English
Grade 12
University Preparation

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.

Prerequisite: English, Grade 11, University Preparation

Type：University Preparation

Credit Value：1.0

Curriculum Policy：
English, The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 11 and 12, 2007 (Revised)

OUTLINE OF COURSE CONTENT

 

Unit	Unit Description	Time Frame
1.	Writing   This unit plan takes you through the basic steps for planning a unit on essay writing. The stages of writing (brainstorming, planning, drafting, revising, editing and publishing) as well as other important writing concepts such as paragraph structure, thesis statements, proofreading and citing evidence will be discussed throughout this unit.	17 hrs
2.	Hamlet   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.	40 hrs
3.	Media Literacy   The students will learn about the importance of being mediate literate, and will explore the elements of advertisements. The students will practice being “media literate” as they learn how to deconstruct popular advertisements.	20 hrs
4.	The Great Gatsby   As students Listen to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel The Great Gatsby, they will conduct in-depth character analysis of Gatsby and evaluate how Fitzgerald uses the character of Gatsby, as well as other literary devices, to comment on the society and values of the American 1920s. Students will consider issues of social class and the impact of history and memory on the lives of the characters as well as on our own.	33 hrs
5.	Course Review	3 hrs.
	Total	113 hrs.

Oral Communication

By the end of this course, students will:

1. Listening to Understand: listen in order to understand and respond appropriately in a variety of situations for a variety of purposes;

2. Speaking to Communicate: use speaking skills and strategies appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes;

3. Reflecting 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.

Reading and Literature Studies

By the end of this course, students will:

1. Reading for Meaning: read and demonstrate an understanding of a variety of literary, informational, and graphic texts, using a range of strategies to construct meaning;

2. Understanding Form and Style: recognize a variety of text forms, text features, and stylistic elements and demonstrate understanding of how they help communicate meaning;

3. Reading with Fluency: use knowledge of words and cueing systems to read fluently;

4. Reflecting 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.

Writing

By the end of this course, students will:

1. Developing and Organizing Content: generate, gather, and organize ideas and information to write for an intended purpose and audience;

2. Using 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;

3. Applying 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;

4. Reflecting 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.

Media Studies

By the end of this course, students will:

1. Understanding Media Texts: demonstrate an understanding of a variety of media texts;

2. Understanding Media Forms, Conventions, and Techniques: identify some media forms and explain how the conventions and techniques associated with them are used to create meaning;

3. Creating Media Texts: create a variety of media texts for different purposes and audiences, using appropriate forms, conventions, and techniques;

4. Reflecting 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:

A variety of teaching and learning strategies are used to allow students many opportunities to attain the necessary skills for success in this course and in future studies. In all activities, consideration will be taken to ensure that individual student’s multiple intelligences and learning strengths are addressed through the use of varied and multiple activities in each lesson.

Online Learning Activities	Offline Learning Activities
Watching instructional videos	Reading materials for course
Watching additional resources videos	Studying instructional material
Completing online timed assignments	Practicing skills
Completing online timed exam	Completing assignments
Uploading video presentations	Preparing presentations
Practicing through online quizzes	Reviewing for tests and exams

STRATEGIES FOR ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION OF STUDENT PERFORMANCE

The primary purpose of assessment and evaluation is to improve student learning. Assessment and evaluation is based on the Ministry of Education’s Growing Success policy document, which articulates the Ministry’s vision for how assessment and evaluation is practiced in Ontario schools.

 

Growing Success describes the three assessment types as follows:

• Assessment as Learning: focuses on the explicit fostering of students’ capacity over time to be their own best assessors, but teachers need to start by presenting and modelling external, structured opportunities for students to assess themselves.
• Assessment for Learning: the process of seeking and interpreting evidence for use by learners and their teachers to decide where the learners are in their learning, where they need to go, and how best to get there.
• Assessment of Learning: the assessment that becomes public and results in statements or symbols about how well students are learning.

 

ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION

 

Assessment as Learning	Assessment for Learning	Assessment of Learning
Student Product   KWL Charts Entrance/Exit Slips Peer/Self Assessments	Student Product   Chapter Questions Study Guides Textual Notes Writing Exercises	Student Product   Unit Test (With marking schemes) Essays (With Rubrics) Tests (With rubrics)
Observation   Learning Logs Peer/Self Reflections Think/Pair/Share Anecdotal Notes of Observation	Observation   Directed Reading Research Process Graphic Organizers	Observation     Visual Assignments (Rubric)
Conversation   Peer Activities Descriptive Feedback Think/Pair/Share	Conversation   Oral Questioning Listening Activities	Conversation   Oral Presentations (Rubric)

 

EVALUATION SCHEME

A final grade (percentage mark) is calculated at the end of the course and reflects the quality of the student’s achievement of the overall expectations of the course, in accordance with the provincial curriculum.

 

The final grade will be determined as follows:

• Seventy per cent (70%) of the grade will be based on evaluation conducted throughout the course. This portion of the grade should reflect the student’s most consistent level of achievement throughout the course, although special consideration should be given to more recent evidence of achievement.
• Thirty per cent (30%) of the grade will be based on a final evaluation administered at or towards the end of the course. This evaluation will be based on evidence from one or a combination of the following: an examination, a performance, an essay, and/or another method of evaluation suitable to the course content. The final evaluation allows the student an opportunity to demonstrate comprehensive achievement of the overall expectations for the course.

 

 

Percentage of Final Mark	Weight	Evaluation Categories	Assessment will be ongoing to inform the students of their performance and the opportunity for success. Four categories of the achievement chart are used to construct assessment/evaluation tasks and are balanced as follows:   K/U: Knowledge and Understanding     25% T/I: Thinking and Inquiry                       25% C: Communication                                   25% A: Application                                           25%
70%	30%	Assignments
	40%	Tests
30%	20% 10%	Final Exam Culminating

 

 

PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism is a serious offense. It is defined as taking words, phrasing, sentence structure, or any other element of the expression of another person’s ideas, and using them as if they were your own.  Plagiarism is a violation of another person’s rights, whether the material taken is great or small.

Students will be assisted in developing strategies and techniques to avoid plagiarism. They need to be aware that plagiarized term work will be penalized and could result in a mark of zero.

 

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Projector/Computer	Dictionary/Thesaurus
Writing utensils	Ruler	Moodle
3 Ring Binder	Research Databases