English Language Arts, Secondary 3

Use: Extends/supports/scaffolds first reading/initial response by examining details in the text

I can take my first response to a text and deepen it by examining details, rereading and talking with other readers.

Use: Keeps track of changes in own first reading/initial response

I can keep a record of how my reading of a text changes, and use that record to build a considered interpretation.

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

I can, with help, tell closed narratives from open ones and start to notice how a text's facts, stereotypes and voices position me as a reader.

Use: Draws inferences about the view of the world presented in the text

I can infer the view of the world behind a text that seems objective, from what it includes, leaves out and treats as normal.

Use: Draws generalizations and conclusions based on evidence in the text (e.g. synthesizes key ideas and information)

I can combine a text's key ideas and information into a general conclusion that the evidence supports.

Use: Locates evidence in the text of how the writer/producer creates a relationship between the text and its reader

I can find evidence in a text of how its writer or producer builds a relationship with a particular reader, and explain what that relationship is.

Use: Interrelates aspects of his/her reading profile, the structure, features and content of the text, and its social/cultural/historical context

I can connect what I bring as a reader, how a text is built, what it says and the context it comes from, to build my interpretation.

Use: Determines own working hypothesis, theory, controlling idea, or thesis statement

I can turn my reading of a text into a working thesis or controlling idea that I can defend with evidence.

Use: Organizes elements of own interpretation in order to achieve coherence and communicate clearly

I can organize my interpretation of a text, its claim, evidence and explanation, so that it reads as one clear, coherent case.

Use: Compares/contrasts with other texts that treat the same issue/topic/theme /event

I can compare and contrast texts that treat the same issue, topic, theme or event, and say what each one shows and leaves out.

Use: Analyzes dominant features of the text, such as its point of view, use of persuasive language, connotation and denotation

I can find the few features that do most of a text's work, such as its point of view, persuasive language or word connotations, and analyze their effect.

Use: Explains how real and imaginary are represented by the writer/producer and to what effect

I can explain how a text mixes the real and the imaginary, and what effect the mix has on me as a reader.

Use: Explains how fact and opinion are represented by the writer/producer and to what effect

I can tell fact from opinion in a text, notice when an opinion is dressed as a fact, and explain the effect.

Use: Draws coherent conclusions by making inferences and generalizations

I can draw conclusions a text does not state by combining its clues with what I know, and show the reasoning that links them.

Use: Unique structure(s), features, codes and conventions of a specific text type

I can study model texts of a genre I will produce and name the structures, features, codes and conventions that make that genre work.

Use: Purpose and context in which the text was produced that influence features such as its style and content

I can explain how a text's purpose and the context it was produced in shape its style, devices, conventions and content.

Use: How characteristics of the intended/target audience are represented

I can work out from a text who its intended audience is, including their needs, expectations, age and social status, and point to the evidence.

Use: Familiar audience (e.g. provides additional details or information; sequences events or information)

I can shape a text for an audience I know well, adding the details they need and putting events in an order they can follow.

Notice (guided intro): new Production Process material

I can, with help, write for an audience I do not know personally, by thinking about what they already know and believe about my topic.

Use: Personal experience(s) and knowledge

I can take a stance in my writing that grows out of my own experience and knowledge, and gather the material that supports it.

Use: Uses appropriate organizational devices in light of text, purpose, intended/target audience and context (e.g. outline, storyboard)

I can choose and use an organizational device, such as an outline or a storyboard, that fits my text, purpose, audience and context.

Use: Researches to locate material, resources and/or expertise

I can find the material, resources and expert help a production needs.

Use: Precision in the use of details and/or information

I can revise my draft so that its details and information are precise and accurate.

Use: Coherence in light of the production context, purpose, intended/target audience and production criteria

I can revise my draft so that every part holds together and serves its purpose, its audience and the production criteria.

Use: Accuracy in the use of structure, features, codes and conventions of the text

I can revise my text so that it uses its genre's structure, features, codes and conventions accurately and respects the limits of its medium.

Use: Clarity regarding the layout and presentation of the final draft/version of the text

I can proofread the layout and presentation of my final version so that its headings, spacing, charts and images make it clear.

