MMIB Candidate School MYP Course Outline
Language A
MYP Level 4
Michael Thier
Course Description: Students will develop and increase their abilities to communicate by speaking, listening, reading, writing, and viewing.
They will practice these skills individually, in small groups, and as a whole class to seek out, gather, and evaluate information about themselves
and the world around them. They will learn several ways to understand and analyze texts from different cultures, countries, and time periods.
They will conduct research, participate in Socratic seminar discussions, and read non-fiction texts about current issues and events to connect the
literature to the world. They will reflect upon their own learning processes in order to improve their knowledge. In all class activities, they will
support one another in being open to new ideas, caring about each other and our world, and demonstrating integrity when producing work or
interacting with one another.
NCSCOS Aims/Objectives:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
use language to express reflections and reactions to print
and non-print text and personal experiences
explain meaning, describe processes, and answer research
questions to inform an audience
demonstrate understanding of various literary genres,
concepts, elements, and terms
create and use standards to critique communication
examine argumentation and develop informed opinions
apply conventions of grammar and language usage
IB Aims/Objectives:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Time
4
weeks
use language to narrate, describe, explain, argue,
persuade, inform, entertain, express feelings and begin to
analyse in response to personal, social, cultural, and
historical issues, employing appropriate critical apparatus
in pieces that apply age-appropriate literary and/or nonliterary features to serve the students’ contexts and
intentions and express an informed and independent
response to literary and non-literary texts.
appreciate and comment on the language, content,
structure, and meaning of familiar age-appropriate oral,
written, and visual texts
analyse the effects of the author’s choices on an audience
understand and apply language A terminology in context
create works that: employ organizational structures and
language-specific conventions throughout a variety of text
types; organize ideas and arguments in a coherent and
logical manner; employ appropriate critical apparatus;
compare and contrast age-appropriate texts; and connect
themes across and within genres
use language accurately, demonstrating appropriate and
varied register, vocabulary and idiom, correct grammar
and syntax, appropriate and varied sentence structure, and
correct spelling
Topic / Objectives
Teaching / Learning Activities
I gotta be me
Socratic seminars
annotation of A Long Way Gone and The
House on Mango Street for
characterization, main idea, literary
device, and cultural identity of character /
author, differentiating Bloom’s Taxonomy
skills of application, analysis, synthesis by
writing their own pastiches that model
Cisneros’ vignettes, and evaluation by
small-group discussions, teacher-led
question-and-answer sessions, and
presentations of three-dimensional models
that analyze author’s style
Assessment/ Evaluation
Creative writing:
formative, teacher-graded,
criterion A (content)
Model: summative,
teacher-graded, criterion A
(content)
Area of
Interaction
Focus and
MYP Guiding
Question
Community
and Service:
How does style
reveal character
and community?
MMIB Candidate School MYP Course Outline
4
weeks
4
weeks
Search, search, and
research
Paging Dr. Cox
5
weeks
Be careful
what you wish for
3
weeks
Yes, I Can
Using computer programs to categorize
data on research of the seven new cultures
we will explore in our literature this year
(Sierra Leonean, Mexican-American,
British, Welsh, Southern American,
Afghan, and Chinese), drafting thesis
statements, citing the work of others
(M.L.A.), making arguments that avoid
logical fallacies, exploring writer’s voice,
applying rhetorical modes such as
narration, exemplification, and
description, analyzing propaganda in
advertising by producing a TV show that
advertises for an American to leave their
home to join the new culture
Performing poetry scansion in
Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part I,
producing live-action adaptations of
language for new settings, editing
Shakespeare, decoding unfamiliar
vocabulary, code-switching for purpose
by writing librettos in IM/text language
that is projected on a screen for the
presentations
Socratic seminars to discuss creation of,
and breakdowns in, human morality in
Lord of the Flies, acting scenes to
visualize character relationships, students
will create their own government structure
and podcast their platform to prospective
voters, web quests to investigate thematic
concerns and objections to teaching
Inherit the Wind, students will write
reviews of the play from the perspective
of one of three historical characters
Book circles to compare My Forbidden
Face and Red Scarf Girl, choosing an
appropriate audience for a letter seeking
change, revising for diction that is
purposeful and considerate of audience in
letters to American diplomats in
Afghanistan or China
TV show: formative,
teacher-graded, criterion B
(organization)
Research paper:
summative, teacher-graded,
criterion C (style and
language usage)
Performance: summative,
teacher-graded, criterion A
(content)
Podcast: formative,
teacher-graded, criterion B
(organization)
Written review:
summative, teacher-graded,
criterion C (style and
language usage)
Letter: summative,
teacher-graded criterion C
(style and language usage)
Community
and Service:
How do I make
knowledge from
the work of
others?
