This content is part of official issued curriculum providing the most up-to-date information (i.e., front matter). This content is applicable to all curriculum documents, Grades 1 to 12. Educators must consider this information to guide the implementation of curriculum and in creating the environment in which it is taught.
Introduction
A variety of overarching perspectives, themes, and skills are intentionally incorporated by educators, on an ongoing basis, into teaching and learning across all subjects and disciplines of the curriculum – they are part of “cross-curricular learning”. Educators plan programs to include learning in these areas, which are relevant in the context of most curriculum subjects, and are critical to students in navigating their world. They range from environmental education, Indigenous education, and financial literacy to social-emotional learning, critical literacy, mathematical literacy, and STEM education. These various themes, perspectives, and skills are explored in this section.
Another approach to teaching and learning “across subjects” is called “integrated learning”. This approach differs from cross-curricular learning because it involves combining curriculum expectations from more than one subject in a single lesson, and evaluating student achievement of the expectations within the respective subjects from which they are drawn.
Scope and Sequence Resource Guides
“Scope and sequence” resource guides are compilations of existing curriculum expectations, from all subjects and disciplines, that relate to specific ministry priorities and initiatives. For example, scope and sequence resource guides have been developed for environmental education (elementary and secondary); financial literacy (elementary and secondary); First Nations, Métis, and Inuit connections (elementary and secondary); and health and safety (elementary and secondary).
These documents identify expectations that involve learning about the particular topic, as well as teacher supports that touch on the topic or that describe opportunities for addressing it. The teacher supports include the examples, sample questions, teacher prompts, student responses, and/or instructional tips that accompany the expectations and describe optional ways in which teachers can elicit the learning described in the expectation. Teachers can glean ideas from the teacher supports, based on their professional judgement and taking into account the interests of the students and the local communities represented in their classrooms, for incorporating learning about these topics across subjects. The scope and sequence resource guides can also support divisional/school planning on particular topics or issues across classrooms and grades.
