Ontario Secondary School Literary Course OLC4O

Unit 1: The World and You (37 hours)

· Students being the process of building study skills such as reading skills, vocabulary development, use of the writing process, research, time management, self-evaluation, and goal setting, through reading stories pulled from the headlines. Students will explore their relationship to themselves and the world from reading a variety of news stories, personal essays, and opinion pieces. They will learn to read, reflect, and write pieces that will develop their literacy skills.

Unit 2: Short Stories  (37 hours)

· Students will be presented with numerous types of short stories. For each story there is background information on the writer, and the actual story. There will be follow up notes on the story to be read and discussed. Moreover, the assignments given are far ranging but they all require the students to reach beyond the actual story into another text. The stories are used to assess the students’ understanding of English, its literary forms, and devices. They students will than use these stories as springboards for their writing.

Unit 3: Media Studies/Hot Topics (36 hours)

· In this unit, students will explore the rights and responsibilities of Canadian citizenship and of the contributions of diverse groups to Canadian society.  They will also be asked to formulate critical responses to media text, responses that build on their personal response but goes beyond it. Because media plays such a major role in our culture, and because they have great power to shape the way people think and behave, there is an increasing requirement for media literacy. Being media literate means knowing how the media both reflect and influence one’s culture and know how to deconstruct media text. Students will read about hot topics and issues and learn to write persuasive pieces, opinion pieces, and argumentative essays, learning how to express themselves in various written forms.

· A variety of strategies are used to allow students many opportunities to attain the necessary skills for success in this course and at university. The teacher uses a variety of whole class, small group and individual activities to facilitate learning. The course also includes an element of student interaction and assistance. Students will do seatwork/homework and will aid each other in their understanding of the concepts.

· The evaluation for this course is based on the student's achievement of curriculum expectations and the demonstrated skills required for effective learning.

Types of Assessment

Assessmentsforandaslearning will have a diagnostic and formative purpose; their role is to check for students’ understanding. Assessments that serve this purpose will usually manifest themselves in the form of practice questions in the form of assignments and/or quizzes in class, teacher checking of homework, and conversations/discussions about progress. The purpose these quizzes serve is to encourage students to review daily and to alert students when there is a specific expectation they have not yet achieved. Quizzes and assignments are effective simply because they provide immediate feedback for the student.

Assessmentsoflearning have a summative purpose and are given at strategic instances- for example, after a critical body of information/set of overall or specific expectations has been covered. “This type of assessment collects evidence for evaluating the student’s achievement of the curriculum expectations and for reporting to students and parents/guardians” (Growing Success- assessment, evaluation, and reporting: improving student learning, pg. 1-ii). Assessments of learning consider product, observation, and conversation as sources of evidence.

Final Mark Calculation

The evaluation for this course is based on the student's achievement of curriculum expectations, the demonstrated skills required for effective learning, and the Categoriesof the Achievement Chart. This chart is meant to assist teachers in planning instruction and learning activities for the achievement of the curriculum expectations. It is also used in designing assessment and evaluation tasks and tools and in providing feedback to students. The percentage grade represents the quality of the student's overall achievement of the expectations for the course and reflects the corresponding level of achievement as described in the achievement chart for the discipline. A credit is granted and recorded for this course if the student's grade is 50% or higher.  Final marks will be calculated as follows:

· 70% of the grade will be based upon evaluations conducted throughout the course. This portion of the grade will reflect the student's most consistent level of achievement throughout the course, although special consideration will be given to more recent evidence of achievement.

Term Work: 70%Levels of Achievement:

Knowledge and Understanding: 25%  Level 1: 50 - 59%

Thinking and Inquiry: 25%                    Level 2: 60 – 69%

Application: 25%                                   Level 3: 70 – 79%

Communication: 25%                     Level 4: 80 - 100%

· 30% of the grade will be based on a final assessment task that occurs at or near the end of the course. In the case of this course, this final assessment task will take the form of a three-hour final examination and an independent study project. The exam is worth 20% and the independent study project is also worth 10% of the student's final mark for a total of 30%.

