Enduring Understandings

• Text is a broad term that can encompass allforms of media, people, and art; we can applysimilar strategies in our reading of each.
• We learn about ourselves, others, and theworld through speaking and listening,reading and viewing, and writing andrepresenting.
• Text can be experienced for pleasure and/orfor a purpose.
• To grow as readers, writers, and thinkers wehave to struggle and persevere with new andchallenging ideas and approaches.
• We use dialogue and discussion to develop,synthesize, and clarify ideas.
• Effective communicators use a variety ofskills and strategies to share, construct, andclarify meaning.
• Our cultural and historical backgroundsinfluence our point of view.
• A good thinker uses interpretations, analysis,and evaluation to deepen and enhanceunderstanding.
• Critical thinkers seek multiple perspectives,look for bias, and justify their interpretations.
• Successful learners reflect on their thinkingand learning and set goals in order to improve.
• Effective communicators deliberately uselanguage, text structures, stylistic devices, andconventions to engage and interact with areader/viewer/listener.
• Playing and experimenting with language andcreating original texts help us to appreciate theartistry of language.
• Authors make revisions in order to clarifymeaning.

Snapshot

Summary derived from the Prescribed Learning Outcomes for Grade Eight

• Use evidence to explain and support responses,analyses, and interpretations of texts
• Select and apply strategies to construct,monitor, extend, and confirm meaning before,during, and after listening, reading, andviewing
• Select and apply strategies to develop, organize,revise, and publish written, visual, and oralcommunications
• Use metacognitive strategies to reflect on andassess speaking and listening, reading andviewing, and writing and representing
• Use the features, structures, and patterns oflanguage to make meaning from what is heard,read, and viewed
• Use features, structures, and conventions oflanguage to enhance meaning and artistry inwritten and spoken communications
• Interact with others to explore, understand,and create ideas and texts
• Select and read a variety of texts for enjoymentand to increase fluency
• Listen, read, and view literary, information,and visual texts to comprehend, analyse,and synthesize ideas, attending to bias andperspective
• Create personal oral and writtencommunications and representations withclearly developed ideas that connectexperiences, ideas, opinions, and feelings
• Speak, write, and represent information,persuasive, narrative, poetic, and descriptivetexts to communicate ideas and informationwith a clear purpose and form
• Speak, write, and represent to interpret,analyse, and synthesize ideas and information,attending to bias and perspective

Criteria for a Good Thinker

A good thinker:

• bases judgments on evidence
• is honest with self
• listens to understand before drawing conclusions
• can tolerate ambiguity
• asks questions
• is open-minded and flexible
• is able to think independently
• identifies and explains personal points of view
• looks for connections 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 listeningand speaking
• listens carefully to understand and respondto others' messages
• communicates ideas and information clearly
• organizes ideas and information so that theaudience can understand and remember
• uses vocabulary and presentation stylethat are appropriate for the audience
• uses tone, pace, and volume that areappropriate for the situation
• sustains short conversations by encouragingthe speaker and contributing ideas
• is attentive and respectful to others inconversation
• uses language effectively for a variety ofpurposes
• monitors presentation and is sensitive toaudience response
• uses some strategies to overcome difficultiesin communication (e.g., unfamiliarvocabulary, noisy environment, distractions)
• self-evaluates and sets goals forimprovement
• refrains from sarcasm or insults that silenceothers and tolerates digressions from his orher own point of view
• tolerates the missteps, meanderings, andrecursiveness typical of discussion andexplores the possibilities in ideas offered
• prepares for discussions by completingrequired activities
• probes and questions to speculate and takerisks
• builds upon and extends the ideas of others
• looks for and expresses connectionsbetween texts, the ideas offered by otherstudents, and experiences outside theclassroom
• acknowledges the structure of thediscussion and abides by the patternsimplicit within it

Criteria for a Good Reader and Viewer

A good reader and viewer:

• accesses prior knowledge
• asks questions
• makes predictions
• self-monitors and recognizes when text is not making sense
• uses fix-up strategies to repair meaning 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
• infers
• determines literal and inferential meanings
• synthesizes and extends meanings
• evaluates the text and considers its relevance to broaderquestions and issues
• responds personally
• organizes information to aid memory
• paraphrases and/or summarizes
• 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