PREFACE: USING THIS INTEGRATED RESOURCES PACKAGE

Implementation of English Language Arts 8 to 10 will begin in September 1996, with full implementation in September 1997. This Integrated Resource Package (IRP) provides some of the basic information that teachers will require to implement the curriculum. The information contained in this IRP is also available through the Internet. Contact the Ministry of Education home page: http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/

The Introduction

The Introduction provides general information about English Language Arts 8 to 10, including special features and requirements. It also provides a rationale for the subjectwhy English language arts is taught in BC schoolsand an explanation of the curriculum organizers.

The English Language Arts 8 to 10 Curriculum

The provincially prescribed curriculum for English Language Arts 8 to 10 is structured in terms of curriculum organizers. The main body of this IRP consists of four columns of information for each organizer. These columns describe:

provincially prescribed learning outcome statements for English Language Arts 8 to 10
suggested instructional strategies for achieving the outcomes
suggested assessment strategies for determining how well students are achieving the outcomes
provincially recommended learning resources

Prescribed Learning Outcomes

Learning outcome statements are content standards for the provincial education system. Learning outcomes set out the knowledge, enduring ideas, issues, concepts, skills, and attitudes for each subject. They are statements of what students are expected to know and be able to do in each grade. Learning outcomes are clearly stated and expressed in measurable terms. All learning outcomes complete this stem: "It is expected that students will. . . . " Outcome statements have been written to enable teachers to use their experience and professional judgment when planning and evaluating. The outcomes are benchmarks that will permit the use of criterion-referenced performance standards. It is expected that actual student performance will vary. Evaluation, reporting, and student placement with respect to these outcomes depends on the professional judgment of teachers, guided by provincial policy.

Instruction involves the use of techniques, activities, and methods that can be employed to meet diverse student needs and to deliver the prescribed curriculum. Teachers are free to adapt the suggested instructional strategies or substitute others that will enable their students to achieve the prescribed outcomes. These strategies have been developed by specialist and generalist teachers to assist their colleagues; they are suggestions only.

Suggested Assessment Strategies

The assessment strategies suggest a variety of ways to gather information about student performance. Some assessment strategies relate to specific activities; others are general. These strategies have been developed by specialist and generalist teachers to assist their colleagues; they are suggestions only.

Provincially Recommended Learning Resources

Provincially recommended learning resources are materials that have been reviewed and evaluated by British Columbia teachers in collaboration with the Ministry of Education according to a stringent set of criteria. They are typically materials suitable for student use, but they may also include information primarily intended for teachers. Teachers and school districts are encouraged to select those resources that they find most relevant and useful for their students, and to supplement these with locally approved materials and resources to meet specific local needs. The recommended resources listed in the main body of this IRP are those that have a comprehensive coverage of significant portions of the curriculum, or those that provide a unique support to a specific segment of the curriculum. Appendix B contains a complete listing of provincially recommended learning resources to support this curriculum.

The Appendices

A series of appendices provides additional information about the curriculum and further support for the teacher.

Appendix A contains a listing of the prescribed learning outcomes for the curriculum.
Appendix B contains a comprehensive listing of the provincially recommended learning resources for this curriculum. As new resources are evaluated, this appendix will be updated.
Appendix C outlines the cross-curricular reviews used to ensure that concerns such as equity, access, and the inclusion of specific topics are addressed by all components of the IRP.
Appendix D contains assistance for teachers related to provincial evaluation and reporting policy. Curriculum outcomes have been used as the source for sample criterion-referenced evaluations.
Appendix E acknowledges the many people and organizations that have been involved in the development of this IRP.

Explanation of Section

Curriculum Sub-Organizer as seen on the World Wide Web

Grade and
Curriculum Organizer

Grade 8 - Comprehend and Respond (Strategies and Skills)

This sub-organizer contains the following sections:
Prescribed Learning Outcomes
Suggested Instructional Strategies
Suggested Assessment Strategies
Recommended Learning Resources

Internal links to each
section of the document

Prescribed Learning Outcomes

PRESCRIBED LEARNING OUTCOMES

It is expected that students will develop repertoires of skills and strategies to use as they anticipate, predict, and confirm meaning while reading, viewing, and listening.

It is expected that students will:

describe and assess the strategies they use for reading, viewing, and listening for various purposes
use various strategies to cope with difficult or dense communications
use a variety of resources to obtain background information
identify and interpret the effect of literary techniques and figures of speech including foreshadowing, metaphor, alliteration, simile, and onomatopoeia

To view the prescribed learning outcomes for Comprehend and Respond (Strategies and Skills) in other grades click on an icon below.

Navigational Links to similar sub-organizers

Suggested Instructional Strategies

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

Through specific instruction, practice, talking, and writing about the strategies that work for them, and through feedback, students gain confidence in using their skills and strategies to comprehend ideas in a range of communications.

Review note-taking skills such as how to pick out main ideas, or have students use web or flow charts to organize information while reading or viewing. Then ask students to practise taking notes as they watch a video; stop the video every few minutes so students can note important ideas. Suggest that they meet in small groups to compare and comment on each other's notes. Challenge each group to develop a set of guidelines for note taking while viewing; then ask groups to share these with the class.
Explain how students can use context clues to help understand the meaning of new vocabulary. As students read a passage, have each highlight unfamiliar words and predict their meanings from other information in the text. Ask them to work in small groups to: discuss the words they highlighted and the meanings they predicted, explain their predictions, and then compare their definitions with dictionary definitions.
Before reading or viewing, have students look at titles, illustrations, and diagrams to predict content, and then discuss their predictions as a class. As they read or view the material, ask them to note the accuracy of their predictions.
Have students read an article in an electronic encyclopedia; have them identify unfamiliar words and try to predict their meanings before they click on the program's dictionary or thesaurus feature.

Suggested Assessment Strategies

SUGGESTED ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

Students demonstrate their abilities to apply comprehension strategies and skills when they are asked to perform challenging reading, viewing, or listening tasks. Assessment focusses on their repertoire of skills and strategies, their abilities to select and use these for specific purposes, and the insight they show through self-assessment.

After each practice activity, have students add to an ongoing list of the skills and strategies that they are developing. Ask them to include brief descriptions of each, comments about which purposes, formats, media, or processes they have used, and examples of how and when they have used each. Students can keep their lists as charts, glossaries, notes in their notebooks, or as computer files. Ask them to review and comment on their lists regularly by responding to questions such as:
- Which skills and strategies do you use most often? Why?
- Which are difficult for you to apply? Why?
- Which do you not fully understand or would like to practise?
Offer feedback through written comments or individual or group conferences.
Assess the content and organization of students' note taking. (They are likely to need guidance about which formats to use for different purposes, media, and situations.) Note the extent to which students are able to:
- record key information accurately
- include relevant detail
- differentiate between key ideas and supporting detail
- organize their notes to clarify the relationships among ideas
- be concise and efficient (no extraneous material)
- construct notes that are easy to follow (e.g., through the use of formatting and headings)