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 Junior Language program is based on the foundational language knowledge and skills acquired in the primary school years. Junior students’ language knowledge builds upon their life experiences and prior knowledge. The expectations in the junior years build upon this foundation. At My Learning Oasis instructructions have been differentiated to meet the needs of individuals and small groups of students, as the base of knowledge, experience, and skills varies from student to student
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 4 - Language
Course length
10 Months
Course Price
CAD $ 1000.00
Course Developer
My Learning Oasis
Course Code
Department
Instructor Name
Language 4
Junior
TBD
Curriculum Policy Document
Language, Grades 1 – 8, 2006 Revised
Oral Communication
Section 1: Listening to Understand
By the end of Grade 4, 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 variety of situations, formal and informal, and set personal goals related to listening tasks.
Active Listening Strategies
1.2 demonstrate an understanding of appropriate listening behaviour by using active listening strategies in order to contribute meaningfully and work constructively in groups.
Comprehension Strategies
1.3 identify a variety of listening comprehension strategies and use them appropriately before, during, and after listening in order to understand and clarify the meaning of oral texts.
Demonstrating Understanding
1.4 demonstrate an understanding of the information and ideas in a variety of oral texts by identifying important information or ideas and some supporting details.
Making Inferences/Interpreting Texts
1.5 distinguish between stated and implied ideas in oral texts.
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 and explain the importance of significant ideas and information in oral texts.
Point of View
1.8 identify the point of view in different types of oral texts and cite words, phrases, ideas, and information from the texts that confirm their identification.
Presentation Strategies
1.9 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 4 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 variety of purposes for speaking.
Interactive Strategies
2.2 demonstrate an understanding of appropriate speaking behaviour in a variety of situations, including small-and large-group discussions.
Clarity and Coherence
2.3 communicate orally in a clear, coherent manner, presenting ideas, opinions, and information in a logical sequence.
Appropriate Language
2.4 choose a variety of appropriate words and phrases, including descriptive words and some technical vocabulary, and a few elements of style, to communicate their meaning accurately and engage the interest of their audience.
Vocal Skills and Strategies
2.5 identify some vocal effects, including tone, pace, pitch, and volume, and use them appropriately, and with sensitivity towards cultural differences, 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 a variety of appropriate visual aids to support or enhance oral presentations
2.8 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
2.9 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 4 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 identify, in conversation with the teacher and peers, what strategies they found most helpful before, during, and after listening and speaking and what steps they can take to improve their oral communication skills.
Interconnected Skills
3.2 identify, in conversation with the teacher and peers, 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 4 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 variety of texts from diverse cultures, including literary texts , graphic texts and informational texts.
Purpose
1.2 identify a variety of purposes for reading and choose reading materials appropriate for those purposes.
Comprehension Strategies
1.3 identify a variety of reading comprehension strategies and use them appropriately before, during, and after reading to understand texts.
Demonstrating Understanding
1.4 demonstrate understanding of a variety of texts by summarizing important ideas and citing supporting details.
Making Inferences/Interpreting Texts
1.5 make inferences about texts using stated and implied ideas from the texts as evidence.
Extending Understanding
1.6 extend understanding of texts by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them.
Analysing Texts
1.7 analyse texts and explain how specific elements in them contribute to meaning.
Responding to and Evaluating Texts
1.8 express opinions about the ideas and information in texts and cite evidence from the text to support their opinions.
Point of View
1.9 identify the point of view presented in a text, citing supporting evidence from the text, and suggest some possible alternative perspectives.
Section 2: Understanding Form and Style
By the end of Grade 4 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 Forms
2.1 explain how the particular characteristics of various text forms help communicate meaning, with a focus on literary texts such as a diary or journal graphic texts such as a brochure and informational texts such as an encyclopedia.
Text Patterns
2.2 recognize a variety of organizational patterns in texts of different types and explain how the patterns help readers understand the texts.
Text Features
2.3 identify a variety of text features and explain how they help readers understand texts.
Elements of Style
2.4 identify various elements of style - including alliteration, descriptive adjectives and adverbs, and sentences of different types, lengths, and structures - and explain how they help communicate meaning.
Section 3: Reading With Fluency
By the end of Grade 4, students will:
use knowledge of words and cueing systems to read fluently;
Specific Expectations:
Reading Familiar Words
3.1 automatically read and understand high-frequency words, most regularly used words, and words of personal interest or significance in a variety of reading contexts.
Reading Unfamiliar Words
3.2 predict the meaning of and rapidly solve unfamiliar words using different types of cues, including:
Reading Fluently
3.3 read appropriate texts at a sufficient rate and with sufficient expression to convey the sense of the text readily to the reader and an audience.
