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COURSE OUTLINE

Course Title: The Writer's Craft
Course Code: EWC4U
Grade: 12
Course Type: University Preparation
Credit Value: 1
Prerequisite: Any 3U English
Curriculum Policy Document: English, The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 11 and 12, 2007 (Revised)
Department: English
Course Developer: Mr. John Dunphy
Development Date: Winter 2007
Course Revised by: -
Revision Date: -

Course Description:

This course emphasizes knowledge and skills related to the craft of writing. Students will analyse models of effective writing; use a workshop approach to produce a range of works; identify and use techniques required for specialized forms of writing; and identify effective ways to improve the quality of their writing. They will also complete a major paper as part of a creative or analytical independent study project and investigate opportunities for publication and for writing careers.

Unit	Titles and Descriptions	Time and Sequence
Unit 1	Introduction In this unit students will be introduced to the various learning tasks and what tasks are to be done in an ongoing way.	1 hour
Unit 2	Writing to Make a Point Students will complete a course log, a proofreading practice, and a writer's journey entry. For this module, students must complete six sets of these altogether. In addition students will explore and practice three forms of writing to make a point: a praise or protest letter, a fable and a media response.	24 hours
Unit 3	Writing to Delight This unit begins by examining sensuousness as a concept for enriching writing. Students will use all their senses to help perfect this technique. Students will explore and practice the fantasy story, imaginativeness in writing and poetry-both found and created.	24 hours
Unit 4	Writing to Provoke The unit begins with writing "craft" activities focused on a critical skill for instructional prose or creative fiction: description. Students will learn how to create a single effect by emphasizing: exact diction to show motion; precise words to describe size, colour, weight, and shape; selection of details to achieve focus in the description. Next students will explore the profile whose purpose is to fascinate readers with the subject. Feature story writing is an excellent opportunity for students to write in their own voice and style.	24 hours
Unit 5	Writing to be Published The "Memoir" activity is a gentle entry into the major assignment of this unit, the Children's Story, a writing exercise in composing for a specific audience. The specific audience for the memoir is young adults. The assignment involves going back in time to experiences you had as a child and recreating events in an informal narrative. In addition to the memoir and story students will be asked to submit a technical report on some social issue raised in their reading and explored in a variety of texts. The Journalism Project may be a team effort or an individual project. The challenge is to produce a brief magazine with a variety of articles either focused on a theme. Though the impact may be pleasant, the process to complete a parody is not as simple as it may appear and this is the final topic of the unit.	24 hours
	Final Evaluation The final assessment task is the creation and presentation of the student’s writing portfolio. This assignment has clear steps to be followed and constitutes 30 % of the final mark. The portfolio project replaces a final examination in this course.	13 hours
	Total	110 hours

Teaching / Learning Strategies:

Students will complete warm up exercises in each unit. The number of sets of warm up exercises varies from unit to unit. In all cases, the intent is that at any work session in the module, students would complete: a course log, a proofreading exercise, a writer’s journey entry, and a draft of a writing assignment. In addition discussions are used for reflection on student work by the student himself and reflection and feedback on student writing will be given by students to other students enrolled in the course.

The writing tasks to be completed vary in form, purpose and audience. As workshop approach will be used where students must provide feedback to course mates and receive the same in return. Students are also asked to access the services of a home support team who can provide meaningful feedback on assignments as well. Students will spend time reading, writing, observing, discussing and reflecting. A variety of forms of writing will be practiced including letters, poetry, personal and formal responses, fables, paragraphs, articles, memoirs, stories, a technical report, a parody and others. As well students will be engaged in a number of error analysis exercises for proofreading practice.

Assessment and Evaluation Strategies of Student Performance:

Assessment is a systematic process of collecting information or evidence about a student’s progress towards meeting the learning expectations. Assessment is embedded in the instructional activities throughout a unit. The expectations for the assessment tasks are clearly articulated and the learning activity is planned to make that demonstration possible. This process of beginning with the end in mind helps to keep focus on the expectations of the course. The purpose of assessment is to gather the data or evidence and to provide meaningful feedback to the student about how to improve or sustain the performance in the course. Scaled criteria designed as rubrics are often used to help the student to recognize their level of achievement and to provide guidance on how to achieve the next level. Although assessment information can be gathered from a number of sources (the student himself, the student’s course mates, the teacher), evaluation is the responsibility of only the teacher. For evaluation is the process of making a judgment about the assessment information and determining the percentage grade or level.

