English

Junior High

Grade 9
Teacher Guide

Standards-Based

Pa
p u a Ne w G u i n e
a

‘FREE ISSUE Department of Education

NOT FOR SALE’
 English
Junior High

Grade 9
Teacher Guide

Standards-Based

Pa
p u a Ne w G u i n e
a

Department of Education
 Grade 9

Issued free to schools by the Department of Education

Published in 2020 by the Department of Education, Papua New Guinea.

© Copyright 2020, Department of Education, Papua New Guinea.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored

in a retrieval system or transmitted by any form or by any means
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the
prior written permission of the publisher.

Graphic Design & Layout by Vitus Witnes Kanua

ISBN: 987-9980-905-89-8

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 English Teacher Guide

Contents
Acknowledgements................................................................iv

Acronyms...............................................................................v

Secretary’s Message..............................................................vi

Introduction............................................................................1

Structure of the Teacher Guide..............................................2

Purpose of the Teacher Guide................................................3

How to use the Teacher Guide...............................................5

Syllabus and Teacher Guide Alignment.................................10

Learning and Performance Standards...................................12

Core Curriculum.....................................................................17

Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and

Mathematics..........................................................................19

Curriculum Integration............................................................33

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values and Attitudes.................36

Teaching and Learning Strategies..........................................42

Strands, Units and Topics for English....................................45

Strand 1: Reading..................................................................49

Strand 2: Writing....................................................................83

Strand 3: Listening.................................................................137

Strand 4: Speaking................................................................163

Strand 5: Communication......................................................186

Strand 6: English Grammar....................................................209

Standard-Based Lesson Planning.........................................236

Assessment, Monitoring and Reporting................................246

Glossary.................................................................................253

References.............................................................................254

Appendices............................................................................255

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 Grade 9

Acknowledgements
Grade 9 English Teacher Guide was developed by the Curriculum
Development Division of the Department of Education. It was coordinated
by Jennifer Jerry Kabugla with assistance from the Subject Curriculum
Group (SCG) members.

Lecturers from the University of Papua New Guinea, University of Goroka

and secondary school teachers from Central Province are acknowledged
for their contributions to this teacher guide.

Curriculum Panel (CP), Syllabus Advisory Committee (SAC), and Board of

Studies (BOS) Committee members are also acknowledged for their
consideration and endorsement of the syllabus.

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 English Teacher Guide

Acronyms
AAL Assessment As Learning

AFL Assessment For Learning

AOL Assessment Of Learning

BOS Board of Studies

CDD Curriculum Development Division

CP Curriculum Panel

ESD Education for Sustainable Development

CSD Character and Social Development

NDoE National Department of Education

KSAV Knowledge, Skills, Values and Attitude

OBC Outcomes-Base Curriculum

OBE Outcomes-Base Education

PNG Papua New Guinea

SAC Syllabus Advisory Committee

SBC Standards-Based Curriculum

SBE Standards-Based Education

SCG Subject Curriculum Group

STEAM Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics

STEM Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

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 Grade 9

Secretary’s Message
Given the Government’s decision to use the Standards-Based Curriculum
(SBC) in the Papua New Guinea’s National Education system in 2013; the
English SBC is an important resource for delivering relevant and quality
education. The English SBC is aligned to set benchmarks and
descriptive standards that guide directions for the goals of studying
English. The subject English is important for students’ interpersonal
communication skills and knowledge as that is the language of national
and global communication.

The English SBC is significant for teaching literacy skills as that will
enable students to progressively develop proficiencies in the language of
international business and politics. Through the study of English,
necessary knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values will be imparted to
students as they are exposed to the importance of contemporary cultural,
social, political, economic, historical and environmental issues which
shape meanings and realities of PNG and the world. Thus, students are
expected to develop positive attitudes to life at school and in society to
enable harmonious living with others. Grade 9 students are expected to
learn and demonstrate proficiency in communicating effectively in English
through reading, writing, speaking and listening, in a variety of situations
as in the market place, in business, and in the technological world.
The ultimate aim of a Standards-Based Education in PNG is to prepare
students for pathways to careers, higher education, and citizenship
preparedness of the knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes that they can
use to work, study and live in the 21st century.

Grade 9 teachers are expected to effectively plan, teach, and assess

these knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes. This teacher guide
describes what teachers are expected to know and do to enable all their
students to effectively learn and demonstrate the expected levels of
proficiency in all the grade level knowledge, skills, values and attitudes,
and attain the national content standard benchmark for English.

I commend and approve this Grade 9 English Teacher Guide to be used

by teachers in all high schools throughout Papua New Guinea.

…………………………......
UKE W. KOMBRA, PhD.
Secretary for Education

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 English Teacher Guide

Introduction
English is the most common language that connects a linguistically
diverse nation as Papua New Guinea (PNG) locally, nationally, and
globally. English is the official language for learning science, technology,
business, politics, social science, culture and arts etc…. Studying English
enables students to connect with others in an intelligent and practiced
way of sending, receiving, synthesizing and evaluating messages. Hence,
learners’ develop interpersonal communication skills through their
academic studies that will connect them to appropriate pathways.
Therefore, it is important to learn English because the GoPNG in its
Vision 2050 stressed that PNG needs to have a “well-educated”
workforce (National Strategic Plan Task Force, 2009, p. 10).

Having fluency and a functional approach to understanding the English

language/subject is critical in preparing students for careers, higher
education, and citizenship in the 21st century and beyond. The English
course aims to train, and equip students with necessary knowledge,
skills, attitudes, and values to communicate effectively in various
situations. Students will learn that English is a language that illustrates
culture, gender, class, and ethnicity perspectives. Through studying
English, students will recognise the importance of contemporary cultural
issues, and in their discussions, give meanings to contexts and realities.
These should enable development of positive attitudes to school life and
in general to interact harmoniously with society at large.

Teachers will prepare and teach students English knowledge, skills,

values and attitudes in these six strands:
1. Reading;
2. Writing;
3. Listening;
4. Speaking;
5. Communication; and
6. English Grammar.

Moreover, the English curriculum has embedded STEAM into its design as
equal opportunities are to be provided for all students to learn, apply and
master STEAM principles and skills. STEAM is an integral component of
the core curriculum. All students are expected to study STEAM and use
STEAM related skills to solve problems relating to both the natural and
the physical environments. The aim of STEAM education is to
create a STEAM literate society. It is envisioned that the study of STEAM
will motivate students to pursue and take up academic programs and
careers in STEAM related fields. Therefore, teachers need to consider the
STEAM principles and skills when preparing English lessons for teaching.
English is to be time-tabled for six periods per week in grade 9; 40
minutes per lesson (280 minutes per week).

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 Grade 9

Structure of the Teacher Guide

There are four main parts to this teacher guide. They provide essential
information on what all teachers should know and do to effectively
implement the English curriculum.

Part 1 provides generic information to help the teachers to effectively use

the teacher guide and the syllabus to plan, teach and assess students’
performance and proficiency on the national content standards and
grade-level benchmarks. The purpose of the teacher guide, syllabus and
teacher guide alignment, and the four pillars of PNG SBC, that is, morals
and values education, cognitive and high level thinking, and 21st century
thinking skills, STEAM, and core curriculum are explained to inform as
well as guide the teachers so that they align SBE/SBC aims and goals,
overarching and SBC principles, content standards, grade-level
benchmarks, learning objectives and best practice when planning
lessons, teaching, and assessing students.

Part 2 provides information on the strands, units, topics and learning

objectives. How topics and learning objectives are derived is explained
to the teachers to guide them to use the learning objectives provided for
planning, instruction and assessment. And to develop additional topics
and learning objectives to meet the learning needs of their students and
communities where necessary.

Part 3 provides information on SBC planning to help guide the teachers

when planning SBC lessons. Elements and standards for SBC lesson
plans are described as well as how to plan for underachievers, use
evidence to plan lessons, and use differentiated instruction, amongst
other teaching and learning strategies.

Part 4 provides information on standards-based assessment, inclusive

of performance assessment and standards, standards-based evaluation,
standards-based reporting, and standards-based monitoring. This
information should help the teachers to effectively assess, evaluate,
report and monitor demonstration of significant aspects of a benchmark.

The above components are linked and closely aligned. They should be
connected to ensure that the intended learning outcomes and the
expected quality of education standards are achieved. The close
alignment of planning, instruction and assessment is critical to the
attainment of learning standards.

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 English Teacher Guide

Purpose of the Teacher Guide

This teacher guide describes what all teachers should know and do to
effectively plan, teach, and assess grade 9 English content to enable all
students to attain the required learning and proficiency standards. The
overarching purpose of this teacher guide is to help teachers to effectively
plan, teach, assess, evaluate, record, report and monitor students’
learning and mastery of national and grade-level expectations, that is, the
essential knowledge, skills, values and attitudes described in the content
standards and grade-level benchmarks, and their achievement of the
national and grade-level proficiency standards.

To this end, teachers are expected to:

• understand the significance of aligning all the elements of
Standards-Based Curriculum (SBC) as the basis for achieving the
expected level of education quality;
• effectively align all the components of SBC when planning, teaching,
and assessing students’ learning and levels of proficiency;
• effectively translate and align the English syllabi and teacher guide
to plan, teach and assess different English units and topics, and the
essential knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes described in the
grade-level benchmarks;
• understand the English national content standards, grade-level
benchmarks, and evidence outcomes;
• effectively make sense of the content (knowledge, skills, values
and attitudes) described in the English national content standards
and the essential components of the content described in the
grade-level benchmarks;
• effective guide students to progressively learn and demonstrate
proficiency on a range of English skills, processes, concepts, ideas,
principles, practices, values and attitudes.
• confidently interpret, translate and use English content standards
and benchmarks to determine the learning objectives and
performance standards, and plan appropriately to enable all
students to achieve these standards;
• embed the core curriculum in their English lesson planning,
instruction, and assessment to permit all students to learn and
master the core knowledge, skills, values and attitudes required of
all students;
• provide opportunities for all students understand how STEAM has
and continues to shape the social, political, economic, cultural,
and environment contexts and the consequences, and use STEAM
principles, skills, processes, ideas and concepts to inquire into and
solve problems relating to both the natural and physical (man-made)
worlds as well as problems created by STEAM;
• integrate cognitive skills (critical, creative, reasoning, decision-
making, and problem-solving skills), high level thinking skills
(analysis, synthesis and evaluation skills), values (personal, social,

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Grade 9

work, health, peace, relationship, sustaining values), and attitudes in

lesson planning, instruction and assessment;
• meaningfully connect what students learn in English with what is
learnt in other subjects to add value and enhance students’
learning so that they can integrate what they learn and develop
in-depth vertical and horizontal understanding of subject content;
• formulate effective SBC lesson plans using learning objectives
identified for each of the topics;
• employ SBC assessment approaches to develop performance
assessments to assess students’ proficiency on a content standard
or a component of the content standard described in the grade-level
benchmark;
• effectively score and evaluate students’ performance in relation to a
core set of learning standards or criteria, and make sense of the
data to ascertain students’ status of progress towards meeting
grade-level and nationally expected proficiency standards, and
• use evidence from the assessment of students’ performance to
develop effective evidence-based intervention strategies to help
students’ making inadequate or slow progress towards meeting the
grade-level and national expectations to improve their learning and
performance.

