Enduring Understandings

• Meaning-making is a constructive and creative process.
• We learn about ourselves, others, and the world through speaking and listening, reading, and writing.
• Effective readers, writers, speakers, and listeners use a variety of strategies and skills to share, construct, clarify, and confirm meaning.
• We use talk, dialogue, and discussion to develop, synthesize, and clarify ideas.
• Oral, written, and visual communications have their own conventions. Awareness and use of these conventions make us better communicators.
• Playing and experimenting with language and creating original texts help us to appreciate the artistry of language.
• Successful learners reflect on their thinkingand learning to find ways to improve.
• Good thinkers use interpretation, analysis, and evaluation to deepen thinking and enhance understanding.
• Critical thinkers consider points of view,examine bias, question the author’s purpose,and take context into account.
• An understanding of literature is key to an understanding of oneself, one’s community, and the world.

Snapshot

Summary derived from the Prescribed Learning Outcomes for Grade Six

• Interact with others to share ideas and opinions, complete tasks, and resolve problems or concerns
• Present ideas, information, and feelings orally in informal and formal situations
• Listen to recall, summarize, and analyse ideas and information
• Build on a repertoire of strategies to construct and confirm meaning
• Read and view a variety of grade-appropriate texts with comprehension and fluency
• Select and read books for enjoyment and comprehension, and to improve fluency
• Explain their reactions and responses to text and make connections that require some inference and insight, citing a text, as appropriate
• Use the features, structures, and patterns of language to make meaning from what they hear, read, and view
• Create personal writing with clearly developed ideas that connect experiences, ideas, opinions, and feelings
• Communicate ideas and information through writing that is clear and focussed
• Create imaginative writing that conveys meaning, featuring an authentic voice
• Create meaningful visual representations that communicate personal response, information, and ideas relevant to the topic
• Write to extend thinking by developing explanations, analysing the relationship between ideas, and exploring new ideas
• Use some features and conventions of language to enhance meaning and artistry
• Reflect on and assess their learning, and set goals for improvement

Criteria for a Good Thinker

A good thinker:

• bases judgments on evidence
• is honest with self
• is not persuaded without reason
• can tolerate and deal with ambiguity
• asks questions
• is open-minded and flexible
• is intellectually independent
• identifies assumptions and points of view that shape thinking
• looks for both connections and inconsistencies among ideas
• extends personal thinking by assimilating new ideas and information
• is self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitoring, and self-correcting

Criteria for a Good Speaker and Listener

A good speaker and listener:

• speaks and listens for a variety of purposes
• maintains concentration during listening and speaking
• receives, interprets and responds to messages
• communicates ideas and information clearly, articulately, and in an organized manner
• organizes ideas and information so that the audience can understand and remember
• uses vocabulary and presentation style that are appropriate for the audience
• uses tone, pace, volume, grammar, syntax, and conversational conventions that are appropriate for the situation
• sustains extended conversations by encouraging the speaker and contributing ideas
• is attentive, respectful and open to cultural, gender, and individual differences in conversation (i.e., listens with "eyes," "ears," and "heart")
• uses language effectively to clarify, persuade, and inspire
• monitors presentation and is sensitive to audience response
• uses a variety of strategies to overcome difficulties in communication (e.g., a noisy environment, distractions, interruptive questions from audience)
• self-evaluates and sets goals for improvement

Criteria for a Good Reader and Viewer

A good reader and viewer:

• accesses prior knowledge
• asks questions
• makes predictions
• integrates three cueing systems and cross-checks for meaning
• self-monitors and recognizes when text is not making sense
• uses strategies to overcome problems during reading and viewing
• makes connections before, during, and after reading and viewing
• uses mental images to deepen and extend meaning
• distinguishes the main ideas and their supporting details
• interprets both literal and inferential meaning
• synthesizes and extends meaning
• evaluates the text or visual material and considers its relevance to broader questions and issues
• self-evaluates and sets goals for improvement

Criteria for a Good Writer and Representer

A good writer and representer:

• generates ideas
• organizes information
• identifies a purpose
• defines an audience and considers its characteristics
• develops a "voice" and style suitable to the purpose, content, and audience
• controls word choice and sentence construction
• conveys meaning clearly
• demonstrates fluency and coherence in flow of ideas
• recognizes the value of feedback
• revises and rewrites
• adheres to conventions
• finds satisfaction in writing
• self-evaluates and sets goals for improvement