Page 7 - The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 11 and 12: English, 2007 (Revised)

THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM, GRADES 11 AND 12 | English
speaking, listening, viewing, and representing. Students develop their literacy skills when they seek out recreational reading materials and multimedia works that relate to their personal interests and to other subject areas, and when they engage in conversation with parents, peers, and teachers about what they are reading, writing, viewing, representing, and thinking in their daily lives.
Parents
Parents2 have an important role to play in supporting student learning. Studies show
that students perform better in school if their parents are involved in their education.
By becoming familiar with the curriculum, parents can determine what is being taught in the courses their daughters and sons are taking and what they are expected to learn. This awareness will enhance parents’ ability to discuss their children’s work with them, to communicate with teachers, and to ask relevant questions about their children’s progress. Knowledge of the expectations in the various courses will also help parents to interpret teachers’ comments on student progress and to work with teachers to improve their children’s learning.
Effective ways in which parents can support their children’s learning include attending parent-teacher interviews, participating in parent workshops and school council activities (including becoming a school council member), and encouraging their children to com- plete their assignments at home.
In addition to supporting regular school activities, parents may wish to encourage their sons and daughters to take an active interest in using language for meaningful purposes as a regular part of their activities outside school. They might encourage them to read every day; take out a library membership; join a book club, a computer club, a camera club, or a community group; or subscribe to an age-appropriate magazine. They might also initiate conversations at home about what their daughters and sons are reading.
Teachers
Teachers and students have complementary responsibilities. Teachers develop appropri- ate instructional strategies to help students achieve the curriculum expectations, as well as appropriate methods for assessing and evaluating student learning. Teachers bring enthusiasm and varied teaching and assessment approaches to the classroom, addressing different student needs and ensuring sound learning opportunities for every student.
Using a variety of instructional, assessment, and evaluation strategies, teachers provide numerous opportunities for students to develop the literacy and language skills that will allow them to participate more effectively in their communities as responsible and active citizens. The study of literature and the media provides students with an awareness and appreciation of the culture that surrounds, challenges, and nourishes them.
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2. The word parents is used in this document to refer to parent(s) and guardian(s).