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 English Teacher Guide

How to use the Teacher Guide

Teacher guide provides essential information about what the teacher
needs to know and do to effectively plan, teach and assess students
learning and proficiency on learning and performance standards. The
different components of the teacher guide are closely aligned with SBC
principles and practice, and all the other components of PNG SBC. It
should be read in conjunction with the syllabus in order to understand
what is expected of teachers and students to achieve the envisaged
quality of education outcomes.

The first thing teachers should do is to read and understand each of the
sections of the teacher guide to help them understand the key SBC
concepts and ideas, alignment of PNG SBC components, alignment of
the syllabus and teacher guide, setting of content standards and
grade-level benchmarks, core curriculum, STEAM, curriculum integration,
essential knowledge, skills, values and attitudes, strands, units and
topics, learning objectives, SBC lesson planning, and SBC assessment. A
thorough understanding of these components will help teachers meet the
teacher expectations for implementing the SBC curriculum, and therefore
the effective implementation of grade 9 English Curriculum. Based on
this understanding, teachers should be able to effectively use the teacher
guide to do the following:
Determine Learning Objectives and Lesson Topics
Units, topics and learning objectives have been identified and described
in the teacher guide and syllabus. Lesson objectives are derived from
topics that are extracted from the grade-level benchmarks. Lesson
topics are deduced from the learning objectives. Teachers should
familiarise themselves with this process as it is essential for lesson
planning, instruction and assessment. However, depending on the context
and students’ learning abilities, teachers would be required to determine
additional learning objectives and lesson topics. Teachers should use the
examples provide in this teacher guide to formulate learning objectives
and lesson topics to meet the educational needs of their students. What
is provided here is not exhaustive. Teachers should develop additional
learning objectives to target the learning needs of all their students.

Identify and Teach Grade Appropriate Content

Grade appropriate content has been identified and scoped and
sequenced using appropriate content organisation principles. The content
is sequenced using the spiralling sequence principles. This sequencing of
content will enable students to progressive learn the essential knowledge,
skills, values and attitudes as they progress deep into their schooling.
What students learn in previous grades is reinforced and deepen in scope
with an increase in the level of complexity and difficulty in the content
and learning activities. It is important to understand how the content is
organised so that grade appropriate content and learning activities can be
selected, if not already embedded in the benchmarks and learning
objectives, to not only help students learn and master the content, but
ensure that what is taught is rigorous, challenging, and comparable.

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Grade 9

Integrate the Core Curriculum in Lesson Planning, Instruction and

Assessment
Teachers should use this teacher guide to help them integrate the core
curriculum – values, cognitive and high level skills, 21st century skills,
STEAM principles and skills, and reading, writing, and communication
skills – in their lesson planning, instruction and assessment. All students
in all subjects are required to learn and master these skills progressively
through the education system. Teachers are expected to plan, teach and
assess the core curriculum.

Integrate Cognitive, High Level, and 21st Century Skills in Lesson Planning,
Instruction and Assessment
Teachers should integrate the cognitive, high level and 21st century skills
in their annual teaching programs, and give prominence to these skills in
their lesson preparation, teaching and learning activities, performance
assessment, and performance standards for measuring students’
proficiency on these skills. English focuses on developing and harnessing
responsible and evidence-based reasoning, decision-making, problem-
solving, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation skills. In addition, it envisaged
all students attaining expected proficiency levels in these skills and will
be ready to pursue careers and higher education academic programs that
demand these skills, and use them in their everyday life after they leave
school at the end of grade 12. Teachers should use the teacher guide
to help them to effectively embed these skills, particularly in their lesson
planning and in the teaching and learning activities as well as in the
assessment of students’ application of the skills.

Integrate Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM)

Principles and Skills in Lesson Planning, Instruction and Assessment
Teachers should draw from both the syllabus and teacher guide them to
integrate STEAM principles and skills, and methodologies in their lesson
planning, instruction and assessment. STEAM teaching and learning
happens both inside and outside of the classroom. Effective STEAM
teaching and learning requires both the teacher and the student to
participate as core investigators and learners, and to work in partnership
and collaboration with relevant stakeholders to achieve maximum results.
Teachers should use the syllabus, teacher guides and other resources to
guide them to plan and implement this and other innovative and creative
approaches to STEAM teaching and learning to make STEAM principles
and skills learning fun and enjoyable and, at the same time, attain the
intended quality of learning outcomes.

Identify and Use Grade and Context Appropriate, Innovative, Differentiated

and Creative Teaching and Learning Methodologies
SBC is an eclectic curriculum model. It is an amalgam of strengths of
different curriculum types, including behavioural objectives, outcomes,
and competency. Its emphasis is on students attaining clearly defined,
measurable, observable and attainable learning standards, i.e., the
expected level of education quality. Proficiency (competency) standards
are expressed as performance standards/criteria and evidence outcomes,

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 English Teacher Guide
that is, what all students are expected to know (content) and do
(application of content in real life or related situations) to indicate that they
are meeting, have met or exceeded the learning standards. The selection
of grade and contextually appropriate teaching and learning
methodologies is critical to enabling all students to achieve the expected
standard or quality of education. Teaching and learning methodologies
must be aligned to the content, learning objective, and performance
standard in order for the teacher to effectively teach and guide students
towards meeting the performance standard for the lesson. They should
be equitable and socially inclusive, differentiate, student-centred, and
lifelong. They should enable STEAM principles and skills to be effectively
taught and learned by students. Teachers should use the teacher guide
help them make informed decisions when selecting the types teaching
and learning methodologies to use in their teaching of the subject
content, including STEAM principles and skills.

Plan Standards-Based Lessons

SBC lesson planning is quite difficult to do. However, this will be easier
with more practice and experience over time. Effective SBC lessons plans
must meet the required standards or criteria so that the learning
objectives and performance standards are close aligned and the
expected learning outcomes can be attained. Teachers should use the
guidelines and standards for SBC lesson planning and examples of SBC
lesson plans provided in the teacher guide to plan their lessons. When
planning lessons, it is important for teachers to ensure that all SBC lesson
planning standards or criteria are met. If standards are not met,
instruction will not lead to the attainment of intended performance and
proficiency standards. Therefore, students will not attain the national
content standards and grade-level benchmarks.

Use Standards-Based Assessment

Standards-Based Assessment has a number of components. These
components are intertwined and serve to measure students’
achievement of the learning standards and evaluate, report, and
monitor their achievement of the national and grade-level expectations,
i.e., the essential knowledge, skills, values and attitudes they are
expected to master and demonstrate proficiency on. Teachers should use
the information and examples on standards-based assessment to plan,
assess, record, evaluate, report and monitor students’ performance in
relation to the learning standards.

Make Informed Judgements About Students’ Learning and Progress Towards

Meeting Learning Standards
Teachers should use the teacher guide to guide them to effectively
evaluate students’ performance and use the evidence to help students to
continuously improve their learning as well as their classroom practice.

In is important that teachers evaluate the performance of students in

relation to the performance standards and progressively the grade-level
benchmarks and content standards to make informed judgements and
decisions about the quality of their work and their progress towards

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Grade 9

meeting the content standards or components of the standards.

Evaluation should not focus on only one aspect of students’ performance.
It should aim to provide a complete picture of each student's
performance. The context, inputs, processes, including teaching and
learning processes, and the outcomes should be evaluated to make an
informed judgement about each student's performance, identify the
causal factors for poor performance, gaps in students learning, gaps in
teaching, teaching and learning resource constraints, and general attitude
towards learning. Evidence-based decisions can then be made regarding
the interventions for closing the gaps to allow students to make the
required progress towards meeting grade-level and national expectations.

Prepare Students’ Performance Reports

Reporting of students’ performance and progress towards the attainment
of learning standards is an essential part of SBC assessment. Results of
students’ performance should be communicated to particularly the
students and their parents to keep them informed of students’ academic
achievements and learning challenges as well as what needs to be done
to enable the students’ make positive progress towards meeting the
proficiency standards and achieve the desired level of education quality.
Teachers should use the information on the reporting of students’
assessment results and the templates provided to report the results of
students’ learning.

Monitor Students’ Progress Towards Meeting the National Content Standards

and Grade-Level Benchmarks
Monitoring of student’s progress towards the attainment of learning
standards is an essential component of standards-based assessment. It
is an evidence-based process that involves the use of data from
students’ performance assessments to make informed judgements about
students’ learning and proficiency on the learning standards or their
components, identify gaps in students’ learning and the causal factors,
set clear learning improvement targets, and develop effective
evidence-based strategies (including preplanning and reteaching of
topics), set clear timeframes, and identify measures for measuring
students’ progress towards achieving the learning targets.

Teachers should use the teacher guide to help them use data from
students’ performance assessments to identify individual students’
learning weaknesses and develop interventions, in collaboration with each
student and his/her parents or guardians, to address the weaknesses and
monitor their progress towards meeting the agreed learning goals.

Develop Additional Benchmarks

Teachers can develop additional benchmarks using the examples in the
teacher guide to meet the learning needs of their students and local
communities. However, these benchmarks will not be nationally assessed
as these are not comparable. They are not allowed to set their own
content standards or manipulate the existing ones. The setting of national
content standards is done at the national level to ensure that required
learning standards are maintained and monitored to sustain the required
level of education quality.

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 English Teacher Guide
Avoid Standardisation
The implementation of English curriculum must not be standardised. SBC
does not mean that the content, lesson objectives, teaching and
learning strategies, and assessment are standardised. This is a
misconception and any attempt to standardise the components of
curriculum without due consideration of the teaching and learning
contexts, children’s backgrounds and experiences, and different
abilities and learning styles of children will be counterproductive. It will
hinder students from achieving the expected proficiency standards and
hence, high academic standards and the desired level of education
quality. That is, they should not be applied across all contexts and with all
students, without considering the educational needs and the
characteristics of each context. Teachers must use innovative, creative,
culturally relevant, and differentiated teaching and learning approaches
to teach the curriculum and enable their students to achieve the national
content standards and grade-level benchmarks. And enable all students
to experience success in learning the curriculum and achieve high
academic standards.

What is provided in the syllabus and teacher guide are not fixed and
cannot be changed. Teachers should use the information and examples
provide in the syllabus and the teacher to guide them to develop, select,
and use grade, context, and learner appropriate content, learning
objectives, teaching and learning strategies, and performance
assessment and standards. SBC is evidence-based hence decisions
about the content, learning outcomes, teaching and learning strategies,
students’ performance, and learning interventions should be based on
evidence. Teaching and learning should be continuously improved and
effectively targeted using evidence from students’ assessment and other
sources.

