Page 122 - THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM, GRADES 9–12 | Classical Studies and International Languages

Level 1, Academic
THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM, GRADES 9–12 | Classical Studies and International Languages
identify cognates while reading, and keep a list for future reference; consult a target language–English dictionary while reading to confirm or revise their interpretation of unfamiliar words; create a list of personally relevant words from a variety of reading sources to refer to as a memory aid; compile a list of key themes and concepts after reading to consolidate their vocabulary acquisition; compile a list of the names and associated symbols of currencies used in target-language communities around the world)
Teacher prompts: “Describe some techniques for remembering new words or expressions you encounter when reading. Which one do you find most helpful?” “How does knowledge of word parts, such as prefixes, suffixes, and roots, help you understand unfamiliar words?”
C2. Purpose, Form, and Style
By the end of this course, students will:
C2.1 Purposes and Characteristics of Text Forms: identify the purpose(s) and characteristics of some familiar text forms, including fictional, informational, graphic, and media forms, and explain how the characteristics help communi- cate the meaning (e.g., verse in a greeting card commemorates an event or conveys thanks; the interplay of images and words on a poster com- municates information in a concise and memorable way; setting, plot, and characterization work together in a short story to depict the significance of imagined experiences; a magazine article answers the questions who, what, when, where, how, or why to outline arguments about its subject)
Teacher prompts: “What is the intention of the text? What is its message?” “What are some differences between a greeting card and a poster in terms of the way each communicates its message?”
C2.2 Text Features and Elements of Style: identify some features and stylistic elements
of familiar text forms, including fictional, informational, graphic, and media forms, and explain how they help convey the meaning (e.g., rhyme patterns and descriptive words in
a poem evoke an emotional response; a list of ingredients, quantities, and procedural steps guide
the cook through a recipe; photographs, captions, headings and subheadings, sidebars, and pull quotes direct the reader’s attention to information in a magazine article; a subject line, a salutation, emoticons, and a signature provide key information in an e-mail; alphabetical order in an encyclopedia helps the reader find information; links in a website lead the user to related information)
Teacher prompts: “Why is it conventional to provide a list of ingredients before the directions
in a recipe?” “What text features draw the reader’s attention to key information in this magazine article? What makes them effective?” “What type of information do emoticons communicate in an e-mail?”
C2.3 Metacognition:
(a) describe some strategies they found helpful before, during, and after reading to understand texts;
(b) identify their areas of greater and lesser strength as readers, and plan steps they can take to improve their reading skills (e.g., keep a reading log and use it to track their reading trends; identify which strategies are useful at particular stages of the reading process; rank their top five reading comprehension strategies in order of effect- iveness; compare top strategies with those of a peer and collaborate to describe the best use for each; plan to skim texts to identify their features or find unfamiliar words to look up; plan to incorporate vocabulary they have newly acquired from reading sources into spoken and written contexts)
Teacher prompts: “What strategy do you find effective to help you prepare to read a text? What makes it useful?” “What strategy do you use to check your comprehension after reading? Why?”
C3. Intercultural Understanding
By the end of this course, students will:
C3.1 Intercultural Awareness: using information from a variety of texts in the target language, identify communities where the target language is spoken, find out about aspects of their cultures, and make connections to personal experiences and their own and other communities (e.g., locate target-language communities in Canada using census data; research traditions and festivals in target-language communities and report to the class; select programs of interest from a television
schedule in the target language; read about signifi- cant individuals from target-language communities, and describe some of their accomplishments; find
a comic strip in the target language that illustrates an aspect of culture, and explain it to the class; read target-language song lyrics and compare them with lyrics written in their own first language; read about an environmentally significant area in a target- language community and explain its significance)
Teacher prompts: “Where can you begin your research about a target-language tradition or festival that interests you?” “How does this comic strip explore an aspect of life in the target- language community? Do you think it is effective? What did you learn from it?” “What ideas in the song lyrics seemed similar to ideas
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