Sample Unit

In this section, you will find the following:

one sample unit for each of English Language Arts A10 and B10, English Language Arts 20, and English Language Arts A30 and B30, including objectives and activities.
li>objectives to be taught and/or reviewed in a second unit for each of the English language arts courses.
descriptors of sample themes or issues for a second unit for each of these courses.

English Language Arts A10: The Unknown--Hopes and Fears

Sample Unit

The last person on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock at the door …

- David Booth

Unit Overview

This sample unit introduces students to a range of language strategies as they explore oral, literary, and other media texts related to the sub-themes of mystery and suspense, the unexplained, science fiction, and the future. In addition to using the writing process for a variety of purposes (e.g., describing, narrating, explaining, and persuading), students read and respond to prose, poetry, and drama. They use a variety of listening strategies as they participate in discussions, notemaking, oral reading, and presentations.

Life has many mysteries. There is so much that we know and yet there are still questions for which we seek the answers. Some people find answers in faith and/or science. Other people find answers in the arts, nature, or daily living. Life is a mystery begging to be explored.

The suggested time frame for this unit is ten weeks. This is a suggested time only. Teachers may need to adjust it based on their students’ needs, interests, and learning pace .

Unit Objectives

Planning and resource selection are determined by the foundational and learning objectives for English language arts. After the teacher has selected two units for study, the specific learning objectives designated for A10 are divided between the two units. It is understood that the learning objectives not addressed in this sample unit would be addressed in the second unit chosen by the teacher.

Throughout this unit, the following symbols are used to refer to the Common Essential Learnings (C.E.L.s):

COM
Communication

CCT
Critical and Creative Thinking

IL
Independent Learning

PSVS
Personal and Social Values and Skills

TL
Technological Literacy

NUM
Numeracy

Many of the objectives for English language arts also develop knowledge, skills, and processes related to the Common Essential Learnings of Communication, Critical and Creative Thinking, and Independent Learning. Where appropriate, objectives related to the C.E.L.s are explicitly stated in the sample unit to provide direction for teachers. Emphasis on particular C.E.L.s within a unit does not preclude the development of others.

The Common Essential Learnings and several language arts objectives addressed in this unit will require emphasis in both units of the English Language Arts A10 course. For example, the writing process and the behaviours of good speakers, listeners, and readers must receive attention, development, and extension in both units.

The following objectives were selected for this sample unit. Foundational objectives are identified by the symbol FO. Related specific learning objectives are listed below each foundational objective.

Speaking

Students will:

Recognize that talk is an important tool for communicating, thinking, and learning (FO)
speak to share thoughts, opinions, and feelings
Practise the behaviours of effective speakers (FO)
recognize and adjust oral presentation elements effectively
organize information, thoughts, and opinions in an appropriate format
Speak fluently and confidently in a variety of situations for a variety of purposes and audiences (FO)
participate in small and large group discussions, observing the courtesies of group discussion
explain and defend personal point of view to others
introduce people in an informal social setting
prepare an oral reading of prose, poetry, or other literature.

Listening

Students will:

Recognize listening as an active, constructive process (FO)
anticipate a message and set a purpose for listening
attend
seek and check understanding by making connections, and by making and confirming predictions and inferences
interpret and summarize
analyze and evaluate
Practise the behaviours of effective listeners (FO)
identify speaker’s purpose
recognize and recall main and supporting ideas in presentations
distinguish between fact and opinion
Listen effectively in a variety of situations for a variety of purposes (FO)
listen to understand and learn
follow oral directions
analyze the overall effectiveness of a talk.

Writing

Students will:

Recognize writing as a constructive and recursive process (FO)
use what is known as the writing process
use appropriate pre-writing and planning strategies
develop ideas previously explored into draft form
revise and polish compositions
share or present compositions
Practise the behaviours of effective writers (FO)
state a topic sentence clearly and limit the content to pertinent material
develop ideas rather than just restating them
use various methods of development and organization appropriate to purpose
compose suitable endings
analyze and evaluate their own and others’ writing for ideas, organization, sentence clarity, word choice, and mechanics
compose effective paragraphs
organize ideas in multi-paragraph compositions
Write fluently and confidently for a variety of purposes and audiences (FO)
reflect, clarify, and explore ideas
express understanding
describe, narrate, inform, and persuade
write an effective descriptive passage
write social letters in language appropriate for purpose and audience
experiment with a variety of forms of writing such as poem, play, anecdote, and short story.

Reading

Students will:

Recognize reading as an active, constructive, process (FO)
make connections
find meaning
make and confirm predictions
make and confirm inferences
reflect and evaluate
Practise the behaviours of effective, strategic readers (FO)
record responses in a reader’s journal, log, or notebook
compare and contrast the structure and characteristics of various selections
skim, scan, and read closely for required information
recognize the structure and characteristics of a particular poem, play, or prose (fiction and nonfiction) selection
identify the author’s purpose, tone, point of view, and theme
Read a variety of texts for a variety of purposes (FO)
relate literary experience to personal experience
explore human experiences and values reflected in texts
read to stimulate the imagination
assess an author’s ideas and techniques.

