Big Ideas
Big Ideas
The exploration of text
“Text” and “texts” are generic terms referring to all forms of oral, written, visual, or digital communication:
and story- Oral texts include speeches, poems, plays, oral stories, and songs.
- Written texts include novels, articles, and short stories.
- Visual texts include posters, photographs, and other images.
- Digital texts include electronic forms of all of the above.
- Oral, written, and visual elements can be combined (e.g., in dramatic presentations, graphic novels, films, web pages, advertisements).
narrative texts, whether real or imagined, that teach us about human nature, motivation, behaviour, and experience, and often reflect a personal journey or strengthen a sense of identity. They may also be considered the embodiment of collective wisdom. Stories can be oral, written, or visual and used to instruct, inspire, and entertain listeners and readers.
deepens our understanding of diverse, complex ideas about identity, others, and the world.
People understand text differently depending on their world views and perspectives.
Texts are socially, culturally, geographically, and historically constructed.
Language shapes ideas and influences others.
Voice is powerful and evocative.
Content
Learning Standards
Content
Text forms and text genres
literary or thematic categories (e.g., adventure, fable, fairy tale, fantasy, folklore, historical, horror, legend, mystery, mythology, picture book, science fiction, biography, essay, journalism, manual, memoir, personal narrative, speech)
, including creative spoken forms- spoken word/slam poetry
- recitation
- oral storytelling
- readers’ theatre
- debate
- radio/podcasts/social media
- presentations
- public service announcements (PSAs)
- Text featureselements of the text that are not considered the main body. These may include typography (bold, italics, underlined font), font style, guide words, key words, titles, diagrams, captions, labels, maps, charts, illustrations, tables, photographs, and sidebars/text boxes.and structures
- oral text features and structures
- narrative structures found in First Peoples texts(e.g., circular, iterative, cyclical)
- First Peoples oral traditionsOral traditions are the means by which cultural transmission occurs over generations other than through written records. Among First Peoples, oral traditions may consist of told stories, songs, and/or other types of distilled wisdom or information, often complemented by dance or various forms of visual representation such as carvings or masks. In addition to expressing spiritual and emotional truth (e.g., via symbol and metaphor), these traditions provide a record of literal truth (e.g., regarding events and/or situations). They were integrated into every facet of life and were the basis of First Peoples education systems. They continue to endure in contemporary contexts. In Canadian law, First Peoples oral history is valid evidence of ownership of the land. The Supreme Court of Canada recognizes that First Peoples oral histories are as important as written documents in considering legal issues.and oral texts
- protocols related to ownership of First Peoples oral textsFirst Peoples stories often have protocols (when and where they can be shared, who owns them, who can share them).
Strategies and processes
- reading strategiesThere are many strategies that readers use when making sense of text. Students consider what strategies they need to use to “unpack” text. They employ strategies with increasing independence depending on the purpose, text, and context. Strategies include but may not be limited to predicting, inferring, questioning, paraphrasing, using context clues, using text features, visualizing, making connections, summarizing, identifying big ideas, synthesizing, and reflecting.
- oral language strategiesincludes speaking with expression, connecting to listeners, asking questions to clarify, listening for specifics, summarizing, paraphrasing
- metacognitive strategies
- thinking about our own thinking, and reflecting on our processes and determining strengths and challenges
- Students employ metacognitive strategies to gain increasing independence in learning.
- writing processesThere are various writing processes depending on context. These may include determining audience and purpose, generating or gathering ideas, free-writing, making notes, drafting, revising and/or editing. Writers often have very personalized processes when writing. Writing is an iterative process.
- presentation techniques
Language features, structures, and conventions
- features of oral language
- elements of stylestylistic choices that make a specific writer distinguishable from others, including diction, vocabulary, sentence structure, and tone.
- rhetorical devices
- persuasive techniques
- usageavoiding common usage errors (e.g., double negatives, mixed metaphors, malapropisms, and word misuse)and conventionscommon practices of standard punctuation, capitalization, quoting, and Canadian spelling
- literary elements and devicesTexts use various literary devices, including figurative language, according to purpose and audience.
