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Course Profile English, Grade 9 academic, Public

Unit 1

Course Profiles are professional development materials designed to help teachers implement the new Grade 9 secondary school curriculum. These materials were created by writing partnerships of school boards and subject associations. The development of these resources was funded by the Ontario Ministry of Education and Training. This document reflects the views of the developers and not necessarily those of the Ministry. Permission is given to reproduce these materials for any purpose except profit. Teachers are also encouraged to amend, revise, edit, cut, paste, and otherwise adapt this material for educational purposes.

Any references in this document to particular commercial resources, learning materials, equipment or technology reflect only the opinion of the writers of this sample course profile and do not reflect any official endorsement by the Ministry of the Education and Training or by the Partnership of the School Boards that supported the production of the document.

Acknowledgements

Lead Board Upper Grand District School Board

Director: Martha Rogers

Superintendent of Education: Dave Euale

Project Leader Linda May Bell

Course Profile Writing Team

Linda May Bell, Arthur DHS, Upper Grand DSB Joanne Bridgeman, Bradford DHS, Simcoe DSB

Laura Cannon-Sherlock, Grey Highlands SS, Bluewater DSB Patti Collins, College Heights SS, Upper Grand DSB

Karen Fraser, J. D. Hogarth PS, Upper Grand DSB Larry Hincks, Grey Highlands SS, Bluewater DSB

Phil Midgley, Pauline Johnson CVS, Grand Erie DSB Peggy Raeburn-Bell, Georgian Bay SS, Bluewater DSB

Wilf Smyth, Stratford Central SS, Avon Maitland DSB Judy Stormes, Norwell DSS, Upper Grand DSB

Ann Varty, Program Department, Trillium Lakelands DSB Ian Waldron, North Toronto CI, Toronto DSB

Margaret Young, Westmount SS, Hamilton-Wentworth DSB

Feedback Team

Pamela Brown-Wass, J. F. Ross CVI, Upper Grand DSB Marilyn Crooks, J. D. Hogarth PS, Upper Grand DSB

Kate Dodsworth, Arthur DHS, Upper Grand DSB Catherine Eagles, Pauline Johnson CVS, Grand Erie DSB

Jane Enticknap, Pauline Johnson CVS, Grand Erie DSB Laura Espinoza, University of Waterloo, student

Dianne Fenner, Toronto DSB Janet Franklin, Pauline Johnson CVS, Grand Erie DSB

Nancy Fulton, Centre Wellington DHS, Upper Grand DSB Leslie Harrison, St. Mary’s DCVI, Avon Maitland DSB

Judith Hunter, Toronto DSB Clair Keodprom, Brantford CI&VS, Grand Erie DSB

Amanda Leathem, Elora PS, Upper Grand DSB Carol Leis, John F. Ross CVI, Upper Grand DSB

Gillda Leitenberg, Toronto DSB Robert Lyon, Canadian Forces

Troy Maracle, Moira SS, Hastings/Prince Edward DSB Mark McKechnie, Lasalle SS, Limestone DSB

Betty Mick, Centre Wellington DHS, Upper Grand DSB Scott Montgomery, Arthur PS, Upper Grand DSB

Lynda Noppe, Westside SS, Upper Grand DSB Beth Paterson, Arthur DHS, Upper Grand DSB

Paola Rowe, Silvercreek Education Centre, Upper Grand DSB Doreen Smith, Arthur, parent

Amanda St. Jean, J. F. Ross CVI, Upper Grand DSB Michael Stubitsch, Toronto DSB

Sherri Van Sickle, Pauline Johnson CVS, Grand Erie DSB Philip Vousden, Mitchell DHS, Avon Maitland DSB

Christine Walker-Bird, Centre Hastings SS, Hastings/PE DSB Jim Wibberley, Brantford CI&VS, Grand Erie DSB

Assistants

Geoff Burchill, Arthur Barbara Fatt-Merilees, Upper Grand DSB

Beth Smeltzer, Rockwood

Unit #1: Narrative Forms and Voices

Time: 25 hours

Unit Developers: Linda May Bell, Laura Cannon-Sherlock, Karen Fraser, Larry Hincks,

Peggy Raeburn-Bell, Wilf Smith, Margaret Young

Development Date February – April 1999

Unit Description

The students will develop an understanding of the conventions of narrative literature and language. The students will read and study a range of short narratives, including short stories, novellas, narrative poetry, myths, legends, short animated films, and short feature films. The students will use their knowledge of the elements of narrative, such as plot, character, setting, conflict, theme, and atmosphere, to understand and interpret narrative texts. The students will record their thoughts, ideas, and feelings in a variety of personal and interactive responses, and will create and share their own narratives. The students will write descriptive and expository paragraphs, thus providing a foundation for writing the five-paragraph essay. On-going personal reading and writing are essential for students to develop mature communication skills.