Overall Expectations - EWC4U

INVESTIGATING WRITING
Overall Expectations
EIW.01	Writing, Writers, and the Writing Life: demonstrate an understanding of writing as an art, a craft, and a career as they explore the work of a variety of Canadian and international writers.
PRACTISING WRITING
Overall Expectations
EPW.01	Exploring Ideas, Forms, and Styles: generate and experiment with ideas about writing content, forms, and styles;
EPW.02	Drafting and Revising: organize, draft, and revise their writing, employing forms and stylistic elements appropriate for their purpose and audience;
EPW.03	Editing, Proofreading, and Publishing: use editing, proofreading, and publishing skills and strategies to refine and polish their work;
EPW.04	Collaborative Writing: collaborate in the writing process with peers by generating ideas, responding to peers’ work, and assessing peers’ work in a workshop setting.
REFLECTING ON WRITING
Overall Expectations
EMI.01	Metacognition: identify their strengths as writers and areas where they could improve, and assess the growth and development of their own writing style.

The Final Grade:

The evaluation of the student’s achievement in this course is based on the student’s achievement of the curriculum expectations. The percentage grade represents the student’s overall achievement and reflects the corresponding level of achievement as described in the Achievement chart for this discipline. A credit will be granted if the final percentage awarded is 50% or more. The final grade will be determined as follows:

• 70% of the grade will be based upon assessment tasks completed 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 the most recent evidence of achievement.



• 30% of the grade will be based on the final assessment task is the creation and presentation of the student’s writing portfolio. This assignment has clear steps to be followed and constitutes 30 % of the final mark. The portfolio project replaces a final examination in this course.

The report card will focus on two distinct but related components of student achievement: the achievement of curriculum expectations and the development of learning skills. The report card will contain separate sections for the reporting of these two aspects.

A Summary Description of Achievement in Each Percentage Grade Range and Corresponding Level of Achievement
Percentage Grade Range	Achievement Level	Summary Description
80-100%	Level 4	A very high to outstanding level of achievement. Achievement is above the provincial standard.
70-79%	Level 3	A high level of achievement. Achievement is at the provincial standard.
60-69%	Level 2	A moderate level of achievement. Achievement is below, but approaching, the provincial standard.
50-59%	Level 1	A passable level of achievement. Achievement is below the provincial standard.
below 50%	Level R	Insufficient achievement of curriculum expectations. A credit will not be granted.

