CONTEXTUALIZED
LEARNING
ACTIVITIES
Wednesday, April 24 th , 2013
St. Basil-the-Great
Math and English
Catherine Moynihan
Tobin Walsh
Vince Bellissimo
PRAYER OF RESPONSE
In a world which ignores the human thirst for God…we are called to
share the living waters of faith .
In a time when there is little reverence for the image of God in the
human person…we are summoned to care for human life with
ultimate respect.
In a culture where communication is increasingly
commercialized…we are invited to prayer and worship.
In a world marked by personality cults…we are called to bear
witness to Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord and to reverence Him
in the poor, the lowly and the marginalized.
In a time which often seems to be without goals or ennobling
aspirations…we are called to declare goals and values to dedicate
lives to their achievement .
~Amen
AGENDA
 Welcome; Introductions
 The role of CLAs within an SHSM program
 “Other required courses” in your SHSM program
 Activity #1: Sector-Related Skills & Careers
 Break
 Activity #2: Creating CLAs Using Existing Lessons
 Lunch
 Activity #3: Use of the OERB
 Introduction to the CLA Writing Guide
 Wrap-up: Evaluation
SHSM: A PATHWAY
PROGRAM FOR STUDENT
SUCCESS & STUDENT
ENGAGEMENT
DEFINING CONTEXTUALIZED
LEARNING
Halton District School Board and Halton Catholic District
School Board collaborated on the development of this
definition so all teachers would have a common
understanding of Contextualized Learning:
 Contextualized Learning is an instructional approach that
helps to relate curriculum content to real world
situations.
 It incorporates a learning process that helps students to
make sense of information by connecting what they are
learning to real world situations in which that learning
could be used.
 It enables students to receive feedback on their ability to
relate and apply their learning to real world situations.
CONTEXTUALIZED LEARNING
ACTIVITIES
 A required element of a Specialist High Skills Major
 Delivered in the “other required courses”
 A minimum of 6 hours of learning that contextualizes the
subjects’ curriculum expectations to the SHSM sector
Health and Wellness – MBF 3C
Graphing the relationship between population
growth and infectious diseases
Arts and Culture– ENG 4U
The mask of tragedy through ritual: a deconstruction
of Act IV, Scene I of Shakespeare’s Macbeth
OTHER REQUIRED COURSES
 The “other required courses” vary from sector to
sector, typically there are 3 other required courses:
 Math
 English
 Other Required in either grade 11 or grade 12 (i.e.
Business, Science, Social Science & Humanities)
 Refer to the sector guide (www.ontario.ca/SHSM or
SHSM binder) to determine which grade level each of
the other required courses are in (example on next slide)
OTHER REQUIRED COURSES
EXAMPLE
HOW DO I IDENTIFY AN SHSM
STUDENT IN MY CLASS?
 Class list (but not on attendance sheet!)
 i.e. BUS beside a student’s name indicates they are in a
Business SHSM program
 Credit Counselling Summary – two pages for SHSM
students
 Possible absences due to certifications, reach ahead
and experiential learning opportunities 
HOW DO CLA S BENEFIT STUDENTS?
 CLAs enable instruction to be differentiated using
sector-specific content, to meet one or more
curriculum expectations.
 CLAs in the other required credits make the course
content authentic, relevant, and enable students to
connect their learning to their SHSM sector.
HOW ARE CLA S DELIVERED?
There are a variety of delivery models, including:
 To an entire class, some of which are SHSM students
(recommended – necessary for some, good for all)
 To an entire class, all of which are SHSM students
 To individual or small groups of SHSM students
within an existing class
 To individual SHSM students, through e -learning or
independent study.
CLA MY THS…











…they must be evaluated
…they need to be a big project
…if you fail the CLA you fail the course
…you must do the CLA exactly as it was written
…you cannot use a CLA unless it was “approved”
…must use expectations from the SHSM major credit courses
…it must be from the OERB
…can only be done by the SHSM students
…I cannot make up my own CLA
…I have to make up my own CLA
…are “extra” work the SHSM kids have to do
ACTIVIT Y #1
Using www.ontario.ca/SHSM , or the hard copies provided, read
through the SHSM policy guide for your sector
 Determine the grade level of the “other required courses” in your
SHSM
 Examine the list of possible occupations related to your SHSM sector
Using the Ontario Skills Passport , www.ontario.ca/skillspassport , look
up one of the possible occupations listed in the SHSM policy guide
Select a course in your subject area of expertise and use
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/secondar y/ to skim
through the curriculum expectations for that course
 Using the documents you’ve examined, complete Activity #1
ACTIVIT Y #1 EXAMPLE
BREAK!
ACTIVIT Y #2
 Using an existing lesson, culminating task,
independent study unit, or other activity, how could
you tweak an assignment in order to contextualize it
for your SHSM students?
 English CLA’s Made EASY
 Mathematics CLA’s Made EASY
 CLA Authenticity Checklist
LUNCH!
ONTARIO EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE
BANK (OERB)
As of May 2012, there were 1329 CLAs posted
to the OERB
http://resources.elearningontario.ca
User id:
tcdsbteacher
Password:
oerbt
ACTIVIT Y #3
OERB Exploration and Independent Inquiry
http://resources.elearningontario.ca
User id:
tcdsbteacher
Password:
oerbt
INTERESTED IN WRITING A CLA?
 MOE CLA Writing Guide is available
 www.ontario.ca/SHSM CLA Template
 www.ontario.ca/SHSM Rubric for Exemplary CLAs
MINISTRY CLA REPORT: INTERIM
 Was introduced by the Ministry in January
 SHSM lead teachers and other SHSM team members
completed the following questionnaire in March:
1. Using the Ministry -created rubric, what level of CLA
implementation is your school at?
2. What is going well?
3. What will you do differently this semester to
improve CLA implementation at your school?
CLA MINISTRY REPORT RUBRIC
Level
Level 1
Criteria The CLA Is
viewed as an
"over and
above" activity
so both the
students and the
teachers see it
as extra work.
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Teacher prints CLAs
from OERB and they
are assigned as
homework/
independent work.
Often the student
doesn't see
connection with
their "in-school"
assignments and
their interest in the
sector
The CLAs are
delivered, but very
little collaboration
between major
subject teachers and
other required subject
teachers to ensure
authenticity of the
activity, student
begins to see
connection with
subject and sector.
Contextualized
instruction is embedded
so students see the
connection in English,
Math, Science, etc. to
their sector. Teachers see
this as part of
Differentiated Instruction
and not something “over
and above” from what is
already occurring as part
of good teaching
practice.
MINISTRY CLA REPORT: FINAL
 A follow-up from the Interim CLA Report
 Will be completed in June by the lead teacher and/or
other members of each SHSM team
1. What level of CLA implementation is your school at
now? (using the same rubric from the Interim CLA
Report)
2. Identify one or two key strategies that helped
improve CLA implementation at your school.
WRAP-UP ACTIVIT Y
On a Post-it note, jot down a couple of points
to respond to the following question:
Identify one or two key strategies that will
help your school SHSM program in
implementing CLAs into the curriculum.
IN-SERVICE EVALUATION
Before you leave,
please complete the
CLA Professional Learning Evaluation
included in your package
Don’t forget to pick up your
SHSM mug and memory stick as you leave!
CONTACT INFORMATION
 Catherine Moynihan
catherine.moynihan@tcdsb.org
416.222.8282 x2739
 Tobin Walsh
tobin.walsh@tcdsb.org
416.222.8282 x2731
 Vince Bellissimo
Vincenzo.bellissimo@tcdsb.org
416.222.8282 x2735