Necessity and a spirit of adventure lead some people to take risks and make discoveries. These individuals seek landscapes that are different from the ones in which they are comfortable; they seek solutions to problems faced in their times. This unit presents opportunities to investigate those people who have extended their frontiers and, subsequently, influenced the lives of others. We, in turn, define ourselves by where they have been--their experiences, and the people and places that have influenced those experiences.

Stories are powerful. They are a journey and a joining. In a tale we meet new places, new people, new ideas. And they become our places, our people, our ideas.

- Jane Yolen

Possible sub-themes include:

• Roots and Identity
• Traditions and Celebrations
• Beliefs and Search for Meaning
• Cultural Encounters.

Challenges--Opportunities and Obstacles

Everyone likes to hear of those who beat the odds. From the moment we are born, we are faced with constant challenges that often bring out different sides to our characters. Life challenges can lead to success or failure, triumph or corruption. This unit presents opportunities for students to examine the nature of some of these challenges, whether they are found in life, relationships, sports, battle, politics, or adventure.   

Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others.

- Robert Louis Stevenson

Possible sub-themes include:

• Quests and Adventures
• Courage and Leadership
• Struggle and Achievement
• Conflict and Search for Peace.

Unit Objectives

In this second 50-hour unit, the following objectives should be addressed.

Students will:

Speaking

New Objectives for Unit II

• give prepared talks on familiar topics
• speak to inform and persuade
• express own response to a story, poem, play, event, or experience
• other:

Possible Objectives from Unit I for Review and Reinforcement

• practise the behaviours of effective speakers
• recognize and adjust oral presentation elements effectively
• participate in small and large group discussions, observing the courtesies of group discussion
• other:

Listening

New Objectives for Unit II

• follow speaker's sequence of ideas
• other:

Possible Objectives from Unit I for Review and Reinforcement

• identify speaker's purpose
• practise the behaviours of effective listeners:
  • anticipate a message
  • set a purpose for listening
  • attend
  • seek and check understanding
  • interpret and summarize
  • analyze and evaluate
• follow oral directions
• recognize and recall main and supporting ideas in presentations
• analyze the overall effectiveness of group discussions, oral readings, interviews, and talks
• other:

Writing

New Objectives for Unit II

• demonstrate the ability to organize thought coherently using transition words
• write an effective character sketch
• narrate events clearly in an appropriate order while maintaining a consistent point of view
• write a book, film, or video review
• other:

Possible Objectives from Unit I for Review and Reinforcement

• 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
• practise the behaviours of effective writers
• compose effective paragraphs in narrative, expository, descriptive, and persuasive prose
• organize ideas in multi-paragraph compositions
• experiment with a variety of forms of writing such as poem, play, anecdote, or short story
• other:

• recognize prominent organization patterns within text
• make and defend an informed critical response
• read an increasingly wide range of material for personal enjoyment and extension of experience
• other:

Possible Objectives from Unit I for Review and Reinforcement

• recognize reading as an active process that requires readers to:
  • make connections
  • find meaning
  • make and confirm predictions
  • make and confirm inferences
  • reflect and evaluate
• practise the behaviours of effective, strategic readers
• recognize the structure and characteristics of a particular poem, play, or prose (fiction or nonfiction) selection
• identify the author's purpose, tone, point of view, and theme
• explore human experiences and values reflected in texts
• respond personally, critically, and creatively
• assess an author's ideas and techniques
• skim, scan, and read closely for required information
• other:

Representing and Viewing

New Objectives for Unit II

• communicate thoughts, ideas, and feelings for specified purposes and audiences through storyboards, posters, overheads, or telemedia presentations
• respond personally, critically, and creatively to posters
• evaluate critically information obtained from viewing advertisements, posters, and films.
• other:

Possible Objectives from Unit I for Review and Reinforcement

• 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 viewing as an active process that requires viewers to:
  • 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 behaviours of effective viewers
• respond personally, critically, and creatively to television and video presentations
• identify the purposes, intended audiences, messages, and points of view in advertisements, posters, films, and television or video presentations
• recognize language techniques and media conventions in television and video presentations
• evaluate critically information obtained from viewing a video
• other:

Language Concepts

(list key language concepts for this unit)

Sample Unit

He drew a circle that shut me out --
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But Love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that took him in.

