Course Profile - Curriculum Services Canada

Planning Notes
• In this activity students have the fundamentals of language conventions reinforced, and while it is likely
best done via teacher-directed lessons, there should be a series of mini-lessons of approximately half a
class, interspersed throughout the course.
• Teachers should plan lessons which speak to areas of need with the students, while ensuring they
have mastered the expectations identified. This point is critical as these skills are fundamental to
students’ preparation for the Grade 10 Reading and Writing test.
• Where deemed necessary, administer a diagnostic quiz on the language conventions identified below
(Teaching/Learning Strategies).
• Ensure that the class has access to a language text. (See Resources)
Teaching/Learning Strategies
• Teachers conduct a series of teacher-directed mini lessons throughout the course. Topics for lessons
include:
• parts of speech;
• parts of a sentence and types of sentences;
• common sentence errors;
• verb tenses;
• subject-verb agreement;
• antecedent errors;
• spelling patterns and rules;
• contractions and possessives;
• punctuation errors.
• Teachers employ a variety of approaches to augment the mini-lessons such as:
• the teachable moment, e.g., an error found in a paper in progress;
• grammar exercises;
• jigsaw approach on parts of speech;
• small group work on exercise sheets;
• peer tutoring.
Assessment/Evaluation
Formative Assessment:
• Diagnostic quizzes (optional and not to be used in the calculation of a final grade)
• Roving conferences to ensure comprehension
Summative Assessment:
• Quiz for comprehension and application
Accommodations
• A peer tutor or helper
• Reduction of content or number of questions/exercises
Unit 6 - Page 4
•English - Academic