This year we will be following a creative program in English studies, so that over the course of the year our Intermediate students will build a portfolio of their own original writing to be submitted as coursework.  Each year group will continue with a weekly grammar and spelling lesson, with the rest of the time divided between reading, writing and drama.  There will be a particular focus on building skills in the areas of inferring meaning from texts and developing independent thinking strategies and applying them successfully.  We will be closely following the Ontario Curriculum guidelines for English and ensuring that all four strands – reading, writing, media literacy and oral communication – are applied.

Course Assessment and Evaluation

Students will sit separate exams for reading and writing skills in English.  Exams are scheduled for January (mid-terms) and July (finals).  Evaluation will also be based on classroom assignments, writing projects, group work, oral presentations and regular short tests of spelling, grammar and punctuation.

Grade 6

Grade 6 students will be developing their technical knowledge of the structure of written and spoken language, giving them the tools to express thoughts accurately and critically.  In oral communication we will be focusing on listening skills, appropriate responses, and strategies for communicating with different audiences for a variety of purposes.  Over the year the strands of reading and writing will often be intertwined; the grade 6’s will be starting with poetry and speeches before moving into short story writing and factual writing.  Initial novel studies will look at both best selling Canadian authors and classics including work by Deborah Ellis, Eric Walters and Phillip Pullman.

Grade 7

Grade 7 students will be expected to apply their knowledge of forms and functions within English language to explore subtext and enhance their abilities of inferring meaning. Over the year they will develop in the skills of word choice, sentence fluency and writing conventions and apply what they learn in many different mediums.  Students will be asked to specifically focus on the idea of writing for different audiences and what it means in terms of style and content.  Reading and comprehension will continue to draw from classics such as The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Tempest and a variety of other texts, including Canadian authors.

Grade 8

During the Grade 8 writing program we will be focusing on metacognition and the development of individual voice.  It is important to see the grade 8 students applying their skills in areas of genuine ‘working writing’, so there will be a focus on concise journalistic writing, article writing, writing to persuade as well as narrative building.  Our reading program will include some more challenging works later in the school year, including work by Shakespeare, Richard Bach, Elie Weisel and Douglas Adams.