Units	Hours
Unit One In this unit, students will describe the assessment criteria outlined in the provincial achievement charts; the prerequisites for post-secondary education and training, describe the types of courses offered for Grades 9-12, identify terms such as Ontario Student Record, Ontario Student Transcript, Transfer Course, and Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM), use correctly the grammatical structures and conventions of written English appropriate for this level, describe the types of courses offered for Grades 9-12, describes the types of courses offered for Grades 9-12, and describe the types of courses offered for.	20 hours
Unit Two In this unit, students will define media and cite its examples, differentiate media platforms from one another, identify the purposes of media, explain the importance of media in your day-to-day life, identify the importance of each era in media development, differentiate between advertisements in media VS real life, understand each element of the communication process, cite examples for each communication process step, identify each step in the communication process of advertising, analyze an advertisement using the communication process, define Media Literacy, understand different media texts and their points of view, create your advertisement for specific purposes and audiences, define and apply each step from the ABCDE Five-Step Strategy to your own experiences; and review and read media texts using the ABCDE Five-Step Strategy, and use correctly the grammatical structures and conventions of written English appropriate for this level.	20 hours
Unit Three In this unit, students will read “Piecing Me Together,” and demonstrate a grasp of the novel through lessons and reflections on the discussion forum in this unit. Students will also learn how to write a journal entry, see a video of Kimberlé Crenshaw's TED Talk on the urgency of intersectionality, and draw conclusions about the novel's character.	20 hours
Unit Four In this unit, students will demonstrate their knowledge of the writing process by responding to prompts that ask them to express their ideas and feelings about Canadian citizenship and diversity and its diversity by interpreting Watchmojo's video about Canadian stereotypes, demonstrate their understanding of Canadian citizenship and diversity by interpreting Watchmojo's video about Canadian stereotypes, and demonstrate their understanding of Canadian citizenship and diversity by interpreting Watchmojo's video about Canadian stereotypes, use a variety of strategies to read and comprehend news articles about the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, demonstrate an understanding of Canadian citizens' rights and responsibilities by reviewing and responding to sample scenarios, demonstrate an understanding of the three levels of government in Canada, and demonstrate an understanding of the Canadian economy, and use correlative reasoning.	20 hours
Unit 5 In this unit, students will use a variety of connecting devices and transition words and phrases to show relationships between ideas and information in linked sentences and paragraphs, write longer and more complex texts to convey information and ideas for academic purposes in a variety of forms, and use the appropriate grammatical structures and conventions of written English.	20 hours
Exam/RST
Rich Task Summative 20% This is a summative task assigned at the end of the course that brings together many of the expectations covered throughout the course and is created to assess and evaluate a student’s ability to demonstrate their understanding of the expectations through not only the product but through conversation and observation.	8 hours
Final Exam 10% This is a proctored exam worth 30% of your final grade.	2 hours
Total Hours	110 hours

Resources required by the student:
Note: This course is entirely online and does not require or rely on any textbook. A scanner, smart phone camera, or similar device to upload handwritten or hand-drawn work.

Strategies for Assessment and Evaluation of Student Performance

The teacher will obtain assessment information through a variety of means as indicated in the chart below. Assessment and Evaluation Strategies are to include the evidence or proof the teacher sees in the Product, Observations and Conversations related to the curriculum expectations. The student must demonstrate achievement of the course expectations. Once demonstrated, the student is assigned a level of achievement

Assessment For: takes place in preparation for course or unit learning

Assessment As: takes place during or while learning

Assessment Of: takes place after learning

Teaching & Learning Strategies

Students are exposed to a variety of genres throughout the course and develop skills to analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of texts which may include poems, short stories, novels, non-fiction texts, plays, videos, and songs or other media texts from a wide range of cultures and time periods. Students identify and use various strategies including building vocabulary, learning to understand and use features and organization of texts, and developing knowledge of conventions. Throughout the course, students develop into stronger readers, writers, and oral communicators while making connections to the workplace and international events. Teachers differentiate instruction to meet the diverse learning needs of students. Instructors also use electronic stimuli including Discussion Boards, Google Docs, Skype, Google Hangout and Screencastify to assist students in reflecting on their learning, and in setting goals for improvement in key areas while developing 21st century skills. These tools facilitate and support the editing and revising process for students as they create texts for different audiences and purposes .

