Alberta · Grade 10
English Language Arts 10-1
- ELA1105
Alberta’s Grade 10 English course, from Exploring Ideas & Perspectives to Creating Oral, Print & Multimedia Texts.
- Units
- 4
- Lessons
- 9
- Skills
- 28
- Provincial exam
- None
- Official curriculum
- Alberta Education
Unit by unit
Every skill in the course, numbered by unit.
Unit 1 · 5 skills
Exploring Ideas & Perspectives
Discover Possibilities
Forming tentative understandings
I can use strategies like questioning and suspending judgement to form tentative interpretations I can still revise.
Skill 1.1
Experimenting with language, image and structure
I can experiment with language, image and structure to create different effects for a purpose and audience.
Skill 1.2
Extend Awareness
Considering new perspectives
I can describe my response to a new perspective and judge whether that response helps or blocks my understanding.
Skill 1.3
Expressing preferences and expanding interests
I can reflect on my text preferences, identify what shaped them, and choose strategies to expand my interests.
Skill 1.4
Setting personal goals for language growth
I can appraise my strengths and weaknesses as a language user and choose strategies to grow.
Skill 1.5
The official wording · 5 outcomes
- 1.1
- generate and experiment with strategies that contribute to forming tentative understandings, interpretations and positions
- 1.2
- experiment with language, image and structure to create different effects in particular situations and for particular purposes and audiences
- 1.3
- describe personal responses to new perspectives, appraise whether such responses contribute to or inhibit understanding
- 1.4
- reflect on personal text preferences, identify influences that have contributed to the formation of these preferences
- 1.5
- appraise own strengths and weaknesses as a language user and language learner
Key ideas
A tentative understanding is a working idea held lightly — you commit enough to explore, not so hard you stop noticing evidence against it.
Your reaction to an unfamiliar view is data: resistance can protect a value or it can close off understanding — the skill is telling which.
Concrete strategies: pose questions, suspend prejudgement, predict, and revisit first impressions as more of the text arrives.
Name the influence: prior experience, culture and belief shape how you receive a perspective.
The same idea lands differently depending on word choice, imagery and structure — effect is a choice, not an accident.
Watch out for
- Treating the first interpretation as final ("I already know what it means") instead of a hypothesis to test.
- Assuming disagreement = the text is wrong, rather than examining your own response.
- Confusing "tentative" with "vague" — a tentative position is specific but revisable.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 2 · 9 skills
Comprehending Literature & Other Texts
Meaning from Text & Context
Discerning and analyzing context
I can identify a text's kind, audience and purpose, and see how context shapes its meaning.
Skill 2.1
Understanding and interpreting content
I can use comprehension strategies to interpret literature and other texts.
Skill 2.2
Using reference strategies
I can use reference strategies and technologies to aid my understanding of a text.
Skill 2.3
Engaging prior knowledge
I can activate what I already know to help me comprehend a new text.
Skill 2.4
Textual Forms & Techniques
Relating form to purpose and content
I can identify text forms and relate form, structure and medium to purpose, audience and content.
Skill 2.5
Devices, techniques and their effects
I can describe rhetorical devices and stylistic techniques and relate them to the effects they create.
Skill 2.6
Responding to Texts
Connecting self, text, culture and milieu
I can connect a text to my own and others' perspectives, and respond both personally and analytically.
Skill 2.7
Evaluating texts with criteria
I can develop and apply criteria to evaluate the effectiveness and significance of a text.
Skill 2.8
Appreciating effectiveness and artistry
I can use appropriate terminology to discuss and appreciate the effectiveness and artistry of texts.
