Grade 10 - Communicate Ideas and Information (Improving Communications)

PRESCRIBED LEARNING OUTCOMES

It is expected that students will:

• use established criteria to appraise their own and others' work to determine the appropriateness of the resources used and to offer relevant, constructive suggestions in an appropriate manner
• defend their choices of organizational and communication forms, and formulate ways to improve their own and others' work
• revise and edit their communications to improve content, organization, and effect to suit specific audiences and purposes
• apply specific criteria to assess and revise communications

To view the prescribed learning outcomes for Communicate Ideas and Information (Improving Communications) in other grades click on an icon below.

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

• Have students follow a discussion in a news group on the Internet and identify issues that create a strong emotional response. Ask them to work in groups to develop criteria for news-group etiquette.
• Teach students different ways of organizing their work (e.g., chronologically, spatially, by order of importance). Photocopy and cut up an essay or news story and have students put it back in logical order. Ask students to comment on the organization they chose and then compare their results with the original.
• Engage the class in a review of student writing samples. Ask students to identify strengths in each sample and suggest where the work could be changed and improved.
• Arrange students in groups of three or four to read an anonymous student paper. Ask students to consider the following as they read:
  • What are the issues being examined?
  • How does the student support his or her position?
  • Do the ideas generated make sense?
  • Are they placed in logical order?
  • Does this sequence keep you interested?
  • How might the student organize the information to make it more logical and more easily understood?
• Give triads of students the same information. Ask one student in each group to produce a factual report, another a position paper, and the third a piece of fiction, all based on the information received. Have students compare the way each used language and organized the information to achieve their individual purposes.

SUGGESTED ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

• When students work in feedback groups, watch for evidence that they are offering positive feedback and focussing on key issues associated with the work. For example:
  • What features stand out in a first reading (viewing) of this work?
  • What is the purpose of this work? Who is the intended audience?
  • What issues are being examined or presented?
  • To what extent is the information relevant, complete, and accurate?
  • How effective is the organization of the material?
  • Is source material used and documented appropriately?
  • What could strengthen the impact of this work?
• Provide opportunities for students to review their oral skills (debating or reading in group or individual presentations) and ask each to identify one or two specific goals for improvement. Have them develop individual action plans that describe:
  • the steps they will take to reach their goals
  • the resources (including their classmates and teacher) that are available to support them
  • how they will monitor their progress
  • what it will look and sound like when they have reached their goals
  Give students a few minutes each week to check on their progress. They may find it helpful to work in pairs where each is responsible for supporting and monitoring the other's progress.

RECOMMENDED LEARNING RESOURCES

• The Art of Teaching Writing
• The Little, Brown Handbook
• Speaking for Success
• The Writer's Workshop
• Writing for Results

Previous Organizer Next Organizer

  BC Ministry of Education Home Page