Strands and Expectations

Strands: Literature Studies and Reading, Writing, Language, and Media Studies

Overall Expectations: LIV.01D, LIV.02D, LIV.03B, WRV.02D, WRV.03D, WRV.05B, LGV.01D, LGV.02B, MDV.01D, MDV.02D

Specific Expectations: LI1.02D, LI1.02B, LI1.03B, LI1.05D, LI1.06B, LI2.01D, LI2.02D, LI3.02D; WR2.02D, WR3.01D, WR3.02D, WR3.05D, WR4.02B, WR5.04B, WR5.05D, WR5.06D, WR5.07B, WR5.08B, WR5.09B, WR5.10B, WR5.11B, WR5.14B, WR5.15B, WR5.16B; LG1.01B, LG1.02B, LG1.05D, LG1.07B, LG2.02D, LG2.07D; MD1.02D, MD2.01D.

Activity Titles

Activity 1	Introduction to Narrative Form	225 minutes
Activity 2	The Structure of Narrative Fiction	225 minutes
Activity 3	Setting and Mood: “It was a dark and stormy night...”	150 minutes
Activity 4	Narrative Point of View	225 minutes
Activity 5	Characterization: A Blueprint for Character	150 minutes
Activity 6	Themes in Narrative Fiction	150 minutes
Activity 7	The Whole Picture	75 minutes
Activity 8	Create Your Own Narrative	300 minutes

Unit Planning Notes

The teacher needs to develop a collection of short narratives, such as ballads, media works, music videos, and short films. The teacher-librarian will prove invaluable as a co-planner and co-developer of this unit.

Prior Knowledge Required

The Ontario Curriculum Grades 1–8: Language outlines the principles of Response Journals and co- operative learning principles, and an understanding of print and electronic thesauri and dictionaries.

Teaching/Learning Strategies

Because students learn in a variety of ways, teachers must accommodate various learning styles in their teaching. For the academic level student, approaches should be more abstract than concrete. Students must be given the opportunity to work independently, with partners, in small groups, and with the whole class. There should be a range of activities to provide students with optimal opportunities to develop their language skills. The traditional practices of teacher lecture or instruction, the Socratic lesson, and whole class discussion should be complemented with opportunities for brainstorming, experimenting, discussing, debating, interviewing, researching, writing, role playing, dramatizing, designing, and constructing. In the English classroom, the use of personal and interactive Response Journals should play an important part of helping students to identify and develop their ideas for writing and discussion and their awareness of their own learning.

Assessment/Evaluation

Teachers must develop and utilize a full repertoire of evaluative tools and strategies, including checklists, rubrics, exemplars, criteria-referenced tests, quizzes, examinations, portfolios, collections, performance-based tasks, and assignments, in order to measure the students’ achievements against the course expectations.

Both formative and summative evaluation must be used to enhance student learning and to ensure fair evaluation. All evaluation procedures must include opportunities for learning. Students must be given opportunities for peer- and self-evaluation, and for the design of evaluation criteria.

Accommodations in assessment are necessary to ensure that the assessment accurately measures student learning. Accommodations are appropriate for exceptional pupils and students for whom English is a second language. Assessment tools and strategies should reflect a sensitivity to the cultural diversity within the English classroom.

Resources

National Film Board of Canada, C.B.C., TVO web site, Clio Awards

Barry, J. (Ed.) Coast to Coast Stories, Poetry, Non-fiction and Drama. Toronto: Nelson Canada, 1995. ISBN 0-17-604-704-2

Canadian Oxford Dictionary. Don Mills: Oxford University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-19-541120-X

Geddes, G. (Ed.) Art of Short Fiction. Toronto: Addison Wesley Longman, 1993.

ISBN 0-00-647424-1

Moss, D., and T. Goldie. (Eds.) An Anthology of Canadian Native Literature in English. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1992.

