519-9389355
Course Outline
Course: OLC4O
Teacher:
Phone Extension:
Email:
www.ugdsb.on.ca/westside
Program Leader: A. Willoughby
Course Description:
This course is designed to help students acquire and demonstrate the cross-curricular literacy skills that are
evaluated by the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test. Students who complete the course successfully will
meet the provincial literacy requirement for graduation. Students will read a variety of informational, narrative,
and graphic texts and will produce a variety of forms of writing, including summaries, informational
paragraphs,opinion pieces and news reports. Students will also maintain and manage a portfolio containing a
record of their reading experiences and samples of their writing.
Prerequisite: None
Overall Course Expectations
Oral Communication:
1. Listening to Understand: listen in order to understand and respond appropriately in a variety of situations for
a variety of purposes;
2. Speaking to Communicate: use speaking skills and strategies appropriately to communicate with different
audiences for a variety of purposes;
3. Reflecting on Skills and Strategies: reflect on and identify their strengths as listeners and speakers, areas for
improvement, and the strategies they found most helpful in oral communication situations.
Reading:
•demonstrate the ability to read and respond to a variety of texts;
• demonstrate understanding of the organizational structure and features of a variety of informational,
narrative, and graphic texts, including information paragraphs, opinion pieces, textbooks, newspaper reports
and magazine stories, and short fiction;
• demonstrate understanding of the content and meaning of informational, narrative, and graphic texts that
they have read using a variety of reading strategies;
• use a variety of strategies to understand unfamiliar and specialized words and expressions in informational,
narrative, and graphic texts.
Writing:
• demonstrate the ability to use the writing process by generating and organizing ideas and producing first
drafts, revised drafts, and final polished pieces to complete a variety of writing tasks;
• use knowledge of writing forms, and of the connections between form, audience, and purpose, to write
summaries, information paragraphs, opinion pieces (i.e., series of paragraphs expressing an opinion), news
reports, and personal reflections, incorporating graphic elements where necessary and appropriate.
Understand and Assess Growth in Literacy:
• demonstrate understanding of the importance of communication skills in their everyday lives – at school, at
work, and at home;
• demonstrate understanding of their own roles and responsibilities in the learning process;
• demonstrate understanding of the reading and writing processes and of the role of reading and writing in
learning;
• demonstrate understanding of their own growth in literacy during the course.
Instructional Strategies:
Westside teaching staff will use a variety of instructional strategies to help students develop and improve skills
in the following areas: character, citizenship, communication, critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration
and teamwork, and creativity and imagination.
Assessment and Evaluation:
Each unit will have one or more major culminating assignments. As well, the students will be required to submit
a final culminating activity at the end of the semester.
● When a student has not submitted a summative evaluation, then a mark of zero may be assigned, and
the teacher will use professional judgment to determine the impact on the overall report card.
● Consequences of cheating and plagiarism may include academic penalties (e.g. loss of marks up to loss
of full marks redo all or part of the work) and/or disciplinary action. See school website for complete
policy.
● Oral presentations must be completed within the assigned presentation schedule, otherwise students
will be given one more opportunity to present for a completion mark only.
● Conferencing, as an assessment strategy, is of paramount important to student success in this course.
Late Work
Students are expected to complete all assigned work and submit it by the teacher's established due date. Every
attempt will be made to encourage students to complete all assigned work on time so their grade represent
their actual achievement. Should a student submit work past the due date, a late mark penalty will be assigned.
All summative assessments must be submitted for course credit. Please see Westside's Assessment and
Evaluation Policy for more details.
The strands of Literature Studies and Reading, Writing, Language and Media Studies, will each be evaluated
within the following achievement categories as outlined by the Ministry Guidelines:
25%
Knowledge and Understanding
25%
Thinking and Inquiry
25%
Communication
25%
Application
● Term work will be worth 70% of the final mark. (The Independent Study Unit is worth 20% of term
mark.)
● The culminating activity will be worth 30% of the final mark.
Term Work (70%)
Unit of Study
Enduring Understandings:Fresh
Perspectives
→ All stories teach or entertain
Summative Evaluations
Students will read a variety of informational, narrative, and
graphic texts.
Enduring Understandings:Belonging
to Communities
→ Stories reflect our lives & deal
with universal themes
Students will produce a variety of forms of writing, including summaries,
informational paragraphs,opinion pieces and news reports.
Enduring Understandings:Making a
Difference
Students will also maintain and manage a portfolio containing a record
of their reading experiences and samples of their writing.
→ writing is purposeful
Culminating Activities
ISU (30%)
The students will complete a final assessment to demonstrate their
acquired skills. The project will involve reading text in a variety of styles,
answering comprehension questions, and producing clear and coherent
written works.
Exam
There is no exam in this course.
Other Information:
i) A record will be kept on the student’s following Learning Skills (as outlined by the Ministry Guidelines): Responsibility,
Organization, Independent Work, Collaboration, Initiative, Self-regulation.
ii) It is the student’s responsibility to speak directly with the teacher before handing in a late assignment.
iii) Students are expected to keep track of all assignments and ensure that they are submitted to the teacher. Should the
student fail to submit any projects or assignments, this will be reflected in his or her mark.
I have read and understand the Course Outline:
Student Name (please print): ________________________________ Signature: ________________________________
Parent/Guardian Name (please print): _________________________Signature: ________________________________