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 Grade 9

Syllabus and Teacher Guide Alignment

A teacher guide is a framework that describes how to translate the
content standards and benchmarks (learning standards) outlined in the
syllabus into units and topics, learning objectives, lesson plans, teaching
and learning strategies, performance assessment, and measures for
measuring students’ performance (performance standards). It expands
the content overview and describes how this content - identified in the
content standards and their components (essential knowledge, skills,
values or attitudes) – can be translated into meaningful and
evidence-based teaching topics and learning objectives for lesson
planning, instruction and assessment. Grade 9 English comprises of
grades 9 & 10 syllabus and grade 9 teacher guide. These two documents
are closely aligned, complimentary and mutually beneficial. They should
be used together to plan lessons, teach relevant content, and assess the
levels of students’ proficiency. They are essential focal points for teaching
and learning the essential English knowledge, skills, values and attitudes.

Figure 1: Syllabus and teacher guide alignment

Syllabus Teacher Guide

(Outlines the ultimate aim and goals, (Describes how to plan, teach, and
and what to teach and why teach it) assess students’ performance)

• Aim and goals of SBE and SBC • Align all elements of PNG SBC
• Overarching and SBC principles • Determine topics for lesson planning,
• Content overview instruction and assessment
• Core curriculum • Formulate learning objectives
• Essential knowledge, skills, values and • Plan SBC lesson plans
attitudes • Select teaching and learning strategies
• Strands and sub-strands • Implement SBC assessment and
• Evidence outcomes evaluation
• Content standards and grade-level • Implement SBC reporting and
benchmarks monitoring
• Overview of assessment, evaluation,
and reporting

Teacher guide should be used in conjunction with the syllabus. These two
documents are closely aligned and complimentary. Teachers should use
both documents when planning, teaching and assessing grade 9 English
content. Syllabus outlines the ultimate aim and goals of SBE and SBC,
what is to be taught and why it should be learned by students, the
underlying principles and articulates the learning and proficiency
standards that all students are expected to attain. On the other hand, the
teacher guide expands on what is outlined in the syllabus by describing
the approaches or the how of planning, teaching, learning, and
assessing the content so that the intended learning outcomes are
achieved. It also describes and provide examples of how to evaluate
and report on students’ attainment of the learning standards, and use
evidence from the assessment of students’ performance to develop

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 English Teacher Guide
evidence-based interventions to assist students who are making slow
progress towards meeting the expected proficiency levels to improve
their performance. Teachers will extract information from the syllabus
(e.g., content standards and grade-level benchmarks) for lesson planning,
instruction and assessment.

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 Grade 9

Learning and Performance Standards

Standards-Based Education (SBE) and SBE are underpinned by the
notion of quality. Standards define the expected level of education
quality that all students should achieve at a particular point in their
schooling. Students’ progression and achievement of education
standard(s) are measured using performance standards or criteria to
determine their demonstration or performance on significant aspects of
the standards and therefore their levels of proficiency or competency.
When they are judged to have attain proficiency on a content standard or
benchmark or components of these standards, they are then deemed to
have met the standard(s) that is, achieved the intend level of education
quality.

Content standards, benchmarks, and learning objectives are called

learning standards while performance and proficiency standards
(evidence outcomes) can be categorised as performance standards.
These standards are used to measure students’ performance, proficiency,
progression and achievement of the desired level of education quality.
Teachers are expected to understand and use these standards for lesson
planning, instruction and assessment.

Content Standards
Content standards are evidence-based, rigorous and comparable
regionally and globally. They have been formulated to target critical social,
economic, political, cultural, environment, and employable skills gaps
identified from a situational analysis. They were developed using
examples and experiences from other countries and best practice, and
contextualized to PNG contexts.

Content standards describe what (content - knowledge, skills, values,

and attitudes) all students are expected to know and do (how well
students must learn and apply what is set out in the content
standards) at each grade-level before proceeding to the next grade.
These standards are set at the national level and thus cannot be edited or
changed by anyone except the National Subject-Based Standards
Councils. Content Standards:
• are evidenced-based;
• are rigorous and comparable to regional and global standards;
• are set at the national level;
• state or describe the expected levels of quality or achievement;
• are clear, measurable and attainable;
• are linked to and aligned with the ultimate aim and goals of SBE and
SBC and overarching and SBC principles;
• delineate what matters, provide clear expectations of what students
should progressively learn and achieve in school, and guide lesson
planning, instruction, assessment;

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 English Teacher Guide
• comprise knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes that are the basis
for quality education;
• provide teachers a clear basis for planning, teaching, and assessing
lessons;
• provides provinces, districts, and schools with a clear focus on how
to develop and organise their instruction and assessment programs
as well as the content that they will include in their curriculum.

Benchmarks
Benchmarks are derived from the content standards and benchmarked
at the grade-level. Benchmarks are specific statements of what students
should know (i.e., essential knowledge, skills, values or attitudes) at a
specific grade-level or school level. They provide the basis for measuring
students’ attainment a content standard as well as progress to the next
grade of schooling. Grade-level benchmarks:
• are evidenced-based;
• are rigorous and comparable to regional and global standards;
• are set at the grade level;
• are linked to the national content standards;
• are clear, measurable, observable and attainable;
• articulate grade level expectations of what students are able to
demonstrate to indicate that they are making progress towards
attaining the national content standards;
• provide teachers a clear basis for planning, teaching, and assessing
lessons;
• state clearly what students should do with what they have learned at
the end of each school-level;
• enable students’ progress towards the attainment of national
content standards to be measured, and
• enable PNG students’ performance to be compared with the
performance of PNG students with students in other countries.

Figure 2: Approach for setting national content standards and

grade-level benchmarks
Grade-Grade-
Content level
Strands Standards benchmarks

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 Grade 9

Development of Additional Benchmarks

Teachers should develop additional benchmarks to meet the learning
needs of their students. They should engage their students to learn about
local, provincial, national and global issues that have not been catered for
in the grade-level benchmarks but are important and can enhance
students’ understanding and application of the content. However, it is
important to note that these benchmarks will not be nationally examined
as they are not comparable. Only the benchmarks developed at the
national level will be tested. This does not mean that teachers should
not develop additional benchmarks. An innovative, reflect, creative and
reflexive teacher will continuously reflect on his/her classroom practice
and use evidence to provide challenging, relevant, and enjoyable learning
opportunities for his/her students to build on the national expectations for
students. Teachers should follow the following process when developing
additional grade-level benchmarks.

Figure 3: Benchmark development process

Determine what Determine if what Formulate Ensure that

needs to be is to be taught benchmarks benchmarks
taught (essential will contribute following the developed meet
knowledge, towards the sequence of the standards for
skills, values and achievement of benchmarks developing
attitudes) the national effective
already
content standard benchmarks
developed for the
content standard

Learning Objectives

Learning or instructional Objectives are precise statements of educational

intent. They are formulated using a significant aspect or a topic derived
from the benchmark, and are aligned with the educational goals, content
standards, benchmarks, and performance standards. Learning objectives
are stated in outcomes language that describes the products or
behaviours that will be provided by students. They are stated in terms of a
measurable and observable student behaviour. For example, students will
be able to identify all the main towards of PNG using a map.

Performance Standards

Performance Standards are concrete statements of how well students

must learn what is set out in the content standards, often called the “be
able to do” of “what students should know and be able to do.”
Performance standards are the indicators of quality that specify how
competent a students’ demonstration or performance must be. They are
explicit definitions of what students must do to demonstrate proficiency
or competency at a specific level on the content standards. Performance
standards:

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 English Teacher Guide
• measure students’ performance and proficiency (using
performance indicators) in the use of a specific knowledge, skill,
value, or attitude in real life or related situations
• provide the basis (performance indicators) for evaluating,
reporting and monitoring students’ level of proficiency in use of a
specific knowledge, skills, value, or attitude
• are used to plan for individual instruction to help students not yet
meeting expectations (desired level of mastery and proficiency) to
make adequate progress towards the full attainment of benchmarks
and content standards
• are used as the basis for measuring students’ progress towards
meeting grade-level benchmarks and content standards

Proficiency Standards

Proficiency standards describe what all students in a particular grade

or school level can do at the end of a strand, sub-strand or unit. These
standards are sometimes called evidence outcomes because they
indicate if students can actually apply or use what they have learnt in real
life or similar situations. They are also categorized as benchmarks
because that is what all students are expected to do before exiting a
grade or are deemed ready for the next grade.

Learning and Performance Standards Alignment

Content Standards, Benchmarks, learning objectives, and performance

standards are very closely linked and aligned (see figure 4). There is a
close linear relationship between these standards. Students’ performance
on a significant aspect of a benchmark (knowledge, skill, value, or
attitude) is measured against a set of performance standards or criteria to
determine their level of proficiency using performance assessment.
Using the evidence from the performance assessment, individual
student’s proficiency on the aspect of the benchmark assessed and
progression towards meeting the benchmark and hence the content
standard are then determined.

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 Grade 9

Figure 4: Content standards, benchmarks, learning objectives and

performance standards alignment

Content Standards

Benchmarks

Learning Objectives

Performance Standards

Effective alignment of these learning standards and all the other

components of PNG SBE and SBC (ultimate aim and goals, overarching,
SBC and subject-based principles, core curriculum, STEAM, and
cognitive, high level, and 21st century skills) is not only critical but is also
key to the achievement of high academic standards by all students and
the intended level of education quality. It is essential that teachers know
and can do standards alignment when planning, teaching, and
assessing students’ performance so that they can effective guide their
students towards meeting the grade-level benchmarks (grade
expectations) and subsequently the content standards (national
expectations).

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 English Teacher Guide

Core Curriculum
A core set of common learnings (knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes)
are integrated into the content standards and grade-level benchmarks for
all subjects. This is to equip all students with the most essential and
in-demand knowledge, skills, and dispositions they will need to be
successful in modern/postmodern work places, higher-education
programs and to be productive, responsible, considerate, and
harmonious citizens. Common set of learnings are spirally sequenced
from Preparatory-Grade 12 to deepen the scope and increase the level of
difficulty in the learning activities so that what is learned is reinforced at
different grade levels.

The core curriculum includes:

• cognitive (thinking) skills (refer to the syllabus for a list of these
skills);
• reasoning, decision-making and problem-solving skills
• high level thinking skills (analysis, synthesis and evaluation skills);
• 21st century skills (refer to illustrative list in Appendix 4);
• reading, writing and communication skills (literacy skills);
• STEAM principles and skills;
• essential values and attitudes (core personal and social values, and
sustaining values), and
• spiritual values and virtues

The essential knowledge, skills, values and attitudes comprising the core
curriculum are interwoven and provide an essential and holistic framework
for preparing all students for careers, higher education and citizenship.

Figure 5: Core curriculum.

R om
ea m
C

di un
ng ic

s
ill
, W at

Sk
rit ion

ry
in S

tu
g ki

en
an lls

C
st
d

21

Essential Values High Level Thinking

and Attitudes Skills

Reasoning, decision
STEAM Principles Making and
and Skills problem solving skills

Spiritual Cognitive
Values and skills
Virtues

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 Grade 9

All teachers are expected to include the core learnings in their lesson
planning, teaching, and assessment of students in all their lessons. They
are expected to foster, promote and model the essential values and
attitudes as well as the spiritual values and virtues in their conduct,
practice, appearance, their relationships and in their professional and
personal lives. In addition, teachers are expected to mentor, mould and
shape each student to evolve and possess the qualities envisioned by
society.

