Course Description

This course emphasizes the consolidation of the literacy, communication, and critical and creative thinking skills necessary for success in academic and daily life. Students will analyse a range of challenging literary texts from various periods, countries, and cultures; interpret and evaluate informational and graphic texts; and create oral, written, and media texts in a variety of forms. An important focus will be on using academic language coherently and confidently, selecting the reading strategies best suited to particular texts and particular purposes for reading, and developing greater control in writing. The course is intended to prepare students for university, college, or the workplace.

Unit Titles and DescriptionsTime Allocated
Oral Communication

Students will develop awareness of active listening skills, and practice academic note-taking. A variety of oral texts featuring different voices, accents, viewpoints and topics are presented in online video format. Effective presentation skills are deconstructed and employed. Tasks in this unit include active listening tasks for different purposes, analyzing and evaluating a variety of presentations for different purposes, and planning and delivering an oral presentation (in video format) intended to persuade or inform.

20 hours
Media Awareness

Students will develop media awareness through the analysis of various media for intended audience, intended purpose, and effectiveness. The critical media theories of noted scholar Noam Chomsky are used as a springboard into an independent investigation of how a politically charged current issue or conflict is handled by the media. The final critical media essay requires students to seek out mainstream and alternative, independent news sources to gather the full spectrum of opinion and to develop awareness of how political bias plays out in presentations.

22 hours
Novel Study

Students have a choice of novels in this unit. They will read either the classic George Orwell novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, or Lloyd Jones’s, Mr. Pip. Both novels raise relevant questions about the way power, voice and language shape history and our experience of the world. Written assignments will accompany the sections. A major literary essay that draws on the media awareness ends the unit.

40 hours
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

Students studying Hamlet will read the play in acts. At the end of each act there is a short note on the overall purpose and effect of the section that has just been studied. This will enable students to keep this lengthy play together in their own minds and allow for reflections on the larger design features and ideas in the play. Students will examine the intricate “dance” of relationships that Shakespeare creates, and the balance and care with which he pulls together his cast of characters. At the end of each act students will select one writing task from a choice of questions to respond to. In some sections these questions have students reaching outside the play to make connections to modern film, social issues, and historical context. In other sections, students will reflect on the characters–their thoughts, and feelings. At the end of the play, students will write a 1200 word essay on one of three topics.

25 hours
Final Assessment
Exam

This is a proctored exam worth 30% of your final grade.

3 hours
Total110 hours

Resources required by the student:

  • Depending on the novel you select to study, you may need a copy of Mr. Pip by Lloyd Jones
  • Word processing software (e.g. Microsoft WordTM, Mac PagesTM, or equivalent)

Resources provided by ICE:

  • This course is entirely online and does not require or rely on any textbook.
  • Supplemental readings
  • Novel and other required readings.

Overall Curriculum Expectations

A. Oral Communication
A1Listening to Understand: listen in order to understand and respond appropriately in a variety of situations for a variety of purposes;
A2Speaking to Communicate: use speaking skills and strategies appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes;
A3Reflecting 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.
B. Reading and Literature Studies
B1Reading for Meaning: read and demonstrate an understanding of a variety of literary, informational, and graphic texts, using a range of strategies to construct meaning;
B2Understanding Form and Style: recognize a variety of text forms, text features, and stylistic elements and demonstrate understanding of how they help communicate meaning;
B3Reading With Fluency: use knowledge of words and cueing systems to read fluently;
B4Reflecting 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.
C. Writing
C1Developing and Organizing Content: generate, gather, and organize ideas and information to write for an intended purpose and audience;
C2Using 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;
C3Applying 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;
C4Reflecting 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.
D. Media Studies
D1Understanding Media Texts: demonstrate an understanding of a variety of media texts;
D2Understanding Media Forms, Conventions, and Techniques: identify some media forms and explain how the conventions and techniques associated with them are used to create meaning;
D3Creating Media Texts: create a variety of media texts for different purposes and audiences, using appropriate forms, conventions, and techniques;
D4Reflecting 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.

