About the course
Language development is central to students’ intellectual, social, and emotional growth, and should be seen as a key element of the curriculum. The language curriculum is based on the belief that literacy is critical to responsible and productive citizenship. The curriculum is designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills they need to achieve this goal.
When students learn to use language in the elementary grades, they do more than master the basic skills. They learn to value the power of language and to use it responsibly. They learn to express feelings and opinions and as they mature, to support their opinions with sound arguments and research. They become aware of the many purposes for which language is used and the diverse forms it can take. Language is the basis for thinking, communicating, and learning. Students need language skills in order to comprehend ideas and information and to interact socially as this will help students to thrive in the world beyond the classroom.
The Primary Language program is focused on the basic knowledge and skills that students need in order to establish a strong basis for language development. These include students’ oral language, prior knowledge and experience, understanding of concepts about print, phonemic awareness, understanding of letter-sound relationships,vocabulary knowledge, semantic and syntactic awareness, higher-order thinking skills, and capacity for metacognition.
Language program is divided into four strands; Oral Communication, Reading, Writing, and Media Literacy. In all four strands, teachers explicitly teach and model the use of the knowledge, skills, and strategies most relevant to the particular strand. Explicit teaching and modelling help primary students to identify the skills and strategies they need in order to become proficient language users and move towards achievement of the expectations. Initially, students engage in rehearsal through shared and guided practice; eventually, they demonstrate independently their achievement of the learning expectations through multiple, diverse learning opportunities and activities.
Grade 1 - English
Course length
10 Months
Course Price
CAD $ 1000.00
Course Developer
My Learning Oasis
Course Code
Department
Instructor Name
Language 1
Primary
TBD
Curriculum Policy Document
Language, Grades 1 – 8, 2006 Revised
Oral Communication
Section 1: Listening to Understand
By the end of Grade 1, students will:
Listen in order to understand and respond appropriately in a variety of situations for a variety of purposes.
Specific Expectations:
Purpose
1.1 identify purposes for listening in a few different situations, formal and informal.
Active Listening Strategies
1.2 demonstrate an understanding of appropriate listening behaviour by using active listening strategies in a few different situations.
Comprehension Strategies
1.3 identify a few listening comprehension strategies and use them before, during, and after listening in order to understand and clarify the meaning of oral texts, initially with support and direction.
Demonstrating Understanding
1.4 demonstrate an understanding of the information and ideas in oral texts by retelling the story or restating the information, including the main idea.
Making Inferences/Interpreting Texts
1.5 use stated and implied information and ideas in oral texts, initially with support and direction, to make simple inferences and reasonable predictions.
Extending Understanding
1.6 extend understanding of oral texts by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge and experience; to other familiar texts, including print and visual texts; and to the world around them.
Analysing Texts
1.7 identify words or phrases that indicate whether an oral text is fact or fiction, initially with support and direction.
Point of View
1.8 begin to identify, with support and direction, who is speaking in an oral text and the point of view expressed by the speaker.
Presentation Strategies
1.9 begin to identify some of the presentation strategies used in oral texts and explain how they influence the audience.
Section 2: Speaking to Communicate
By the end of grade 1 students will:
use speaking skills and strategies appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
Specific Expectations:
Purpose
2.1 identify a few purposes for speaking.
Interactive Strategies
2.2 demonstrate an understanding of appropriate speaking behaviour in a few different situations, including paired sharing and small- and large-group discussions.
Clarity and Coherence
2.3 communicate ideas and information orally in a clear, coherent manner.
Appropriate Language
2.4 choose appropriate words to communicate their meaning accurately and engage the interest of their audience.
Vocal Skills and Strategies
2.5 begin to identify some vocal effects, including tone, pace, pitch, and volume, and use them appropriately to help communicate their meaning.
Non-Verbal Cues
2.6 identify some non-verbal cues, including facial expression, gestures, and eye contact, and use them in oral communications, appropriately and with sensitivity towards cultural differences, to help convey their meaning.
Visual Aids
2.7 use one or more appropriate visual aids to support or enhance oral presentations.
Section 3: Reflecting on Oral
Communication Skills and Strategies
By the end of Grade 1 students will:
reflect on and identify their strengths as listeners and speakers, areas for improvement, and the strategies they found most helpful in oral communication situations.
Specific Expectations:
Metacognition
3.1 begin to identify, with support and direction, a few strategies they found helpful before, during, and after listening and speaking.
Interconnected Skills
3.2 begin to identify how their skills as viewers, representers, readers, and writers help them improve their oral communication skills.
Reading
Section 1: Reading for Meaning
By the end of Grade 1 students will:
read and demonstrate an understanding of a variety of literary, graphic, and informational texts, using a range of strategies to construct meaning.
