Page 57 - THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM, GRADES 9–12 | Classical Studies and International Languages

The school library program enables students to:
• develop a love of reading for learning and for pleasure;
• develop literacy and research skills using non-fiction materials;
• develop a critical appreciation of various text forms, aspects of material culture, art forms, and media forms;
• acquire an understanding of the richness and diversity of literature, informational texts, and art works produced in Canada and around the world;
• obtain access to programs, resources, and integrated technologies that support all curriculum areas;
• understand and value the role of public library systems as a resource for lifelong learning.
The school library program plays a key role in the development of information literacy and research skills. Teacher-librarians, where available, collaborate with classroom or content-area teachers to design, teach, and provide students with authentic information and research tasks that foster learning, including the ability to:
• access, select, gather, process, critically evaluate, create, and communicate information;
• use the information obtained to explore and investigate issues, solve problems, make decisions, build knowledge, create personal meaning, and enrich their lives;
• communicate their findings to different audiences, using a variety of formats and technologies;
• use information and research with understanding, responsibility, and imagination. In addition, teacher-librarians can work with teachers of classical studies and international languages to help students:
• develop literacy in using non-print forms, such as the Internet, CDs, DVDs, and videos, in order to access relevant information, databases, demonstrations, and a variety of performances;
• design inquiry questions for research for classical studies and international languages projects;
• create and produce single-medium or multimedia presentations.
Teachers are also encouraged to collaborate with both local librarians and teacher-librarians in collecting digital, print, and visual resources for projects (e.g., culture-specific image collections; informational and performance videos). Librarians may also be able to assist in accessing a variety of online resources and collections (e.g., professional articles, image galleries, videos).
In addition to resource materials in the school library, teachers may be able to access specialized libraries of copyright-free authentic texts in the language of study. These could include audiobooks and music from a variety of cultures in which the target language is spoken, or untranslated classical texts. Teachers need to discuss with students the concept of ownership of work and the importance of copyright in all forms of media.
SOME CONSIDERATIONS FOR PROGRAM PLANNING IN CLASSICAL STUDIES AND INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGES
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