 

Teaching and Learning Strategies:

English 4U affords students opportunities to hone the skills they have previously acquired through a variety of assignments ranging from note taking, to examining and writing longer research papers on Elizabethan drama and a novel. Presentation techniques form the basis of study as students create oral presentations and audio clips in conjunction with media-related assignments that reflect their studies of longer prose works.

  • Students use the Cornell Method of note taking in responding to a video thus developing listening skills while focusing their writing.
  • Strategies related to preparing students for oral presentations involve analyzing various videos, identifying the rhetorical triangle, and identifying rhetorical devices with exemplars provided in the course.
  • Videos in the course illustrate topics such as creating video, literary devices, and MLA formatting.
  • Teaching on Hamlet leads students through the play while introducing concepts such as tragedy, historical context for the play, Elizabethan values, and structure of the play.
  • Scaffolding longer writing assignments allows students to work with the process of creating thesis statements, outlines, drafts, and final copies. Teacher feedback at each level allows students to improve both style and content in their written pieces.
  • Teachings on the novels give both the social and historical contexts for the works and reflect on the elements of fiction.
  • By reading and reflecting on texts in discussions posts and through communication with teachers, students conduct close readings of texts and are able to respond to complex topics in their writing.

 

Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting Strategies of Student Performance:

Our theory of assessment and evaluation follows the Ministry of Education’s Growing Success document, and it is our firm belief that doing so is in the best interests of students. We seek to design assessment in such a way as to make it possible to gather and show evidence of learning in a variety of ways to gradually release responsibility to the students, and to give multiple and varied opportunities to reflect on learning and receive detailed feedback.

Growing Success articulates the vision the Ministry has for the purpose and structure of assessment and evaluation techniques. There are seven fundamental principles that ensure best practices and procedures of assessment and evaluation by ICE teachers. ICE assessments and evaluations,

  • are fair, transparent, and equitable for all students;
  • support all students, including those with special education needs, those who are learning the language of instruction (English or French), and those who are First Nation, Métis, or Inuit;
  • are carefully planned to relate to the curriculum expectations and learning goals and, as much as possible, to the interests, learning styles and preferences, needs, and experiences of all students;
  • are communicated clearly to students and parents at the beginning of the course and at other points throughout the school year or course;
  • are ongoing, varied in nature, and administered over a period of time to provide multiple opportunities for students to demonstrate the full range of their learning;
  • provide ongoing descriptive feedback that is clear, specific, meaningful, and timely to support improved learning and achievement;
  • develop students’ self-assessment skills to enable them to assess their own learning, set specific goals, and plan next steps for their learning.

The Final Grade:

The evaluation for this course is based on the student’s achievement of curriculum expectations and the demonstrated skills required for effective learning. The final 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. The final grade will be determined 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.
  • 30% of the grade will be based on final evaluations administered at the end of the course. The final assessment may be a final exam, a final project, or a combination of both an exam and a project.

The Report Card:

Student achievement will be communicated formally to students via an official report card. Report cards are issued at the midterm point in the course, as well as upon completion of the course. Each report card will focus on two distinct, but related aspects of student achievement. First, the achievement of curriculum expectations is reported as a percentage grade. Additionally, the course median is reported as a percentage. The teacher will also provide written comments concerning the student’s strengths, areas for improvement, and next steps. Second, the learning skills are reported as a letter grade, representing one of four levels of accomplishment. The report card also indicates whether an OSSD credit has been earned. Upon completion of a course, ICE will send a copy of the report card back to the student’s home school (if in Ontario) where the course will be added to the ongoing list of courses on the student’s Ontario Student Transcript. The report card will also be sent to the student’s home address.

Program Planning Considerations:

Teachers who are planning a program in this subject will make an effort to take into account considerations for program planning that align with the Ontario Ministry of Education policy and initiatives in a number of important areas.

Institute of Canadian Education (ICE), Toronto.

140 La Rose Ave #201, Etobicoke, ON M9P 1B2
Call 416-628-8169 | Toll-Free 1-866-406-5477 | Fax 416-352-0063 | Cell No. (416) 399-2181
info@iceducation.ca