Skill 2.9
The official wording · 9 outcomes
- 2.1
- identify a variety of different kinds of texts, audiences and purposes for creating texts
- 2.2
- use a variety of strategies to comprehend literature and other texts
- 2.3
- use a variety of appropriate reference strategies and reference technologies to aid understanding
- 2.4
- reflect on and describe strategies used to engage prior knowledge as a means of assisting comprehension of new texts
- 2.5
- identify a variety of text forms, including communications forms and literary forms
- 2.6
- describe rhetorical devices
- 2.7
- identify and consider personal, moral, ethical and cultural perspectives when studying literature and other texts
- 2.8
- identify criteria to evaluate the effectiveness of texts
- 2.9
- use terminology appropriate to the forms studied for discussing and appreciating the effectiveness and artistry of a variety of text forms
Key ideas
Every text is made FOR someone, to do something: inform, persuade, entertain or inspire — spotting which reframes how you read it.
Forms carry expectations: a letter, a poem, a narrative, a dramatization each shape content differently.
Meaning is made where the text meets the reader: your personal, moral, ethical and cultural lens shapes what you notice — naming that lens is part of the analysis.
Context includes audience, occasion and medium; a print ad and a news report present "facts" very differently.
Form follows function: a writer picks the form that best delivers the purpose to the audience.
Watch out for
- Reading every text as neutral information instead of a purposeful construction.
- Thinking form is just a container, not a meaning-shaping choice.
- Stopping at "I liked/disliked it" without the analytical half of the response.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 3 · 6 skills
Managing Ideas & Information (Inquiry & Research)
Planning Inquiry or Research
Focusing purpose and form
I can determine the depth and breadth of an inquiry and identify its purpose, audience and form.
Skill 3.1
Planning and identifying sources
I can develop an inquiry plan and identify my information needs and sources.
Skill 3.2
Following the Plan of Inquiry
Selecting, recording and organizing information
I can select, record and organize information relevant to my inquiry.
Skill 3.3
Evaluating sources and detecting bias
I can evaluate information sources for credibility, quality and bias.
Skill 3.4
Forming generalizations and conclusions
I can form generalizations and draw conclusions consistent with my findings.
Skill 3.5
Reviewing the inquiry process and findings
I can review my inquiry process and findings and identify how to improve next time.
Skill 3.6
The official wording · 6 outcomes
- 3.1
- reflect on and describe strategies to determine the depth and breadth of inquiry or research
- 3.2
- reflect on and describe strategies for developing an inquiry or research plan that will foster understanding
- 3.3
- reflect on and describe strategies that may be used to select, record and organize information
- 3.4
- reflect on and describe strategies to evaluate information sources for credibility and bias
- 3.5
- form generalizations by integrating new information with prior knowledge
- 3.6
- reflect on and assess the effectiveness of strategies used to guide inquiry or research
Key ideas
Scope is a decision: too broad drowns you, too narrow starves you — define the parameters up front.
Select for relevance to your question, not just interest — and record enough to cite it later.
Know the destination: purpose, audience and presentation form shape what and how much you gather.
Organize as you go (categories, notes, an outline) so the argument can emerge from the material.
A plan names what you need to know and where it might live before you start hunting.
Watch out for
- Starting to gather sources before defining scope and purpose.
- Collecting everything interesting instead of what answers the question.
- Confusing a topic ("climate") with a focused inquiry question.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 4 · 8 skills
Creating Oral, Print & Multimedia Texts
Developing & Presenting Texts
Assessing the text-creation context
I can identify my purpose and target audience and choose strategies to reach them before I draft.
Skill 4.1
Choosing form, structure and medium
I can select a text form appropriate to my purpose and consistent with my content.
Skill 4.2
Developing content
I can develop meaningful content by crafting a topic or idea that is personally engaging.
Skill 4.3
Producing and presenting the text
I can meet the production, publication and presentation requirements that fit my purpose and audience.
Skill 4.4
Improving & Editing
Enhancing thought, support and detail
I can review and revise the controlling idea of a text for clarity and focus.
Skill 4.5
Enhancing organization
I can revise the structure of a draft — beginning, components, closing and transitions — so the parts hold together.
Skill 4.6
Addressing matters of stylistic choice
I can refine my word choices and vary my sentence structures on purpose, and describe the effects they create.
Skill 4.7
Editing for correctness
I can use tools and conventions to edit a text for correctness.
Skill 4.8
The official wording · 8 outcomes
- 4.1
- identify purpose and target audience for text creation, and select strategies to accomplish purpose and engage audience
- 4.2
- select a text form appropriate to the purpose for text creation and consistent with the content to be presented in the text
- 4.3
- take ownership of text creation, by selecting or crafting a topic, concept or idea that is personally meaningful and engaging
- 4.4
- meet particular production, publication and display requirements for print texts
- 4.5
- review the controlling idea or desired unifying effect of a text in progress for clarity and focus
- 4.6
- review the organizational components of a text in progress
- 4.7
- use a variety of sentence patterns and structures appropriately and effectively
- 4.8
- use handbooks and other tools, including electronic tools, as resources to assist with text creation
Key ideas
Every writing choice flows from two anchors: what am I trying to do (inform, persuade, entertain, inspire) and who am I doing it for — set these before anything else.
The controlling idea is the spine — every part should serve it; if a part doesn't, cut it or fix the idea.
Audience factors (age, prior knowledge, values, position) change your strategy; a text that engages one audience can fall flat with another.
Revision is re-seeing meaning (does it say what I mean, clearly?), not just fixing errors.
Form is your first content decision: a photo essay, a speech, an editorial each serve different purposes.
Watch out for
- Starting to draft before naming purpose and audience, then writing something aimed at no one.
- Confusing revision (meaning/focus) with editing (correctness).
- Assuming "the audience" is always the teacher, ignoring the real intended reader.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Plan the term
Pick your term and the days you study. Each unit gets its share of the weeks and comes back a week later for a review. The last two weeks go over the whole course.
Which course?
Alberta has 2 English courses for Grade 10. Here they are side by side.
- English Language Arts 10-1This courseELA11054 units · 28 skillsNo provincial examWhat it coversExploring Ideas & Perspectives · Comprehending Literature & Other Texts · Managing Ideas & Information (Inquiry & Research) · Creating Oral, Print & Multimedia Texts
- English Language Arts 10-2ELA11044 units · 28 skillsNo provincial examWhat it coversExploring Ideas & Perspectives · Comprehending Everyday & Workplace Texts · Managing Ideas & Information (Inquiry & Research) · Creating Texts
What a university, college or program asks for is theirs to say: check its admission page, and your school’s course guide.
The official curriculum
This page follows Alberta’s own curriculum for English Language Arts 10-1.
Study it in MapleMind
MapleMind teaches English Language Arts 10-1 one skill at a time. Each skill gets a short lesson, practice as you go and a check worth up to three stars. It remembers where you stopped.
Course Companion
Your year in one workbook
A fun way to keep English Language Arts 10-1 organized, get to know your child better and see early when they need a hand. Fill it in on a screen, or print it.
- Pages
- 29
- Fillable fields
- 1,381
- Price
- $4.99
Questions about English Language Arts 10-1
What is English Language Arts 10-1?
Alberta’s Grade 10 English course: 4 units and 28 skills, from Exploring Ideas & Perspectives to Creating Oral, Print & Multimedia Texts.
What units are in English Language Arts 10-1?
1. Exploring Ideas & Perspectives, 2. Comprehending Literature & Other Texts, 3. Managing Ideas & Information (Inquiry & Research) and 4. Creating Oral, Print & Multimedia Texts.
Is there a provincial exam for English Language Arts 10-1?
No. Alberta gives no provincial exam for English Language Arts 10-1.
What comes after English Language Arts 10-1?
English Language Arts 20-1 and English Language Arts 20-2.
Can MapleMind help with English Language Arts 10-1?
Yes. MapleMind teaches every skill of English Language Arts 10-1, step by step, with practice and checks, and its tutor answers questions about any of them. It’s free with daily limits, on iPhone, Android and the web.
Get ready for English Language Arts 10-1
Practise every skill of English Language Arts 10-1 in MapleMind, free with daily limits.