                                            - Edwin Markham

Unit Overview

This sample unit invites students to explore the issue of equality related to the sub-themes of inequalities, judging and misjudging people and their actions, rights and responsibilities, racial tensions, and justice and fairness.

Using prose, poetry, and a play, it asks students to explore equality through the eyes of teens attempting to obtain drivers' licences and the issue surrounding rights and responsibilities when driving. The unit then explores the larger issues of rights and responsibilities, judging or misjudging others, and racial tensions in the world community. Students are encouraged to respond personally and to analyze critically the ideas and issues that face our society. They explore fact and opinion, symbolism, stereotyping, propaganda, and bias in language, literature, and the mass media. They have opportunities to craft their ideas and responses in paragraphs and essays, to analyze their own listening behaviours, and to practise formal and informal speech activities.

As students explore issues beyond their immediate community, there is a tendency for them to interpret other parts of the world based on limited information or on what they see through the media. This information can result in students making generalizations about others and their cultures. Because media reports often deal with the horrors in life, students might focus only on negative aspects. An issue-based course must guard against both the over simplification and the negative. A balanced perspective is important.

In the English language arts curriculum, language provides the foundation for all learning including the study of literature and other forms of communication. While both English Language Arts10 and B10 courses integrate the language strands of speaking, listening, writing, reading, representing, and viewing, this course is also issue-oriented. In an issue-oriented course, students explore their beliefs, assumptions, and thoughts as they examine issues related to their world.

This unit is not a political science or social science unit. It does, however, offer links to some of the issues and concepts students may have explored in the sciences and social sciences (e.g., drinking and driving, stereotyping, rights and responsibilities, and power and wealth). Students should be encouraged to draw upon learning from other areas.

Students are encouraged to use language purposefully and effectively as they process information, make decisions, solve problems, and think creatively and critically. As students examine issues, they develop competence in understanding and using formal and informal language conventions.

We want to be judged by who we are--our words and actions--not by mere appearances or social standing. Yet our world is filled with inequalities. In this unit, students examine the issues of equality and rights recognizing that, in our society, we need to balance personal needs with responsibilities and demands required of citizens. There is both pain and pride in being human.

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

Unit Objectives

Planning and resource selection are determined by the objectives and language concepts for English language arts. After the teacher has selected two units for study, the specific learning objectives designated for B10 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 developed 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 does not preclude the development of other Common Essential Learnings.

The Common Essential Learnings and several objectives addressed in this unit will require emphasis in both units of the English Language Arts B10 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 clarify and extend thinking
  • speak to share thoughts, opinions, and feelings
  • speak to express understanding
• Practise the behaviours of effective speakers (FO)
  • organize information, thoughts, and opinions in an appropriate format
  • summarize main points and conclusions
• 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
  • express own response to a story, poem, play, event, or experience
  • prepare a dramatic reading.

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 making and confirming predictions, and inferences
  • interpret and summarize vanalyze and evaluate
• Practise the behaviours of effective listeners (FO)
  • follow oral directions
  • summarize and make notes from a presentation
  • analyze the overall effectiveness of group discussions
  • listen in order to assess positions on individual, community, national, or world issues
• Listen effectively in a variety of situations for a variety of purposes (FO)
  • distinguish between fact and opinion.

Writing

Students will:

• Recognize writing as a constructive and recursive process (FO)
  • use what is known as the writing process

• Practise the behaviours of effective writers (FO)
  • write for a variety of purposes
  • reflect, clarify, and explore ideas
  • express understanding
  • describe, narrate, inform, and persuade
  • write a paraphrase and summary of a speech heard or a passage read
  • write a convincing argument in support of a clearly defined position
  • write business letters in language appropriate for purpose and audience
  • write a film review

• Write fluently and confidently for a variety of purposes and audiences (FO)
  • compose effective paragraphs
  • 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
  • organize ideas in multi-paragraph compositions
  • analyze and evaluate their own and others' writing for ideas, organization, sentence clarity, word choice, and mechanics.

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)
  • summarize information
  • differentiate fact from opinion
  • recognize propaganda techniques

• 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
  • test ideas and values against ideas in text
  • assess an author's ideas and techniques
  • develop and articulate defensible points of view on individual, community, national, and world issues reflected in text.

