Post by rockymtngirl on Sept 1, 2021 20:05:03 GMT -5
DS started gr 7 today (middle school is gr 6-8 here) and I was looking over his schedule. He has two core teachers. One teaches math & science and the other language arts and social studies. He has 2 options and gym. Then he has a literacy class and numeracy class both taught by the same teacher (but different than his core teachers). What is the difference between math & numeracy and la & literacy? DS had no clue today and there’s nothing on the school website. This wasn’t a thing last year in gr 6 so it just surprised me. I’m just curious how they’ll be different.
I think you need to contact his counselor to get these differences explained. I've taught secondary English in four different states and have no idea what those course names mean vs. what will actually be taught in the classes.
Post by rockymtngirl on Sept 1, 2021 22:08:20 GMT -5
Thanks! Glad I’m not crazy for not knowing the difference! I’m in Canada but have worked in schools for 10ish years and just have never heard of this! DS didn’t bring home his binder so I didn’t get to check if he got course syllabuses that may help clarify things.
I wonder if that's a dedicated hands-on/lab kind of math and a block of time for reading work- does he have them daily? If there's a course number on his schedule, you may be able to find a course description by googling that.
I know there are parts of Canada that are making huge changes to their elementary and middle school math curriculum (as are some states), so it may just be some brand spanking new initiative!
I wonder if that's a dedicated hands-on/lab kind of math and a block of time for reading work- does he have them daily? If there's a course number on his schedule, you may be able to find a course description by googling that.
I know there are parts of Canada that are making huge changes to their elementary and middle school math curriculum (as are some states), so it may just be some brand spanking new initiative!
He does have them daily. I was thinking the literacy one may be library time and reading which sounds great. He could always use extra math help & support so I’m really excited about the potential here.
My first thought was support classes, but then I thought about later years. By high school, science involves a decent amount of math and history involves a decent amount of reading and writing, so maybe it's acknowledging that and integrating those further into the curriculum at a younger age? More non-fiction reading, more essay on historical topics rather than novels, more calculations in the science experiments, learning basic statistics and etc. Then literacy and numeracy are more traditional English/Math classes.
Post by killercupcake on Sept 2, 2021 1:37:20 GMT -5
Sounds like a support class.
Is he on a block schedule? We call those courses “double blocks.” Instead of going to a subject every other day, we double block them so they get seat time everyday. It’s meant to help students in subjects where they struggle, but I’m a counselor at a high school level. It may be different for junior high. It wouldn’t surprise me if this was a standard practice across the board. The counselor can tell you what those courses are for sure, though.
Did he struggle in math last year? DS has a friend who struggled in math and his elective was a math support class. He was assigned to it by his previous teacher.
The fact that both literacy and numeracy are taught by the same teacher makes me think they are support classes as well.
I’m guessing the teacher has a special Ed cert (or whatever that is called in canada) and works with the content area teachers to support each kid in the class where needed.
Hope you get more clarity soon! It’s frustrating that you don’t have more info.
I don’t really know but in middle school DS1 had a period of English and a separate period of reading. The English class focused on writing, root words, phonetics, and such. The reading class was…reading. They were taught by the same teacher though so his classes easily worked together.
Post by sporklemotion on Sept 2, 2021 18:30:16 GMT -5
In my district, ELA is more grammar and writing and Reading os comprehension, etc. There is some overlap; they read things to write about in ELA and write about the reading in Reading class, but the focus is different. I think Reading also supports content area reading. Other posters’ thoughts make sense, too.