Specific Expectations:
Variety of Texts
1.1 read a few different types of literary texts, graphic texts and informational texts.
Purpose
1.2 identify a few different purposes for reading and choose reading materials appropriate for those purposes.
Comprehension Strategies
1.3 identify a few reading comprehension strategies and use them before, during, and after reading to understand texts, initially with support and direction.
Demonstrating Understanding
1.4 demonstrate understanding of a text by retelling the story or restating information from the text, including the main idea.
Making Inferences/Interpreting Texts
1.5 use stated and implied information and ideas in texts, initially with support and direction, to make simple inferences and reasonable predictions about them.
Extending Understanding
1.6 extend understanding of texts by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge and experience, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them.
Analysing Texts
1.7 identify the main idea and a few elements of texts, initially with support and direction.
Responding to and Evaluating Texts
1.8 express personal thoughts and feelings about what has been read.
Point of View
1.9 begin to identify, with support and direction, the speaker and the point of view presented in a text and suggest a possible alternative perspective.
Section 2. Understanding Form and Style
By the end of Grade 1 student will:
recognize a variety of text forms, text features, and stylistic elements and demonstrate understanding of how they help communicate meaning.
Specific Expectations:
Text Features
2.1 identify and describe the characteristics of a few simple text forms, with a focus on literary texts such as a simple fictional story, graphic texts such as a calendar and informational texts such as a simple "All About____" book.
Text Patterns
2.2 recognize simple organizational patterns in texts of different types and explain, initially with support and direction, how the patterns help readers understand the texts.
Text Features
2.3 identify some text features and explain how they help readers understand texts.
Elements of Style
2.4 identify some simple elements of style, including voice and word choice, and explain, initially with support and direction, how they help readers understand texts.
Section 3. Reading With Fluency
By the end of Grade 1, students will:
use knowledge of words and cueing systems to read fluently.
Specific Expectations:
Reading Familiar Words
3.1 automatically read and understand some high-frequency words and words of personal interest or significance, in a variety of reading contexts.
Reading Unfamiliar Words
3.2 predict the meaning of and solve unfamiliar words using different types of cues, including:
• semantic (meaning) cues (e.g., familiar words, phrases, sentences, and visuals that activate existing knowledge of oral and written language);
• syntactic (language structure) cues (e.g., predictable word order, predictable language patterns, punctuation);
• graphophonic (phonological and graphic) cues (e.g., blending and segmenting of individual sounds in words; visual features of words such as shape and orientation; sound-letter relationships for initial, final, and medial sounds; onset and rime; common spelling patterns; words within words).
Reading Fluently
3.3 read appropriate, familiar texts at a sufficient rate and with sufficient expression to convey the sense of the text to the reader.
Section 4. Reflecting on Reading Skills and Strategies
By the end of Grade 1, students will:
reflect on and identify their strengths as readers, areas for improvement, and the strategies they found most helpful before, during, and after reading.
Specific Expectations:
Metacognition
4.1 begin to identify, with support and direction, a few strategies they found helpful before, during, and after reading.
Interconnected Skills
4.2 explain, initially with support and direction, how their skills in listening, speaking, writing, viewing, and representing help them make sense of what they read.
Writing
Section 1. Developing and Organizing Content
By the end of Grade 1, students will:
generate, gather, and organize ideas and information to write for an intended purpose and audience.
Purpose and Audience
1.1 identify the topic, purpose, audience, and form for writing, initially with support and direction.
Developing Ideas
1.2 generate ideas about a potential topic, using a variety of strategies and resources.
Research
1.3 gather information to support ideas for writing in a variety of ways and/or from a variety of sources.
Classifying Ideas
1.4 sort ideas and information for their writing in a variety of ways, with support and direction.
Organizing Ideas
1.5 identify and order main ideas and supporting details, initially with support and direction, using simple graphic organizers and simple organizational patterns.
Review
1.6 determine, after consultation with the teacher and peers, whether the ideas and information they have gathered are suitable for the purpose.
Section 2. Using Knowledge of Form and Style in Writing
By the end of Grade 1, students will:
draft and revise their writing, using a variety of informational, literary, and graphic forms and stylistic elements appropriate for the purpose and audience.
Specific Expectations:
Form
2.1 write short texts using a few simple forms such as a recount of personally significant experiences.
Voice
2.2 begin to establish a personal voice in their writing by using pictures and words that convey their attitude or feeling towards the subject or audience.
Word Choice
2.3 use familiar words and phrases to convey a clear meaning.
Sentence Fluency
2.4 write simple but complete sentences that make sense.
Point of View
2.5 begin to identify, with support and direction, their point of view and one possible different point of view about the topic.
Preparing for Revision
2.6 identify elements of their writing that need improvement, including content, organization, and style, using feedback from the teacher and peers.
Revision
2.7 make simple revisions to improve the content, clarity, and interest of their written work, using a few simple strategies.
Producing Drafts
2.8 produce revised draft pieces of writing to meet criteria identified by the teacher, based on the expectations.
Section 3. Applying Knowledge of Language Conventions and Presenting Written Work Effectively
By the end of Grade 1, students will:
use editing, proofreading, and publishing skills and strategies, and knowledge of language conventions, to correct errors, refine expression, and present their work effectively.
Specific Expectations:
Spelling Familiar Words
3.1 spell some high-frequency words correctly.
Spelling Unfamiliar Words
3.2 spell unfamiliar words using a variety of strategies that involve understanding sound-symbol relationships, word structures, and word meanings.
Vocabulary
3.3 confirm spellings and word meanings or word choice using one or two resources.
Punctuation
3.4 use punctuation to help communicate their intended meaning, with a focus on the use of: a capital letter at the beginning of a sentence; a period, question mark, or exclamation mark at the end.
Grammar
3.5 use parts of speech appropriately to communicate their meaning clearly, with a focus on the use of: nouns for names of people, places, and things; the personal subject pronouns I, you, he, she, it, we, they; verbs to tell what they do and feel; some adjectives; and simple prepositions of place (e.g., in, on, at, to).
Proofreading
3.6 proofread and correct their writing using a simple checklist or a few guiding questions posted by the teacher for reference.
Publishing
3.7 use some appropriate elements of effective presentation in the finished product, such as print, different fonts, graphics, and layout.
Producing Finished Works
3.8 produce pieces of published work to meet criteria identified by the teacher, based on the expectations
Section 4. Reflecting on Writing Skills and Strategies
By the end of Grade 1, students will:
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.
Specific Expectations:
Metacognition
4.1 identify some strategies they found helpful before, during, and after writing.
Interconnected Skills
4.2 describe, with prompting by the teacher, how some of their skills in listening, speaking, reading, viewing, and representing help in their development as writers.
Portfolio
4.3 select pieces of writing they think show their best work and explain the reasons for their selection.
Media Literacy
Section 1: Understanding Media Texts
By the end of Grade 1, students will:
demonstrate an understanding of a variety of media texts.
Specific Expectations:
Purpose and Audience
1.1 identify the purpose and intended audience of some simple media texts.
Making Inferences/Interpreting Messages
1.2 identify overt and implied messages, initially with support and direction, in simple media texts.
Responding to and Evaluating Texts
1.3 express personal thoughts and feelings about some simple media works.
Audience Responses
1.4 describe how different audiences might respond to specific media texts.
Point of View
1.5 begin to identify, with support and direction, whose point of view is presented in a simple media text and suggest a possible alternative perspective.
Production Perspectives
1.6 identify, with support and direction, who makes some of the simple media texts with which they are familiar, and why those texts are produced.
Section 2:Understanding Media Forms, Conventions, and Techniques
By the end of Grade 1, students will:
identify some media forms and explain how the conventions and techniques associated with them are used to create meaning.
Specific Expectations:
Form
2.1 identify some of the elements and characteristics of a few simple media forms.
Conventions and Techniques
2.2 identify, initially with support and direction, the conventions and techniques used in some familiar media forms.
Section 3. Creating Media Texts
By the end of Grade 1, students will:
create a variety of media texts for different purposes and audiences, using appropriate forms, conventions, and techniques;
Specific Expectations:
Purpose and Audience
3.1 identify the topic, purpose, and audience for media texts they plan to create.
Form
3.2 identify an appropriate form to suit the purpose and audience for a media text they plan to create.
Conventions and Techniques
3.3 identify conventions and techniques appropriate to the form chosen for a media text they plan to create.
Producing Media Texts
3.4 produce some short media texts for specific purposes and audiences, using a
few simple media forms and appropriate conventions and techniques.
Section 4. Reflecting on Media Literacy Skills and Strategies
By the end of Grade 1, students will:
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.
Specific Expectations:
Metacognition
4.1 identify, initially with support and direction, what strategies they found most helpful in making sense of and creating media texts.
Interconnected Skills
4.2 begin to explain, initially with support and direction, how their skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing help them to make sense of and produce media texts.
Final reporting
Assessment is the process of gathering information from a variety of sources, such as assignments, day-to-day observations, conversations or conferences, demonstrations, projects, and performances. Teachers follow guidelines from Growing Success to analyze 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. The final grade reflects the student’s most consistent level of achievement throughout the course, although special consideration is given to more recent evidence of achievement. There may be a final assessment, such as an exam, in this course.
