Flint Southwestern Classical Academy
An International Baccalaureate School
1420 W. 12th Street
Flint, Michigan 48507
Phone: 810-767-8600
Fax: 810-760-7772
IB Language A
IB year 5/grade level 10
Great Essays/Honors Great Essays
Gina Morris-Cicalo
Room 56 Office Hours: Blocks 3A and 3B gmorris@flintschools.org
Note from your instructor:
Congratulations! You “got” through your Freshman year of high school. Each of you will embark upon your final year
of MYP. This academic year will be equal in both reward and rigor. I am very excited for you…So let us “get” to work!
I Course description
IB Great Essays uses Exploration, Structure, Publication, and Language to guide students in their practice of the
writing process through a variety of composition strategies. Students will become fluent in the 10 IB Learner Traits by
exercising these traits in their written and verbal responses.
Students will be able to demonstrate the ability to express community and internationally minded connections
and meet Michigan Grade Level Common Core Standards, Flint Community Schools Educational Development Plan,
and IBO Language A Content Area Criteria through composition.
II MYP Aims and objectives addressed by this course
The aims of all MYP subjects state what a teacher may expect to teach and what a student may expect
to experience and learn. These aims suggest how the student may be changed by the learning experience.
The eight aims of MYP language and literature are to encourage and enable students to:
• use language as a vehicle for thought, creativity, reflection, learning, self-expression, analysis and
social interaction
• develop the skills involved in listening, speaking, reading, writing, viewing and presenting in a
variety of contexts
• develop critical, creative and personal approaches to studying and analysing literary and nonliterary
texts
• engage with text from different historical periods and a variety of cultures
• explore and analyse aspects of personal, host and other cultures through literary and non-literary
texts
• explore language through a variety of media and modes
• develop a lifelong interest in reading
• apply linguistic and literary concepts and skills in a variety of authentic contexts.
Flint Southwestern Classical Academy
An International Baccalaureate School
1420 W. 12th Street
Flint, Michigan 48507
Phone: 810-767-8600
Fax: 810-760-7772
Page 2 of 6
II MYP Aims and objectives addressed by this course (Cont’d)
The objectives are the specific targets that are set for learning in Great Essays. They
define what you, the student, will be able to accomplish as a result of participating in Great Essays. .
In order to meet these objectives, teachers will need to concentrate on each of the macroskills of
language: listening, speaking, reading, writing, viewing and presenting. These language modes are very
much interactive and interrelated, though in some instances teachers may wish to deal with them in
discrete learning experiences and separate texts.
Great Essays will address all strands of all four objectives at least twice throughout the academic year.
Analysis
Organization
Producing Text
Using Language
III Student Goals
Students will create Research Questions and exercise The Writing Process as they practice research,
argumentative/persuasive, and analytical styles of writing. Topics and writing models will be cross curricular.
Students will also apply the Learner Profile as they participate/practice note taking, oral presentation, and class
discussion.
Classroom expectations
Be prepared to begin class on time
Follow directions the first time.
Wait for your turn
Keep hands, feet, and other objects to self
Student(s) that choose behavior that is contrary to classroom expectations
Student Completes a Behavior Journal Parent will be contacted by teacher.
for parent signature
Student will attend after school
Student will be referred to the appropriate
Detention
administrator
All Flint Community School and Southwestern Classical Academy policy will be enforced.
For further details refer to the FCS Code of Conduct.
Flint Southwestern Classical Academy
An International Baccalaureate School
1420 W. 12th Street
Flint, Michigan 48507
Phone: 810-767-8600
Fax: 810-760-7772
Page 3 of 6
IV Course units / roles of areas of interaction
Instructional Unit
Got IB?
Got Research?
Got an Angle?
Got a Favorite?
Inquiry Unit
Students will review/be introduced to Learner
Profile, Approaches to Learning, Language A
Assessment Criteria(s), Research Questions,
OPVL, and argumentative writing.
How do I practice proper and appropriate MLA
essay structure, critical response and stance,
and narrative expression to define my
understanding of selected economic and/or
civic concepts?
How does the investigation of mathematical
procedure in real life scenarios help me to
recognize and defend the use of arithmetic
outside of the math classroom?
How do I use an argumentative voice and
literary analysis based on independent reading
assignment implementing my previous
Language A and MLA practice.
Global Context
Personal and cultural
expression
Assessment Criteria
ABCD
Fairness and
Development
A and C
Orientation of Time
and Space
B and D
Identities and
relationships OR
Scientific and
technical Innovation
ABCD
V Major instructional materials and resources
The majority of materials and (anchor) texts will be obtained from the library of your choice in the form of
books, periodicals, and on-line research. Some sites you will use frequently include:
Teacher Website:
http://www.swa.flintschools.org/?PageName=TeacherPage&Page=4&StaffID=221360&iSection=Teachers&Corre
spondingID=221360
The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/
The Michigan Electronic Library (MEL)
http://www.mel.org/
American School in Japan (ASIJ) I Search
https://sites.google.com/a/asij.ac.jp/asij-i-search/
Flint Southwestern Classical Academy
An International Baccalaureate School
1420 W. 12th Street
Flint, Michigan 48507
Phone: 810-767-8600
Fax: 810-760-7772
Page 4 of 6
V Major instructional materials and resources (Cont’d)
Edmodo
https://www.edmodo.com/
PLATO Learning Environments
https://ple.platoweb.com/Account/SignIn
Students will be issued a thesaurus and assigned a choice of SSR (Anchor) Novels during three of the four units.
