Page 117 - The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 11 and 12: English, 2007 (Revised)

Grade 12, College Preparation
3. Reading With Fluency
THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM, GRADES 11 AND 12 | English
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Teacher prompts: “What characteristics do short stories, novels, and graphic novels have in common? What characteristics are unique to the graphic novel?” “Can you explain why most non-fiction books have informative chapter titles and subtitles, whereas many novels have only numbered chapters? “Why is this information organized in a bar graph? How else could you present the information?”
Text Features
2.2 identify a variety of text features and explain how they help communicate meaning (e.g., sidebars allow secondary themes to be developed in some detail without interrupting the main narrative; headings, numbered steps, and illus- trations or diagrams make procedures and instructions clear and easy to follow; elements of graphic design and layout make various types of charts and schedules easier to read)
Teacher prompts: “How does this image alter the way you read and interpret the accompa- nying text?” “What information does the author provide in the sidebar in this section of the textbook? Why is it presented in a sidebar rather than in the main text?”
Elements of Style
2.3 identify a variety of elements of style in texts, including increasingly complex or difficult texts, and explain how they help communicate meaning and enhance the effectiveness of the texts (e.g., evaluate how diction affects the credi- bility of a news report; explain how repetition and parallel structure can be used to reinforce meaning in informational texts; compare song lyrics on the same theme and identify the ele- ments of style that make one song more effective than another)
Teacher prompts: “Why is this word repeated? In what other texts have you seen repetition used effectively? Why did it work?” “What is the metaphor used in the opening paragraph of this article on women in the labour force today? How does the writer extend the metaphor in subsequent paragraphs?”
By the end of this course, students will:
Reading Familiar Words
3.1 automatically understand most words in a variety of reading contexts (e.g., words in grade-level texts; terminology in college brochures, pamphlets, and online sources)
Teacher prompt: “When might it be a good idea to select a text that contains mostly familiar vocabulary?”
Reading Unfamiliar Words
3.2 use appropriate decoding strategies to read and understand unfamiliar words, including words of increasing difficulty (e.g., use knowl- edge of root words, prefixes, and suffixes to pre- dict the meaning of unfamiliar words; use con- text clues to determine the meaning of new words)
Teacher prompts: “What familiar word can we substitute in place of the unfamiliar word to make sense of the sentence?” “How do the sound, the look, and the sense of a sentence help you to decode unfamiliar words and check for meaning?”
Developing Vocabulary
3.3 use a variety of strategies, with increasing regularity, to explore and extend vocabulary, focusing on the precision with which words are used in the texts they are reading (e.g.,
use a thesaurus to find synonyms for new
words encountered in reading; keep a list of
the specialized vocabulary of a job or postsec- ondary program they are interested in pursuing)
Teacher prompt: “What strategies can you use to identify and learn career-specific vocabulary?”