Curriculum Overall Expectations:

A. GEOGRAPHIC INQUIRY AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT

A1. Geographic Inquiry: use the geographic inquiry process and the concepts of geographic thinking when investigating world issues;

A2. Developing Transferable Skills: apply in everyday contexts skills, including spatial skills, developed through geographical investigation, and identify careers in which a background in geography might be an asset.

B. SPATIAL ORGANIZATION: RELATIONSHIPS AND DISPARITIES

B1. Natural Resource Disparities: analyse relationships between quality of life and access to natural resources in various countries and regions (FOCUS ON: Spatial Significance; Interrelationships) B2. Population Disparities: analyse relationships between demographic and political factors and quality of life in various countries and regions (FOCUS ON: Interrelationships; Geographic Perspective)

B3. Classifying Regions of the World: explain how various characteristics are used to classify the world into regions or other groupings (FOCUS ON: Spatial Significance; Patterns and Trends)

C. SUSTAINABILITY AND STEWARDSHIP

C1. Strategies and Initiatives: analyse strategies and initiatives that support environmental stewardship at a national and global level, and assess their effectiveness in promoting the sustainability of the natural environment (FOCUS ON: Interrelationships; Geographic Perspective)

C2. Population Growth: assess the impact of population growth on the sustainability of natural systems (FOCUS ON: Spatial Significance; Patterns and Trends)

C3. Caring for the Commons: analyse issues relating to the use and management of common-pool resources (FOCUS ON: Interrelationships; Geographic Perspective)

D. INTERACTIONS AND INTERDEPENDENCE: GLOBALIZATION

D1. Trade and Immigration: analyse the influence of trade agreements and immigration policies on global interdependence and the well-being of countries (FOCUS ON: Interrelationships; Geographic Perspective)

D2. Impacts and Management: analyse issues relating to national and global impacts of globalization from a geographic perspective, and assess responsibilities and approaches for managing these issues (FOCUS ON: Spatial Significance; Geographic Perspective)

D3. Characteristics and Driving Forces: describe the major characteristics of globalization, and analyse factors that are driving the globalizing process (FOCUS ON: Patterns and Trends; Interrelationships)

E. SOCIAL CHANGE AND QUALITY OF LIFE

E1. Leadership and Policy: analyse the influence of governments, groups, and individuals on the promotion and management of social change (FOCUS ON: Patterns and Trends; Geographic Perspective)

E2. Agents of Change: analyse impacts of selected agents of change on society and quality of life (FOCUS ON: Interrelationships; Geographic Perspective)

E3. Continuing Challenges: analyse issues relating to human rights, food security, health care, and other challenges to the quality of life of the world’s population (FOCUS ON: Spatial Significance; Patterns and Trends)

COURSE CONTENT

Unit 1: Relationships and Disparities  --- 30 hours

Unit 2: Sustainability and Stewardship --- 20 hours

Unit 3: Globalization --- 20 hours

Unit 4: Social Change and Quality of Life --- 30 hours

Final Assignment: I.S.U. & Exam --- 10 hours

Total 110 hours

TEACHING & LEARNING STRATEGIES

• TEACHING & LEARNING STRATEGIES

• Direct Instruction (discussion possible)

• Small Group Discussion

• 1:1 Conferencing Teacher & Student

• Silent individual reading

• Independent Work (teacher facilitation)

• Group Work (teacher facilitation)

• Brainstorming

• Experiential learning (learn by doing)

• Worksheets/Surveys

• Text-based modeling

• Use of Computers / Internet

• Use of video or audio materials

• Presentations

ASSESSMENT & EVALUATION

Purpose

The primary purpose of assessment is to improve student learning. Assessment relates directly to the expectations for the course.

A variety of assessments for and as learning are conducted on a regular basis to allow ample opportunities for students to improve and ultimately demonstrate their full range of learning and in order for the teacher to gather information to provide feedback. Assessment tasks relate to the success criteria set out in lesson plans. Success criteria allow students to see what quality looks like.

Evaluation is the process of judging the quality of student work in relation to the achievement chart categories and criteria, and assigning a percentage grade to represent that quality. Evaluation is based on gathering evidence of student achievement through:

• Products

• Observations

• Conversations

Assessment for Learning - we provide feedback and coaching

Assessment FOR Learning is the process of seeking and interpreting evidence for the use of learners and their teachers to decide where the learners are in their learning, where they need to go, and how best to go there.

Assessment as Learning - we help students monitor progress, set goals, reflect on their learning Assessment AS Learning is the process of the explicit fostering of students’ capacity over time to be their own best assessors, but teachers need to start by presenting and modeling external, structured opportunities for students to assess themselves.

Assessment of Learning – we use assessments as ways of providing evaluative statements about the level of achievement of students

Assessment OF Learning is the assessment that becomes public and results in statements of symbols (marks/grades/levels of achievement) about how well students are learning. It often contributes to pivotal decisions that will affect students’ future.

Grading

• The final grade is based on performance in 3 areas: products, observations, conversations.

• 70% of the grade is based on evaluations conducted throughout the course.

• 30% is based on a final evaluation.

