All CBE programs follow the Alberta Programs of Study mandated curriculum . As Alberta students continue to experience emergency remote learning as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Alberta Education has directed 5 hours/week of classwork for students in grades K-6 focused on literacy and numeracy outcomes. This represents approximate 20% of learning time as compared to expected learning hours in non-emergency time. Instructional hours have been reduced from 275 hours to 55 hours (April 13).

Numeracy and Literacy Essential Outcomes

Literacy/Language Arts

Alberta Education defines literacy as “the ability, confidence and willingness to engage with language to acquire, construct and communicate meaning in all aspects of daily living". At WO Mitchell School, given our bilingual focus, students engage with two languages, English and Spanish, in fluid and dynamic ways. The outcomes of the Spanish Language Arts Program of Study parallel the outcomes of the English Language Arts Program of Study, with the addition of specific linguistic elements and cultural components.

The goal of literacy instruction is to build a student's comprehension, writing abilities, oral language and overall skills in communication. However, building literacy goes beyond that. It encompasses understanding language as the basis of all communication and the main instrument of thought. Literacy supports all disciplines and is a defining feature of culture.

Given the interconnectedness of language, we wish to assure parents that, just because parents may not/cannot support Spanish at home does not mean that Spanish language abilities are not developing, even in this emergency remote learning environment. Reading a book written in English (or any language) to your child is supporting language development in Spanish, and vice versa.

Please refer to this Alberta Education resource for more information: https://education.alberta.ca/literacy-and-numeracy/literacy/everyone/literacy-videos/

English Language Arts Essential Outcomes

Students will continue building reading readiness and writing readiness skills through:

• Recognizing letters and sounds (identifying initial, middle and ending sounds).
• Reciting the letters of the alphabet.
• Printing practice- students’ ability to copy familiar words.
• Representing ideas and experiences through drawing, recording and or talking about them.

Students will continue to strengthen literacy skills and understandings by:

• Focusing on reading strategies that build fluency and comprehension. These strategies will include phonemic knowledge, sight word identification and in-text comprehension skills so that students’ abilities to make meaning from familiar and unfamiliar texts will continue to develop.
• Focusing on generating writing that conveys meaning. Particular emphasis will be placed on writing complete ideas and adding details. To support clarity of meaning, accurate spelling through phonic knowledge and sight word memory will be emphasized, as well as punctuation and capital letters.

Students will continue to strengthen literacy skills and understandings by:

• Practicing reading aloud with fluency and accuracy.
• Demonstrating comprehension of what they have read by identifying the main idea of read texts. These texts could be read aloud or silently.
• Creating writing pieces that convey meaning. Emphasis will be placed on adding descriptive words and phrases to elaborate on ideas and create effects in texts.
• Asking and responding to questions to elaborate on ideas and to clarify information.

Students will continue to strengthen literacy skills and understandings by:

• Explaining, in their own words, specific connections between prior knowledge and new ideas to extend understanding.
• Drafting ideas into short paragraphs with topic and supporting sentences.
• Reading accurately, fluently and with comprehension during oral and silent reading. Emphasis will be placed adventure stories and expository text.

Grade 4

Students will continue to strengthen literacy skills and understandings by:

• Using relevant information from a variety of sources to make predictions, inferences, answer questions, and articulate preferences.
• Highlighting and discussing important text, such as key ideas, to build understanding of familiar concepts.
• Explaining connections between personal experiences, characters, settings and events from familiar texts when writing.

Grade 5

Students will continue to strengthen literacy skills and understandings by:

• Reading for information. Sources of texts will vary, and may come from fiction (historical) or non-fiction sources. Selected reading activities may connect to Science and Social Studies topics.
• Focusing on expressing and supporting positions when writing.
• Engaging the audience with clear, organized ideas, and openings and closings

Spanish Language Arts

Central to all Spanish Language Arts work at all grade levels during this time of emergency remote learning is a key outcome of the culture component of the Spanish Language Arts Program of Study:

• Showing love and appreciation for Spanish language and culture.

Of all outcomes, this is the most important one! Grade specific essential outcomes grounding Spanish language learning are described below.

When listening and speaking, students will continue:

Repeating simple oral phrases and participate in modelled oral activities (For example: “Yo me llamo…”, ¿Cómo te llamas?”).

• Repeating and recognize basic vocabulary, such as numbers 1-10, colours, and general ‘classroom’ vocabulary (lápiz, pegamento).
• In reading-readiness activities students will continue:
  • Practicing the Spanish alphabet with a focus on the sounds the letters make.
• In writing-readiness activities, students will continue:
  • riting letters, and drawing images to represent ideas in relation to a story or experience, etc.

When listening and speaking, students will continue:

• Recognizing and understanding simple words and sentences in structured situations.
• Building familiar vocabulary to ask and answer basic questions (using complete sentences).
• Using known words or simple sentences to describe things with which they are familiar (ex. school vocabulary).

When reading students will continue:

• Reading texts about familiar topics using familiar vocabulary and sentence structures.

When writing student will continue:

• Writing simple words and sentences in structured situations.