Core values and attitudes must not be taught in the classroom only, they
must also be demonstrated by students in real life or related situations
inside and outside of the classroom, at home, and in everyday life.
Likewise, they must be promoted, fostered and modelled by the school
community and its stakeholders, especially parents. A whole of school
approach to values and attitudes teaching, promoting and modelling is
critical to students and the whole school community internalising the core
values and attitudes and making them habitual in their work and school
place, and in everyday life. Be it work values, relationship values, peace
values, health values, personal and social values, or religious values,
teachers should give equal prominence to all common learnings in their
lesson planning, teaching, assessment, and learning interventions.
Common learnings must be at the heart of all teaching and extracurricular
programs and activities.

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 English Teacher Guide

Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and

Mathematics
STEAM education is an integrated, multidisciplinary approach to learning
that uses science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics as the
basis for inquiring about how STEAM has and continues to change and
impact the social, political, economic, cultural and environmental contexts
and identifying and solving authentic (real life) natural and physical
environment problems by integrating STEAM-based principles, cognitive,
high level and 21st century skills and processes, and values and attitudes.

English is focused on both goals of STEAM rather than just the goal of
problem-solving. This is to ensure that all students are provided
opportunities to learn, integrate, and demonstrate proficiency on all
essential STEAM principles, processes, skills, values and attitudes to
prepare them for careers, higher education and citizenship.

Objectives
Students will be able to:
i. examine and use evidence to draw conclusions about how STEAM
has and continues to change the social, political, economic,
cultural and environmental contexts.
ii. investigate and draw conclusions on the impact of STEAM
solutions to problems on the social, political, economic, cultural
and environmental contexts.
iii. identify and solve problems using STEAM principles, skills,
concepts, ideas and process.
iv. identify, analyse and select the best solution to address a problem.
v. build prototypes or models of solutions to problems.
vi. replicate a problem solution by building models and explaining how
the problem was or could be solved.
vii. test and reflect on the best solution chosen to solve a problem.
viii. collaborate with others on a problem and provide a report on the
process of problem-solving used to solve the problem.
ix. use skills and processes learnt from lessons to work on and
complete STEAM projects.
x. demonstrate STEAM principles, skills, processes, concepts and
ideas through simulation and modelling.
xi. explain the significance of values and attitudes in problem-solving.

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 Grade 9

Content Overview
STEAM is a multidisciplinary and integrated approach to understanding
how science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics shape and
are shaped by our material, intellectual, cultural, economic, social,
political and environmental contexts. And for teaching students the
essential in demand cognitive, high level and 21st century skills, values
and attitudes, and empower them to effectively use these skills and
predispositions to identify and solve problems relating to the natural and
physical environments as well as the impact of STEAM-based solutions
on human existence and livelihoods, and on the social, political,
economic, cultural, and environmental systems.

STEAM disciplines have and continue to shape the way we perceive

knowledge and reality, think and act, our values, attitudes, and behaviors,
and the way we relate to each other and the environment. Most of the
things we enjoy and consume are developed using STEAM principles,
skills, process, concepts and ideas. Things humans used and enjoyed in
the past and at present are developed by scientists, technologists,
engineers, artists and mathematicians to address particular human needs
and wants. Overtime, more needs were identified and more products were
developed to meet the ever changing and evolving human needs. What is
produced and used is continuously reflected upon, evaluated, redesigned,
and improved to make it more advanced, multipurpose, fit for purpose,
and targeted towards not only improving the prevailing social, political,
economic, cultural and environmental conditions but also to effectively
respond to the evolving and changing dynamics of human needs and
wants. And, at the same time, solutions to human problems and needs
are being investigated and designed to address problems that are yet to
be addressed and concurred. This is an evolving and ongoing
problem-solving process that integrates cognitive, high level, and 21st
century skills, and appropriate values and attitudes.

STEAM is a significant framework and focal point for teaching and guiding
students to learn, master and use a broad range of skills and processes
required to meet the skills demands of PNG and the 21st century. The
skills that students will learn will reflect the demands that will be placed
upon them in a complex, competitive, knowledge-based, information-age,
technology-driven economy and society. These skills include cognitive
(critical, synthetic, creative, reasoning, decision-making, and
problem-solving) skills, high level (analysis, synthesis and evaluation) skills
and 21st century skills (see Appendix). Knowledge-based, information, and
technology driven economies require knowledge workers not
technicians. Knowledge workers are lifelong learners, are problem
solvers, innovators, creators, critical and creative thinkers, reflective
practitioners, researchers (knowledge producers rather than knowledge
consumers), solutions seekers, outcomes oriented, evidence-based
decision makers, and enablers of improved and better outcomes for all.

STEAM focuses on the skills and processes of problem-solving. These

skills and processes are at the heart of the STEAM movement and
approach to not only problem-solving and providing evidence-based

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 English Teacher Guide
solutions but also the development and use of other essential cognitive,
high level and 21st century skills. These skills are intertwined and used
simultaneously to gain a broader understanding of the problems to enable
creative, innovative, contextually relevant, and best solutions to be
developed and implemented to solve the problems and attain the desired
outcomes. It is assumed that by teaching students STEAM-based
problem-solving skills and providing learning opportunities inside and
outside the classroom will motivate more of them to pursue careers and
academic programs in STEAM related fields thus, closing the skills gaps
and providing a pool of cadre of workers required by technology,
engineering, science, and mathematics-oriented industries.

Although, STEAM focuses on the development and application of skills in

authentic (real life) contexts, for example the use of problem-solving skills
to identify and solve problems relating to the natural and physical worlds,
it does not take into account the significant influence values and attitudes
have on the entire process of problem-solving. Values and attitudes
are intertwined with knowledge and skills. Knowledge, skills, values and
attitudes are inseparable. Decisions about skills and processes of skills
development and application are influenced by values and attitudes
(mindset) that people hold. In the same light, the use of STEAM principles,
processes and skills to solve problems in order to achieve the outcomes
envisaged by society are influenced by values and the mindset of those
who have identified and investigated the problem as well as those who
are affected by the problem and will benefit from the outcome.

STEAM Problem-solving Methods and Approaches

Problem-solving involves the use of problem-solving methods and
processes to identify and define a problem, gather information to
understand its causes, draw conclusions, and use the evidence to design
and implement solutions to address it. Even though there are many
different problem-solving methods and approaches, they share some of
the steps of problem-solving, for example:
• identifying the problem;
• understanding the problem by collecting data;
• analyse and interpret the data;
• draw conclusions;
• use data to consider possible solutions;
• select the best solution;
• test the effectiveness of the solution by trialling and evaluating it,
and
• review and improve the solution.

STEAM problem-solving processes go from simple and technical to

advance and knowledge-based processes. However, regardless of the
type of process used, students should be provided opportunities to learn
the essential principles and processes of problem-solving and, more
significantly, to design and create a product that addressed a real

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 Grade 9

problem and meets a human need. The following are some of the STEAM
problem-solving processes.

Engineering and Technology Problem-solving Methods and

Approaches
Engineering and technology problem-solving methods are used to
identify and solve problems relating to the physical world using the design
process. The following are some of the methods and approaches used to
solve engineering and technology related problems.

Parts Substitution
Most basic of the problem-solving methods. It simply requires the parts to
be substituted until the problem is solved.

Diagnostics
After identifying a problem, the technician would run tests to pinpoint the
fault. The test results would be used either as a guide for further testing
or for replacement of a part, which also need to be tested. This process
continues until the solution is found and the device is operating properly.

Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting is a form of problem-solving, often applied to repair failed
products or processes.

Reverse Engineering
Reverse engineering is the process of discovering the technological
principles underlying the design of a device by taking the device apart, or
carefully tracing its workings or its circuitry. It is useful when students are
attempting to build something for which they have no formal drawings or
schematics.

Divide and Conquer

Divide and conquer is the technique of breaking down a problem into
sub-problems, then breaking the sub-problems down even further until
each of them is simple enough to be solved. Divide and conquer may be
applied to all groups of students to tackle sub-problems of a larger
problem, or when a problem is so large that its solution cannot be
visualised without breaking it down into smaller components.

Extreme Cases
Considering “extreme cases” – envisioning the problem in a greatly
exaggerated or greatly simplified form, or testing using extreme condition
– can often help to pinpoint a problem. An example of the extreme-case
method is purposely inputting an extremely high number to test a
computer program.

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 English Teacher Guide
Trial and Error
The trial and error method involves trying different approaches until a
solution is found. It is often used as a last resort when other methods
have been exhausted.

Engineering Design Process

Technological fields use the engineering design process to identify and
define the problem or challenge, investigate the problem, collect and
analyse data, and use the data to formulate potential solutions to the
problem, analyse each of the solutions in terms its strengths and
weaknesses, and choose the best solution to solve the problem. It is an
open-ended problem-solving process that involves the full planning and
development of products or services to meed identified needs. It involves
a sequence of steps such as the following:
• Analyse the context and background, and clearly define the
problem.
• Conduct research to determine design criteria, financial or other
constraints, and availability of materials.
• Generate ideas for potential solutions, using processes such as
brainstorming and sketching.
• Choose the best solution.
• Build a prototype or model.
• Test and evaluate the solution.
• Repeat steps as necessary to modify the design or correct faults.
• Reflect and report on the process.

These steps are shown in figure 6.

Figure 6: Engineering design process

Reflect and report Clearly define the

on the process problem or challenge

Test and evaluate the

solution Conduct research

Any step can

be revisited

Build a prototype or Generate ideas for

model solutions

Choose the best

solution

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 Grade 9

The Scientific Method and Approach to Problem-solving

Science uses predominantly the quantitative-scientific inquiry process to
investigate, understand, and make informed decisions about problems
relating to the natural world. The steps in the process vary, depending on
the purpose of the inquiry and the types of questions asked. There are six
basic science process skills:
• Observation
• Communication
• Classification
• Measurement
• Inference
• Prediction

These processes are at the heart of the scientific inquiry and

problem-solving process.

Figure 7: The process of scientific inquiry

Identify and describe Formulate research

question Review literature
the problem

Formulate hypothesis Conduct experiment Analyse Data

Communicate results
Draw conclusions and use evidence to
solve the problem

The above steps should be taught and demonstrated by students

separately and jointly before they implement the inquiry process.
Students should be guided through every step of the process so that they
can explain it and its importance, and use the steps and the whole
process proficiently to identify, investigate and solve problems. A brief
explanation and examples of each step are provided below to help
teachers plan and teach each step. Students should be provided with
opportunities to practice and reflect on each step until they demonstrate
the expected level of proficiency before moving on to the next one.

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 English Teacher Guide
Step 1: Identify and describe the problem
Problems are identified mainly from observations and the use the five
senses – smell, sight, sound, touch and taste. Students should be guided
and provided opportunities to identify natural and physical environment
problems using their five senses and describe what the problem is and its
likely causes.
Example: Observation
• When I turn on a flashlight using the on/off switch, light comes out of
one end.

