Course+Outline

This course is designed to help students acquire and demonstrate the cross-curricular literacy skills that are evaluated by the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT). Students who complete the course successfully will meet the provincial literacy requirement for graduation. Students will read a variety of informational, narrative, and graphic texts and will produce a variety of forms of writing, including summaries, information paragraphs, opinion pieces, and news reports. Students will also maintain and manage a portfolio containing a record of their reading experiences and samples of their writing.


 * DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD OF NIAGARA** **SOUTH LINCOLN HIGH SCHOOL**


 * Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course 9 (OLC 40)**
 * Course Description:**

This course is designed to help students acquire and demonstrate the cross-curricular literacy skills that are evaluated by the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test. Students who complete the course successfully will meet the provincial literary requirement for graduation and will earn a Grade 12 credit. Students will read a variety of informational, narrative and graphic texts and will produce a variety of writing, including summaries, information paragraphs, opinion pieces, and news reports. Students will also maintain and manage a literacy portfolio containing a record of their reading experiences and samples of their writing.

The Ontario Curriculum Grades 9 to 12 English (2007)
 * Policy Document Reference:**

Texts: Break Away, magazines, websites, emails, etc.


 * Course Evaluation:**

The following course evaluation is based on a District School Board of Niagara consistency agreement:

According to the Ministry policy, the primary purpose of assessment and evaluation is to improve student learning. It will be based on the Provincial curriculum expectations and the achievement levels outlined in the secondary curriculum policy documents.
 * **Strands** || **Overall Expectations** || **Weight** ||
 * Reading || * read informational, graphic, and narrative texts
 * understand both directly and indirectly-stated ideas and information
 * make connections between texts and their own experiences and knowledge || 35% ||
 * Writing || * write competently for a variety of school and other real world purposes
 * state and support main ideas
 * organize writing clearly and coherently
 * use the conventions of standard Canadian English
 * use the writing process to produce and craft their writing || 35% ||
 * Culminating Assignment || * Students independently demonstrate the reading and writing skills they have developed in the course and will reflect upon their growth in literacy skills. || 30% ||
 * Assessment and Evaluation**
 * Assessment and Evaluation**
 * Assessment and Evaluation**
 * Assessment and Evaluation**


 * Assessment** //is the process of gathering information from a variety of sources such as assignments, demonstrations, projects, learning skills, etc.//


 * Evaluation** //is the process of judging the value of the student’s work on the basis of established criteria and the assignment of a value to represent that quality.//

Note: The provincial report card separates the evaluation of curriculum expectations from learning skills.


 * Learning Skills -** A student’s abilities to work with others as well as on their own, organize his/her work, take initiative in his/her learning and complete homework in a timely manner will be assessed.


 * Course Outline:**


 * **Unit One: Reading and Writing for Personal Success**
 * In this unit students examine their reading habits, strategies, and attitudes. They will also review and apply stages of the writing process to produce required forms of writing. Students have multiple opportunities to practise their skills and strategies, and will receive feedback as they build their reading and writing skills. ||
 * **Unit Two: Community Voices Through Reading and Writing**
 * Students broaden their focus from reading and writing for personal purposes, to understanding the many ways that reading and writing help to create and maintain vital communities. Students define community, and start examining the variety of reading and writing forms used in their school to create a school community. They apply reading strategies to understand a variety of community publications, including news reports, and write their own new reports that reflect community concerns and interests. ||
 * **Unit Three: Reading and Writing as Community Action**
 * Students continue to work in the strands that weave throughout the course. The issues of community introduced in Unit Two are used to focus on informational reading and writing. Students explore how reading skills are essential to access the practical information necessary to living in a community. Students use a variety of writing forms, including letters that express an opinion, to participate as responsible citizens in local or global communities. ||
 * **Unit Four: Demonstrated Reading and Writing**
 * In this evaluation unit comprising of 30% of the final mark, students demonstrate thier achievement of the literacy expectations. They demonstrate their writing skills by producing a summary and an information paragraph. They write a self-reflection about how their reading and writing skills have improved throughout the course. Students will create an anthology of their "best works" by selecting examples of reading and writing tasks they are most proud of. Their anthology will include the writing tasks from unit four, their reflections, their reading logs, and writing records. Students reflect upon these selections to write an introduction for the anthology in the form of a series of paragraphs expressing an opinion about their growth in literacy. ||