Teaching and Learning in Ontario Classrooms

Guide Contents

How Children are Taught

All students are unique and within a class each student may have a slightly different understanding of a subject. For example, some students are more advanced in mathematics and others in writing. To help each student make the next step in their learning, teachers design class and homework learning activities for all students, for groups of students and for individual students. By the end of the year, teachers will ensure that all students have covered the curriculum.

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Teachers also combine different teaching strategies. For example, a teacher might instruct the whole class to introduce the structure of a story and then ask students to work in groups to look at different story examples.

Teachers find that students are more likely to learn when they can “see and experience” the ideas being taught. For example, young students might work with sand and different size cups to learn about volume. Once students have completed their activities, the teacher will talk to the whole class about what they learned.

Language skills are an important part of each subject. For example, in mathematics it is important to get the right answer and to be able to explain how it was calculated.

Teachers create problems for students to discuss and solve rather than emphasize the memorization of facts. In all subjects, students learn how to think critically. Students learn to sort out facts from assumptions, think logically, ask questions, form opinions about what they learn and express their opinions to the whole class.

We live in a global community. Teachers design learning activities to help students appreciate the experiences and contributions of all peoples.

Working in Groups

Teachers sometimes organize students’ desks so that students can easily work in groups.

Working in groups helps your child learn to co-operate with other students, share responsibility and listen and learn from the opinions of other students. Your child will practise his or her English and develop skills such as how to research, form and test opinions, take initiative, pose questions and take risks.

Suggestions

Create opportunities for family conversations so that everyone can participate, e.g. at mealtime.
Encourage your child to talk about his or her opinions (what he or she thinks). It will help your child at school.
Help your child get together with other students when he or she has a group project.
Talk to the teacher if you would like more information about how the classroom is organized.
Obtain the brochures Helping Your Child Learn Math: A Parent’s Guide, and Helping Your Child Learn to Read: A Parent’s Guide http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/
document/brochure/brochure.html

Combined Grades

Some schools combine students from two different grades in one class. In these classes, the teacher will ensure that students learn the curriculum for their grade. The teacher will design learning activities for the whole class as well as for students in each grade.

Sometimes students have the same teacher for two years in a row. This can be an advantage because the teacher already knows the children’s learning needs and has established a relationship with their families.

Text Books and Learning Materials

In Ontario schools, students do not always have texts and workbooks for each subject that they go through page by page each day. In their learning activities, teachers use many different resource materials: text books, library books, the Internet, newspapers, videos and other sources of information.

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