Final Summative Evaluation (Final Exam and Independent Study Project): 30%

Knowledge and Understanding: 25%

Thinking and Inquiry: 25%

Application: 25%

Communication: 25%

Considerations for Program Planning

· Teachers who are planning a program in English must take into account considerations in a number of important areas. Essential information that pertains to all disciplines is provided in the companion piece to the document: English. The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 11 and 12: Some Considerations for Program Planning, 2007.

Instructional Approaches.The English curriculum is based on the premise that all students can be successful language learners. One of the keys to student success in mastering language skills is high-qualityinstruction.Teachers who provide quality instruction respect students’ strengths and address theirlearning needs, using assessment information to plan instruction. They clarify the purposefor learning, help students activate prior knowledge, and differentiate instruction forindividual students and small groups according to need. Teachers explicitly teach andmodel learning strategies and encourage students to talk through their thinking and learning processes. They also provide many opportunities for students to practise and apply their developing knowledge and skills. Effective teaching approaches involve students in the use of higher-level thinking skills and encourage them to look beyond the literal meaning of texts and to think about fairness, equity, social justice, and citizenship in a global society.

Planning English Programs for Students with Special Education Needs.In any given classroom, students may demonstrate a wide range of learning styles and needs. Teachers plan programs that recognize this diversity and give students performance tasks that respect their particular abilities so that all students can derive the greatest possible benefit from the teaching and learning process. The use of flexible groupings for instruction and the provision of ongoing assessment are important elements of programs that accommodate a diversity of learning needs.

Antidiscrimination Education. Learning resources that reflect the broad range of students’ interests, backgrounds, cultures, and experiences are an important aspect of an inclusive English program. In such a program, learning materials involve protagonists of both sexes from a wide variety of backgrounds. Teachers routinely use materials that reflect the diversity of Canadian and world cultures, including those of contemporary First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples, and make them available to students. Short stories, novels, magazine and newspaper articles, television programs, and films provide opportunities for students to explore issues relating to their self-identity. In inclusive programs, students are made 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. Stories, novels, informational texts, and media works relating to the immigrant experience provide rich thematic material for study, as well as the opportunity for students new to Canada to share their knowledge and experiences with others. In addition, in the context of the English program, both students and teachers should become aware of aspects of intercultural communication – for example, by exploring how different cultures interpret the use of eye contact and body language in conversation and during presentations.

Critical Thinking and Critical Literacy in English.Teachers plan science programs to promote critical thinking skills such as questioning, predicting, hypothesizing, analysing, synthesizing, examining opinions, identifying values and issues, detecting bias, and distinguishing between alternatives. As students work to achieve the STSE expectations, they are frequently asked to identify the implications of an action, activity, or process. In addition as students develop the skills of scientific investigation (inquiry/research skills), students are given the opportunity to ask appropriate questions to frame their research, interpret information, and detect bias. These learning activities would equip students with the skills to assess, analyze, and/or evaluate the impact of something on society and the environment.

The Role of Information and Communications Technology in English.Information and communications technologies (ICT) provide a range of tools that can significantly extend and enrich teachers’ instructional strategies and support students’ language learning. ICT tools include multimedia resources, databases, Internet websites, digital cameras, and word-processing programs. Tools such as these can help students to collect, organize, and sort the data they gather and to write, edit, and present reports on their findings. Information and communications technologies can also be used to connect students to other schools, at home and abroad, and to bring the global community into the local classroom.

Career Education.Expectations in the English program include many opportunities for students to apply their language skills to work-related situations, to explore educational and career options, and to become self-directed learners. To prepare students for the literacy demands of a wide array of postsecondary educational programs and careers, English courses require students to develop research skills, practise expository writing, and learn strategies for understanding informational reading materials. Making oral presentations and working in small groups with classmates help students express themselves confidently and work cooperatively with others.

Course Materials Required by Students to Bring to Class:

· ESLEO course of study

· Pencil / Pen / Eraser

· Line Paper

· Dictionary/Thesaurus

Resources:

· The Ontario Curriculum Grades 9 to 12, English as a Second Language and English Literacy Development, (2007) Revised

· Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting in Ontario Schools

· Elements of English