Weighting of categories

Knowledge & Understanding --- 25%

Thinking --- 25%

Communication --- 25%

Application --- 25%

Assessment Tools

Marking schemes / Anecdotal comments / Rubrics

Assessment Strategies

Assessment for Learning

Journals / Essays / Projects / Independent Study Assignment

Assessment as Learning

Journal / Exit and Entrance Cards / KWL Chart / Self/Peer assessment

Assessment of Learning

Presentations / Essays / Projects / Independent Study Assignment / Researching / Debates

CONSIDERATIONS FOR PROGRAM PLANNING

Instructional Approaches

Teachers in the school are expected to:

• clarify the purpose for learning

• help students activate prior knowledge

• differentiate instruction for individual students and small groups according to need

• explicitly teach and model learning strategies

• encourage students to talk through their thinking and learning processes

• provide many opportunities for students to practise and apply their developing knowledge and skills

• apply effective teaching approaches involve students in the use of higher-level thinking skill

• encourage students to look beyond the literal meaning of texts

Teachers use a variety of instructional and learning strategies best suited to the particular type of learning. Students have opportunities to learn in a variety of ways:

• individually

• cooperatively

• independently with teacher direction

• through investigation involving hands-on experience

• through examples followed by practice

• by encouraging students to gain experience with varied and interesting applications of the new knowledge. Rich contexts for learning open the door for students to see the “big ideas” of mathematics that will enable and encourage them to reason mathematically throughout their lives.

Program Considerations for English Language Learners

Teachers must incorporate appropriate strategies for instruction and assessment to facilitate the success of the English language learners in their classrooms. These strategies include:

• modification of some or all of the subject expectations depending on the level of English proficiency

• use of a variety of instructional strategies (e.g., extensive use of visual cues, graphic organizers, scaffolding; previewing of textbooks; pre-teaching of key vocabulary; peer tutoring; strategic use of students’ first languages)

• use of a variety of learning resources (e.g., visual material, simplified text, bilingual dictionaries, and materials that reflect cultural diversity)

• use of assessment accommodations (e.g., granting of extra time; use of oral interviews, demonstrations or visual representations, or tasks requiring completion of graphic organizers and cloze sentences instead of essay questions and other assessment tasks that depend heavily on proficiency in English).

Antidiscrimination Education

Learning resources reflect students’ interests, backgrounds, cultures, and experiences. Learning materials:

• involve protagonists of both sexes from a wide variety of backgrounds

• reflect the diversity of Canadian and world cultures, including those of contemporary First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples

• include, in English, use of short stories, novels, magazine and newspaper articles, television programs, and films.

• provide opportunities for students to explore issues relating to their self-identity

• make students aware of the historical, cultural, and political contexts for both the traditional and non-traditional gender and social roles represented in the materials they are studying.

Literacy and Inquiry/Research Skills

The school emphasizes the importance of the following:

• using clear, concise communication in the classroom involving the use of diagrams, charts, tables, and graphs

• emphasizing students’ ability to interpret and use graphic texts.

• acquiring the skills to locate relevant information from a variety of sources, such as books, newspapers, dictionaries, encyclopaedias, interviews, videos, and the Internet.

• learning that all sources of information have a particular point of view

• learning that the recipient of the information has a responsibility to evaluate it, determine its validity and relevance, and use it in appropriate ways.

Role of Technology

Information and communications technologies (ICT) tools used in many ways:

• Students use multimedia resources, databases, Internet websites, digital cameras, and word-processing programs.

• They use technology to collect, organize, and sort the data they gather and to write, edit, and present reports on their findings.

• Students are encouraged to use ICT to support and communicate their learning. For example, students working individually or in groups can use computer technology and/or Internet websites to gain access to museums and archives in Canada and around the world.

• Students use digital cameras and projectors to design and present the results of their research to their classmates.

• The school plans to use ICT to connect students to other schools and to bring the global community into the classroom.

• Students are made aware of issues of Internet privacy, safety, and responsible use, as well as of the potential for abuse of this technology, particularly when it is used to promote hatred.

Career Education

Students are given opportunities to develop career-related skills by:

• applying their skills to work-related situations

• exploring educational and career options

  
  

• developing research skills

  
  

• practising expository writing

  
  

• learning strategies for understanding informational reading material

  
  

• making oral presentations

  
  

• Working in small groups with classmates to help students express themselves confidently and work cooperatively with others.

Academic Honesty

Students who present the work of others as their own are guilty of plagiarism and will receive a mark of zero for the work and will have the details of the plagiarism noted in their school records. Students who are guilty of cheating on tests or examinations will receive a mark of zero on the test or examination and have the details of the cheating noted in their school records.

Late Assignments

Students are responsible for providing evidence of their achievement of the overall expectations within the time frame specified by the teacher, and in a form approved by the teacher. There are consequences for not completing assignments for evaluation or for submitting those assignments late.

Resources:

1. Moodle Site

2. Dictionaries, Thesaurus etc.

3. Various Daily Newspapers, Magazines, and Periodicals

4. (Audio and Video material) CBC, The Fifth Estate, etc. Various Internet Resources:

5. OWL English Purdue

• The University of Toronto Library

• The Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care

• The Toronto Star

  
  

6. The Globe and Mail