- literal and figurative meaning
- citation techniques
Curricular Competency
Learning Standards
Curricular Competency
Comprehend and connect (reading, listening, viewing)
Recognize and appreciate the role of story, narrative, and oral tradition in expressing First Peoples perspectives, values, beliefs, and points of view
Recognize and appreciate the diversity among First Peoples cultures, as represented in oral and other texts
Access information for diverse purposes and from a variety of sources to inform writing
Apply appropriate strategies
Strategies used will depend on purpose and context. These may include making predictions, asking questions, paraphrasing, forming images, making inferences, determining importance, identifying themes, and drawing conclusions.
to comprehend written, oral, visual, and multimodal texts texts that combine two or more systems, such as linguistic, visual, audio, gestural, and spatial, and that can be delivered via a variety of media or technologies (e.g., music video, graphic novel, postmodern picture book, close-captioned film)
Recognize and appreciate how different forms
Within a type of communication, the writer, speaker, or designer chooses a form based on the purpose of the piece. Common written forms include narratives; journals; procedural, expository, and explanatory documents; news articles; e-mails; blogs; advertisements; poetry; novels; and letters.
, formats refers to the consideration of format choices including layout, sequencing, spacing, topography, and colour
, structures refers to the way the author organizes text (e.g., cause/effect, compare/contrast, order of importance, chronological sequence, problem/solution, circular or cyclical)
, and features of texts elements of the text that are not considered the main body, including:
enhance and shape meaning and impact
- navigational aids (e.g., table of contents, index, glossary, bibliography, hyperlinks, titles, headings and subheadings, prologue and epilogue, preface or foreword, captions, footnotes and endnotes)
- illustrations (e.g., inlays, sidebars, photographs, graphs, charts, timelines, maps)
Think critically, creatively, and reflectively to explore ideas within, between, and beyond texts
Explore the role of personal and social contexts, values, and perspectives in texts
Explore how language constructs personal and cultural identities
Construct meaningful personal connections between self, text, and world
Identify bias, contradictions, and distortions
Create and communicate (writing, speaking, representing)
Respectfully exchange ideas and viewpoints from diverse perspectives to build shared understanding and extend thinking
- listening to and receptively responding to feedback
- responding to others’ work with constructive feedback
- being open-minded to divergent viewpoints and perspectives
- asking questions to promote discussion
- inviting others to share their ideas
- being willing to support personal perspectives
- being willing to shift perspective
Assess and refine texts to improve clarity and impact
- creatively and critically manipulating language for a desired effect
- using techniques such as adjusting diction and form according to audience needs and preferences, using verbs effectively, using repetition and substitution for effect, maintaining parallelism, adding modifiers, and varying sentence types
Demonstrate speaking and listening skills in a variety of formal and informal contexts for a range of purposes
- Strategies associated with speaking skills may include the conscious use of emotion, pauses, inflection, silence, and emphasis according to context.
- Strategies associated with listening skills may include receptive body language, eye contact, paraphrasing building on others’ ideas, asking clarifying questions, and disagreeing respectfully.
may include to understand, to inquire, to explore, to inform, to interpret, to explain, to take a position, to evaluate, to provoke, to problem solve, and to entertain
Explore appropriate spoken language formats for intended purposes
Use writing and design processes
There are various writing and/or design processes depending on context, and these may include determining audience and purpose, generating or gathering ideas, free-writing, making notes, drafting, revising and/or editing, and selecting appropriate format and layout.
to plan, develop, and create spoken language and other texts for a variety of purposes and audiences Students expand their understanding of the range of real-world audiences. These can include children, peers, community members, professionals, and local and globally connected digital conversations.
Express and support an opinion with evidence
Use the conventions of Canadian spelling, grammar, and punctuation proficiently and as appropriate to the context
Use acknowledgements and citations to recognize intellectual property rights
includes citing sources in appropriate ways to understand and avoid plagiarism and understanding protocols that guide use of First Peoples oral texts and other knowledge
Transform ideas and information to create original texts