Perreault, J., and S. Vance. (Eds.) Writing the Circle/Native Women of Western Canada. Edmonton: Newest Publishers Ltd., 1993. ISBN 0-920897-882

Transparencies for Writing: Literature: The English Tradition. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall,

1991. ISBN 0-13-981929-0

Activity #1: Introduction to Narrative Form

Time: 225 minutes

Description

This introductory activity is a diagnostic tool to assess students’ prior knowledge of the narrative form. Information from this activity will enable the teacher to determine the focus of activities in this unit and individual student’s needs for remediation, consolidation, and/or enrichment. The students will enhance their appreciation of the narrative by examining its historical origins and critically assessing its purpose and relevance.

Strands and Expectations

Strands: Literature Studies and Reading, Writing, and Language

Overall Expectations:

At the end of Grade 9 students will:

• L1V.03B - identify and explain the effect of specific elements of style in a variety of literary and informational texts;

• LGV.02B - use listening techniques and oral communication skills to participate in classroom discussions and more formal activities, such as storytelling, role playing, and reporting/presenting information for specific purposes and audiences.

Specific Expectations:

Students will:

• LI1.02D - select and read texts for different purposes, with an emphasis on recognizing the

elements of the literary genres and the organization of informational materials, collecting

and assessing information, responding imaginatively, and exploring human experiences and

values;

• LI2.02D - use elements of the short story, such as plot, characterization, setting, conflict,

theme, mood, and point of view to understand and interpret examples of the genre;

• LI1.05D - analyze information, ideas, and elements in texts to make inferences about

meaning;

• WR3.05D - structure expository paragraphs using a topic sentence, supporting sentences to

develop the topic, connecting words to link the sentences, and a concluding sentence;

• LG2.02D - communicate in group discussions by sharing the duties of the group, speaking in

turn, listening actively, paraphrasing key points made by others, exchanging and challenging

ideas and information, asking appropriate questions, reconsidering their own ideas and

opinions, managing conflict, and respecting the opinion of others; *

• LG2.07D - analyze their own and others’ oral presentations to identify strengths and

weaknesses, and plan ways to improve their performance.

Planning Notes

• The teacher will determine parameters for classroom management and course expectations.

• Teachers and students will collect stories that reflect the diversity of Ontario’s students for the reading collection.

• Teachers will provide an organizer chart that includes the following elements: plot, characterization, setting, conflict, theme, mood, and point of view.

Plot

Characterization

Setting

Conflict

Theme

Mood

Point of View

Prior Knowledge Required

• The students will have met expectations as outlined in The Ontario Curriculum Grades 1–8: Language.

• The students will have an understanding of and experience with co-operative learning.

Teaching/Learning Strategies

1. At the outset of this unit, the teacher will clearly establish parameters regarding classroom management and course expectations (e.g., policies regarding late assignments, attendance procedures, resources or materials for class, the course outline, assessment and evaluation practices, personal Response Journals, learning logs, writing portfolios, notebooks, and other departmental policies).

2. As a means of initiating class discussion about this unit, sketch a mind map on the board with the word “narrative” as the focus. Then ask students to respond to the question: What is a narrative? Responses may include a short story, a legend, a myth, a ballad, a novella, an operetta, and/or a stained glass window. The students should have the opportunity to respond to and express their ideas constructively, building on the ideas of others. This initial discussion may be used as a means of establishing the courtesies for class discussion (i.e., the need for a supportive atmosphere, attentive listening, constructive interaction, tact and diplomacy, and the need to support responses appropriately).

3. In order to establish a definition of “narrative,” the teacher will ask the students to refer to the mind map and respond to the following questions: What conclusions can be drawn about what is a “narrative“? What ideas justify these conclusions? What is the relationship between these different forms of narrative? Using their responses to the questions, the teacher will guide the class to write a definition of narrative. The teacher needs to remind the class that definitions are constantly evolving; therefore, literary critics’ definitions of narrative may also vary.

4. How did the short narrative form evolve? Discuss how stories reflect our human experience. How do they depict human nature? Why have stories been passed down in oral and written traditions? To stimulate students to make a connection between their definition of the narrative and the collective human experience, ask students to respond in their Response Journals to the quotation “Today we live, but by tomorrow, today will be a story. The whole world, all human life, is one long story.” (Isaac Bashevis Singer)

5. So that the students will have an opportunity to enhance their understanding of the narrative form, the teacher will provide a rich, diverse collection of stories for students’ daily reading. Teachers and students will add stories that reflect the diversity of Ontario’s students for the Reading Collection.

6. The students will listen to a short story, review briefly the definitions of the narrative elements, then complete the elements of the story organizer. The students will create a glossary of literary terms, either in their notebooks or on disk, which will be developed during the course. The first entry will be a definition of the term “narrative."

