Learning through Literacy

Learning Through Literacy is ONlit’s approach to integrated structured literacy instruction aligned with the Ontario Language Curriculum. Each grade level includes a selection of connected practices that show students how language, literacy, and curriculum areas work together through engagement with meaningful, Canadian content. Across the resource, educators will find features such as high-quality mentor texts, explicit vocabulary routines, structured writing supports grounded in the thinkSRSD approach, fluency practice, and contextualized syntax lessons drawn from authentic texts.

The collection is growing, so not every grade includes every element. Additional components will continue to be added as they become available.

Grade 2 Units:

1. Describing Animals
2. Passing Down Recipes
3. How We Remember
4. Useful Mixtures
5. A Shining Smile
6. Lawren Harris
7. Pack for the Weather
8. Making Life Easier
9. Dances Around the World
10. Fresh Water Access

Grade 3 Units:

1. Terry Fox
2. Beaver Dams
3. Regions and Jobs
4. How Forces Affect Toys
5. Hockey Night in Kenya
6. Salma the Syrian Chef
7. Cultures, Foods, Traditions and Healthy Eating
8. Two Row Wampum
9. Alma Thomas
10. Soil Types
11. National AccessAbility Week
12. Plant Adaptations

Grade 4 Units:

1. Making Choices: Sleep
2. Animal Categories
3. The Wild Robot
4. From Emperors to Elders: Governments of the Past
5. Fireflies and Flowers
6. Machines at Work in Our Community
7. Exploring Canada’s Physical Regions: An Alien’s Discovery
8. Fuel for the Day: Understanding Key Nutrients

Grade 5 Units:

1. Turning Stress into Strength
2. Who Does What in Canada? Comparing Governments
3. Hurricane-Proof Homes: How  Structures Stay Safe in Storms
4. Canada’s Fresh Water: A Precious Resource
5. The Problem with Plastic: Five Friends Take Action
6. Drums: The Heartbeat of a Culture
7. Cerebral Palsy: Awareness, Support and Inclusion
8. Refusing Pressure and Making Choices

Grade 6 Units:

1. The Convention on the Rights of the Child
2. How Animals Fly
3. Universal Declaration of Human Rights
4. Global Food Shortages
5. Beyond the Stars
6. Accessibility and Vision Loss in Canada
7. The Seven Grandfather Teachings: Lessons for Living Well
8. Stories of Strength

Grade 9 Units:

1. Personal Narratives and the Power of Memory
2. Informational Text: Ink and Identity
3. Persuasive Text: Truth on Trial
4. Narrative Fiction
5. Cross Curricular Informational