Elementary Program


Elementary

In Newfoundland and Labrador, students in Grades 4, 5, and 6 are enroled in the Province's elementary schools. The elementary curriculum is a differentiated curriculum with a prescribed content. Elementary school children have wide interests, are eager for information, and enjoy acquiring skills. They need a broad curriculum. The concepts, values, and skills of the programs in English language arts, enterprise education, mathematics, science, social studies, music, art, physical education, French, health, and religious education are within the grasp of most children of nine, ten, and eleven years of age. It is at this stage, middle childhood, that children acquire a strong foundation in basic school subjects. During the elementary years, children begin their initiation into the world of adult reasoning, concepts, communication, and symbolism; they start to master tasks requiring purpose and endeavour.

The elementary school must provide a stimulating and challenging environment for students. Processes and procedures that make it possible for new interest to appear and new purposes to emerge must be used in the classroom. Grouping practices, the functional management of furniture, independent work activities, resource-based learning that emphasizes the child as a thinking, doing, and feeling learner are essential to elementary education.

There is a close correlation between parents' and teachers' expectations and students' self-concepts, level of achievement, and behaviour. Teachers and parents should have high expectations for elementary school children and provide them with lots of encouragement and reinforcement.

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Art

Art education at the elementary level is intended to be experiential and open-ended to permit the greatest flexibility to the student. The program is designed to cultivate a love of art and a sensitivity to the visual environment. It is designed to foster confidence in expression and develop basic skills in artmaking techniques and processes. The relationship between seeing and feeling is emphasized and an atmosphere in which visual creation is an everyday mode of expression is promoted.

The elements of design (line, shape, color, texture, space) and the principles of design (movement, repetition, balance, contrast, emphasis and unity) are explored as key elements to visual communication and in articulating a response to imagery.

Through the art program students draw upon personal experience, and physical, social, and cultural environments as the basis for visual expression. Visual awareness is developed through such activities as describing, comparing, classifying, matching and manipulating. Sensory perception is emphasized through such activities as listening, touching, tasting, smelling, and moving.

In addition to the creation of art objects students learn to utilize images and graphics for identifying, discussing, and sharing information. The program also has a strong verbal component through which students acquire art vocabulary, reinforce their visual perception, express their reactions to art and their environment, and exchange, modify, and develop ideas.

The Program is structured around the following organizers:

Learning Resources

Authorized

Grade 4:

Grade 5:

Grade 6:

Recommended

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Core French

Most students begin their second language learning in core French in Grade 4. The Core French Program (Grade 4 - French 3200) is defined by outcomes at the end of each level: elementary, intermediate, and senior high. The skills and the content of each level provide the essential preparation for successful experiences at higher levels. The Program primarily emphasizes the development of language skills and the understanding and use of vocabulary and language patterns in context. The Program also encourages the development of positive attitudes towards francophones. In Grades 4-6 language experiences are organized around familiar themes and are presented in French; direct comprehension of the language is a primary consideration. While approximately 80% of class time is devoted to aural-oral practice and use of French, students are provided with opportunities to read and write their new language.

Learning Resources

Authorized

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Grade 5:

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English Language Arts

At the elementary level, the English Language Arts Program continues the philosophy and methodologies of the primary school English Language arts Program. As such, the Program helps students increase their power over the language processes of reading, viewing, speaking, listening, writing and other ways of representing meaning. As they use and produce language, students are provided with the knowledge, experience, and pleasure that control of language makes possible. The Program also fosters students' understanding of self and others and their appreciation of the crucial role of linguistic clarity in that understanding.

The Elementary English Language Arts Program incorporates the use of students' own experiences and oral language to produce print; the use of literature and a wide variety of trade books with appeal to students' interest, needs and abilities; and the use of the authorized program materials. All of these resources are used for instructional purposes to emphasize the how of speaking, listening, reading, viewing, writing and other ways of representing meaning.

Students should be given many listening and speaking experiences which are not only intrinsically valuable but which are an important requisite for writing and reading and for learning in the subject areas. The Program provides for a balance of transactional, expressive and poetic writing. Students should write frequently during the language arts period and across subject areas, giving consideration to the form, purpose, and tone of the message they wish to communicate. Instruction in sentence structure, spelling, handwriting, punctuation, and capitalization is provided within the context of students' language experiences. Literature is used as a tool for ensuring that students become readers, not just people who can read. Experiences with literature are, in addition to developing their knowledge and strategies, designed to expand their imagination and mature their emotions. Many grouping patterns - partnerships, small groups, whole class - should be used. Student journals, writing files, and reading progress files should be maintained. An assessment component that provides for ongoing monitoring of students' language development is a critical part of the Program.

Learning Resources

Authorized

Grade 4:

Grade 5:

Grade 6:

Recommended

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Enterprise Education

The focus of Enterprise Education at the elementary level is on refining personal development skills and enterprise management skills.

At the elementary level, the focus is on students working in small groups to initiate, setup and operate a project or mini-venture in order to gain new knowledge about the special economic, business, environmental, and technological world in which they live.

In addition to being treated as specific activities within the social studies curriculum, Enterprise Education can be infused into a number of other subjects including fine arts, mathematics, science and technology education.