• Identifying and developing skills and strategies – through modeling of effective skills, students learn to choose and utilize varied techniques to become effective readers, writers, and oral communicators.
• Communicating – several opportunities are provided for students to write and communicate orally.
• Generating ideas and topics – teachers encourage students to design their own approaches to the material by maintaining frequent (often daily) online communication with students, by allowing some freedom in how students respond to topics and questions, and by encouraging students’ independent thinking through discussion posts.
• Researching – various approaches to researching are practised. Students learn how to cite sources and provide a works cited page at the end of longer assignments using MLA formatting.
• Thinking critically – students learn to critically analyze texts and to use implied and stated evidence from texts to support their analyses. Students use their critical thinking skills to identify perspectives in texts, including biases that may be present.
• Producing published work and making presentations – students engage in the editing and revising process, including self-revision, peer revision, and teacher revision all of which strengthen texts with the aim to publish or present student work.
• Reflecting – through the ePortfolio and other elements of the course, students reflect on the learning process, focus on areas for improvement, and make extensions between course content and their personal experiences.

Assessment and Evaluation and Reporting Strategies of Student Performance:

Our theory of assessment and evaluation follows the Ministry of Education's Growing Success document, and it is our firm belief that doing so is in the best interests of students. We seek to design assessment in such a way as to make it possible to gather and show evidence of learning in a variety of ways to gradually release responsibility to the students and to give multiple and varied opportunities to reflect on learning and receive detailed feedback.Growing Success articulates the vision the Ministry has for the purpose and structure of assessment and evaluation techniques. There are seven fundamental principles that ensure best practices and procedures of assessment and evaluation by Kanata Academy teachers. KA assessments and evaluations,

• are fair, transparent, and equitable for all students;
• support all students, including those with special education needs, those who are learning the language of instruction (English or French), and those who are First Nation, Métis, or Inuit;
• are carefully planned to relate to the curriculum expectations and learning goals and, as much as possible, to the interests, learning styles and preferences, needs, and experiences of all students;
• are communicated clearly to students and parents at the beginning of the course and at other points throughout the school year or course;
• are ongoing, varied in nature, and administered over a period of time to provide multiple opportunities for students to demonstrate the full range of their learning;
• provide ongoing descriptive feedback that is clear, specific, meaningful, and timely to support improved learning and achievement;
• develop students’ self-assessment skills to enable them to assess their own learning, set specific goals, and plan next steps for their learning.

For a full explanation, please refer to Growing Success.

The Final Grade

The evaluation for this course is based on the student's achievement of curriculum expectations and the demonstrated skills required for effective learning. The final percentage grade represents the quality of the student's overall achievement of the expectations for the course and reflects the corresponding level of achievement as described in the achievement chart for the discipline. A credit is granted and recorded for this course if the student's grade is 50% or higher. The final grade will be determined as follows:

• 70% of the grade will be based upon evaluations conducted throughout the course. This portion of the grade will reflect the student's most consistent level of achievement throughout the course, although special consideration will be given to more recent evidence of achievement.
• 30% of the grade will be based on final evaluations administered at the end of the course. The final assessment may be a final exam, a final project, or a combination of both an exam and a project.

The Report Card

Student achievement will be communicated formally to students via an official report card. Report cards are issued at the midterm point in the course, as well as upon completion of the course. Each report card will focus on two distinct, but related aspects of student achievement. First, the achievement of curriculum expectations is reported as a percentage grade. Additionally, the course median is reported as a percentage.