Step 2: Formulate research question

After the problem is identified and described, the question to be
answered is then formulated. This question will guide the scientist in
conducting research and experiments.

Example: Question
• What makes light comes out of a flashlight when I turn it on?

Step 3: Review literature

It is more likely that the research problem and question have already been
investigated and reported by someone. Therefore, after asking the
question, the scientist spends some time reading and reviewing papers
and books on past research and discussions to learn more about the
problem and the question ask to prepare her for his own research.
Conducting literature review helps the scientist to better understand his/
her research problem, refine the research question and decide on
experiment/research approach before the experiment is conducted,

Example: Literature review

• The scientist may look in the flashlight’s instruction manual for tips
or conduct online search on how flashlights work using the
manufacturer’s or relevant websites. Scientist may even analyse
information and past experiments or discoveries regarding the
relationship between energy and light.

Step 4: Formulate hypothesis

With a question in mind, the researcher decides on what he/she wants to
test (The question may have changed as a result of the literature review).
The research will clearly state what he/she wants to find out by carrying
out the experiment. He/she will make an educated guess that could
answer the question or explain the problem. This statement is called a
hypothesis. A hypothesis guides the experiment and must be testable.

Example: Hypothesis
• The batteries inside a flashlight give it energy to produce light when
the flashlight is turned on.

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 Grade 9

Step 5: Conduct experiment

This step involves the design and conduct of experiment to test the
hypothesis. Remember, a hypothesis is only an educated guess
(a possible explanation), so it cannot be considered valid until an
experiment verifies that it is valid.

Example: Experimental Procedure

1. Remove the batteries from the flashlight, and try to turn it on using
the on/off switch.
Result: The flashlight does not produce light

2. Reinsert the batteries into the flashlight, and try to turn it on using
the on/off switch.
Result: The flashlight does produce light.

3. Write down these results

In general, it is important to design an experiment to measure only on

thing at a time. This way, the researcher knows that his/her results are
directly related to the one thing he/she changed. If the experiment is not
designed carefully, results may be confusing and will not tell the
researcher anything about his/her hypothesis.

Researchers collect data while carryout their experiments. Data are pieces
of information collected before, during, or after an experiment. To collect
data, researchers read the measuring instruments carefully. Researchers
record their data in notebooks, journals, or on a computer.

Step 6: Analyse data

Once the experiment is completed, the data is then analysed to determine
the results. In addition, performing the experiment multiple times can be
helpful in determining the credibility of the data.

Example: Analysis
• Record the results of the experiment in a table.
• Review the results that have been written down.

Step 7: Draw conclusions

If the hypothesis was testable and the experiment provided clear data,
scientist can make a statement telling whether or not the hypothesis
was correct. This statement is known as a conclusion. Conclusions must
always be backed up by data. Therefore, scientists rely heavily on data so
they can make an accurate conclusion.

• If the data support the hypothesis, then the hypothesis is considered

correct or valid.
• If the data do not support the hypothesis, the hypothesis is
considered incorrect or invalid.

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 English Teacher Guide
Example: Valid Hypothesis
• The flashlight did not produce light without batteries. The flashlight
did produce light when batteries were inserted. Therefore, the
hypothesis that batteries give the flashlight energy to produce light
is valid, given that no changes are made to the flashlight during the
experiment.

Example: Invalid Hypothesis

• The flashlight did NOT produce light when the batteries were
inserted. Therefore, the hypothesis that batteries give the flashlight
energy to produce light is invalid. In this case, the hypothesis would
have to be modified to say something like, “The batteries inside a
flashlight give it energy to produce light when the batteries are in the
correct order and when the flashlight is turned on.” Then, another
experiment would be conducted to test the new hypothesis.

An invalid hypothesis is not a bad thing! Scientists learn something from

both valid and invalid hypotheses. If a hypothesis is invalid, it must be
rejected or modified. This gives scientists an opportunity to look at the
initial observation in a new way. They may start over with a new
hypothesis and conduct a new experiment. Doing so is simply the
process of scientific inquiry and learning.

Step 8: Communicate findings

Scientists generally tell others what they have learned. Communication is
a very important component of scientific progress and problem solving. It
gives other people a chance to learn more and improve their own thinking
and experiments. Many scientists’ greatest breakthroughs would not have
been possible without published communication or results from previous
experimentation.

Every experiment yields new findings and conclusions. By documenting

both the successes and failures of scientific inquiry in journals, speeches,
or other documents, scientists are contributing information that will serve
as a basis for future research and for solving problems relating to both the
natural and physical worlds. Therefore, communication of investigative
findings is an important step in future scientific discovery and in solving
social, political, economic, cultural, and environmental problems.

Example: Communication of findings

• Write your findings in a report or an article and share it with others,
or present your findings to a group of people. Your work may guide
someone else’s research on creating alternative energy sources
to generate light, additional uses for battery power, etc.

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 Grade 9

Artistic Design
Science uses predominantly the quantitative-scientific inquiry process to
investigate, understand, and make informed decisions about problems.
The steps in the process vary, depending on the purpose of the inquiry
and the types of questions asked. There are six basic science process
skills:

The equipping and enabling of students to become proficient in a broad

range of STEAM skills, processes and predispositions can also lead to
the attainment of many other societal goals, including national and global
development goals and aspirations. These goals include:
• sustainability goals;
• peaceful related goals;
• work related goals;
• academic goals;
• relationship goals;
• health goals;
• adoption and internalisation of values and attitudes accepted by
society, and
• improved social, political, economic outcomes.

Even though the original purpose and the drive of STEAM was to develop
a pathway to engage students in learning about, experiencing, and
applying STEAM skills in real life situations to motivate and hopefully get
them to pursue careers in STEAM related fields and undertake STEAM
related higher education programs to meet the demand for STEAM
workers, STEAM education can also be used to teach and engage
students in study more broadly the impact of STEAM on the social,
economic, political, intellectual, cultural and environmental contexts. This
line of inquiry is more enriching, exciting, empowering and transformative.

STEAM-Based Lesson planning

Effective STEAM lesson planning is key to the achievement of expected

STEAM outcomes. STEAM skills can be planed and taught using separate
STEAM-based lesson plans or integrated into the standards-based lesson
plans. To effectively do this, teachers should know how to write effective
standards and STEAM-based lesson plans.

Developing STEAM-based Lesson Plans

An example of a standards-based lesson plan is provided in SBC lesson

planning. Teachers should use this to guide them to integrate STEAM
content and teaching, learning and assessment strategies into their
standards-based lesson plans.

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 English Teacher Guide
Integration of STEAM problem-solving skills into standards-based
lesson plans

Knowing how to integrate STEAM problem-solving skills, principles,

values and attitudes as well as STEAM teaching, learning, and
assessment strategies into standards-based lesson plans is essential
for achieving the desired STEAM learning outcomes. When integrating
STEAM problem-solving skills into the standards-based lesson plans,
teachers should ensure that these skills are not only effectively aligned to
the learning objective and performance standards, they must also be
effectively taught and assessed.

STEAM principles and problem-solving skills are integrated into the

content standards and grade-level benchmarks. A list of these skills,
including 21st century skills, is provided in the grades 9 and 10 syllabus.
Teachers should ensure that these skills are integrated in their
standards-based lesson plans, taught and assessed to determine
students’ level of proficiency on each skill or specific components of the
skill. Teachers should use the following process as guide to integrate
STEAM principles and problem-solving skills into the standards-based
lesson plans.

Teachers are expected to integrate the essential STEAM principles,

processes, skills, values and attitudes described in the grade 9
benchmarks when formulating their standards-based lesson plans.
Opportunities should be provided inside and outside of the classroom
for students to learn, explore, model and apply what they learn in real life
or related situations. These learning experiences will enable students to
develop a deeper understanding of STEAM principles, processes, skills,
values and attitudes and appreciate their application in real life to solve
problems.

Figure 8: Process for integrating STEAM principles and

problem-solving skills into standards-based lessons

Learning Objective Relevant Content

STEAM Knowledge or
(STEAM Knowledge Standard and
Skill to be taught
or skill integrated) Benchmark

Performance Performance
STEAM Learning
Indicator for the Assessment and
Activity (can take
Objective (STEAM Indicators to measure
place inside or student mastery of
uses same or outside the
another indicator) STEAM knowledge
classroom) and skill

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 Grade 9

Teachers should follow the following steps when integrating STEAM

problem-solving principles and skills into their standards-based lesson
plans.

Step 1: Identify the STEAM knowledge or skill to be taught (From the

table of KSVAs for each content standard and benchmark).
This is could already be captured in the learning objective
stated in the standards-based lesson plan.

Step 2: Develop and include a performance standard or indicator for

measuring student master y of the STEAM knowledge or skill
(e.g. level of acceptable competency or proficiency) if this is
different from the one already stated in the lesson plan.

Step 3: Develop student learning activity (An activity that will provide
students the opportunity to apply the STEAM knowledge or
skill specified by the learning objective and appropriate
statement of the standards). Activity can take place inside or
outside of the classroom, and during or after school hours.

Step 4: Develop and use performance descriptors (standards or

indicators) to analyse students’ STEAM related behaviours
and products (results or outcomes), which provide evidence
that the student has acquired and mastered the knowledge
or skill of the learning objective specified by the indicator(s)
of the standard(s)

STEAM Teaching Strategies

STEAM education takes place in both formal and informal classroom
settings. It takes place during and after school hours. It is a continuous
process of inquiry, data analysis, making decisions about interventions,
and implementing and monitoring interventions for improvements.

There are a variety of STEAM teaching strategies. However, teaching

strategies selected must enable teachers to guide students to use the
engineering and artistic design processes to identify and solve natural
and physical environment problems by designing prototypes and testing
and refining them to effectively mitigate the problems identified. The
following are some of the strategies that could be used to utilise the
STEAM approach to solve problems and coming up with technological
solutions.
Inquiry-Based Learning
Problem-Based Learning
Project-based Learning,
Collaborative Learning

Collaborative learning involves individuals from different STEAM

disciplines and expertise in a variety of STEAM problem-solving
approaches working together and sharing their expertise and experiences
to inquire into and solve a problem.

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 English Teacher Guide
Teachers should plan to provide students opportunities to work in
collaboration and partnership with experts and practitioners engaged
in STEAM related careers or disciplines to learn first-hand about how
STEAM related skills, processes, concepts, and ideas are applied in real
life to solve problems created by natural and physical environments.
Collaborative learning experiences can be provided after school or
during school holidays to enable students to work with STEAM experts
and practitioners to inquiry and solve problems by developing creative,
innovative and sustainable solutions. Providing real life experiences and
lessons, e.g., by involving students to actually solve a scientific,
technological, engineering, or mathematical, or Arts problem, would
probably spark their interest in a STEAM career path. Developing STEAM
partnerships with external stakeholders e.g., high education institutions,
private sector, research and development institutions, and volunteer and
community development organizations can enhance students’ learning
and application of STEAM problem-solving principles and skills.

Participatory Learning
Group-Based Learning
Task Oriented Learning
Action Learning
Experiential Learning
Modelling
Simulation

STEAM Learning Strategies

Teachers should include in their lesson plans STEAM learning activities.