The Program is organized around the following components:

Learning Resources

Authorized

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Family Life Education (Roman Catholic)

At the elementary level, the Family Life Program is intended to support and strengthen the family unit. It attempts to help Catholic parents teach their children to be fully human. Its focus is on the ordinary experience of daily life - family relationships, friendships, marriage, birth, death, joys, and disappointments.

Learning Resources

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Grade 5:

Grade 6:

Recommended

Grade 4:

Grade 5:

Grade 6:

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Health

At the elementary level, the Health Program takes a comprehensive approach to fostering and promoting the well-being of young people by making linkages with classroom instruction, health- related services, and a school environment that promotes and is conducive to healthy living. Comprehensive school health is a form of health promotion which fosters the creation of environments that provide opportunities for all young people to make healthy choices and enhance their own health and the health of their communities.

The Program is organized around the following components:

Learning Resources

Authorized

Grade 4:

Grade 5:

Grade 6:

Recommended

Grade 4:

Grade 5:

Grade 6:

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Mathematics

At the elementary level, the Mathematics Program helps students mature mentally in the context of meaningful mathematical experiences. Children continue to develop specific skills and strategies for mathematical problem solving. These skills and strategies are applied as part of the development of number and operation sense, basic geometric concepts, spatial relations, measurement processes, and basic statistical techniques. A variety of manipulative materials are used for concept formation.

Learning Resources

Authorized

Grade 4:

Grade 5:

Grade 6:

Recommended

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Music

The Elementary program continues to provide students with musical experiences that further develop the musicality innate in each student. It fosters a love and understanding of music as well as growth in aesthetic sensitivity. The Elementary program follows a pedagogical sequence of hearing, singing, moving, deriving, writing, and creating to build upon skills and knowledge acquired in the Primary grades. Cognitive and psychomotor skills are developed through musical literacy, movement, and performance. Choral experiences are an integral part of the music program. Reading and performing skills are extended through the playing of instruments such as recorder, ukulele, guitar and band or string instruments and the use of technology. Continued exploration of the elements and expressive controls of music through a variety of musical experiences further develops reading and writing skills. Repertoire is expanded and includes songs from their own and other cultures, works of recognized masters, and contemporary compositions.

The delivery of music curriculum involves two organizers:

  1. Curricular Settings
  2. Individual/Ensemble Experiences

The program utilizes three strands:

  1. Elements of Music
  2. Styles of Music
  3. Skill Development

Learning Resources

Authorized

Recommended

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Physical Education

At the elementary level, physical education builds on concepts and skills learned at the primary level. The program develops psychomotor skills appropriate for participation in sports, games, gymnastics, and dance; develops an awareness and an appreciation of physical skills; provides information about the human body and the effects of exercise; encourages the development of social skills; and promotes positive attitudes towards physical activity.

The Physical Education Program offers a variety of sports-related activities and modified games which promote group and team participation, individual and gymnastics-based activities for personal achievement and kinesthetic awareness, a number of self-testing activities which foster appreciation of physical activity and movement, and opportunities for social interaction through cooperation, competition, and personal activity.

Learning Resources

Authorized

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Religious Education (Integrated)

The Program in Grade 4 continues the focus on attitude development, especially as it relates to the created order and our stewardship of it. This serves also as a transition to the more substantial biblical studies in Grades 5 and 6.

Learning Resources

Authorized

Grade 4:

Grade 5:

Grade 6:

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Religious Education (Pentecostal)

The Elementary Program develops three themes to encourage total life commitment to God:

Learning Resources

Authorized

Grade 4:

Grade 5:

Grade 6:

Recommended

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Religious Education (Roman Catholic)

The second cycle of the Born of the Spirit series comprises Years 4, 5 and 6. The elementary years are intended to make Jesus live for the student by focusing on His historical manifestation in Palestine and on the Church, and by fostering and facilitating the development of Christlike attitudes.

The Program is organized around the following concepts:

Learning Resources

Authorized

Grade 4:*

Grade 5:*

Grade 6:*

* A home study program is available for all three grade levels.


Recommended

Grade 4:

Grade 5:

Grade 6:

The recommended materials listed for each of the Programs are essential resources for these Programs. The music is especially important to the proper implementation of the Program. These materials are available from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.

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Science

The study of science at the elementary level involves a hands-on, activity oriented approach to learning. The Program emphasizes the development of attitudes, skills, and knowledge, with the knowledge component drawing on topics from the life, earth, and physical sciences. Teachers should consult the appropriate Elementary Science Curriculum Guide (Interim edition) for identification of these topics.

Learning Resources

Authorized

Grade 4:

Grade 5:

Grade 6:

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Social Studies

The Social Studies Program at the elementary level builds on the concepts, values, and skills acquired in the Primary Program. It develops knowledge, values, and skills essential for developing students' potential as individuals, as Canadian citizens, and as world citizens.

The Social Studies Program

The core topics include the study of:

Learning Resources

Authorized

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Grade 5:

Grade 6:

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Recommended Time Allotment

Subject

Percentage of Instructional Time

Art 6%
French 10%
Health 6%
Language 24%
Mathematics 16%
Music 6%
Physical Education 6%
Religous Education 8%
Science 8%
Social Studies 10%

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