McNally English Department English Course Outline
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Aims and Objectives
The aim of the English language arts program is to graduate a literate person who is competent and confident in using language for both functional and aesthetic purposes. A program that promotes language growth gives learners opportunities to:
- learn language through experiences with language
- learn about language (i.e., its elements, conventions, and processes) as they speak, listen, write, and read
- learn through language by using it to learn about life, literature, and language itself (Halliday, 1981).
The general goals of the English curriculum are to:
· develop students' English language abilities as a function of their thinking abilities
· promote personal and social development by extending students' knowledge and use of the English language
· develop enjoyment as well as proficiency in speaking, listening, writing, and reading
· develop appreciation of, as well as response to, literature.
Materials
As mandated by the Alberta Government Department of Learning, every Grade 10-1 student will study a variety of texts including fiction, nonfiction and multimedia texts.
At McNally, students are required to bring a dictionary and a thesaurus to every English class. These are necessary materials to enhance the study of English.
Assessment
“Assessment for Learning is the process of seeking and interpreting evidence for use by learners and their teachers to decide where the learners are in their learning, where they need to go and how best to get there.” (Assessment Reform Group, 2002)
Feedback is an essential element in helping pupils improve. When using assessment for learning strategies, teachers will move away from giving work marks and move towards giving feedback to help the pupil improve in the specific activity. This will help close the learning gap and move pupils forward in their understanding. Therefore, in-class student assessment will focus on assessment for learning.
English 10-1 Report Card Weightings
To measure the student’s learning against the specified outcomes of the Alberta Curriculum, each term the report card mark will be formulated according to the following formula.
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Reporting Period
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Teacher Mark
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Common Written Exam
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Common Reading Exam
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Common Oral Presentation
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Term 1
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30%
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5%
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5%
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Integrated into the teacher mark or formative evaluation
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Term 2
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30%
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10%
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10%
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10% of the final mark
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Plaigarism
The English Department at McNally complies with the plagiarism policy which is printed in the Student Handbook, given to students each year. Please review this policy carefully.