Representing and Viewing

• Create appropriate nonverbal aids and visual images to enhance communication (FO)
  • communicate thoughts, ideas, and feelings for specified purposes and audiences through storyboards

• 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)
  • respond personally, critically, and creatively to posters
  • recognize language techniques and media conventions in television and video presentations
  • evaluate critically information obtained from viewing a video.

Language Concepts

All English language arts courses are 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). During this unit and the subsequent unit, students should be actively engaged in using 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 their 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

__ Different purposes and audiences require different modes of oral and written discourse.
__ Audience and purpose influence the language register (formal, informal, conversational).
__ Prose (fiction and nonfiction), poetry, and drama have distinctive and various organizational patterns.
__ Prose paragraphs might describe, narrate, explain, or persuade.
__ Other:

Sentences

__ A clear sentence conveys the author's meaning on first hearing or reading.
__ The English language has a system of syntax--English sentences are based on basic "kernel" structures that can be expanded, compounded, and transformed.
__ Formal written sentences are clear and concise.
__ Punctuation and capitalization marks clarify the meaning of written sentences.
__ Other:

Words

__ The English language has a lexicon.
__ An appropriate word suits the audience and purpose.
__ A word can have connotative as well as denotative value.
__ A word can have symbolic meaning, act as an allusion, or appeal to the senses.
__ 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 writing an effective introduction, for example, might include the following information:

An introduction usually serves two purposes--it catches the reader's attention and it suggests or states the main idea of a paper. Stating your main idea in your introduction makes it easy for the reader to understand what you are trying to narrate, describe, explain, or prove. (Not every piece of writing, however, needs a formal introduction. Often narration begins in the middle of the action, providing an introduction that captures the reader's attention.)

Experienced writers often catch their reader's interest using one of the following methods.

• Taking a stand on a controversial issue:
  Communication with extraterrestrials is possible.

• Presenting (retelling) a short anecdote:
  The car lurched across the field, alternately chasing and being chased by a huge, brown bull.

• Beginning with a quotation:
  "You can do it," they said. "There's nothing to it. Skiing is as easy as walking."

• Asking a question:
  What do twelve years of schooling do to your mind?

• Addressing the reader directly:
  Imagine standing on the prairies 20,000 years ago.

• Providing a vivid description:
  The low sky was like a sheet of metal. The fields faded in the distance, but the presence of the wolves was still felt.

• Beginning with a startling or interesting fact:
  It happened quickly. Sixty million buffalo once roamed the prairies and plains of North America. By 1889, there were estimated to be only a few scattered herds.

Each opener presents a vivid but incomplete glimpse of what is to follow. The reader wants to read on to see the rest of the picture.

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 sheet similar to the one on page 217 could be used to assess and evaluate a student's progress during the course of the sample unit.

Resources

Although specific language resources and literary selections are identified for particular activities, alternate resources of equal rigour can be used to achieve the unit objectives. The bibliography suggests additional resources that could be considered for this unit.

The following resources have been selected for this unit.

Nonfiction

An Open Letter to All Parents of Young People (Martel)
Young Offenders Act, Pros and Cons (Martin)
The Death Penalty: Should Canada Bring It Back? (Coddington and Parrott)
Day Work (Comer)
Who Cares (Green)
So What Are you, Anyway (Hill)
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl (Frank)
Steve's Story (Truscott as told to Trent)
What's the Verdict? (LeValliant and Theroux, Issues Series: Justice, McGraw-Hill)

Short Stories

After You, My Dear Alphonse (Jackson)
The Good Samaritan (The Bible)
Panache (Kinsella)
Hunky (Garner)
The Hockey Game (Fine Day)

Poems

The Six Blind Men (Saxe)
Indian Children Speak (Bell)
The Old Man's Lazy (Blue Cloud)
Night School (Margaret)
Jamie (Brewster)
He Sits Down on the Floor of a School for the Retarded (Nowlan)
First They Came (Niemoller)

Plays

A Storm in Summer (Serling)

Novels

(partial or full classroom sets) Of Mice and Men (Steinbeck)
Shabanu (Fisher Staples)
Nightjohn (Paulsen)
The Wave (Rhue)

Film/Video

Schindler's List (Spielberg)
Schindler: The Documentary (Films for the Humanities and Sciences)
Mirror, Mirror: An Advertiser's Scrapbook (Media and Society 1 - Advertising and Consumerism, National Film Board of Canada)