Section 4: Reflecting on Reading Skills and Strategies
By the end of Grade 4, 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 identify, in conversations with the teacher and peers or in a reader's notebook, what strategies they found most helpful before, during, and after reading and how they can use these and other strategies to improve as readers.
Interconnected Skills
4.2 explain, in conversations with the teacher and peers or in a reader's notebook, 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 4, students will:
generate, gather, and organize ideas and information to write for an intended purpose and audience.
Specific Expectations:
Purpose and Audience
1.1 identify the topic, purpose, and audience for a variety of writing forms.
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 using a variety of strategies and oral, print, and electronic sources.
Classifying Ideas
1.4 sort and classify ideas and information for their writing in a variety of ways.
Organizing Ideas
1.5 identify and order main ideas and supporting details and group them into units that could be used to develop a summary, using a variety of graphic organizers and organizational patterns.
Review
1.6 determine whether the ideas and information they have gathered are relevant and adequate for the purpose, and do more research if necessary.
Section 2: Using Knowledge of Form and Style in Writing
By the end of Grade 4, 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 more complex texts using a variety of forms.
Voice
2.2 establish a personal voice in their writing, with a focus on using words and stylistic elements that convey a specific mood such as amusement.
Word Choice
2.3 use specific words and phrases to create an intended impression.
Sentence Fluency
2.4 use sentences of different lengths and structures.
Point of View
2.5 identify their point of view and other possible points of view on the topic, and determine whether their information sufficiently supports their own view.
Preparing for Revision
2.6 identify elements of their writing that need improvement, using feedback from the teacher and peers, with a focus on specific features.
Revision
2.7 make revisions to improve the content, clarity, and interest of their written work, using several types of strategies.
Producing Drafts
2.8 produce revised, draft pieces of writing to meet identified criteria based on the expectations related to content, organization, style, and use of conventions.
Section 3:
3. Applying Knowledge of Language Conventions and Presenting Written Work Effectively
By the end of Grade 4, 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 familiar words correctly.
Spelling Unfamiliar Words
3.2 spell unfamiliar words using a variety of strategies that involve understanding sound-symbol relationships, word structures, word meanings, and generalizations about spelling.
Vocabulary
3.3 confirm spellings and word meanings or word choice using different types of resources appropriate for the purpose.
Punctuation
3.4 use punctuation appropriately to help communicate their intended meaning, with a focus on the use of: the apostrophe to indicate possession, and quotation marks to indicate direct speech.
Grammar
3.5 use parts of speech appropriately to communicate their meaning clearly, with a focus on the use of: common and proper nouns; verbs in the simple present, past, and future tenses; adjectives and adverbs; subject/verb agreement; prepositions; and conjunctions.
Proofreading
3.6 proofread and correct their writing using guidelines developed with peers and the teacher.
Publishing
3.7 use some appropriate elements of effective presentation in the finished product, including print, script, different fonts, graphics, and layout.
Producing Finished Works
3.8 produce pieces of published work to meet identified criteria based on the expectations related to content, organization, style, use of conventions, and use of presentation strategies.
4. Reflecting on Writing Skills and Strategies
By the end of Grade 4, 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 what strategies they found most helpful before, during, and after writing and what steps they can take to improve as writers.
Interconnected Skills
4.2 describe, with prompting by the teacher, how their skills in listening, speaking, reading, viewing, and representing help in their development as writers.
Portfolio
4.3 select pieces of writing that they think reflect their growth and competence as writers and explain the reasons for their choice.
Media Literacy
Section 1: Understanding Media Texts
By the end of Grade 4, students will:
demonstrate an understanding of a variety of media texts.
Specific Expectations:
Purpose and Audience
1.1 identify the purpose and audience for a variety of media texts.
Making Inferences/Interpreting Messages
1.2 use overt and implied messages to draw inferences and construct meaning in media texts.
Responding to and Evaluating Texts
1.3 express opinions about ideas, issues, and/or experiences presented in media texts, and give evidence from the texts to support their opinions.
Audience Responses
1.4 explain why different audiences might respond differently to specific media texts.
Point of View
1.5 identify whose point of view is presented or reflected in a media text, citing supporting evidence from the text, and suggest how the text might change if a different point of view were used.
Production Perspectives
1.6 identify who produces various media texts and the reason for their production.
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 elements and characteristics of some media forms.
Conventions and Techniques
2.2 identify the conventions and techniques used in some familiar media forms and explain how they help convey meaning.
Section 3: Creating Media Texts
By the end of Grade 4, 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 describe in detail the topic, purpose, and audience for media texts they plan to create.
Form
3.2 identify an appropriate form to suit the specific 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 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, and explain how these and other strategies can help them improve as media viewers/listeners/producers.
Interconnected Skills
4.2 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.