When listening and speaking, students will continue:

• Experiencing simple sentences in a variety of familiar contexts (ex. responding to questions).

When reading, students will continue:

• Making meaning from words and sentences in a variety of familiar contexts with emphasis on reading strategies such as looking for patterns, using syllable strategies, matching words with pictures, and using visual cues to infer meaning.

When writing, students will continue:

• Creating text using simple words and sentences on familiar topics in structured situations to convey meaning.

Grade 3

When listening and speaking, students will continue:

Understanding a series of oral sentences on familiar topics in structured situations.

• Producing, spontaneously and/or with guidance, a series of interrelated ideas on familiar topics.

When reading, students will continue:

• Making meaning from a series of sentences or a short text on familiar topics.

When writing, students will continue:

• Producing, spontaneously and/or with guidance, simple written texts on familiar topics in structured situations to convey meaning.

Grade 4

When listening and speaking, students will continue:

• Understanding (generally) short oral presentations on familiar topics in structured and unstructured situations.
• Producing, spontaneously and/or with guidance, short oral presentations on familiar topics in structured situations.

When reading, students will continue:

• Make meaning from text based on a series of interrelated ideas focused on familiar topics in structured situations.

When writing, students will continue:

• Producing, spontaneously and with guidance, simple texts on familiar topics in structured and unstructured situations to convey meaning.

Grade 5

When listening and speaking, students will continue:

• Understanding (generally) the main points of oral presentations on familiar topics in structured and unstructured situations.
• Producing prepared or spontaneous oral presentations on familiar topics in structured situations.

When reading, students will continue:

• Making meaning from a series of interrelated ideas focused on a familiar topic in structured and unstructured situations.

When writing, students will continue:

• Producing, spontaneously and with modelling and other guidance, a series of interrelated ideas on familiar topics, in structured and unstructured situations to convey meaning.

Mathematics Numeracy

As we consider what is essential in mathematics, student capacity in the mathematics strand ‘Number Sense’ is deemed most important by staff as well as field experts in mathematics instructions. Broadly defined, number sense is the ability to understand numbers, and to demonstrate fluid and flexible thinking when working with them. It is also felt that a strong grounding in number sense will support a deep understanding of many math concepts. For this reason, all grades will be focusing on grade specific essential outcomes for the strand Number Sense.

Please refer to this Alberta Education resource for more information: https://education.alberta.ca/literacy-and-numeracy/numeracy/everyone/what-is-numeracy/

Students will continue to focus on number sense, with specific emphasis on:

• Counting from 1 to 10 (forwards, backwards and starting from any point).
• Representing, describing and comparing quantities for numbers 1 to 10.
• Comparing quantities using has more than, has less than and has the same as vocabulary.

Students will continue to focus on number sense, with specific emphasis on:

• Applying addition and subtraction strategies, including adding +/- 1 to a number, adding +/- 2 to a number, doubles, near doubles, doubles +/- 1, counting on, using a number line.
• Understanding and apply strategies for addition facts up to and including 9 + 9 and related subtraction facts. Recall addition facts to a sum of 5 and related subtraction facts.

Grade 2

Students will continue to focus on number sense, with specific emphasis on:

• Adding and subtracting quantities to 100 using concrete materials or visual representations through problem-solving contexts.
• Apply mental math strategies for addition and subtraction within 20. Mental math strategies students use include counting on, counting back, friendly numbers, making 10, number facts, the concept of doubles (near doubles, doubles +1, doubles -1).

Grade 3

Students will continue to focus on number sense, with specific emphasis on:

• Representing and describing numbers to 1000 using manipulatives, pictures and numbers.
• Understanding multiplication, and using multiplication facts up to 5X5.
• Applying the inverse relationship between multiplication and division to increase efficiency and flexibility.

Grade 4

Students will continue to focus on number sense, with specific emphasis on:

• Understanding fractions and decimals, and descriptions using appropriate vocabulary (numerator and denominator, tenths and hundredths).
• Adding and subtracting decimals with like place value positions, using manipulatives, pictures and numbers.
• Flexibility using multiplication and division, with particular emphasis on 2-digit by 1 digit, and 3-digit by 1-digit multiplication, and 2-digit by 1-digit division.
• Using the distributive property to solve word problems.

Grade 5

Students will continue to focus on number sense, with specific emphasis on:

• Flexibility using multiplication with particular emphasis on 2-digit by 2-digit multiplication.
• Flexibility using division, with particular emphasis on 3-digits by 1-digit division.
• Understanding fractions, especially equivalent fractions and the relationship of fractions to decimals and percentages.
• Understanding place value as it relates to adding and subtracting decimals.

* If time permits we will revisit the concepts of capacity, volume, area and perimeter learned with our Mayan Cities projects.

Science / Social Studies

Alberta Education guidelines for focus of instruction at the elementary school level do not call for explicit instruction in science and social studies during this remote emergency learning time. Exception is made for cross curricular work, where content found in these areas of study can be used to support literacy/numeracy learning. Many of the topics/themes of these programs of study have been addressed throughout the year. As many of our parents have requested information regarding the general themes of science and social studies, we offer them here: