Curriculum Overall Expectations: 

ORAL COMMUNICATION 

1. Listening to Understand: listen in order to understand and respond appropriately in a variety of situations for a variety of purposes; 

2. Speaking to Communicate: use speaking skills and strategies appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes; 

3. Reflecting on Skills and Strategies: reflect on and identify their strengths as listeners and speakers, areas for improvement, and the strategies they found most helpful in oral communication situations. 

 READING AND LITERATURE STUDIES 

1. Reading for Meaning: read and demonstrate an understanding of a variety of literary, informational, and graphic texts, using a range of strategies to construct meaning; 

2. Understanding Form and Style: recognize a variety of text forms, text features, and stylistic elements and demonstrate understanding of how they help communicate meaning; 

3. Reading With Fluency: use knowledge of words and cueing systems to read fluently; 

4. Reflecting on Skills and Strategies: reflect on and identify their strengths as readers, areas for improvement, and the strategies they found most helpful before, during, and after reading. 

 WRITING 

1. Developing and Organizing Content: generate, gather, and organize ideas and information to write for an intended purpose and audience; 

2. Using Knowledge of Form and Style: draft and revise their writing, using a variety of literary, informational, and graphic forms and stylistic elements appropriate for the purpose and audience; 

3. Applying Knowledge of Conventions: use editing, proofreading, and publishing skills and strategies, and knowledge of language conventions, to correct errors, refine expression, and present their work effectively; 

4. Reflecting on Skills and Strategies: reflect on and identify their strengths as writers, areas for improvement, and the strategies they found most helpful at different stages in the writing process. 

MEDIA STUDIES 

1. Understanding Media Texts: demonstrate an understanding of a variety of media texts; 

2. Understanding Media Forms, Conventions, and Techniques: identify some media forms and explain how the conventions and techniques associated with them are used to create meaning; 

3. Creating Media Texts: create a variety of media texts for different purposes and audiences, using appropriate forms, conventions, and techniques; 

4. Reflecting on Skills and Strategies: reflect on and identify their strengths as media interpreters and creators, areas for improvement, and the strategies they found most helpful in understanding and creating media texts. 

COURSE CONTENT 

Unit 1: Short Story --- 20 Hours

Unit 2: Poetry and Writing Analysis  --- 20 Hours

Unit 3: Novel Study  --- 30 Hours

Unit 4: Play  --- 30 Hours

Culminating Activities  --- 10 Hours

Total 110 Hours 

TEACHING & LEARNING STRATEGIES 

1. Direct Instruction (teacher-led) 

2. Class Discussion (teacher facilitated) 

3. Small Group Discussion 

4. Teacher reading to class 

5. Silent individual reading 

6. Independent Work (teacher facilitation) 

7. Worksheets/Surveys 

8. Teacher modeling 

9. Use of Computers / Internet 

10. Use of video or audio materials 

11. 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 

Anecdotal comments 

Rubrics 

Assessment for Learning 

Quizzes / Journals / Projects / Independent Study Assignment / Work Sheets

Assessment as Learning

Exit and Entrance Cards / Graphic Organizers / Self/Peer assessment

Assessment of Learning

Tests / Essays / Projects / Independent Study Assignment / Work Sheets

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 and artistic works

• encourage students to rehearse, practice, apply, skills and strategies, and to make their own choices

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 using concrete learning tools

• 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.

Teaching Approaches

Critical thinking is at the heart of all English and Language Arts courses, and the development of this skill is paramount as it will help students become and remain effective lifelong learners.

Effective teaching in English and Language Arts should provide adequate motivation to students, as well as to help them develop positive habits of mind, including curiosity and open-mindedness, a willingness to think/question/challenge/be challenges, as well as an understanding of the value of listening carefully, reading carefully, and communicating clearly.

Language skills are learned and reinforced very well through activities that present new and novel ideas and issues, but also ones that are meaningful and relatable to students. Teachers must choose activities for the class to work through that are can meet the needs of all students. While no one activity will fit all students, teachers must be mindful of differentiating assessment and instruction in order for students to be able to capture and demonstrate their understanding in the most effective means possible.

A wide variety of activities that span the course’s curriculum will help students to demonstrate their abilities frequently, and clearly show their growth throughout the course. Further, a wide variety of different activities can help students remain engaged throughout the entirety of the course.

Program Considerations for Students with Special Education Needs

Teachers must incorporate appropriate strategies for instruction and assessment to facilitate the success of students with special educational needs in their classrooms. These strategies stem from the beliefs as laid out in Special Education Transformation: The report of the Co-Chairs with the Recommendations of the Working Table on Special Education, 2006:

• All students can succeed

• Universal design and differentiated instruction are effective and interconnected means of meeting the learning or productivity needs of any group of students

• Successful instructional practices are founded on evidence-based research, tempered by experience

• Classroom teachers are key educators for a students’ literacy and numeracy development.

• Each student has his or her own unique patterns of learning.

• Classroom teachers need the support of the larger community to create a learning environment that supports students with special education needs.

• Fairness is not sameness.

Teachers must plan their program that recognize the diversity of students’ learning styles, needs, and responses, so students can have performance tasks that respect their abilities so they can derive the greatest possible benefit from the teaching and learning process.

Teachers must be mindful of three types of accommodations for students:

• Instructional Accommodations: changes in teaching strategies, including styles of presentation, methods of organization, or use of technology and multimedia

• Environmental Accommodations: changes that the student may require in the classroom and/or school environment, such as preferential seating or special lighting.

• Assessment accommodations: changes in assessment procedures that enable the student to demonstrate his or her learning, such as allowing additional time to complete tests or assignments,or permitting oral responses to test questions

No modifications to course expectations are made at this school.

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).

Environmental Education and Social Sciences and Humanities Programs

Acting Today, Shaping Tomorrow: A Policy Framework for Environmental Education in Ontario Schools outlines an approach to environmental education that recognizes the needs of all Ontario Students and promotes environmental responsibility in the operations of all levels of the education system.

The goals outlined are surrounded around: teaching and learning, student engagement and community connections, and environmental leadership. By promoting the study of issues and solutions, the engagement of practicing and promoting environmental leadership and stewardship, and the importance of leadership through responsible promotion of environmentally safe and secure practices.

In the English and Language Arts classrooms, students are encouraged to “look beyond the literal meaning of texts to think about fairness, equity, social justice, and citizenship in a global society”, wherein students can also explore environmental issues related to these goals. Likewise, many topics throughout the English and Language Arts courses can provide students to discuss environmental topics, especially when global, historical, political, or socioeconomic issues are a key point in a text or lesson.

Antidiscrimination Education

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

• enable students to become more sensitive to the diverse cultures and perceptions of others, including Aboriginal peoples

• discuss aspects of the history of mathematics to make students aware of the various cultural groups that have contributed to the evolution of mathematics over the centuries

• illustrate to students that everyday people use mathematics in their everyday lives, both at work and at home

• connect mathematics to real world situations and human affairs such as health, science, environmental studies, trend analysis, and politics.

Literacy, Mathematical 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.

Students in English and Language Arts are encouraged to develop their ability and skills in asking critical questions, and exploring a wide range of possible answers while determining how this information fits the original problem. While this is a skill traditionally rooted in mathematics and science courses, critical thinking is at the heart of every course students will take, and therefore should be encouraged in English and Language Arts as well. They will also develop skills to locate these answers in a wide variety of sources. These skills become more advanced and refined as source bias becomes clear to students, and how they have the responsibility to evaluate the credibility, validity, and relevance of the source to their question.

Role of Technology & Library Facilities

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

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

• Students use databases, spreadsheets, dynamic geometry and statistical software, graphing software, computer algebra systems, and so on in order to quickly navigate through complex problems, to see the effect of dynamic data on their values and trends, and to see a graphical representation of data.

• 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.

While the majority of students find information through electronic sources, students should be encouraged to locate text and media in the school library and other public libraries in the area (whether city libraries or university libraries), as it is kept as a wealth of information, especially for very specialized topics. With the saturation of information available electronically, some students may find it easier (and more reliable) to locate printed information about specialized topics in local libraries.

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

• developing key essential skills such as reading text, writing, computer use, measurement and calculation, and problem solving

• 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.

Health and Safety in English and Language Arts

In English and Language Arts Courses, students must be familiar with the concept that health and safety is everyone’s responsibility at all times, not just in the school. While these courses are, for the most part, very academic, there are still many opportunities to practice health and safety strategies.

While there is no direct mention of these practice throughout the curriculum for these courses, students can use the context of the assessment to build awareness and understanding of health and safety issues. For example, if they are writing a text “for different purposes and audiences....”, students could take the opportunity to use this as a platform to inform others about issues in health and safety that may be of concern.

Field trips, while very beneficial to students educational experiences, are also opportunities for appropriate health and safety strategies to be planned and employed as there can be many unpredictable settings and events that take place outside of the classroom.

Financial Literacy

The school is emphasizing the importance of ensuring that Ontario students have the opportunity to improve their financial literacy. Financial literacy is defined as “having the knowledge and skills needed to make responsible economic and financial decisions with competence and confidence”. The goal is to help students acquire the knowledge and skills that will enable them to understand and respond to complex issues regarding their own personal finances and the finances of their families, as well as to develop an understanding of local and global effects of world economic forces and the social, environmental, and ethical implications of their own choices as consumers. Thus, an attempt will be made to integrate Financial Literacy in all the school’s courses.

While traditionally a challenging concept to cover in language programs, the wide variety of literary works offers a look in to characters from an even wider variety of backgrounds, social positions, and other means of financial background. This provides students the opportunity to discuss actions, behaviour, and personality traits, and luxuries (or the lack of) afforded to them by means of this position, and also discuss the financial position in terms of “today dollars” to get a better framework of the particular character’s position.

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 

The Things They Carried

The Great Gatsby

Hamlet

Moodle Website

Dictionaries, Thesaurus etc.

Various Daily Newspapers, Magazines, and Periodicals (Audio and Video material) CBC, The Fifth Estate, etc. Various Internet Resources:

• OWL English Purdue

• The University of Toronto Library

• The Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care

• The Toronto Star

• The Globe and Mail