We appreciate all contributions towards this year's Fund-a-Need. If you would like to make a donation, but are unable to attend the event, please do so here.  

Fund-a-Need Focus: Balanced Literacy

This spring, EB has focused on an important program change: Balanced Literacy. EB has begun to adopt this new approach to teaching reading and writing – so what makes Balanced Literacy different, and the right approach for our EB community?

What makes it balanced?

• Balanced Literacy balances all the different and equally important elements of literacy instruction: word work, phonics, vocabulary, grammar, fluency, and comprehension. 


• It consists of four tiers: teacher modeling through interactive read-alouds (“I do it”); the whole class reading aloud together during shared reading (“We do it together”); small-group activities in guided reading (“You do it, and I help you”); and students doing independent reading (“You do it by yourself”).


• It’s not another layer of instruction or a complication for lesson planning, but rather a new way to conceptualize literacy instruction and a way to bring together practices that are already starting to happen at EB.

It’s all about individual attention.

• In Balanced Literacy, teachers meet students where they are. This approach is differentiated for each student, with teachers able to identify each student’s strengths and stretch areas, and offer reading activities that match each child’s learning style.

 It’s a great fit for EB.

• Balanced Literacy’s strong framework and progression of topics help build clear connections between our French and English programs in terms of classroom structures, socio-emotional learning (SEL), cross-disciplinary projects, and language instruction. This helps us ensure that our students develop oral language skills in both languages.

Our students see the benefits.

• Balanced Literacy helps students to advance in their reading ability and socio-emotional development.


• It offers students a choice in selecting texts and themes that particularly interest them. This is very important to keeping students active, engaged, and excited about their learning and progress.

Where will your gifts go?

• The purchase of Balanced Literacy-specific book sets.


• Support for campus-wide implementation of Balanced Literacy.

Fund-a-Need Focus: STEAM

Our Academic Team and teachers have been working hard this year to start integrating science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) activities into EB’s English and French curricula. For the next two years, in G4 and G5, we are planning modules that will link Science and the Arts to other parts of the curriculum and will help us place an even greater emphasis on STEAM at EB.

Some great STEAM learning is already going on at EB.

• Some of our teachers have already been leading more integrated projects in their classrooms this year; a new French curriculum for 2016-17 that places a greater emphasis on interdisciplinary and student-centric activities will further deepen our STEAM practices.


• Our students engage with STEAM frequently, including using technology in classrooms, learning coding during Hour of Code, crafting TEDx talks, tending the garden, measuring and scaling Mondrian-style drawings, serving on the Green Committee, and participating in our Maker Faire, just to name a few.


• STEAM activities that are both hands-on and minds-on engage students in new ways and help spur a love of learning.

 STEAM and language acquisition go hand-in-hand.

• STEAM offers the perfect opportunity to make the acquisition of language more relevant, as students will be asked to plan, design and collaborate on projects. 


• STEAM also opens the opportunity to teach science- and art-related subject matters in either French or English, or even bilingually.

Now we’re excited about taking STEAM to the next level.

• When STEAM activities are fully integrated into our English and French curricula, students’ everyday learning becomes an interdisciplinary discovery and students can be active in co-creating their own learning experiences.


• Taking cues from design thinking and the maker movement can help ‘flip’ classrooms and put youth in the driver’s seat.

Where will your gifts go?

• Helping us expand our library of maker tools and materials.


• Creating a dedicated maker space for students to enjoy.


• Specialized classroom furniture that supports collaborative learning, so that our classrooms truly reflect our dynamic teachers and learners.