Page 10 - The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 9 and 10: English, 2007 (Revised)

OVERVIEW OF THE PROGRAM
The English program in Grades 9 to 12 includes compulsory courses and optional courses.
The compulsory courses emphasize strong core competencies in listening, speaking, reading, writing, viewing, and representing. As part of their program in Grades 9 and 10, students must take one compulsory course in English in each grade. These courses are offered in two types, academic and applied.3
One optional course is offered in the Grade 9–10 curriculum – Literacy Skills: Reading and Writing, Grade 10. This course offers students an opportunity to enhance their literacy skills. It may be taken to fulfil an optional credit requirement or the Group 1 additional compul- sory credit requirement for the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD). It may also be used, at the principal’s discretion, as a substitution for one of the compulsory credits required in English. The Literacy Skills course is an “open” course.
Students choose between course types on the basis of their interests, achievement, and postsecondary goals. The course types offered in Grades 9 and 10 are defined as follows:
Academic courses develop students’ knowledge and skills through the study of theory and abstract problems. These courses focus on the essential concepts of a subject and explore related concepts as well. They incorporate practical applications as appropriate.
Applied courses focus on the essential concepts of a subject, and develop students’ knowledge and skills through practical applications and concrete examples. Familiar situations are used to illustrate ideas, and students are given more opportunities to experience hands-on applications of the concepts and theories they study.
Open courses are designed to prepare students for further study in the subject, and to enrich their education generally. These courses comprise a set of expectations that are appropriate for all students.
School boards may offer a locally developed compulsory credit (LDCC) course in English in each of Grades 9 and 10, which may be used to meet the compulsory credit requirement in English for these grades.4 The Grade 9 and 10 LDCC courses prepare students for suc- cess in the Grade 11 English workplace preparation course.
3. If the principal deems that the academic and applied courses in either Grade 9 or Grade 10 are sufficiently different, a student may take both courses and, on successful completion, earn a credit for each.
4. If a student successfully completes both an LDCC course in Grade 9 or Grade 10 English and a curriculum course in English in the same grade, the principal may grant a credit for each course, bearing in mind that only one compulsory English credit is
required in each grade. (The second credit can be used to meet an optional credit requirement or the Group 1 additional com- pulsory credit requirement.)
THE PROGRAM IN ENGLISH