Elementary Overview
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Our Elementary program has proven to be effective and impactful on our students' learning trajectory.
Oak Bridge Academy has tailored its programs for students who learn in unique and non-traditional ways. Individualized attention in small groups is what we do best! Each student is assessed in core subjects and modifications and/or accommodations are implemented according to their need; whether they are above, below, or at grade level. Achievement is continually monitored and re-assessed throughout the year. |
We follow the Ontario curriculum with individualized modifications and/or accommodations. Specific and measurable Alternative IEP goals are provided for more intensive focus in areas of need such as decoding, reading comprehension, math skills, and/or written output.
Individualized Instruction
We assess each student when they enter Oak Bridge Academy. At the beginning and mid-way through each school year, in conjunction with parent consultation, we prepare an IEP (Individual Education Plan) for each student that guides their learning. IEP’s are accommodated and/or modified (including enrichment) depending on the individual student’s needs. Teacher’s assess and evaluate students on an on-going basis to ensure adjustments to their individualized learning plans are made when necessary.
Differentiated Instruction
An approach to instruction designed to maximize growth by considering the needs of each student at his or her current stage of development and offering that student a learning experience that responds to his or her individual needs. Differentiated instruction recognizes that equity of opportunity is not achieved through equal treatment and takes into account factors such as the student’s readiness, interest, and learning preferences.
Teachers adjust learning goals to the abilities of each student. They may vary the content, the process (how they learn, or the activities they do) and the products (what the student is required to produce) to meet the needs of each student. Differentiated instruction allows students of different abilities to participate and be successful in class.
Classroom Technology
We are a G Suite for Education (Google) environment. All of our students have personally-assigned Chromebooks to use in all of their classes. Read & Write Assistive Technology is accessible by every student, in order to assist with speech to text dictation, word prediction in writing, and text to speech read-aloud. Teachers assign work using Google Classroom, so that students can complete and submit work online, directly to their teacher.
Individualized Instruction
We assess each student when they enter Oak Bridge Academy. At the beginning and mid-way through each school year, in conjunction with parent consultation, we prepare an IEP (Individual Education Plan) for each student that guides their learning. IEP’s are accommodated and/or modified (including enrichment) depending on the individual student’s needs. Teacher’s assess and evaluate students on an on-going basis to ensure adjustments to their individualized learning plans are made when necessary.
Differentiated Instruction
An approach to instruction designed to maximize growth by considering the needs of each student at his or her current stage of development and offering that student a learning experience that responds to his or her individual needs. Differentiated instruction recognizes that equity of opportunity is not achieved through equal treatment and takes into account factors such as the student’s readiness, interest, and learning preferences.
Teachers adjust learning goals to the abilities of each student. They may vary the content, the process (how they learn, or the activities they do) and the products (what the student is required to produce) to meet the needs of each student. Differentiated instruction allows students of different abilities to participate and be successful in class.
Classroom Technology
We are a G Suite for Education (Google) environment. All of our students have personally-assigned Chromebooks to use in all of their classes. Read & Write Assistive Technology is accessible by every student, in order to assist with speech to text dictation, word prediction in writing, and text to speech read-aloud. Teachers assign work using Google Classroom, so that students can complete and submit work online, directly to their teacher.
Elementary Curriculum
Oak Bridge Academy follows the Ontario Curriculum in all subject areas. We augment learning with the use of several specialty programs in various subject areas. We’re committed to using best-practices, evidence-based teaching methods and materials. Highlights of some of the specialty programs we use include:
Reading:
Orton–Gillingham is a structured literacy approach. It introduced the idea of breaking reading and spelling down into smaller skills involving letters and sounds, and then building on these skills over time. All of our primary teachers and our Curriculum Specialist are trained in the Orton-Gillingham approach.
Research shows the two best predictors of early reading success are alphabet recognition and phonemic awareness. Since there are so many emergent readers at Oak Bridge Academy, a consistent, concise, and well-rounded phonemic awareness program is necessary to provide our students with the foundational skills they need to become automatic decoders of print.
Programs that we use to support our structured literacy approach are: The Heggerty Phonemic Awareness Program™ and Great Word House™. We ensure our students receive daily, explicit instruction that scaffolds support for students to work with early, basic, and advanced phonemic awareness skills. These programs are an integral part of literacy instruction at Oak Bridge Academy.
IXL™ is another tool used in our Language Arts program. IXL™ is used as a supplement to the Ontario Curriculum. Supplementing lessons and assignments, IXL is used both when remediating or enriching students.
Math:
JUMP Math Fundamental™ is dedicated to enhancing the potential in children by dispelling myths that only some people can be good at math and instead encouraging an understanding and a love of math in all students and educators. The JUMP Math approach balances discovery with feedback, scaffolding, assessment and explicit instruction that is well-supported by research to be an effective practice for all learners, but especially those with learning disabilities.
IX™ is another tool used in our Math program. The IXL platform is a personalized digital learning platform that allows students to access remediated and enriched content.
Reading:
Orton–Gillingham is a structured literacy approach. It introduced the idea of breaking reading and spelling down into smaller skills involving letters and sounds, and then building on these skills over time. All of our primary teachers and our Curriculum Specialist are trained in the Orton-Gillingham approach.
Research shows the two best predictors of early reading success are alphabet recognition and phonemic awareness. Since there are so many emergent readers at Oak Bridge Academy, a consistent, concise, and well-rounded phonemic awareness program is necessary to provide our students with the foundational skills they need to become automatic decoders of print.
Programs that we use to support our structured literacy approach are: The Heggerty Phonemic Awareness Program™ and Great Word House™. We ensure our students receive daily, explicit instruction that scaffolds support for students to work with early, basic, and advanced phonemic awareness skills. These programs are an integral part of literacy instruction at Oak Bridge Academy.
IXL™ is another tool used in our Language Arts program. IXL™ is used as a supplement to the Ontario Curriculum. Supplementing lessons and assignments, IXL is used both when remediating or enriching students.
Math:
JUMP Math Fundamental™ is dedicated to enhancing the potential in children by dispelling myths that only some people can be good at math and instead encouraging an understanding and a love of math in all students and educators. The JUMP Math approach balances discovery with feedback, scaffolding, assessment and explicit instruction that is well-supported by research to be an effective practice for all learners, but especially those with learning disabilities.
IX™ is another tool used in our Math program. The IXL platform is a personalized digital learning platform that allows students to access remediated and enriched content.