“Soul Gone Home”, Maus II, “Lilacs in the Doorway Bloomed” “And of Clay Are We Created” , Literature
conveys as does informative literature and argumentative composition.
Got Research?
Research based creative writing: a story, script, or poem (accompanied by analysis) based on a historical
figure or/and event.
Freedom Writers’ Diary Catcher in the Rye
The perspective(s) from an age group and/or generation and/or culture.
Got an Angle?
Mathematical Exploration of a student selected and researched current event or theme.
Animal Farm Flowers for Algernon Fahrenheit 451
An exploration of responsibility and ethics
Got a Favorite!
Argumentative Composition on a theme inspired by any one of your three (anchor) SSR texts
VI Key instructional strategies /Approaches to Learning
Teaching methodologies will include (but not limited to) the strategies from Charlotte Danielson, Robert J.
Marzano, Howard Gardner, Spencer Kagan, Debbie Silver, Viola Spolin, William Glassar, and Lee and Marlene Cantor.
Teaching and learning for all will be employed through attention to authentic pedagogy, instruction that employs
sensory awareness, co-curricular amalgamation, the embracement of individual levels of literacy, and encouragement
to seek assistance from instructors and/or experts in their topic.
Sustained Silent Reading, Reading Loges, Reflection, Large Group Literary Circles will be practiced regularly with
attention paid to audience, literary analysis, and vocabulary.
Analysis of Information text will occur both in group(s) and independently.
Page 5 of 6
Flint Southwestern Classical Academy
An International Baccalaureate School
1420 W. 12th Street
Flint, Michigan 48507
Phone: 810-767-8600
Fax: 810-760-7772
VI Key instructional strategies /Approaches to Learning (Cont’d)
The focus of Approaches To Learning (ATL) in is on helping students to develop the self-knowledge and skills
they need to enjoy a lifetime of learning. ATL skills empower students to succeed in meeting the challenging objectives
of MYP subject groups and prepare them for further success in rigorous academic programmes such as the DP.
The four IB ATL are:
 Communication
 Collaboration
 Self-Management
 Research
 Thinking
VII Formative and summative assessments and criterion scores
Formative Assessment:
Creative study: Three hours of independent reading/reading logs completed weekly, primarily as homework.
Informative study: Various means of developing first drafts, incorporating MLA, self and peer editing both in the
classroom and as homework.
Check Plus
100-90%
Plus
80-89%
Check
70-79%
Check Minus
60-59%
Incomplete
Incomplete
Summative Assessment
Assessment is performance based on Revised Essays, and/or a culmination of creative and informative study. Specific Rubrics
assessment are provided at the beginning of each project.
A
4.0
94-100%
A-
3.7
90-93%
B+
3.3
87-89%
B
3.0
83-86%
B-
2.7
80-82%
C+
2.3
77-79%
C
2.0
73-76%
C-
1.7
70-72%
Flint Southwestern Classical Academy
An International Baccalaureate School
1420 W. 12th Street
Flint, Michigan 48507
Phone: 810-767-8600
Fax: 810-760-7772
Page 6 of 6
VII Formative and summative assessments and criterion scores (Cont’d)
Final Exam will include a written literary analysis and oral presentation based on class and home academic study.
Criterion Scores
Each objective is elaborated by a number of strands; a strand is an aspect or indicator of the learning expectation.
the expectations for Great Essays appear below as your Language A Criteria . Each Criteria is scored as a an
achievement level of zero through eight.
Criterion A: Analysing
At the end the year students should be able to:
 identify and comment upon significant aspects of texts
 identify and comment upon the creator’s choice.
 justify opinions and ideas, using examples, explanations and terminology
 identify similarities and differences in features within and between texts.
Criterion B: Organizing
At the end of year students should be able to:
 employ organizational structures that serve the context and intention
 organize opinions and ideas in a logical manner
 use referencing and formatting tools to create a presentation style suitable to the context and
intention.
Criterion C: Producing text
At the end of year students should be able to:
 produce texts that demonstrate thought and imagination while exploring new perspectives and
ideas arising from personal engagement with the creative process
 make stylistic choices in terms of linguistic, literary and visual devices, demonstrating
awareness of impact on an audience
 select relevant details and examples to support ideas.
Criterion D: Using language
At the end of year students should be able to:
 use appropriate and varied vocabulary, sentence structures and forms of expression
 write and speak in an appropriate register and style
 use correct grammar, syntax and punctuation
 spell , write, and pronounce with accuracy
 use appropriate non-verbal communication techniques.
MYP Language A guide available in its entirety at
http://www.swa.flintschools.org/?PageName=OrganizationPage&Page='DocumentsCategory'&CategoryID=142423&iSec
tion=Organizations&CorrespondingID=27413