Representing and Viewing

Create appropriate nonverbal aids and visual images to enhance communication (FO)
present information using print and non-print aids to engage and inform a familiar audience
present thoughts, ideas, and feelings using an appropriate combination of charts, diagrams, pictures, audiotapes, slides, models, drama, and print
Recognize nonverbal aids and visual representations as tools for communicating and learning (FO)
anticipate a message and set a purpose for viewing
attend
seek and check understanding by making connections, and by making and confirming predictions and inferences
interpret and summarize
analyze and evaluate
practise the behaviors of effective viewers (FO)
identify the purposes, intended audiences, messages, and points of view in television and video presentations
recognize language techniques and media conventions in television and video presentations
evaluate critically information obtained from viewing a video
respond personally, critically, and creatively to television and video presentations

Language Concepts

The English language arts curriculum is designed to assist students to widen their knowledge and appreciation of the English language. The "nature of language" is best learned contextually, growing out of students’ language experiences rather than through isolated drills and exercises that are presented out of context (e.g., workbooks). Students should be actively engaged in using real language processes for their communication purposes. In addition, they should increase their understanding of three broad language concepts:

Language varies according to audience, purpose, and situation.
Language has structural patterns and conventions.
Language develops and changes over time.

As students are engaged in the language processes, teachers are encouraged to diagnose students’ strengths and needs as they work with the elements of language. A checklist such as the following (adapted from the chart on pp. 37-39) might be used to keep a record of their understanding and needs.

Text

__The purpose of creating text is to communicate, to express self, and to create an aesthetic form.

__ Effective communication uses language appropriate to the subject, audience, purpose, and situation.

__ Prose, poetry, and drama each has distinctive organizational patterns.

__ Modes of discourse might describe, narrate, explain, or persuade.

__ Other: Sentences

__ A clear sentence usually conveys the author’s meaning on first hearing or reading.

__ English sentences are built on some common "kernel" structures.

__ Word order is important in communicating meaning in English.

__ Punctuation marks clarify the meaning of written sentences.

__ Other: Words

__ Different words have different meaning dependingon the context.

__ An appropriate word suits the purpose, audience, and situation.

__ A word can have connotative as well as denotative value.

__ Words can have symbolic meaning.

__ Other:

Mini-lessons

Some students may require more assistance than others with specific language concepts and processes. A mini-lesson is a focused lesson designed to help students learn how to do something (e.g., write an effective descriptive paragraph) or address a language concept needed for a task (e.g., how to write a concise sentence). These lessons can be taught to the whole class, to a small group, or to an individual.

A mini-lesson on comma splice and run on sentences, for example, might include the following information:

A run on sentence is made up of two or more sentences which have no punctuation between them.
A comma splice sentence is made up of two or more sentences which are joined together by a comma.
Every sentence should have just one subject and one verb unless a linking word is used to join a second subject-verb unit to the first one. For example:

I do not need any help I understand the problem.

Notice that there are two subjects (I) and two verbs (need, understand), but there is no linking word to connect them. The same example, written as a comma splice error would look like this:

I do not need any help, I understand the problem.

This time the two subjects and the two verbs are joined by a comma.

There are four ways to correct both the run on and comma splice errors:

Place a period between the two sentences.

I do not need any help. I understand the problem.

Use a semi-colon instead of a comma, if the ideas are closely related. I do not need any help; I understand the problem.
Add a co-ordinate conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet) between the sentences. I do not need any help, for I understand the problem.
Reduce one of the sentences to a phrase or a clause.
Having understood the problem, I do not need any help. (Phrase)

I do not need any help, because I understand the problem. (Clause)

Assessment and Evaluation

Assessment and evaluation must be closely tied to the learning objectives and language concepts of this course. Assessment strategies are suggested throughout this unit. A summary form such as the one illustrated on page 186 could be used to assess and evaluate a student’s progress during the teaching of this sample unit.

Resources

Although specific language resources and literary selections are identified for particular activities, alternative resources and activities of comparable challenge to the students can be substituted to achieve the unit objectives. English Language Arts 10: A Bibliography lists a range of resources that could be used for this unit.

The following resources have been selected for this unit.