Other Useful Resources

Audio cassettes, newspaper and magazine articles, radio and television clips, posters, and advertisements (print, radio, and television)

• Young and In Love with Their Wheels (Callwood)
• Boyfriend's Drinking, Driving Causing Problems (Van Buren, Leader-Post, April 28, 1995)
• Bad Drivers Meet Accident Victims (Ferguson)
• Clothe Thine Enemy in Pink (Canadian Churchman, The Writers Voice 1)
• Nova Scotia Pushes Ahead with Graduated Licensing (The Globe and Mail, 1994)

Language handbooks, style guides, dictionaries, and thesaurus

Sample Guiding Questions

In this unit, students explore the issue of equality related to the sub-themes of inequalities, judging and misjudging others, rights and responsibilities, racial tensions, and justice and fairness. Choosing appropriate guiding questions can help students grow in their language and thinking skills, and in their appreciation for the issues being examined. Throughout this unit, students are encouraged to reflect upon the following questions.

Inequalities

Guiding Question: What is equitable treatment?

Sample Related Questions:

• Why is it important to step in or speak out in someone's defense? When is it important to keep silent?
• What role does socio-economic status play in inequality? How can wealth be distributed equally? How does the unequal distribution of wealth affect the power that groups of people hold?
• What role do political, racial, and religious issues play in inequality?
• What role does gender play in inequality?
• How do we give all individuals a voice in our society?

Perceptions: Judging and Misjudging People and Their Actions

Guiding Question: How do we form judgements about people?

Sample Related Questions:

• What things do we value in people? Are these things the same in all cultures?
• How accurate are first impressions based on appearances?
• How important is race or socio-economic status in forming perceptions of people? What role do language and culture play in perceptions of people?
• What role does stereotyping play?
• How can discrimination affect one's judgement of people? How can we prevent discrimination?
• Why do people sometimes hurt others who have done nothing to them?
• Why do some people become victims in our society?

Rights and Responsibilities

Guiding Question: How are our rights and responsibilities determined? Sample Related Questions:

• Who is responsible for our lot in life?
• What can we do if we feel our rights have been denied?
• How are rights related to responsibilities?
• Is everyone in a society responsible for others in that society? How can people exercise their responsibilities?

Racial Tensions

Guiding Question: What role does race play in a pluralistic society?

Sample Related Questions:

• How might the values of one group differ from those of another in a pluralistic society?
• What racial tensions exist in our society? Why might there be racism in the justice system? What role did colonialism play in racism?
• How do we resolve racial tensions and conflicts in our society?
• What accomplishments can the world communities recognize and celebrate?
• What is the best way to ensure world peace?

Justice and Fairness

Guiding Question: How can we ensure justice and fairness for everyone in a society?

Sample Related Questions:

• What is fair and just? When is a situation fair?
• What is right and wrong?
• What is the purpose of the law? When are laws fair? What might cause an individual to ignore the law?
• What is "legal"? What is the difference between "legal" and "moral" justice?
• How is fairness dealt with in the workplace?
• How should we deal with unjust and unfair situations? How should we speak out or act against injustice?

For printing and copying this template Require Acrobat Reader

Sample Assessment and Evaluation Summary English Language Arts B10

Student’s Name: ______________________________________ Class: _______________________________________________ Teacher: _____________________________________________ Unit: Euqlity--Pain and Pride_________________________

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 Expresses point of view appropriately Summarizes main points and evaluation of discussion Other:					Introduction of Peer Prepared Dramatic Reading (Monologue) Storyboard Grouptalk Summary
Listening/Viewing	Practises behaviours of good listener (e.g., TQLR) or viewer Follows directions effectively Practises an effective notemaking strategy Analyzes own listening behaviours Other:					Listening Guide Notes
Writing/ Representing	Uses writing process Is aware of audience and purpose Organizes ideas appropriately Actively revises own writing Edits and proofreads others’ compositions Other:					Paragraphs Descriptive Narrative Expository Persuasive Letter News Articles Essay (Persuasive) Script
Reading/Viewing	Practises behaviours of an effective reader/viewer Maintains a complete response log Summarizes information Identifies values and points of view in reading/viewing Other:					Analysis Poetry Film Other Response Log Summary Quizzes:
	Homework: Meets Deadlines: Attendance:					Unit Test: Unit Mark/Grade: