Outline of Course Content
Unit 1: Technological Innovations | 19 hours |
Unit 2: International Relations | 19 hours |
Unit 3: Languages and Bilingualism | 20 hours |
Unit 4: Novel Study | 24 hours |
Unit 5: Canadian Studies | 20 hours |
Unit 6: Culminating Task (Independent Study Unit) | 5 hours |
Final Examination | 3 hours |
| Total: 110 hours |
UNIT OVERVIEWS
Unit 1: Technological Innovations
Time: 19 hours
In this unit, students will discuss and examinetopics and materials related to historical and modern technological innovations. You will learn advanced vocabulary related to the themes of technology and scientific advancement. They will consider questions such as“How does technology impact my life and the world?” and “What does the future of technological innovation hold?” You will read and listen to a variety oftexts/passages based on and/or related to these themes. You will practice applying background knowledge and prior experiences to the material to aid in their understanding. You will create both oral and written products to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of unit concepts/goals. You will investigate various Canadian post-secondary institutions and career options connected to technology. They will have a short review of previously learned tenses/grammar concepts learned in previous levels to diagnose understanding and achieve mastery. You will examine and practice understanding how the positioning of adverbs in a sentence can affect meaning. Then you will learn usage and apply the future progressive tense to form expressions such as “I will be waiting by the door.” You will expand their understanding of future tenses by learning the future perfect tense to form sentences such as, “OntarioYou will have earned at least 30 credits by the time they finish Grade 12.” you will learn, identify, and use the special use of certain non-count nouns made count with an article (a/an/the) to form sentences such as, “We would like to walk in a wood/woods.” You will expand their knowledge and application of complex transitions such as prior to, subsequently, although, furthermore, tosum up, despite, meanwhile, and moreover. Students will learn and use the writing process to create an exposition 3 essay, They will learn the purpose of exposition essays and the structure of essays. Students will practice creating thesis statements using provided strategies.
Unit 2: International Relations
Time: 19 hours
Students will learn about the importance andimpact international relations has made on modern life through a variety of reading, writing, listening, and speaking exercises/tasks. Students will consider questions such as “What does it mean to be a global citizen? and “How do international relations impact the world?” Students will investigate various Canadian post-secondary institutions and career pathways in government and international contexts. They will develop, reinforce and use skills such as: previewing a text, predicting content, reading and listening for main ideas anddetails, understanding keywords and phrases, using context to understand themeaning, reading for gists, using photos/pictures to activate knowledge, reading titles and headings to prepare for reading. Writing and speaking skills will include revising and editing, writing a complete article about current affairs and/or unit concepts. Students will articulate and present their ideasin the forms of discussions, debates, and presentations. Students will learnand use new vocabulary related to the theme of governance and international relations. Students will expand their understanding of relative pronouns usedwith relative/subordinate clauses to form sentences like “The film is about aspy whose best friend betrays him when they travel in Russia.” Students will learn the rules and practice speaking and writing using the past perfect tense to form sentences like, "The students had been practising their speeches before the teacher entered the room". Students will learn different types of rhetorical appeals (logos, pathos, ethos) and practice identify those appeals in passages to make their writing/speaking more persuasive. Students will expand their research skills by analyzing a series of online resources to determine their authenticity and usefulness by critically reading the textswhile creating notes/summaries and accurate MLA citations. Students will engagein discussions related to the topic. They will produce a written and oral report on one current event or issue. They will write a cause and effect essay analyzing how international relations and international organizations are affecting their own countries and the world.
Unit 3: Languages and Bilingualism
Time: 20 hours
Students will learn and explore topics related to the theme of languages and bilingualism. They will learn about the types, processes, and aspects of language through a variety of reading, writing,listening, and speaking exercises/tasks. Students will consider questions suchas, “How does our language define us?” and “Why should we protect languages?”In the context of these questions, students will develop, reinforce and uses kills such as: previewing a text, predicting content, reading and listening for main ideas and details, reading, making annotations while/after reading,and recognizing different types of text. Students will practice writing for academic purposes/using the writing process by writing an extended definition of a term or idea from their first language which is difficult to accurately translate in English. Students will learn and use new vocabulary related to the theme and listening/reading passages. Students will practice speakings kills/pronunciation by using thought groups and giving advice to other languages. Students will review a variety of collocations to build their vocabulary and help them infer meaning. Likewise, they will review idioms to build their fluency. Students will review passive forms. They will learn and practice the passive use of modals and the past perfect to form sentences like,“The cup must have been broken by the dog.” and “The bowl had already been broken by the dog.” Students will learn to express themselves more effectively by reviewing and using parallel structures in their writing and speaking. They will connect the information in a sentence using transitions like “notonly...but 4 also”. They will also practice using as in a variety of forms and meanings (e.g. as...as, as soon as, as well as, nearly as, just as, not quiteas, whereas).
Unit 4: Novel Study
Time: 24 hours
Students will learn and explore concepts related to story telling and literature as they closely study and analyze The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. They will consider questions such as “How do stories shape us?” and “What elements areused to make great stories?” Students will prepare themselves for future courses by learning how to identify, analyze, and use a series of literary devices including character types, plot elements, conflict studies, fore shadowing, symbolism, and theme. Students will be reminded to an notate the text as they read and create their own key vocabulary journals to increase their independent learning skills. Students will answer a series of chapter comprehension/critical thinking questions to build their expression skills and boost their understanding of the novel’s text. Students will expand their knowledge of idioms to improve their fluency. Students will learn and practiceusing a variety of different phrasal verbs in their speaking and writing.Students will usethe word enough with adjectives. They will learn and correctly form conditional/type 3 sentences like “If I had known that you were coming, Iwould have met you at the airport.” Students will participate in a series of discussions to share their own impressions of the novel and practice their skills. Students will analyze the novel for a particular theme and presenttheir findings in a theme seminar. They will use creative thought processes, knowledge of literary devices, and descriptive writing skills to create a short story using mythical/fantastical elements.
Unit 5: Canadian Studies
Time: 20 hours
Students will learn about different aspects of Canadian identities, society, history, and culture by closely listening and reading a variety of passages related to the topic of Canada. They will consider questions such as “What defines Canada?” and “How will Canada continue to grow? ” Students will apply numerous reading strategies such as scanning, skimming, recognizing a texts purpose, analyzing a text, and understanding main and supporting details. Students will practice listening to recognize different attitudes toward a topic. Students will build their speaking and research skills by creating a report on a Canadian current event. They will write aformal, functional cover letter to support their resume for a job/volunteer positon. Students will use research and thinking skills to create a persuasiveoral and written report on a Canadian issue. Students will continue to apply and refine their vocabulary and grammar skills over the course of the unit. They will learn and practice using positive and negative tag questions. They will also learn the alternate ways of saying the same thing using negation.
Unit 6: Culminating Task (Independent Study Unit)
Time: 5 hours
Students will use information and ideas from course topics to complete an independent study unit (ISU) to demonstrate their understanding and abilities to express themselves using advanced English skillsand abilities. Students will explore the concept of an individual’s ability to enact real change in the world. Students will have the freedom to choose the issue/problem they wish to change at a local, national, and/or global level.They will independently research, plan, and prepare a petition statement, persuasive essay, and persuasive speech based on their chosen issue for a Canadian high school audience.