Short Stories

The Tell-Tale Heart (Poe )
The Open Window (Saki)
The Third Floor Flat (Christie)
By the Waters of Babylon (Benet)
After the Sirens (Hood) The Veldt (Bradbury)

Nonfiction

What If People Lived as Long as Trees? (Cetron and O’Toole)
Artificial Intelligence (Fjermedal)
Ghost Stories of Saskatchewan (Christensen)
The Great Detectives (The Royal Bank of Canada Monthly Letter, November, 1979)

Poetry

The Legend of the Qu’Appelle Valley (Johnson)
The Lady of Shalott (Tennyson)
The Raven (Poe )
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (Coleridge)
The Ghost that Jim Saw (Harte)

Plays

The War of the Worlds (Wells)
The Monkey’s Paw (Parker)
Dracula (Deane and Balderston)
Phantom of the Opera (Kopit)
The Veldt (Bradbury)

Novels(partial classroom sets of one novel from each of the following groups)

A Morbid Taste for Bones (Peters), Murder On the Orient Express (Christie)
Locked in Time (Duncan), Blood Red Ochre (Major)
Ender’s Game (Card)
Fahrenheit 451 (Bradbury), The Chrysalids (Wyndham)
Interstellar Pig (Sleator)

Film/Video

The Veldt (Barr Films)
Alfred, Lord Tennyson: The Lady of Shalott (Films for the Humanities and Science Inc.)

Language Resources

The Writer’s Voice 1 and 2 (Methuen)
Bridges 4 (Prentice-Hall)
Writers Inc: A Student Handbook for Writing and Learning (Write Source); A Canadian Writer’s Reference (Nelson); The Communications Handbook (Nelson); or a similar language handbook Dictionaries, style guides, and thesauri

Other Resources

Crime and Puzzlement: 24 Solve-Them-Yourself Picture Mysteries (Treat)
Five-minute Mysteries: Thirty-seven Challenging Cases of Murders and Mayhem for you to Solve (Weber)

Audio cassettes, newspaper and magazine articles related to the theme

The Future Appears - Now (Leader-Post, April 15, 1995)

Moosomin Massacre (Leader-Post, June 11, 1994)

The Visit (CD) (McKennitt)
The War of the Worlds (recording) (Wells)

For printing and copying this template Require Acrobat Reader

Sample Assessment and Evaluation Summary English Language Arts A10

Student’s Name: ______________________________________

Class: _______________________________________________

Teacher: _____________________________________________

Unit: The Unknown--Hopes and Fears_________________________

P = Poor (1-59)
A = Average (60-74)
G = Good (75-90)
E = Excellent (91-100)

Diagnostic Comments
Assessment

(Process)

P

A

G

E
Assessment

(Product)

Mark

Weight

Speaking/

Representing

Practises behaviours of an effective speaker

Practises effective group skills

Defends personal point of view in literary response

Other:

Introduction of Peer

Prepared Oral Reading of Play

Listening/Viewing

Practises behaviours of a good listener (e.g., TQLR) or viewer

Follows directions effectively

Practises an effective notemaking strategy (e.g., VSPP)

Other:

VSPP I

VSPP II

Writing/

Representing

Practises an effective writing process

Is aware of audience and purpose

Actively revises

Other:

Paragraphs:

Descriptive

Narrative

Expository

Persuasive

Letter

Essay

Freewriting

Experiments with other forms (e.g., screen play, anecdote for short story)

Reading/Viewing

Practises behaviours of an effective reader/viewer

Maintains a complete response log

Practises skimming, scanning, and reading closely as appropriate

Other:

Analysis:

Poetry

Nonfiction

Novel

Response Log

Paraphrase

Quizzes

Cross Media Comparison

Attendance:

Homework:

Meets Deadlines:

Attendance:

Unit Test:

Unit Mark/Grade:

COM	Communication
CCT	Critical and Creative Thinking
IL	Independent Learning
PSVS	Personal and Social Values and Skills
TL	Technological Literacy
NUM	Numeracy

Diagnostic Comments	Assessment (Process)	P	A	G	E	Assessment (Product)	Mark	Weight
Speaking/ Representing	Practises behaviours of an effective speaker Practises effective group skills Defends personal point of view in literary response Other:					Introduction of Peer Prepared Oral Reading of Play
Listening/Viewing	Practises behaviours of a good listener (e.g., TQLR) or viewer Follows directions effectively Practises an effective notemaking strategy (e.g., VSPP) Other:					VSPP I VSPP II
Writing/ Representing	Practises an effective writing process Is aware of audience and purpose Actively revises Other:					Paragraphs: Descriptive Narrative Expository Persuasive Letter Essay Freewriting Experiments with other forms (e.g., screen play, anecdote for short story)
Reading/Viewing	Practises behaviours of an effective reader/viewer Maintains a complete response log Practises skimming, scanning, and reading closely as appropriate Other:					Analysis: Poetry Nonfiction Novel Response Log Paraphrase Quizzes Cross Media Comparison
Attendance:	Homework: Meets Deadlines: Attendance:					Unit Test: Unit Mark/Grade: