English Language Arts, Secondary 2

Use: Uses cues conveyed by the structure, features, codes and conventions of spoken, written and media genres to determine significance

I can use the structure, features, codes and conventions of a genre as cues to decide what matters in a spoken, written or media text.

Use: Cites evidence from the text to substantiate own ideas, statements, questions and opinions

I can back up my ideas, questions and opinions about a text with evidence from it, and explain how the evidence supports them.

Notice (guided intro): new Reading Process: Interpreting Texts material

I can, with help, compare my own ideas, values and beliefs with the ones a text presents, and explain where I agree and where I push back.

Use: Determines criteria to judge the quality of the text

I can set criteria for judging the quality of a text, based on its purpose and its audience, before I evaluate it.

Use: Surface errors in written language (i.e. spelling and usage conventions, grammar and syntax)

I can proofread my draft for spelling, usage, grammar and sentence errors as a final, separate pass.

Use: Makes effective use of specific feedback throughout all stages of the production process

I can ask for specific feedback at every stage of a production, decide which comments to act on, and use them to improve my work.

Use: Distinguishes between primary and secondary sources, both print and non-print

I can tell primary from secondary sources, in print and non-print forms, and explain what each kind can and cannot show me.

Use: Notes and informal transcripts based on sources read

I can read notes and informal transcripts, mine and other people's, and use them to recover ideas and build on them.

Use: Self-monitoring texts such as rubrics, checklists, project instructions and timelines

I can read rubrics, checklists, project instructions and timelines closely, and use them to plan and check my own work.

Use: Discussions in media production groups (i.e. to establish roles, make decisions, etc.)

I can take part in a production group's discussions to agree on roles, decide who decides what, and record the decisions.

Use: Notes and informal transcripts based on sources read

I can write useful notes and informal transcripts, such as notes on sources, field notes and minutes, that I can use later.

Use: Graphic organizers such as mind maps, clusters, lists

I can choose and use a graphic organizer, such as a mind map, a cluster or a list, that fits how my ideas connect.

Use: Self-monitoring texts such as rubrics, checklists, timelines

I can write my own rubric, checklist or timeline to guide a project and check my progress.

Use: Journals, real or fictional (e.g. multimedia journals, writer’s notebooks and diaries)

I can read real and fictional journals and diaries and explain what the journal form shows about the person writing.

Use: Self-evaluations and reflections, including peer/teacher feedback conferences

I can read self-evaluations and reflections, and take in feedback in conferences, to understand what a good reflection does and what my next step is.

Use: Class and small group discussions, including first readings/initial responses to texts (e.g. group plenaries)

I can share my first response to a text in a discussion and develop it by listening to and building on other people's responses.

Use: Self-evaluation conferences (i.e. presenting contents of the Integrated Profile and peer/teacher feedback)

I can lead a self-evaluation conference: present work from my profile, explain the feedback I received, and judge my own progress.

Use: Postproduction discussions (e.g. in small groups, for peer evaluation)

I can take part in a postproduction discussion, evaluating a finished production with my group against our criteria.

Use: Journals, real or fictional, such as reading logs, media logs, learning/process logs, writer’s notebook, diary

I can keep a journal, such as a reading log, a process log, a writer's notebook or a character's diary, that records and develops my thinking.

Use: Young Adult Literature (YAL) in a range of genres including novels, graphic novels, memoirs and poetry

I can read young adult literature in different genres (novels, graphic novels, memoirs and poems) and say what each genre offers.

Use: Written for children and young adolescents and reflecting the variety of texts in the literary tradition

I can read myths, legends, fairy tales, ballads and other traditional texts, and explain what makes each kind part of the literary tradition.

Use: Fictional narratives such as short story, script for a radio play

I can write a fictional narrative, a short story or a radio-play script, with a clear conflict, believable characters and an ending.

Use: Setting: the physical landscape and social context in which the action of story occurs

I can explain how a story's setting (its time, place, social context and descriptive details) shapes the action and the mood, and build one in my own writing.

Use: Basic plot structure: rising action, climax, denouement and resolution

I can identify the rising action, climax, denouement and resolution of a story and use this structure in my own.

Use: Suspense (e.g. foreshadowing, use of action sequences, spooky music)

I can recognize how writers and filmmakers build suspense with foreshadowing, action sequences and music, and use these techniques in my own work.

Use: "How to" booklets/manuals/videos

I can read and view how-to booklets, manuals and videos to follow a process and judge how clearly they explain it.

Use: Photo-essays with text (e.g. pamphlet)

I can read a photo-essay or a pamphlet and explain how its images, captions and words work together to explain.

Use: Explanations of a process (e.g. presentation of a lesson by teacher and/or peers)

I can follow an explanation of a process, such as a lesson given by a teacher or a classmate, and explain how its steps connect.

Use: Reference texts (i.e. for research purposes)

I can use reference texts, such as encyclopedias, atlases, dictionaries and databases, to find what I need for research quickly and accurately.

Use: Photo-essay with text (e.g. pamphlet)

I can produce a photo-essay or a pamphlet that explains a topic through well-chosen images, captions and short texts.

Use: "How to" booklet/manual (e.g. expert paper)

I can write a how-to booklet or manual on a process I know well, with complete steps that a beginner can follow.

Use: Selection and synthesis of steps in a process

I can select the steps of a process that matter and combine them into a clear, connected explanation.

Use: Organizational structure to break down, categorize and sequence steps logically (e.g. classification, chronology)

I can organize an explanation by breaking a topic into parts, grouping them and putting them in a logical order, using structures such as classification and chronology.

Use: Conclusion which reviews the salient points

I can write a conclusion that reviews the main points of my explanation, so the reader leaves with the essentials.

Use: Conventions which indicate cause and effect (e.g. causal conjunctions such as because, consequently and therefore)

I can use precise words, causal and time conjunctions and transitional phrases to show clearly how one thing causes another.

Use: News reports in different media (e.g. television, radio, Internet, graphic reportage/journalism)

I can read, watch and listen to news reports in different media and compare how each medium shapes the same news.

Use: Short breaking news stories on topics of personal and/or local interest, such as for an online newspaper or blog

I can write a short breaking news story about a local or school event for an online newspaper or a blog.

Use: Inverted pyramid structure in short breaking news story (i.e. answering W5 in descending order of importance)

I can structure a breaking news story as an inverted pyramid, answering the W5 questions from most to least important.

Use: Features that give a sense of immediacy and prescience in a breaking news report

I can make a breaking news report feel immediate with the active voice, simple sentences, eyewitness quotations and a captioned photo.

Use: Cause/effect and chronology

I can organize a report by cause and effect or by chronology, choosing the structure that matches the information.

Use: Makes effective use of visual aids to support spoken language, such as handouts or photographs

I can choose, design and use visual aids, such as handouts, photographs and slides, that support what I say.

Use: Exploits the possibilities of spoken language as a system in the context of learning

I can use talk to learn: build ideas with others by asking and answering questions, and listen actively by paraphrasing what I hear.

Use: Uses a structure that fits the genre (e.g. letter format, narrative, play, essay)

I can use the structure that fits the genre I am writing, such as a letter, a narrative, a play or an essay.

Use: Employs a variety of paragraphing strategies (e.g. topical, chronological, spatial)

I can choose how to organize my paragraphs, by topic, by time or by space, to suit my genre, audience and purpose.

Use: Uses paragraph breaks to indicate an organizational structure

I can break my writing into paragraphs where the idea, the time, the place or the speaker changes, so the reader can follow my structure.

Use: Employs a strong beginning/introduction/lead to engage the reader

I can write a beginning that hooks my reader, with a question, a vivid scene, a surprising fact or a strong statement.

Use: Uses relevant details and elaborates on these to support the main idea

I can support my main idea with relevant, specific details and explain how each one supports it.

Use: Uses an ending that provides a sense of resolution or closure

I can write an ending that gives my reader a sense of resolution or closure.

Use: Uses smooth, effective transitions to maintain unity and coherence

I can use transitions between sentences and paragraphs so that my writing flows and holds together.

Use: Uses a variety of phrases and clauses to add detail and depth (e.g. appositive phrase, adverbial clause)

I can use phrases and clauses, such as appositives and adverbial clauses, to add detail and depth to my sentences.

Use: Uses words that consistently support style, intended meaning and the organizational structure of the genre

I can choose words that fit my genre's style, say exactly what I mean, and signal how my text is organized.

Use: Identifies and analyzes the codes used in a media text to convey the producer’s intentions

I can identify the codes a media text uses, such as images, colour, music, logos and camera shots, and explain what the producer intends each one to do.

Use: Explains how layout cues the reader to the social function of a text

I can explain how a text's layout signals its job, for example how a poster, a news page or a television caption tells me what kind of text it is and how to read it.