BRIEF COURSE OVERVIEW This course will prepare students for Grade 10 at NOIC by implementing 20 lessons, which were inspired by the GRADE 9 ENGLISH ONTARIO CURRICULUM. The course is divided into 4 units: 1) INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH/ NEWS REPORT ANALYSIS 2) INTRODUCTION TO POETRY & PASSAGE ANALYSIS 3) NOVELLA UNIT: John Steinbeck’s The Pearl 4) INTRODUCTION TO MEDIA—Film Analysis of Fantastic Mr. Fox
UNIT A: INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH/ NEWS REPORT ANALYSIS A) Intro to English: This will introduce students towards a new approach to learning English. In Canada, English is thinking-driven—so the first unit will try to develop their explanation skills. RATIONALE: This will provide proper scaffolding for students to develop their Thinking Skills, which will be of the utmost importance from Grades 10- 12. B): Intro to News Analysis: This will teach students how to analyze the news. This skill is essential in Canada because the Literacy Test requires each student to write his or her own News Article. Student will also be taught the difference between fact and opinion.
UNIT B: INTRODUCTION TO POETRY & PASSAGE ANALYSIS A) Reading two poems: a) Fire & Ice by Robert Frost, b) Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou: This will provide a brief introduction to the language of poetry, and it will give students a chance to explore rhythm as well as language analysis. RATIONALE: students will be not be asked to find specific techniques, but merely explain the significance of certain words and analyze the meanings of two relatively simple poems B) Passage Analysis: Students will analyze key passages (blocks of text) from literature. This will develop their ability to expand their thinking and to make connections to the deeper meanings that authors wish to convey in their text. RATIONALE: This will be a crucial skill once students begin to write essays.
UNIT C: NOVELLA UNIT: John Steinbeck’s The Pearl This unit will provide the students with the opportunity to read their first novel. The entire book is only 48 pages long and the words are relatively simple to understand, but the themes are universal. The book will provide students with an opportunity to enhance their understanding of human nature. RATIONALE: Students will also be taught to write according to a proper paragraph format. This will help students prepare for more complicated paragraph structures in the later grades
UNIT D: INTRODUCTION TO MEDIA—Film Analysis of Fantastic Mr. Fox Students will watch an animated movie: Fantastic Mr. Fox. It is a very popular children’s story, which was adapted to a film. It has many similar themes to The Pearl and it will provide students with the opportunity to make connections between different text types. It will also develop students’ understanding of how a film conveys a message differently from a novel.