These activities should be aligned to principle or a skill planned for
students to learn and demonstrate proficiency on at the end of the lesson.
to expose students to STEAM and giving them opportunities to explore
STEAM-related concepts, they will develop a passion for it and, hopefully,
pursue a job in a STEAM field. Providing real life experiences and lessons,
e.g., by involving students to actually solve a scientific, technological,
engineering, or mathematical, or Arts problem, would probably spark their
interest in a STEAM career path. This is the theory behind STEAM
education.

STEAM-Based Assessment
STEAM Assessment is no different to any other assessment except that
STEAM assessment is focused on problem-solving and is project-based.
Project work challenges students to think beyond the boundaries of the
classroom, helping them develop the skills, behaviors, and confidence
necessary for success in the 21st century.

STEAM assessments are authentic. The term “authentic assessment” is

used to describe assessment that evaluates content knowledge as well as
additional skills like creativity, collaboration, problem-solving, and

31
 Grade 9

innovation. Authentic assessment documents the learning that occurs

during the project-building process and considers the real-world skills of
collaboration, problem-solving, decision-making, and communication.
Since project work requires students to apply knowledge and skills
throughout the project-building process, the teacher will have many
opportunities to assess work quality, understanding, and participation
from the moment students begin working.

32
 English Teacher Guide

Curriculum Integration
Today, there is a focus on an integrated curriculum. An integrated
curriculum fuses subject areas, experiences, and real-life knowledge
together to make a more fulfilling and tangible learning environment for
students. It connects different areas of study by cutting across
subject-matter lines and emphasizing unifying concepts. The focus is on
making connections for students, allowing them to engage in relevant,
meaningful activities that can be connected to real life. Simply put, it is all
about making connections, whether to real life or across the disciplines,
about skills or about knowledge.

Benefits
1. Students will not be taught in a vacuum, devoid of outside interaction
and information, their connections between what they learn in school
and the knowledge and experiences they have already had, play a
large role in understanding concepts and retention of learning.

2. Students not only connect and create more real world connections in
integrated classrooms, but they are also more actively engaged.

3. Integrated curriculum offers more repetition of information than to

teach subjects in isolation. New information disappears if we do not
repeat it because the capacity of memory is initially less than 30
seconds. However, by taking the information learned in the morning in
one subject, and refreshing students’ memories about this information
later in the day, in a different subject study, they are much more likely
to retain this knowledge

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 Grade 9

Types of Approaches

1. Multidisciplinary Integration

Multidisciplinary approaches focus primarily on the disciplines. Teachers

who use this approach organize standards from the disciplines around
a theme. Figure 1.1 shows the relationship of different subjects to each
other and to a common theme. There are many different ways to create
multidisciplinary curriculum, and they tend to differ in the level of intensity
of the integration effort. The following descriptions outline different
approaches to the multidisciplinary perspective.

Figure 1.1. The Multidisciplinary Approach

English
Family
Music
Studies

History Science

Theme
Design & Drama
Technology

Geography
Math Physical
Education

2. Interdisciplinary Approach

When teachers integrate the sub disciplines within a subject area, they
are using an interdisciplinary approach. Integrating reading, writing, and
oral communication in language arts is a common example. Teachers
often integrate history, geography, economics, and government in an
interdisciplinary social studies program. Integrated science integrates the
perspectives of sub disciplines such as biology, chemistry, physics, and
earth/space science. This type of interdisciplinary program is offered for
middle school by the University of Alabama’s Center for Communication
and Educational Technology. Through this integration, teachers expect
students to understand the connections between the different
sub disciplines and their relationship to the real world. The program
reports a positive impact on achievement for students who participate.

34
 English Teacher Guide
3. Interdisciplinary Integration

In this approach to integration, teachers organize the curriculum around

common learning across disciplines. They chunk together the common
learning embedded in the disciplines to emphasize interdisciplinary skills
and concepts. The disciplines are identifiable, but they assume less
importance than in the multidisciplinary approach. Figure 1.2 illustrates
the interdisciplinary approach.

Figure 1.2. The Interdisciplinary Approach

English Science
Theme
Concepts

Interdisciplinary Skills (e.g., literacy,

thinking skills, numeracy, research skills

History Geography

Retrived from: Books, by Susan M. Drake and Rebecca C. Burns

via google site: [Link]
Is-Integrated-Curriculum%C2%[Link]

35
 Grade 9

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, and Attitudes

Students’ learning of the English language is based on their ability to
master and demonstrate proficiency in the use of essential knowledge,
processes, skills, values, and attitudes in real life or related situations.

Essential English knowledge, processes, skills, values, and attitudes have

been integrated into the content standards and benchmarks. They will
also be integrated into the performance standards. Teachers are expected
to plan, teach, and assess these in their lessons.

Provided here are different types of English knowledge, processes, skills,

values, and attitudes that all students are expected to learn and master in
grade 9. These are expanded and deepened in scope and the level of
difficulty and complexity are increased to enable students to study
in–depth the subject content as they progress from grade 9 to the next.

Reading:

• Textual evidence
• A variety of strategies and skills to independently conduct research and write a paper on a topic of
interest.
• How to analyse inferences drawn from the text.
• How the author’s message was influenced by real-life situations in society and culture.
• Theme or central idea of a text.
• Objective summary of a text.
• How complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the
course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
• Factors that commonly affect the use of language, such as gender, social class, family relationships
and ethnicity.
• Meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative
meanings.
• Impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or
language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Includes Shakespear as well as other
authors.)
• How an author’s choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text contribute to its overall
structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.
• Point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside Papua New Guinea,
drawing on a wide reading of world literature.
• Grasping point of view (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement).
• A variety of printed and media materials for different purposes and discuss opinion of what was
read.
• Argumentative and complex texts.
• How an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work to create works of
literature.
• Literature and other texts including stories, dramas, and poems at the high end of the grades 9–10
text complexity band independently and proficiently.

36
 English Teacher Guide
Writing:

• How to present orally or in writing solutions to important issues and problems in English.
• How to exchange, support, and discuss opinions with fluid use of language on a variety of topics
dealing with contemporary and historical issues.
• How to describe and justify states of being and feelings.
• Effective Authentic communication.
• Main ideas of unfamiliar written and oral resources from various media.
• Main ideas of nonfiction articles and primary source documents.
• Oral and/or written English literary works.
• The cultural nuances of meaning in written and spoken language, as expressed by speakers of the
language in formal and informal settings.
• How to write organised and original compositions, journal entries and reports, and produce various
media presentations on a variety of topics.
• How to write various types of texts reflective of the rhetorical styles and devises authentic to the
language.
• How to prepare and deliver oral presentations, such as speeches and debates, on various topics.
• How to perform scenes from plays; recite poems or excerpts from literature commonly read by
speakers of English.
Listening:

• Multi-step directions, with repetition or rephrasing, within a familiar Context.

• Listening strategies to understand different situations.
• Critical listening to comprehend a speaker’s message which requires mental and physical strategies
to direct and maintain attention.
• How to identify the main idea of longer, routine messages in familiar contexts.
• How to interpret the speaker’s attitude, mood, emotion and/or innuendo in extended oral messages
by reading body language and/or tone and voice quality, with limited support.
• A range of speakers’ attitudes, moods or emotions in extended oral messages
• Different body languages and/or tone and voice quality.
• Specialized vocabulary spoken in a variety of contexts, with support.
• The literal meanings of words, with support as spoken.
• How to use knowledge of cognates to comprehend new vocabulary, with extensive support.
• Figurative meanings of words and idiomatic phrases, with support as spoken.
• How to make predictions based on unfamiliar, extended spoken material, with support.
• Inferences and predictions based on unfamiliar, extended spoken material, with little support.
• Inferences and predictions based on familiar extended spoken material, with limited support
material, with limited support.
Speaking:

• Multi-step directions, with repetition or rephrasing, within a familiar context.

• Oral directions in media presentations.
• How to identify the main idea of longer, routine messages in familiar contexts.
• How to identify the main idea of simple oral presentations via radio, video, television and other
media.
• A range of speakers’ attitudes, moods or emotions in extended oral messages with reference to
body language and/or tone and voice quality.
• High-frequency, grade-level spoken academic vocabulary presented with contextual support.
• How to use knowledge of cognates to comprehend new vocabulary.
• Figurative meanings of words and idiomatic phrases.
• Predictions based on unfamiliar, extended spoken material.
• Inferences and predictions based on familiar extended spoken material.

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 Grade 9

Communication:

• Presentations on familiar and unfamiliar topics in different situations.

• Underlying meaning of culturally authentic expressions as presented through a variety of media.
• Viewpoints expressed in literary and non-literary texts from a variety of culturally authentic sources.
• Significant points and essential details presented through newspaper articles or official documents.
• Different literary and technical styles from a variety of culturally authentic sources.
• Different points of view presented through a variety of literary works.
• Idioms and idiomatic expressions, and meaning of unfamiliar words used in context.
• How to communicate with moderate fluency and spontaneity on familiar topics, even in complex
situations.
• How to speak fluently, accurately, and effectively about a wide variety of events that occur in
different time frames.
• Viewpoints on an issue of interest.
• Story narration.
• Various authentic sources.
• Essays, summaries, and reports.
Communication:

• Idioms and culturally authentic expressions in writing.

• Writing with clarity following consistent control of time frames and mood.
• Persuasive essays.
English Grammar:

• Conventions of Standard English grammar.

• Various types of phrases (noun, verb, adjectival, adverbial, participial, prepositional, absolute) and
clauses (independent, dependent; noun, relative, adverbial).
• Semicolon (and perhaps a conjunctive adverb) to link two or more closely related independent
clauses.
• Conjunctions in written expression.
• Language and language functions in different contexts.
• Written accounts of personal experiences.
• Word/phrase meaning as used in the context.
• Patterns of word changes that indicate different meanings or parts of speech (e.g. analyse, analysis,
analytical; advocate, advocacy).
• Correct pronunciation of a word, its precise meaning, its part of speech, its etymology.
• Euphemisms and oxymoron in written work.
• Nuances in the meaning of words with similar denotations.
• General academic and domain-specific words and phrases, sufficient for reading, writing, speaking,
and listening at the college and career readiness level.

