the needs of the students (pg 29). What is
specific is that all learning must be developed through
a solid understanding of scientific and technological
concepts (pg 28).
There are several great charts that track student
progression ranging from pages 13-18 and cover
where the students should be with regards to:
scientific inquiry/experimentation skills, scientific
inquiry/research skills and technological problem-

Social Studies
Document:
http://www.ed
u.gov.on.ca/e
ng/curriculum
/elementary/s
shg18curr201
3.pdf

solving skills.
The curriculum states that teachers need to get
students away from the idea that social studies is just
a group of preordained knowledge, and utilize the
inquiry process to construct their own meanings (pg
35). To continue along this frame of thinking,
integrating current events supports the relevance and
the ongoing and debatable understandings that
surround many topics found in social studies.
The curriculum emphasizes disciplinary thinking, using
the sample questions as ways of illustrating how
deep students should be taking their thinking into any
given issue (pg 19). Students abilities to extend their
understandings can then be applied to the four strands
of assessment: Knowledge and Understanding,
Communication, Thinking, Application.