Achievement Chart: English, Grades 9-12

Categories	50-59% (Level 1)	60-69% (Level 2)	70-79% (Level 3)	80-100% (Level 4)
Knowledge and Understanding - Subject-specific content acquired in each course (knowledge), and the comprehension of its meaning and significance (understanding)
	The student:
Knowledge of content (e.g., forms of text; strategies used when listening and speaking, reading,writing, and viewing and representing; elements of style; literary terminology, concepts, and theories; language conventions)	demonstrates limited knowledge of content	demonstrates some knowledge of content	demonstrates considerable knowledge of content	demonstrates thorough knowledge of content
Understanding of content (e.g.,concepts; ideas; opinions; relationships among facts, ideas,concepts,themes)	demonstrates limited understanding of content	demonstrates some understanding of content	demonstrates considerable understanding of content	demonstrates thorough and insightful understanding of content
Thinking - The use of critical and creative thinking skills and/or processes
	The student:
Use of planning skills (e.g., generating ideas, gathering information, focusing research, organizing information)	uses planning skills with limited effectiveness	uses planning skills with moderate effectiveness	uses planning skills with considerable effectiveness	uses planning skills with a high degree of effectiveness
Use of processing skills (e.g., drawing inferences, interpreting, analysing, synthesizing, evaluating)	uses processing skills with limited effectiveness	uses processing skills with some effectiveness	uses processing skills with considerable effectiveness	uses processing skills with a high degree of effectiveness
Use of critical/creative thinking processess (e.g., oral discourse, research, critical analysis, critical literacy, metacognition, creative process)	uses critical / creative thinking processes with limited effectiveness	uses critical / creative thinking processes with some effectiveness	uses critical / creative thinking processes with considerable effectiveness	uses critical / creative thinking processes with a high degree of effectiveness
Communication - The conveying of meaning through various forms
	The student:
Expression and organization of ideas and information (e.g., clear expression, logical organization) in oral, graphic, and written forms, including media forms	expresses and organizes ideas and information with limited effectiveness	expresses and organizes ideas and information with some effectiveness	expresses and organizes ideas and information with considerable effectiveness	expresses and organizes ideas and information with a high degree of effectiveness
Communication for different audiences and purposes (e.g., use of appropriate style, voice, point of view) in oral, graphic, and written forms, including media forms	communicates for different audiences and purposes with limited effectiveness	communicates for different audiences and purposes with some effectiveness	communicates for different audiences and purposes with considerable effectiveness	communicates for different audiences and purposes with a high degree of effectiveness
Use of conventions (e.g., grammar, spelling, punctuation, usage), vocabulary, and terminology of the discipline in oral, graphic, and written forms, including media forms	uses conventions, vocabulary, and terminology of the discipline with limited effectiveness	uses conventions, vocabulary, and terminology of the discipline with some effectiveness	uses conventions, vocabulary, and terminology of the discipline with considerable effectiveness	uses conventions, vocabulary, and terminology of the discipline with a high degree of effectiveness
Application - The use of knowledge and skills to make connections within and between various contexts
	The student:
Application of knowledge and skills (e.g.,literacy strategies and processes; literary terminology, concepts, and theories) in familiar contexts	applies knowledge and skills in familiar contexts with limited effectiveness	applies knowledge and skills in familiar contexts with some effectiveness	applies knowledge and skills in familiar contexts with considerable effectiveness	applies knowledge and skills in familiar contexts with a high degree of effectiveness
Transfer of knowledge and skills (e.g., literacy strategies and processes; literary terminology, concepts, and theories) to new contexts	transfers knowledge and skills to new contexts with limited effectiveness	transfers knowledge and skills to new contexts with some effectiveness	transfers knowledge and skills to new contexts with considerable effectiveness	transfers knowledge and skills to new contexts with a high degree of effectiveness
Making connections within and between various contexts (e.g., between the text and personal knowledge and experience, other texts, and the world outside school)	makes connections within and between various contexts with limited effectiveness	makes connections within and between various contexts with some effectiveness	makes connections within and between various contexts with considerable effectiveness	makes connections within and between various contexts with a high degree of effectiveness

Resources:

All resources needed for this course are provided. Several samples are provided for the different forms of writing as well as structured step by step processes to follow.Here is a sampling of the resources required:

• "The Swan", by Leonardo da Vinci
• "All Gold Canyon", by Jack London
• "All Summer in a Day", by Ray Bradbury
• "The Red Badge of Courage"< by Stephen Crane
• "A Sound of Thunder", by Ray Bradbury
• "The Teacher Was Afraid"
• "Youth", Joseph Conrad
• etc.

Program Planning Considerations for English:

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 there 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

Considerations relating to the areas listed above that have particular relevance for program planning in English are noted here.

Education for Exceptional Students. In planning courses in English, 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 technology is considered a learning tool that must be accessed by English 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, as would be expected in any business environment.

English As a Second Language and English Literacy Development (ESL/ELD). This English course can provide a wide range of options to address the needs of ESL/ELD students. Detailed analysis of the parts of speech, vocabulary and sentence, paragraph and essay structure will help 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.

Career Education. English definitely helps prepare students for employment in a huge number of diverse areas. The skills, knowledge and creativity that students acquire through this English course are essential for a wide range of careers. Being able to express oneself in a clear concise manner without ambiguity would be an overall intention of this English course, as it helps students prepare for success in their working lives.

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. In addition, students will increase their understanding of workplace practices and the nature of the employer-employee relationship. Teachers of English should maintain links with community-based businesses to ensure that students have access to hands-on experiences that will reinforce the knowledge they have gained in school.

Health and Safety. The English 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. Teachers who provide support for students in workplace learning placements need to assess placements for safety and ensure that students can read and understand the importance of issues relating to health and safety in the workplace.