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 6 - Language
Course length
10 Months
Course Price
CAD $ 1000.00
Course Developer
My Learning Oasis
Course Code
Department
Instructor Name
Language 6
Junior
TBD
Curriculum Policy Document
Language, Grades 1 – 8, 2006 Revised
Oral Communication
Section 1: Listening to Understand
By the end of Grade 6, 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 a range of purposes for listening in a variety of situations, formal and informal, and set goals related to specific listening tasks.
Active Listening Strategies
1.2 demonstrate an understanding of appropriate listening behaviour by adapting active listening strategies to suit a variety of situations, including work 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 increasingly complex oral texts.
Demonstrating Understanding
1.4 demonstrate an understanding of the information and ideas in increasingly complex oral texts in a variety of ways.
Making Inferences/Interpreting Texts
1.5 interpret oral texts by using stated and implied ideas from the texts.
Extending Understanding
1.6 extend understanding of oral texts by connecting, comparing, and contrasting the ideas and information in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights; to other texts, including print and visual texts; and to the world around them.
Analysing Texts
1.7 analyse oral texts in order to evaluate how well they communicate ideas, opinions, themes, and information .
Point of View
1.8 identify the point of view presented in oral texts, determine whether they agree with the point of view, and suggest other possible perspectives.
Presentation Strategies
1.9 identify a variety of presentation strategies used in oral texts and analyse their effect on the audience.
Section 2: Speaking to Communicate
By the end of Grade 6 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 and explain how the purpose and intended audience influence the choice of form.
Interactive Strategies
2.2 demonstrate an increasingly sophisticated understanding of appropriate speaking behaviour in a variety of situations, including paired sharing, dialogue, and small- and large-group discussions.
Clarity and Coherence
2.3 communicate orally in a clear, coherent manner, using appropriate organizing strategies and formats to link and sequence ideas and information.
Appropriate Language
2.4 use appropriate words and phrases from the full range of their vocabulary including inclusive and non-discriminatory language, and stylistic devices appropriate to the purpose and context, to communicate their meaning accurately and engage the interest of their intended audience.
Vocal Skills and Strategies
2.5 identify a range of vocal effects, including tone, pace, pitch, volume, and a variety of sound effects, and use them appropriately and with sensitivity towards cultural differences to help communicate their meaning.
Non-Verbal Cues
2.6 identify a variety of 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.
Section 3: Reflecting on Oral Communication Skills and Strategies
By the end of Grade 6 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 6 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 wide 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 increasingly complex texts.
Demonstrating Understanding
1.4 demonstrate understanding of increasingly complex texts by summarizing and explaining important ideas and citing relevant supporting details.
Making Inferences/Interpreting Texts
1.5 develop interpretations about texts using stated and implied ideas to support their interpretations.
Extending Understanding
1.6 extend understanding of texts by connecting, comparing, and contrasting 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 increasingly complex texts and explain how the different elements in them contribute to meaning.
Responding to and Evaluating Texts
1.8 make judgements and draw conclusions about ideas in texts and cite stated or implied evidence from the text to support their views.
Point of View
1.9 identify the point of view presented in texts; determine whether they can agree with the view, in whole or in part; and suggest some other possible perspectives.
Section 2: Understanding Form and Style
By the end of Grade 6 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 analyse a variety of text forms and explain how their particular characteristics help communicate meaning, with a focus on literary texts such as a myth, graphic texts such as an advertisement and informational texts such as an editorial.
Text Patterns
2.2 identify a variety of organizational patterns in a range of texts and explain how they 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 voice, word choice, and the use of hyperbole, strong verbs, dialogue, and complex sentences - and explain how they help communicate meaning.
Section 3: Reading With Fluency
By the end of Grade 6, students will:
use knowledge of words and cueing systems to read fluently.
Specific Expectations:
Reading Familiar Words
3.1 automatically read and understand most words in a range of reading contexts.
Reading Unfamiliar Words
3.2 predict the meaning of and rapidly solve unfamiliar words using different types of cues, including:
• semantic (meaning) cues
• syntactic (language structure) cues
• graphophonic (phonological and graphic) cues.
Reading Fluently
3.3 read appropriate texts with expression and confidence, adjusting reading strategies and reading rate to match the form and purpose.
Reflecting on Reading Skills and Strategies
By the end of Grade 6, 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 the strategies they found most helpful before, during, and after reading and explain, in conversation with the teacher and/or peers, or in a reader's notebook, how they can use these and other strategies to improve as readers.
