OVERVIEW:

THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM,GRADES 1-8, LANGUAGE

(REVISED 2006)

  • Principles underlying the language curriculum

Successful language learners:

  • understand that language learning is a necessary, life-enhancing, reflective process;
  • communicate – that is, read, listen, view, speak, write, and represent – effectively and with confidence;
  • make meaningful connections between themselves, what they encounter in texts, and the world around them;
  • think critically;
  • understand that all texts advance a particular point of view that must be recognized, questioned, assessed, and evaluated;
  • appreciate the cultural impact and aesthetic power of texts:
  • use language to interact and connect with individuals and communities, for personal growth, and for active participation as world citizens. (p. 4)
  • Strands
  • oral communication
  • reading
  • writing
  • media literacy

(interrelated / interdependent / complementary)

  • Each strand identifies for each grade
  • overall expectations (the same for every grade, 1-8)
  • specific expectations (these change across grades to reflect progression of knowledge and skills)
  • Assessment and evaluation of student achievement
  • Assessment is the process of gathering information from a variety of sources (including assignments, day-to-day observations, conversations or conferences, demonstrations, projects, performances, and tests) that accurately reflects how well a student is achieving the curriculum expectations in a subject. As part of assessment, teachers provide students with descriptive feedback that guides their efforts towards improvement. Evaluation refers to the process of judging the quality of student work on the basis of established criteria, and assigning a value to represent that quality. In Ontario elementary schools, the value assigned will be in the form of a letter grade for Grades 1 to 6 and a percentage grade for Grades 7 and 8. (p. 15)
  • All curriculum expectations must be accounted for in instruction, but evaluation focuses on students’ achievement of the overall expectations. A student’s achievement of the overall expectations is evaluated on the basis of his or her achievement of related specific expectations. The overall expectations are broad in nature, and the specific expectations define the particular content or scope of the knowledge and skills referred to in the overall expectations. Teachers will use their professional judgement to determine which specific expectations should be used to evaluate achievement of the overall expectations, and which ones will be covered in instruction and assessment (e.g., through direct observation) but not necessarily evaluated. (p. 16)
  • The achievement chart for language

categories of knowledge and skills

-knowledge and understanding

-thinking

-communication

-application

(each includes criteria for assessment (pp. 20-21)

descriptors

-knowledge and understanding (thorough, considerable, some, limited)

-thinking

-communication

-application

criteria (subsets that define each category)

  • Considerations for program planning
  • Instructional approaches
  • Cross-curricular and integrated learning
  • Planning for students with special education needs (no accommodations or modifications; accommodations only; or modified expectations, with the possibility of accommodation – Refer to The Individual Education (IEP): A Resource Guide (pp. 24-26)
  • Multilingual student population (ESL) pp. 26-28)
  • Antidiscrimination education in the language program (pp. 28-29)

appropriate learning resources to reflect multicultural diversity

critical literacy (informing and empowering students to examine and address issues of power and justice) (p. 29)

  • Numeracy and inquiry/research skills
  • Role of the school library
  • Role of technology
  • Guidance (exposing students to career opportunities and mentors)
  • Health and safety (in out-of-school fieldwork)

SEEK, ANALYZE, SYNTHESIZE (SAS)

1)Teacher candidates will be divided into four groups, one per strand.

2)Each group will do the following:

  • Seek (S)

-Read the specific expectations for the strands at three grade levels (i.e. Grades 4, 5, and 8 or 5, 6, and 7).

  • Analyze (A)

-How are the expectations similar or different, across a progression of grades?

-What are the foci for specific expectations for reflection across grades?

-Which strands address critical literacy? Diversity?

-How is transmediation across sign systems built into strands?

  • Synthesize (S)

-Discuss and critique what you have learned.

-Report to the class on the results of your examination of the guideline.