Program Planning Considerations

Teachers who are planning a program in English must take into account considerations in a number of important areas. Essential information that pertains to all disciplines is provided in the companion piece to this document, The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 9 to 12: Program Planning and Assessment, 2000. The areas of concern to all teachers that are outlined here include the following:

• types of secondary school courses
• education for exceptional students
• the role of technology in the curriculum
• English as a second language (ESL) and English literacy development (ELD)
• career education
• cooperative education and other workplace experiences
• health and safety

Education for Exceptional Students

In planning courses, teachers should take into account the needs of exceptional students as set out in their Individual Education Plan. English courses reflect the creative part of our literary world, which offers a vast array of opportunities for exceptional students. Students who use alternative techniques for communication may find a venue for their talents as writers. Just as English responds to the needs and demands of the greater world of work, English courses are largely shaped by the needs and demands of students who will all eventually end up in this greater world.

The Role of Technology in the Curriculum

Information and communications technologies (ICT) provide a range of tools that can significantly extend and enrich teachers’ instructional strategies and support students’ language learning. ICT tools include multimedia resources, databases, Internet websites, digital cameras, and word-processing programs. Tools such as these can help students to collect, organize, and sort the data they gather and to write, edit, and present reports on their findings. Information and communications technologies can also be used to connect students to other schools, at home and abroad, and to bring the global community into the virtual classroom. Although the Internet is a powerful learning tool, there are potential risks attached to its use. All students must be made aware of issues of Internet privacy, safety, and responsible use, as well as of the potential for abuse of this technology, particularly when it is used to promote hatred. Information technology is considered a learning tool that must be accessed by students when the situation is appropriate. As a result, students will develop transferable skills through their experience with word processing, internet research, presentation software, and telecommunication tools.

English As a Second Language and English Literacy Development (ESL/ELD)

With exposure to the English language in a supportive learning environment, most young children will develop oral fluency quite quickly, making connections between concepts and skills acquired in their first language and similar concepts and skills presented in English. However, oral fluency is not a good indicator of a student’s knowledge of vocabulary or sentence structure, reading comprehension, or other aspects of language proficiency that play an important role in literacy development and academic success. Research has shown that it takes five to seven years for most English language learners to catch up to their English-speaking peers in their ability to use English for academic purposes. Moreover, the older the children are when they arrive, the greater the language knowledge and skills that they have to catch up on, and the more direct support they require from their teachers. Responsibility for students’ English-language development is shared by the course teacher, the ESL/ELD teacher (where available), and other school staff. Volunteers and peers may also be helpful in supporting English language learners in the language classroom. Teachers must adapt the instructional program in order to facilitate the success of these students in their classrooms. Appropriate adaptations include:

1. modification of some or all of the subject expectations so that they are challenging but attainable for the learner at his or her present level of English proficiency, given the necessary support from the teacher;
2. use of a variety of instructional strategies (e.g., extensive use of visual cues, graphic organizers, scaffolding; previewing of textbooks, pre-teaching of key vocabulary; peer tutoring; strategic use of students’ first languages);
3. use of a variety of learning resources (e.g., visual material, simplified text, bilingual dictionaries, and materials that reflect cultural diversity);
4. use of assessment accommodations (e.g., granting of extra time; use of oral interviews, demonstrations or visual representations, or tasks requiring completion of graphic organizers or close sentences instead of essay questions and other assessment tasks that depend heavily on proficiency in English)

Note: When learning expectations in any course are modified for an English language learner (whether the student is enrolled in an ESL or ELD course or not), this information must be clearly indicated on the student’s report card.

This course can provide a wide range of options to address the needs of ESL/ELD students. Detailed analysis of the components of sentences aid ESL students in mastering the English language and all of its idiosyncrasies. In addition, since all occupations require employees with a wide range of English skills and abilities, many students will learn how their backgrounds and language skills can contribute to their success in the larger world.

