Course Syllabus

Faculty

Contacting Me

As the teacher for this course, I can be contacted in the following ways:

• Name: Greg Elliott
• Office: 225A
• Email: gelliott@stgeorges.ca

I am available for contact by email between 8am and 5pm Monday through Friday.

Course Description

This course is designed to support students as they refine, clarify, and adjust their written communication through practice and revision.  The course challenges students to look at fictional and non-fictional tests through an argumentative lens, as well as apply rhetorical strategies to their own writing.  Students will have the opportunity to examine a variety of texts including letters, essays, speeches that are historically significant, or present an argument related to current events.  Students will learn and apply close reading, analytical writing, and speaking skills with the goal of honing their communication ability. In particular, students will have opportunities to hone their ability to write essays in different genres.

Course Expectations

St. George’s School expects all students at the Senior School to be interested and motivated in achieving their personal best while at the School. We expect students will be engaged in their endeavours, responsible to their studies, classmates and teachers, and demonstrate integrity in their pursuit of learning.

The writing required in an Composition 11 Honours is more than a mere adjunct to the study of literature. The writing that students produce in the course reinforces their reading. Since reading and writing stimulate and support one another, they are taught together in order to underscore both their common and their distinctive elements.  Students are expected to develop their skills writing Rhetorical, Expository, Synthesis, and Literary Analysis essays in preparation for their final exam.  They are also expected to develop their ability to present both formal and informal presentations.

Workload

Efficient students will complete much of their work in class, although there will be reading, writing, and assignment based homework that supplements student learning.  Some assignments will require students to use time away from school to complete their work.

Submitting work

Students in this course are expected to complete work assignments on the date assigned and to submit their work on Canvas.

If circumstances prevent the student from completing a work assignment on the assigned due date, the student must inform the teacher prior to the due date for the work assignment. The teacher will provide a second due date through 5th block system. 

Instructional Aims

Based on the B.C. Ministry of Education curriculum, students will learn through the following experiences:

• Read for enjoyment and to achieve personal goals
• Construct meaningful personal connections between self, text, and world
• Transform ideas and information to create original texts, using various genres forms, structures, and styles
• Use metacognitive strategies to think about our own thinking, strengths, and weaknesses
• Demonstrate a multimedia, formal speech, discussion, and performance presentation

Learning Outcomes

Based on the B.C. Ministry of Education curriculum, students will learn and be evaluated on the following knowledge and skills:

• Evaluate the relevance (using credibility and significance of purpose) and reliability (using bias, propaganda, and excluded voices) of texts
• Analyze a text based on its purpose (audience and theme), structures (organization), features (diagrams, maps, charts), and literary elements
• Analyze the social and/or cultural values and perspectives that are communicated through the author’s use of language
• Analyze multiple texts to justify a nuanced, unifying theme
• Demonstrate strategic speaking skills (volume, pace, inflection, and emphasis) for the appropriate text
• Demonstrate strategic body language skills (gestures, stance, movements, eye contact) for the appropriate task
• Effectively use rhetoric, literary devices, style (implicit or explicit thesis), and descriptive language to craft a composition appropriate for its purpose
• Create effective, informative written work by using conciseness of language, logical development of ideas, use of transitions, and development of thesis
• Communicate a clear opinion support with specific evidence in a given style
• Use the conventions of Canadian spelling, grammar, and punctuation correctly given the context
• Use diction (connotation, verb choice) and syntax (parallelism, modifiers, sentence types) according to communication style and audience
• Correctly cite sources of information using MLA style for both in-text and Works Cited citations

Assessment and Evaluation

A student's final mark will be determined by evaluation of their ability to demonstrate proficiency in these skills and learning these concepts.

            Students enrolled in Composition 11 Honours will become accustomed to performance-based assessment tasks that are scaffolded to allow students to apply the knowledge and skills they have learnt and practiced to new texts and tasks. Teachers provide multiple opportunities and, where appropriate, assignment options for students to demonstrate these skills throughout the school year. Assessments and evaluations are viewed as opportunities to give students feedback about their current abilities and ways that they can grow and further develop. Summative assessments are used to create a standard measure across the grade level and to give students an opportunity to independently apply the skills they have learnt over the course of the year.

            To accurately depict student skill levels, we assess students using the following major categories: Writer’s Craft, In-Class Writing, Reading and Viewing, and Oral Language. The categories allow teachers to gauge and communicate with a student their areas of strength and areas for growth. Teachers will indicate the specific skills assessed by assignments in each category.

Writer’s Craft                                    25%

• Grammar and editing skills
• Take-home assignments and/or multi-day assessments, group or individual
• Multiple-literacy representations
• Peer/self-editing
• Metacognitive responses to personal work

In-class Writing                                  25%

• In-class writing: essays, free writes, stand-alone responses
• Timed responses and performance tasks
• Cross-grade

Reading and Viewing                          25%

• Reading comprehension, interpretation, reflection
• Multiple choice and short answer assessments
• Bloom’s sheets
• Canvas discussions

Oral Language                                   25%

• Presentations
• Debates, discussion-based assessment
• Student self-assessment of engagement during small/full-class discussions
• Poetry in Voice

We anticipate adjustments may be made throughout the year due to the extenuating circumstances we are facing. Any adjustments will be posted here and discussed as a class.

Both the school’s assessment expectations and supports that teachers provide can be found online. Academic dishonesty to any degree is not acceptable.

There are a variety of academic supports available at St. George’s for students. Students are encouraged to take advantage of the range of supports available to them which include:

• Faculty support
• 5th Block
• Head of Grade
• Student Success Centre
• Personal Counselling

First Peoples Principles

We would like to acknowledge that the land on which we gather is the unceded territory of the Coast Salish Peoples, including the territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. We are honoured to live, work, and play on this land together.

As part of contribution to reconciliation, this course makes First Peoples Principles visible in class that learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational (focused on connectedness, on reciprocal relationships, and a sense of place). Learning involves recognizing the consequences of one’s actions. Learning requires exploration of one’s identity.

Literacy/Numeracy

This course embeds literacy practices within every lesson. You’ll learn critical reading skills to help you critically read, interpret, and analyze prose. You’ll observe how the literary techniques you’ve explored in prior units unfold over the course of longer works and analyze how characters develop and interact over the course of a narrative.  You’ll delve deeper into the roles of character and conflict in fiction and explore how a narrator’s perspective can colour storytelling.

            Students will be asked to demonstrate understanding through comprehension, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation tasks. You’ll develop your interpretation of literature further by examining how contrasts, ambiguous language, and various other techniques can add layers of meaning to a literary work.  You will also be asked to share ideas using oral, written, and visual communication in both formal and informal settings.

Learning Resources

This course involves the study of readings from many different sources, and does not rely solely on one textbook.  Readings will be selected by the instructor throughout the year and include short fiction, poetry, a selection of essays, speeches, novels, and plays. 

Canvas Information

Canvas is where course content, grades, and communication will reside for this course.

• canvas.stgeorges.bc.ca
• For Canvas, passwords, or any other technical support contact the SGS Service Desk.
• 604 221-3654
• Sr Room 121
• SGSServiceDesk@stgeorges.bc.ca