Use: Uses teacher- peer- and self-evaluation as a resource to consolidate and reinvest new knowledge

I can keep a record of the feedback I receive and use it to improve my next piece of work, not just this one.

Use: Uses problem solving to interpret data and information critically

I can interpret data and information critically, asking how they were gathered, what they leave out and what they really show.

Use: Narrows topic/subject in order to focus research (e.g. lists pros/cons, creates sub-questions)

I can narrow a broad topic into a focused research question, using sub-questions or a list of pros and cons.

Notice (guided intro): new Research Process material

I can, with help, study a social world by observing it, design a simple survey or interview, and shape a research question into a hypothesis.

Use: Primary sources (e.g. artefacts, interviews, autobiography, journals/diaries)

I can gather data from primary sources, such as artefacts, interviews, autobiographies and diaries, and know what each can tell me.

Use: Secondary sources (e.g. reference texts, newspaper articles, books)

I can gather data from secondary sources, such as reference texts, newspaper articles and books, and judge how far to trust each one.

Use: Categorizes data/information (e.g. collates results of surveys; looks for patterns in data)

I can sort the data I gather, collating survey results, finding patterns and identifying common themes in interviews.

Use: Makes generalizations (e.g. determines statistical significance; chooses relevant evidence to support thesis)

I can draw generalizations from my research, judge whether a result is big enough to matter, and choose the evidence that supports my thesis.

Use: Outlines and storyboards (i.e. for research, written essays and media productions)

I can produce an outline or a storyboard that plans my research, essay or media production, and revise it as my plan changes.

Use: List of actions to undertake or of ideas to discuss/examine

I can write a list of actions or ideas that sets priorities, decides a project's scope and leads to a thesis.

Use: Organization, categorization, collation and sequencing of ideas/information

I can organize the ideas and information I gather, grouping, combining and ordering them into a plan.

Use: Conventions associated with thinking something through, such as informal/tentative language, pauses and hesitations, point form

I can use the conventions of thinking on paper (tentative language, point form, capitals, symbols and annotations) to work through my ideas.

Use: Texts reflecting on values, experiences, ideas, opinions, state of society today (e.g. personal essay, magazine commentary, op-ed piece)

I can read personal essays, commentaries and op-eds and explain how each moves from an experience or opinion to an idea about values or society.

Use: Written self-evaluations and reflections, including written feedback to peers

I can write self-evaluations and reflections on my own work, and written feedback for a peer, that use criteria and evidence and point to a next step.

Use: Texts reflecting on values, experiences, ideas, opinions, state of society today (e.g. responses and interpretations of texts)

I can write a reflective response to a text that connects it to my own values and experience and to the world I live in.

Use: Focus on ideas/experiences/qualities that are selected and synthesized

I can select the experiences, ideas or qualities that matter most and combine them into a focused reflective text.

Use: Organizational structure to prioritize, sequence and explore ideas from multiple perspectives

I can organize a reflective text so that it puts ideas in a meaningful order and explores them from more than one angle.

Use: Evidence from own experience including personal, global and/or textual examples

I can support the ideas in a reflective text with examples from my own life, from the wider world and from texts.

Use: Conclusion which shares a realization, resolution or judgment

I can end a reflective text by sharing what I realized, resolved or judged, rather than summarizing.

Use: Rhetorical strategies to build rapport, create a sense of intimacy and closeness

I can use the first person, anecdotes, analogies, questions and metaphors to build closeness with my reader in a reflective text.

Use: Tone and register to suit the genre and engage the intended/target audience

I can choose a tone and register for a reflective text that suit its genre, its subject and its audience.

Use: Genre-specific conventions (e.g. use of anecdotes, flashback and humour in a personal essay)

I can use the conventions that belong to each reflective genre, from anecdotes and flashback in a personal essay to questions and sarcasm in a response.

Use: Multigenre conventions (e.g. poems in a journal; recount in a self-evaluation conference)

I can bring another genre into a reflective text, such as a poem in a journal or a recount in a self-evaluation conference, and say what it adds.

Use: Multimodal conventions (e.g. tentative language, gestures in a conference; decoupage/collage and/or personal photos in a journal)

I can use more than one mode to reflect, such as gestures and tentative language in a conference, or collage and photos in a journal.

Use: Popular mass-produced texts such as magazines, graphic novels, films and songs

I can read popular texts such as magazines, graphic novels, films and songs as closely as any set text, and see how being mass-produced shapes them.

Use: Spoken performances (e.g. poetry reading, spoken word, storytelling, dialogues)

I can perform spoken literature, such as a poem, a spoken word piece, a story or a dialogue, using my voice to make meaning.

Notice (guided intro): new Required Genres: Narrative Texts material

I can, with help, read literature written for adults and begin to notice its deeper patterns, such as structural irony, archetypal themes and recurring motifs.

Use: Narratives in poetic form (e.g. lyric poetry, free verse, ballad, poetry of social commentary/conscience)

I can tell a story in poetic form, choosing between lyric poetry, free verse, a ballad and a poem of social commentary.

Use: Major and minor characters (e.g. protagonist, antagonist, anti-hero, foil)

I can identify and create major and minor characters (protagonist, antagonist, anti-hero, foil) and explain the job each one does in a story.

Use: Stock and/or flat characters (i.e. characters with only one or two qualities or traits)

I can recognize stock and flat characters, explain why writers use them, and tell when one becomes a harmful stereotype.

Use: Conflict and resolution of conflict (i.e. central problem around which a story is typically organized)

I can identify a story's central conflict, its type and how it is resolved, and use conflict to drive my own stories.

Use: Features that move the story forward (i.e. incidents, scenes, episodes, and subplots)

I can identify the incidents, scenes, episodes and subplots that move a story forward, and use them in my own writing.

Use: Overt or implied theme(s)

I can identify a story's themes, whether stated openly or implied, and express each one as a full statement supported by the text.

Use: Character development (e.g. dialogue, dialect, pathos)

I can explain how writers develop characters through dialogue, dialect and pathos, and use these techniques myself.

Use: Figurative language: metaphor, simile, imagery, personification

I can explain the effect of metaphor, simile, imagery and personification, and use them in my own writing.

Use: Aesthetic qualities of language (e.g. alliteration, rhyme, rhythm, onomatopoeia)

I can explain how alliteration, rhyme, rhythm and onomatopoeia shape the sound and meaning of a text, and use them myself.

Use: Explanations of a process (e.g. teaching something to peers/class, sharing expertise with others)

I can teach a process I know well to my classmates, so they understand both the steps and why each one matters.

Use: Visuals to focus reader’s attention on what is most important (e.g. headings, captions, labels, graphics)

I can use headings, captions, labels, graphics and a table of contents to focus my reader's attention on what matters most.

Use: Rhetorical strategies to engage the intended/target audience and assure their comprehension

I can use strategies such as plain register, analogies, demonstrations and checks for understanding to engage my audience and make sure they understand.

Notice (guided intro): new Required Genres: Explanatory Texts material

I can, with help, notice how explanatory texts borrow from other genres and modes, such as testimonials in a pamphlet or video clips in a presentation, and what that adds.

Notice (guided intro): new Required Genres: Reports material

I can, with help, read and plan feature stories, interviews and research reports, using the features that give a report depth and authority.

Use: Research reports on areas of student interest and/or expertise, on topics of local, national and/or international interest

I can write a research report on a topic I know or care about, focused on an angle that matters to readers locally, nationally or internationally.

Use: Information organized and sequenced using a structure such as chronology, classification, compare/contrast, problem/solution, cause/effect

I can organize the information in a report with the structure that fits it: chronology, classification, comparison, problem and solution, or cause and effect.

Use: Layout which visually cues the reader (e.g. subheadings, call-outs, headline, by-line)

I can lay out a report so that its headline, by-line, subheadings, call-outs and images guide the reader through it.

Use: Visual conventions to convey information, meaning(s) and relationships among ideas such as in a timeline or mind map

I can use the conventions of a timeline or mind map (key words, colour, lines, arrows, size and spacing) to show information and how ideas relate.

Use: Advertisements, including public service announcements (PSAs), publicity campaigns, popular slogans, posters, book and film trailers

I can analyze how advertisements, public service announcements, campaigns, slogans, posters and trailers persuade their audience.

Use: Reviews (e.g. of books, television programs, films, music)

I can read and write reviews of books, shows, films and music that judge the work against criteria and end with a clear recommendation.

Use: Advertisements, including public service announcements (PSAs), posters, book trailers

I can produce an ad, a public service announcement, a poster or a book trailer that uses the techniques of its format to persuade a target audience.

Notice (guided intro): new Exposition: Persuasive Texts material

I can, with help, read and plan an opinion column or position paper that states a thesis, supports it in a logical order, answers the other side and moves the reader to act.

Notice (guided intro): new Exposition: Argumentative Texts material

I can, with help, read and plan argumentative texts such as editorials, essays and debates, and use their structure, strategies and conventions.

Use: Adapts the rhetorical aspects of spoken language to purpose, intended/target audience and genre

I can adapt my register, intonation and other spoken choices to my purpose, my audience and the genre I am speaking in.

Use: Uses the aesthetic qualities of spoken language to give added meaning and depth to specific spoken genres

I can use rhythm, repetition, pacing, rhyme, alliteration and assonance to add meaning and depth to spoken genres such as spoken word and storytelling.

Notice (guided intro): new Conventions: Spoken Language material

I can, with help, use pace, pauses, emphasis and rhetorical conventions to achieve a specific effect when I speak.

Use: Uses a variety of sentence structures (simple, compound, complex and compound-complex) and transitional words or phrases

I can use simple, compound, complex and compound-complex sentences, with transitions, to show how my ideas relate and to make my writing flow.

Use: Demonstrates consistent variation in sentence beginnings, lengths and patterns (i.e. sentence arrangement)

I can vary how my sentences begin, how long they are and how they are patterned, so that my writing holds the reader.

Use: Respects subject/verb agreement, including verb tense, point of view, pronouns, etc.

I can keep subjects and verbs agreeing, and keep my tense, point of view and pronouns consistent throughout my writing.

Use: Uses colons and semicolons correctly

I can use colons and semicolons correctly to introduce lists and explanations and to join closely related sentences.

Use: Uses relevant/required print cues (e.g. underlining or italicizing titles of major works; all caps or bold to add emphasis)

I can use print cues correctly on my own, styling titles, emphasis, headlines and headings the way readers expect.

Notice (guided intro): new Conventions: Written Language material

I can, with help, cite my sources in a recognized style such as MLA or APA, and use the terms of a subject correctly in my writing.

Use: Uses a metalanguage to discuss own texts, own progress as a learner and/or literary texts

I can use the precise terms of the craft to discuss my own texts, my progress as a learner and the literature I read.

Use: Depiction of products in advertising (e.g. magazine, television, web)

I can analyze how ads in magazines, on television and online stage a product to make it look desirable.

Use: Adaptation of a genre in different media (e.g. a novel and its adaptation to film)

I can explain what changes when a story moves from one medium to another, such as from a novel to a film, and why.

Use: Coverage of same action or event by a single medium (e.g. two different radio stations reporting the same story)

I can compare how two outlets in the same medium cover the same event, and explain what their different choices show.

Notice (guided intro): new Conventions: Media Language material

I can, with help, explain how a media text creates meaning by combining or setting side by side an image, words and sound.

Use: Create a sense of tone, mood, emotion, pacing (e.g. quick tempo to create a sense of urgency in a drama)

I can explain how music, tempo, sound effects and silence create the tone, mood, emotion and pace of a media text.

Use: Capture and maintain a viewer’s attention (e.g. camera shots and angles)

I can explain how camera shots and angles capture a viewer's attention and shape how we see a subject.

Use: Create atmosphere (e.g. dark lighting)

I can explain how lighting and colour create the atmosphere of a scene before anyone speaks.

Use: Move action forward (e.g. camera movement and transitions, editing)

I can explain how camera movement, transitions and editing move a screen story forward without words.

Use: Bias or stereotyping

I can analyze how a media text's images, words and choices convey bias or rely on stereotypes.

Use: Promotion of a product, idea or action

I can analyze how a media text promotes a product, an idea or an action, and name what it wants me to do.

Use: Inferences (e.g. a surge of music to underscore the reunion of lovers in a movie)

I can explain the inferences a media text leads me to make from its music, gestures and other codes, and check whether they hold.