38
 English Teacher Guide

Types of Processes

There are different types of processes and students are expected to

utilise the different types of processes when studying English. The
processes include:
• Problem-solving • Cyclic processes
• Logical reasoning • Mapping (e.g. concept mapping)
• Decision-making • Modelling
• Design process thinking • Simulating
• Engineering design process • Replicating
• Creative design process
• Reflection

Types of Skills
There are different types of skills. Students in grade 9 will be introduced
to different types of English skills and are expected to master and
demonstrate proficiency in these essential English skills. The skills
include:

Reading Skills Listening skills Speaking skills

- Vocabulary - Paraphrasing - Fluency
- Reflection - Summarizing - Vocabulary
- Fact check - Being attentive - Grammar
- Compare and contrast - Observing body language - Pronunciation
- Supporting claims - Questioning - Body language
- Summarization - Reflecting - Facial expressions
- Identify main idea and - Clarifying techniques - Tone/volume
details - Self-awareness - Confidence
- Determine author’s - Hearing content - Eye contact
purpose - Listening for feeling - Presentation
- Identify cause and effect - Interaction
- Describe figurative - Enthusiasm
language
- Identify genre
- Describe plot
- Identify the point of view
- Make predictions
- Sequence events
- Describe story structure
- Identify explicit
information in non-fiction
text
- Determine theme
- Classify and catergorise
- Draw conclusions
- Determine fact and
opinion

39
 Grade 9

Writing skills Communication skills Grammar skills

- Comprehensibility - Thinking - Simple, Compound and
- Fluency - Listening complex sentences
- Creativity - Speaking - Vocabulary
- Main idea/point - Nonverbal - Spelling
- Clear organisaton - Punctuation
- Focused paragraphs - Parts of speech
- Concret, specific details - Tenses
- Neat presentation
- Grammatical sentences
- Correct spelling
- Punctuation

Types of Values
Students learning the English language are also expected to master and
demonstrate proficiency in essential core values in real life or related
situations. The different types of values include:

1. Personal Values

Core values Sustaining values

• Sanctity of life • Self-esteem

• Truth • Self-reflection
• Aesthetics • Self-discipline
• Honesty • Self-cultivation
• Human • Principal morality
• Dignity • Self-determination
• Rationality • Openness
• Creativity • Independence
• Courage • Simplicity
• Liberty • Integrity
• Affectivity • Enterprise
• Individuality • Sensitivity
• Modesty
• Perseverance

40
 English Teacher Guide
2. Social Values

Core values Sustaining values

• Equality • Plurality
• Kindness • Due process of law
• Benevolence • Democracy
• Love • Freedom and liberty
• Freedom • Common will
• Common good • Patriotism
• Mutuality • Tolerance
• Justice • Gender equity and social inclusion
• Trust • Equal opportunities
• Interdependence • Culture and civilisation
• Sustainability • Heritage
• Betterment of human kind • Human rights and responsibilities
• Empowerment • Rationality
• Sense of belonging
• Solidarity
• Peace and harmony
• Safe and peaceful communities

Types of Attitudes

Attitudes - Ways of thinking and behaving, points of view

• Optimistic • Responsible
• Participatory • Adaptable to change
• Critical • Open-minded
• Creative • Diligent
• Appreciative • With a desire to learn
• Empathetic • With respect for self, life, equality and excellence,
• Caring and concerned evidence, fair play, rule of law, different ways of life,
• Positive beliefs and opinions, and the environment.
• Confident
• Cooperative

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 Grade 9

Teaching and Learning Strategies

The classroom is a dynamic environment, bringing together students from
different backgrounds with various abilities and personalities. Being an
effective teacher therefore requires the implementation of creative and
innovative teaching strategies in order to meet students’ individual needs.
Listed here are some effective teaching strategies that can help teacher
capture students’ attention and motivate them to learn. The list includes
strategies for teaching students with disabilities too.

a. Strategies for Direct Instruction

• Specify clear lesson objectives
• Teach directly to those objectives
• Make learning as concrete and meaningful as possible
• Provide relevant guided practice
• Provide independent practice
• Provide transfer practice activities

b. Strategies for Students with Disabilities

• Sequence – Break down the task, step by step prompts.
• Drill-repetition and practice-review – Daily testing of skills,
repeated practice, daily feedback.
• Segment – Break down targeted skill into smaller units and then
synthesize the parts into a whole.
• Direct question and response – Teacher asks process-related
questions and/or content-related questions.
• Control the difficulty or processing demands of a task – Task
is sequenced from easy to difficult and only necessary hints or
probes are provided.
• Technology – Use a computer, structured text, flow charts to
facilitate presentation, emphasis is on pictorial representations.
• Group Instruction – Instruction occurs in a small group, students
and/or teacher interact with the group.
• Supplement teacher and peer involvement – Use homework,
parents, or others to assist in instruction.
• Strategy clues – Reminders to use strategies or multi-steps,
the teacher verbalizes problem solving or procedures to solve,
instruction uses think-aloud models.
Source: Swanson, H.L. (1999). Learning Disabilities Research and Practice,14(3).

7 Effective Teaching Strategies For The Classroom

Whether you have been teaching two months or twenty years, it can be
difficult to know which teaching strategies will work best with your
students. As a teacher there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution, so here is a
range of effective teaching strategies you can use to inspire your
classroom practice.

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 English Teacher Guide
1. Visualization
Bring dull academic concepts to life with visual and practical learning
experiences, helping your students to understand how their schooling
applies in the real world.

Examples include using the interactive whiteboard to display photos,

audio clips and videos, as well as encouraging your students to get out of
their seats with classroom experiments and local field trips.

2. Cooperative learning
Encourage students of mixed abilities to work together by promoting
small group or whole class activities.

Through verbally expressing their ideas and responding to others your

students will develop their self-confidence, as well as enhance their
communication and critical thinking skills which are vital throughout life.

Solving mathematical puzzles, conducting scientific experiments and

acting out short drama sketches are just a few examples of how
cooperative learning can be incorporated into classroom lessons.

3. Inquiry-based instruction
Pose thought-provoking questions, which inspire your students to think
for themselves and become more independent learners.

Encouraging students to ask questions and investigate their own ideas

helps improve their problem-solving skills as well as gain a deeper
understanding of academic concepts. Both of which are important life
skills.

Inquiries can be science or math-based such as ‘why does my shadow

change size?’ or ‘is the sum of two odd numbers always an even
number?’. However, they can also be subjective and encourage students
to express their unique views, e.g. ‘do poems have to rhyme?’ or ‘should
all students wear uniform?’.

4. Differentiation
Differentiate your teaching by allocating tasks based on students’
abilities, to ensure no one gets left behind.

Assigning classroom activities according to students’ unique learning

needs means individuals with higher academic capabilities are stretched
and those who are struggling get the appropriate support.

This can involve handing out worksheets that vary in complexity to

different groups of students, or setting up a range of workstations around
the classroom which contain an assortment of tasks for students to
choose from.

Moreover, using an educational tool such as Quizalize can save you hours
of time because it automatically groups your students for you, so you can
easily identify individual and whole class learning gaps (click here to find
out more).

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 Grade 9

5. Technology in the classroom

Incorporating technology into your teaching is a great way to actively
engage your students, especially as digital media surrounds young
people in the 21st century.

Interactive whiteboards or mobile devices can be used to display

images and videos, which helps students visualize new academic
concepts. Learning can become more interactive when technology is
used as students can physically engage during lessons as well as
instantly research their ideas, which develops autonomy.

Mobile devices, such as iPads and/or tablets, can be used in the

classroom for students to record results, take photos/videos or simply
as a behaviour management technique. Plus, incorporating educational
programmes such as Quizalize into your lesson plans is also a great way
to make formative assessments fun and engaging.

6. Behaviour management
Implementing an effective behaviour management strategy is crucial to
gain your students respect and ensure students have an equal chance of
reaching their full potential.

Noisy, disruptive classrooms do no encourage a productive learning

environment, therefore developing an atmosphere of mutual respect
through a combination of discipline and reward can be beneficial for both
you and your students.

Examples include fun and interactive reward charts for younger students,
where individuals move up or down based on behaviour with the top
student receiving a prize at the end of the week. ‘Golden time’ can also
work for students of all ages, with a choice of various activities such as
games or no homework in reward for their hard work.

7. Professional development
Engaging in regular professional development programmes is a great way
to enhance teaching and learning in your classroom.

With educational policies constantly changing it is extremely useful to

attend events where you can gain inspiration from other teachers and
academics. It’s also a great excuse to get out of the classroom and work
alongside other teachers just like you!

Sessions can include learning about new educational technologies, online

safety training, advice on how to use your teaching assistant(s) and much
more.

Being an effective teacher is a challenge because every student is unique,

however, by using a combination of teaching strategies you can address
students’ varying learning styles and academic capabilities as well as
make your classroom a dynamic and motivational environment for
students.
Retrieved from: [Link]

44
 English Teacher Guide

Strands, Units, and Topics for English

Strands and Units
English is organised around 6 strands; Reading, Writing, Listening,
Speaking, Communication and English Grammar. Each strand is broken
down to a number of sub-strands which are called units. It is thus
designed in order to enable effective teaching and learning of the
essential knowledge, skills, attitudes and values (KSAVs) in the respective
strands. Each unit carries part of the essential KSAVs that fall under the
strand. Units are the same from prep to grade 12.

Strand Unit

1. Reading I. Reading for All Purposes: Key Ideas and Details

2. Craft and Structure
3. Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
4. Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

2. Writing 1. Text Types and Purposes

2. Production and Distribution of Writing
3. Research to Build and Present Knowledge
4. Range of Writing

3. Listening 1. Oral Instructions Comprehension

2. Identify Main Ideas and Supporting Details of Spoken
English
3. Determine Speaker Attitude and Point of View
4. Comprehend the Meaning of Oral Academic and/or
Specialized Vocabulary
5. Making Inferences and Predictions

4. Speaking 1. Fluency and Pronunciation

2. Speaking Using Appropriate Grammar and Vocabulary
3. Speaking For Varied Purposes, Both Informal and Formal
4. Comprehension and Collaboration

5. Communication 1. Interpretative Listening

2. Interpretative Reading
3. Interpersonal Communication
4. Presentational Speaking
5. Presentational Writing

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 Grade 9

Topics
Content standards have been developed for each unit and remain
constant from prep to grade 12. Each content standard is benchmarked
at grade level. Thus, different benchmarks per grade for the same content
standard. Topics are derived from the grade level benchmarks; one topic
per benchmark. Each topic captures the essential KSAVs in the
benchmark.

Content Benchmark Topic

Strand Unit
Standard

Content
Strand Unit Benchmark Topic
standard
1: Reading 1: Reading for All 1: Students will be [Link]: Identify Identify
Purposes: Key able to strong and strong and
Ideas and demonstrate thorough textual thorough
Details competence in evidence to support textual
reading skills and analysis of what the evidence
strategies to text says explicitly
comprehend a as well as
variety of texts and inferences drawn
media for social, from the text.
academic and
career-related
purposes.

[Link]: Use a Research

variety of strategies strategies
and skills to
independently
conduct research
and write a three to
five pages paper on
a topic of interest.