Antidiscrimination Education in the English Program Learning resources that reflect the broad range of students’ interests, backgrounds, cultures, and experiences are an important aspect of an inclusive English program. In such a program, learning materials involve protagonists of both sexes from a wide variety of backgrounds. Teachers routinely use materials that reflect the diversity of Canadian and world cultures, including those of contemporary First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples, and make them available to students. Short stories, novels, magazine and newspaper articles, television programs, and films provide opportunities for students to explore issues relating to their self-identity. In inclusive programs, students are made aware of the historical, cultural, and political contexts for both the traditional and non-traditional gender and social roles represented in the materials they are studying. Stories, novels, informational texts, and media works relating to the immigrant experience provide rich thematic material for study, as well as the opportunity for students new to Canada to share their knowledge and experiences with others. In addition, in the context of the English program, both students and teachers should become aware of aspects of intercultural communication – for example, by exploring how different cultures interpret the use of eye contact and body language in conversation and during presentations. Resources should be chosen not only to reflect diversity but also on the basis of their appeal for both girls and boys in the classroom. Recent research has shown that many boys are interested in informational materials, such as manuals and graphic texts, as opposed to works of fiction, which are often more appealing to girls. Both sexes read Internet materials, such as website articles, e-mail, and chat messages, outside the classroom. The development of critical thinking skills is integral to the English curriculum. In the context of what is now called “critical literacy”, these skills include the ability to identify perspectives, values, and issues; detect bias; and read for implicit as well as overt meaning. In the English program, students develop the ability to detect negative bias and stereotypes in literary texts and informational materials. When using biased informational texts, or literary works containing negative stereotypes, for the express purpose of critical analysis, teachers must take into account the potential negative impact of bias on students and use appropriate strategies to address students’ responses. Critical literacy also involves asking questions and challenging the status quo, and leads students to look at issues of power and justice in society. The program empowers students by enabling them to express themselves and to speak out about issues that strongly affect them. Literature studies and media studies also afford both students and teachers a unique opportunity to explore the social and emotional impact of bullying, violence, and discrimination in the form of racism, sexism, or homophobia on individuals and families.

Literacy, Mathematical Literacy, and Inquiry/Research Skills Literacy, mathematical literacy, and inquiry/research skills are critical to students’ success in all subjects of the curriculum and in all areas of their lives. The acquisition and development of literacy skills is clearly the focus of the English curriculum, but the English program also builds on, reinforces, and enhances mathematical literacy. For example, clear, concise communication often involves the use of diagrams, charts, tables, and graphs, and the English curriculum emphasizes students’ ability to interpret and use graphic texts. Inquiry is at the heart of learning in all subject areas. In English courses, students are encouraged to develop their ability to ask questions and to explore a variety of possible answers to those questions. As they advance through the grades, they acquire the skills to locate relevant information from a variety of sources, such as books, newspapers, dictionaries, encyclopedias, interviews, videos, and the Internet. The questioning they practiced in the early grades becomes more sophisticated as they learn that all sources of information have a particular point of view and that the recipient of the information has a responsibility to evaluate it, determine its validity and relevance, and use it in appropriate ways. The ability to locate, question, and validate information allows a student to become an independent, lifelong learner.

Career Education

Expectations in the English program include many opportunities for students to apply their language skills to work-related situations, to explore educational and career options, and to become self-directed learners. To prepare students for the literacy demands of a wide array of postsecondary educational programs and careers, English courses require students to develop research skills, practice expository writing, and learn strategies for understanding informational reading materials. Making oral presentations and working in small groups with classmates help students express themselves confidently and work cooperatively with others. Regardless of their postsecondary destination, all students need to realize that literacy skills are employability skills. Powerful literacy skills will equip students to manage information technologies, communicate effectively and correctly in a variety of situations, and perform a variety of tasks required in most work environments.

Cooperative Education and Other Workplace Experiences

By applying the skills they have developed, students will readily connect their classroom learning to real-life activities in the world in which they live.Cooperative education and other workplace experiences will broaden their knowledge of employment opportunities in a wide range of fields. Kanata Academy will try to help students link to Ministry programs to ensure that students have information concerning programs and opportunities.

Health and Safety

The program provides the reading skills for the student to be able to explore the variety of concepts relating to health and safety in the workplace. In order to provide a suitable learning environment for the Kanata Academy staff and students, it is critical that classroom practice and the learning environment complies with relevant federal, provincial, and municipal health and safety legislation and by-laws, including, but not limited to, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS), the Food and Drug Act, the Health Protection and Promotion Act, the Ontario Building Code, and the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA). The OHSA requires all schools to provide a safe and productive learning and work environment for both students and employees.