Interconnected Skills
4.2 explain, in conversation with the teacher and/or 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 6, 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 and identify those most appropriate for the purpose.
Research
1.3 gather information to support ideas for writing, using a variety of strategies and a range of print and electronic resources.
Classifying Ideas
1.4 sort and classify information for their writing in a variety of ways that allow them to view information from different perspectives and make connections between ideas.
Organizing Ideas
1.5 identify and order main ideas and supporting details and group them into units that could be used to develop a structured, multi-paragraph piece of writing, using a variety of strategies and organizational patterns.
Review
1.6 determine whether the ideas and information they have gathered are relevant, appropriate, 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 6, 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 longer and more complex texts using a wide range of forms.
Voice
2.2 establish a distinctive voice in their writing appropriate to the subject and audience.
Word Choice
2.3 use some vivid and/or figurative language and innovative expressions to enhance interest.
Sentence Fluency
2.4 create complex sentences by combining phrases, clauses, and/or simple sentences.
Point of View
2.5 identify their point of view and other possible points of view; determine, when appropriate, if their own view is balanced and supported by the evidence; and adjust their thinking and expression if appropriate.
Preparing for Revision
2.6 identify elements in their writing that need improvement, selectively using feedback from the teacher and peers, with a focus on supporting details and precise language.
Revision
2.7 make revisions to improve the content, clarity, and interest of their written work, using a variety of strategies.
Producing Drafts
2.8 produce revised draft pieces of writing to meet identified criteria based on the expectations.
Section 3: Applying Knowledge of Language Conventions and Presenting Written Work Effectively
By the end of Grade 6, 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 a variety of resources appropriate for the purpose.
Punctuation
3.4 use punctuation appropriately to communicate their intended meaning in longer and more complex sentences, with a focus on the use of: commas to separate words in a list or after an introductory word or phrase; quotation marks in dialogue; and some uses of the colon, semi-colon, and brackets.
Grammar
3.5 use parts of speech correctly to communicate their meaning clearly, with a focus on the use of: personal subject and object pronouns, indefinite pronouns, conjunctions; subordinate clauses; adverb phrases; and present, past, and future verb tenses.
Proofreading
3.6 proofread and correct their writing using guidelines developed with peers and the teacher.
Publishing
3.7 use a range of 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.
Section 4: Reflecting on Writing Skills and Strategies
By the end of Grade 6, 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 a variety of strategies they used before, during, and after writing, explain which ones were most helpful, and suggest further steps they can take to improve as writers.
Interconnected Skills
4.2 describe 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 choices.
Media Literacy
Section 1: Understanding Media Texts
By the end of Grade 6, students will:
demonstrate an understanding of a variety of media texts.
Specific Expectations:
Purpose and Audience
1.1 explain how a variety of media texts address their intended purpose and audience.
Making Inferences/Interpreting Messages
1.2 interpret media texts, using overt and implied messages as evidence for their interpretations.
Responding to and Evaluating Texts
1.3 evaluate the effectiveness of the presentation and treatment of ideas, information, themes, opinions, issues, and/or experiences in media texts.
Audience Responses
1.4 explain why different audiences.
Point of View
1.5 identify whose point of view is presented in a media text, identify missing or alternative points of view, and, where appropriate, determine whether the chosen view achieves a particular goal.
Production Perspectives
1.6 identify who produces various media texts, the reason for their production, how they are produced, and how they are funded.
Section 2: Understanding Media Forms, Conventions, and Techniques
By the end of Grade 6, 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 describe in detail the main elements 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 and influence or engage the audience.
Section 3: Creating Media Texts
By the end of Grade 6, 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 specific detail the topic, purpose, and audience for media texts they plan to create, and identify challenges they may face in achieving their purpose.
Form
3.2 identify an appropriate form to suit the specific purpose and audience for a media text they plan to create, and explain why it is an appropriate choice.
Conventions and Techniques
3.3 identify conventions and techniques appropriate to the form chosen for a media text they plan to create, and explain how they will use the conventions and techniques to help communicate their message.
Producing Media Texts
3.4 produce a variety of media texts for specific purposes and audiences, using appropriate forms, conventions, and techniques.
Section 4: Reflecting on Media Literacy Skills and Strategies
By the end of Grade 6, 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 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 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.