7. The teacher will explain the principles of group work: how each student must be an active participant; how to express and listen to ideas within a group; how to deal with conflict within a group; how to organize and prepare material for presentation. The students will be given a group evaluation check list, and the teacher will explain the specific criteria for peer evaluation, answering any questions that may be raised. This modelling of evaluation is the first step towards teaching students how to establish objectives and assessment procedures.

8. The teacher will organize the students into groups of three, giving each group a story and an organizer. All students will read the story silently, then complete the organizer co-operatively.

9. Members of each group will read their story aloud, act it out for the class, or present it in a series of tableaux. They will submit a completed organizer for teacher evaluation.

10. The class will briefly discuss each group’s presentation and organizer.

11. Using a group-evaluation check list, group members will evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their presentation, and how effectively the group members worked together.

12. The teacher will explain to the students that the following activity is a diagnostic activity to help focus their unit of study on narrative structure.

13. Each student will select a story from the Reading Collection and complete an organizer. The student will independently write a paragraph summarizing the story, indicating what the story reveals about the human experience and where the story fits in literary history. This will be submitted for teacher evaluation. Students will need to review the components of the expository paragraph (i.e., a topic sentence, supporting sentences to develop the topic, connecting words to link the sentences, and a concluding sentence).

Assessment/Evaluation

1. Formative: - teacher’s observation notes on class participation

- peer group-work evaluation check list (LG2.02D)

2 Diagnostic: - knowledge of narrative elements from the initial exercise using the story

organizer

- assessment of writing skills based on paragraph

- assessment of group’s completed story organizers

Resources

Appleford, D. (Ed.) SF: Inventing the Future. Agincourt: Books Society of Canada, 1972.

ISBN 0-7725-5065-4

Barton, B., and D. Booth. Stories in the Classroom: Storytelling, Reading Aloud and Roleplaying with

Children. Markham: Pembroke Publishers, 1990. ISBN 0-435-08527-1

Bemister, M. Thirty Indian Legends of Canada. Vancouver: J.J. Douglas, 1973. ISBN 0-88894-025-4

Booth, D., and C. Thornley-Hall. (Eds.) Classroom Talk. Markham: Pembroke, 1991.

ISBN 0-435-09596-4

Ellsworth, B., and A. Keller. (Eds.) English Simplified Canadian. Toronto: Addison Wesley Longman,

1996. ISBN 0-673-99962-9

Fisher, D., and S. Jeroski. Voices 1: Contemporary Short Fiction. Toronto: Oxford University Press,

1993. ISBN 0-19-540887-X

Fisher, D., and S. Jeroski. Voices 2: Contemporary Short Fiction. Toronto: Oxford University Press,

1993. ISBN 0-19-540888-8

Gordon, J. Fiction: The Elements of the Short Story. Illinois: National Textbook Co., 1999.

ISBN 0-8442-5991-8

Hargreaves, H. North By Two Thousand: A Collection of Canadian Science Fiction. Toronto: Peter

Martin, 1975.

Hayakawa, S. Language In Thought and Action. 3^rd ed. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc.,

1972. ISBN 0-15-550118-6

Hill, K. Glooscap and His Magic: Legends of the Wabanaki Indians. Toronto: McLelland and Stewart,

1973. ISBN 0-89845-479-4

Kooy, M. (Ed.) Reading Response Logs. Markham: Pembroke, 1996. ISBN 0-435-07208-0

Moss, S. (Ed.) The World’s Shortest Stories. Santa Barbara, CA: Fithian Press,1995.

ISBN 1-880284-11-1

Norton, S., and B. Green. The Bare Essentials, Form A. Canada: Harcourt Brace and Co., 1996.

ISBN 0-7747-3361-6

Roman, T. (Ed.) Voices Under One Sky: Contemporary Native Literature: Reflections and

Fiction & Non-Fiction. Scarborough: International Thomson Publishing Nelson Canada, 1994.

ISBN 0-89594-720-X

School Achievement Indicators Program: Report on Reading and Writing Assessment

1998. Toronto: Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, 1999. ISBN 0-88987-116-7

Tesenga, S., and M. Bell. Character, Plot, and Setting: Contemporary English Modules. Morriston,

NJ: Silver Burdett, General Learning Corp., 1975.

Web Sites

http://www.teachers.net

http://www.lessonstop.org

http://www.microsoft.com/education/k12/classroom/

Accommodations

1. The teacher could pair successful students as peer mentors to assist t