Health and
Social
Education:
How do I
choose a
mentor?
Human
Ingenuity: How
can I create
something that
helps? How can
I avoid creating
something that
harms?
Environments:
How can I affect
change in the
world?
Role of the Areas of Interaction:
Human Ingenuity- Students are provided the opportunity to explore and to appreciate the human capacity to invent, create,
transform and improve the quality of life through literature, speech, and other forms of printed and non-printed texts. Students
will reflect on how language can be used to distort or mislead, how propaganda has a significant impact on social and ethical
situations, and how literature greatly impacts social and cultural understanding.
Approaches to Learning- Students will work to improve as presenters, writers, effective time managers, organizers, and
competent researchers. Students will also work to improve upon communication and collaboration through a variety of activities.
They will learn by being active learners, being able to interpret varieties of texts, and taking notes.
Health and Social Education- Through a variety of texts, students will investigate a range of social issues and gain perspective
on how man’s actions can impact one’s personal health and the health of all members of society. Students will discuss social and
moral issues, explore ways to improve the communities in which they live, and present their ideas in a variety of ways.
Environments- Students will use language to describe and evaluate the significance of man’s impact on the world around them;
exploring the relationship between human and other species, participating in discussions based on environmental issues, and
research information on humanitarian and environmental issues. Students will recognize the variety of environments in which
they live and should learn to function.
Community and Service- Students will explore concepts of identity and culture through texts and literature. Students will
become responsible and caring individuals that participate in relaying the importance of language and use it as a tool to
strengthen their sense of belonging within a community. They will use language effectively to perform community service
MMIB Candidate School MYP Course Outline
Grading Policy:
Plans for Assessment
In order to ensure that students have a clear understanding of the assessment criteria and to establish a clearly defined system by
which the teachers assess students, we will:
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assess each criterion for each subject at least twice by the end of eighth grade.
maintain an MYP assessment portfolio for each student in each subject. The assessment portfolio will include task
descriptions, the criteria for the subject, a section for student reflection, and a section for parent signature and response.
bring task, rubric, and samples of student work to share and reflect
ensure that the assessment tasks assigned in each subject area are in line with the moderation of assessment
requirements for that subject area.
distribute portfolios to students at the beginning of each semester/quarter.
submit samples of completed portfolios to the MYP coordinator at the end of each semester to share with the whole
staff.
create adapted rubrics for years 1-4.
standardize assessments by subject area at least once a year.
collaborate and use common MYP assessments for courses being taught by more than one teacher.
participate in IB assessment as required.
Plans for Communication
In order to effectively communicate MYP assessment criteria to parents and students, we will:
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Post all assessment criteria on MMIB Candidate School’s web page and on teachers’ web pages.
Post subject area rubrics on individual teachers’ web pages as necessary.
Provide students with copies of the criteria in each subject area at the beginning of each course.
Require students to complete a reflection after each MYP assessment task and obtain a parent signature documenting
that the parent has seen the assessment results.
Incorporate students’ IB progress into student-led conferences.
Incorporate students’ IB progress into parent-teacher conferences.
Offer Parent/Family Nights to educate parents and incoming students.
Language A: Assessment Criteria (see specific teacher’s website for scoring rubrics)
Criterion A Content
Maximum 10
Criterion B Organization
Maximum 10
Criterion C Style and Language usage
Maximum 10
Texts and Resources:
Beah, Ishmael. A Long Way Gone; Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street; Golding, William. Lord of the Flies; Jiang, JiLi. Red Scarf Girl; Laitfah. My Forbidden Face; Lawrence, Jerome and Robert Edwin Lee, Inherit the Wind; Shakespeare,
William. Henry IV, Part I.