46
 English Teacher Guide

Sample Yearly Overview

Term Strand Units

1 1. Reading Reading for All Purposes: Key Ideas and Details

2. Writing Text Types and Purposes
3. Listening Oral Instructions Comprehension
4. Speaking Fluency and Pronunciation
5. Communication Interpretive Listening
6. English Grammar English Grammar

2 1. Reading Craft and Structure

2. Writing Production and Distribution of Writing
Identify Main Ideas and Supporting Details of
3. Listening
Spoken English
Speaking Using Appropriate Grammar and
4. Speaking
Vocabulary
5. Communication Interpretive Reading
6. English Grammar Knowledge of Language

3 1. Reading Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

2. Writing Research to Build and Present Knowledge
3. Listening Determine Speaker Attitude and Point of View
Speaking for Varied Purposes, Both Informal and
4. Speaking
Formal.
5. Communication Interpersonal Communication
6. English Grammar Vocabulary Acquisition and Use

4 1. Reading Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

2. Writing Range of Writing
Comprehend the Meaning of Oral Academic and/
3. Listening or Specialized Vocabulary.
Making Inferences and Predictions
4. Speaking Comprehension and Collaboration
Presentational Speaking
5. Communication
Presentational Writing
6. English Grammar Vocabulary Acquisition and Use

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 Grade 9

Lesson Topics
A lesson topic gives the specifics to be taught during the teaching and
learning period. Teachers are to derive lesson topics from the learning
objectives that have been identified for each topic in alignment to the set
national standards (content standard and benchmarks). Each topic has a
number of learning objectives, beginning from the low order to the higher
order, as by way of progression towards achieving the benchmark
concerned. More than one lesson can be taught from each learning
objective or one lesson can achieve two or more learning objectives
depending on the learning objective. The number of lesson to be taught
from each learning objective will depend entirely on the learning objective.

Content Learning Lesson

Strand Unit Benchmark Topic
Standard Objectives Topics

Content Learning Lesson

Strand Unit Benchmark Topics
Standard Objectives Topic
1: Reading 1: Reading for 1: Students [Link]: Textual I. Explain what Textual
All Purposes: will be able to Identify strong Evidences textual evidences evidences
Key Ideas and demonstrate and thorough are;
Details competence textual II. Identify Textual
in reading evidence to
skills and andanalyse textual references
support references from any
strategies to
analysis of given texts; and,
comprehend
what the text
a variety of
says explicitly
texts and
as well as III. Use textual Using
media for
inferences evidences to support textual
social,
drawn from inferences and what evidences
academic and the text. the text says.
career-related
purposes.

48
 English Teacher Guide

Strand 1: Reading
Strand 1 consists of four units:
1. Reading for All Purposes: Key Ideas and Details
2. Craft and Structure
3. Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
4. Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity.

Unit Topic

1. Reading for All Purposes: • Identify strong and thorough textual evidence
Key Ideas and Details • Research strategies
• How theme is developed in the text - Textual
organization
• Characterization - Complex characters

2. Craft and Structure • Contextual Meanings - Figurative and connotative

meaning
• Author’s choices concerning how to structure a text
• Comparing and contrasting different point of views

3. Integration of Knowledge • Analyse the representation of a subject

and Ideas; • Analyse argumentative text
• Analyse increasingly complex text
• Thematic analysis

4. Range of Reading and • Critical reading

Level of Text Complexity. • Evaluation and understanding of texts types and their
Functions
• Make sense of multiple perspective and pluralistic
views

Unit of Work
Unit of work outlines the topics, Text-types to be used, essential KSAVs
to be achieved and the learning objectives that will work towards
achieving the essential KSAVS for each benchmark. It basically presents
what the teacher is expected to teach per the set standard. Teachers are
advised to use the learning objectives to create lesson topics and lesson
objectives in preparing lessons. Brief content background of each topic is
provided to aid teacher’s lesson preparation.

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 Grade 9

Unit 1: Reading for All Purposes: Key Ideas and Details

Content Standard 9.1.1: Students will be able to demonstrate
competence in reading skills and strategies to comprehend a variety of
texts and media for social, academic and career-related purposes.

Benchmark [Link]: Identify strong and thorough textual evidence to

support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences
drawn from the text.

Topic: Identify strong and thorough textual evidence

Text Types: Reports, newspaper reports, novels and short stories,

poetry, drama script, brochures, research reports, affidavit.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Logical
Knowledge Skills Values Attitudes
Processes
The six essential Logical Reading Skills: Reading Optimistic
skills for reading reasoning • Decoding
comprehension. • Fluency
• Vocabulary
• Sentence Construction
and Cohesion
• Reasoning and
background
knowledge
• Working memory and
attention.

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Define what strong and thorough textual evidence means.
ii. Identify and list the six steps students and cite and explain
evidence.
iii. Practice identifying textual evidences to support analysis of what
the text says explicitly as well as interpreting inferences drawn from
the text.

Content Background:

Reading skill refers to the ability to understand written text. When

students comprehend or understand written text, and combine their
understanding with prior knowledge, they are able to perform the
following three reading-comprehension skills.
1. Identify simple facts presented in written text (literal comprehension)
2. Make judgments about the written text’s content (evaluative
comprehension)
3. Connect the text to other written passages and situations (inferential
comprehension)
When we read we also need to identify facts and evidences and explain
the evidences to really comprehend the text.

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 English Teacher Guide

Six strategies to help students cite and explain evidence

November 24, 2014

Discussions give students an authentic reason to find and explain

evidence. But if you’ve ever encountered silence after asking a student
to find or explain evidence for an answer, you know the challenge of
teaching students to use textual evidence meaningfully. As with any
skill, students must learn it through modeling, practice with support, and
coaching. Try these classroom tips to help students understand how to
find, evaluate, and explain evidence.

Model the importance of evidence whenever you can. From the

beginning of the year, emphasize the difference between a guess and an
idea that can be supported with reasons. Model giving evidence for your
opinions or statements across different subject areas.

Choose texts and questions that reward close reading. Open-ended

questions about rich, thought-provoking texts engage students’ interest and
naturally support looking for and explaining evidence. To make sure a text and
question will repay some deep digging, try answering the question yourself.
If you have at least two different, reasonable answers you can support
with evidence, your students will have enough to work with. Choose
shorter texts when students are new to working with
evidence.

Explain what makes evidence “strong.” Many students may not have learned
what it means to say that evidence for an answer is “strong” or “solid.” Explain
that evidence is strongest when others can clearly see how it connects to the
question and answer; it doesn’t have to be stretched or twisted to fit an
argument. Show students three pieces of textual evidence for an answer that
you have rated from strongest to weakest, explaining your reasoning. Then
have students try the exercise themselves with a different question, answer,
and evidence. Identifying examples of strong and weak evidence from the
same text can give students a valuable benchmark.

Ask follow-up questions. When a student gives evidence, ask a follow-up

question about how it supports the student’s point. Questions like, “What
about this passage makes you think that?” or “Can you explain how that
sentence shows [student’s answer]?” help them understand that evidence is
not self-explanatory. Asking, “Did anyone get a different idea from this
passage?” can reveal that the same piece of evidence may be used to support
different answers.

Draw on the power of pairs. Especially for struggling or quieter

students, working with a partner to find and explain evidence can be very
beneficial. Pairing up to talk about ideas before a discussion can help all
students find relevant evidence and participate confidently in a whole-class
conversation.

51
 Grade 9

Help students reflect on their use of evidence. Sharing simple

benchmarks with the class (see sidebar) can help students take more
responsibility for their progress. After a discussion, pause to have
students reflect on the evidence that came up and how it was used.
Encourage students to cite particularly compelling uses of evidence, and
to set goals for the next discussion.

Using Evidence: Student Benchmarks

The following will help you gauge a student’s skill at finding & explaining
textual evidence from struggling (level 1) to proficient (level 4).

Level 1: Has difficulty supporting an answer with evidence

Considers answer self-explanatory
Talks about things other than the text

Level 2: Refers to the text in general to support ideas

Looks back at the text when asked to do so
Recalls major facts from the text

Level 3: Recalls or locates evidence from the text to support ideas

Often looks back at the text without prompting
Recalls or locates relevant parts text

Level 4: Locates evidence and explains how it supports ideas

Habitually looks back at the text for evidence
Explains how specific parts of the text support an idea
Retrieved from: retrieved from: [Link]
help-students-cite-and-explain-evidence/

Teaching Strategies:
Teacher explains what citing textual evidence means, and its importance,
and allows the students to practice the six strategies to cite evidences.

Learning Strategy:
Students learn by actually, individually, applying the six strategies.
Explain how Steam will be integrated and taught.

Relevant Resources:
-- [Link]
and-explain-evidence/
-- Samples of Reports/essays/stories

Suggested Resources:
-- Current newspaper articles

52
 English Teacher Guide

Unit 1: Reading for all Purposes: Key Ideas and Details

Content Standard 9.1.1: Students will be able to demonstrate
competence in reading skills and strategies to comprehend a variety of
texts and media for social, academic and career-related purposes.

Benchmark [Link]: Use a variety of strategies and skills to

independently conduct research and write a three to five pages paper on
a topic of interest.

Topic: Research strategies

Text Types: Reports (newspaper reports, research reports), cartoons,

brochures, magazine, websites.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Processes Skills Values Attitudes

Reading Skills- Logical reasoning Previewing Truth Critical
Previewing Predicting
Predicting Summarizing

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Identify and list the strategies for conducting research.
ii. Use one or two of the strategies to conduct their own research.
iii. Use interview method to find out about their friends’ extracurricular
activities.

Content Background:

Research skills can be defined as having the ability to search for, find,
compile, analyses, interpret and evaluate information that is relevant to
the subject you are researching. Research skills can be anything from
looking at competitors and seeing what they do well to producing a
written report on how your department could work better. Doing
research in the world of work is all about stepping back from your
day-to-day work and looking at ways you can improve.

Some examples of research skills include:

• Report writing.
• Data collection.
• Analysis of information from different sources.
• Finding information off the internet.
• Critical thinking.
• Planning and scheduling.
• Interviewing.
• Critical analysis.

53
 Grade 9

Types of Research Strategies

• There are four main types of research strategies. Each of these types
of research strategies have their advantages and disadvantage
that each and every one of us can greatly benefit from. This is why
it is very important that we get to know and understand the types of
research strategies. This way, we can make sure that we will be able
to accomplish what we need in order to get the best results in our
research studies.
• Quantitative types of research strategies are the research methods
that involve numbers, hence the root word quantity. These types of
research strategies are the ones that are used in statistical
calculations and the like. Here, the researchers will have hypotheses.
They then collect numerical data so as to be able to support the
many hypotheses that they have and prove them right and effective
for the study. Remember that there are many different kinds of data
that are needed in these types of research strategies. There are
different factors that are involved in the study and you will need to
get them all and considered to be able to come up with effective and
accurate data to interpret.
• Qualitative types of research strategies are those that involve data
and natures of realities. Basically, these types of research strategies
will involve analytics and recording of data in order to be able to
interpret them to support hypotheses and come up with the best
conclusions for the study that is being conducted. These types of
research strategies are used in order to come up with the best way
to understand people better and see their experience in relation to
your study. Unlike in quantitative researches, these do not base their
study in the hypotheses. They do, however, perform the research so
as to be able to come up with one and support them until they reach
the conclusion stage.
• Basic types of research strategies are the, well, most basic of them
all. These are the research methodologies that are done simply
because the researcher wants to get to know the certain topic.
Basically, basic research is done for the enhancement of the
knowledge of the person running the research. Whatever that will be
discovered through basic research will not be used in formal studies
unless there are evidence involved.
• Lastly, applied researches are those research strategies that are
aiming to answer or solve problems that exist in the modern world.
Basically, there are some practical problems in this world and being
able to address them correctly will be the best ways to use these
applied research results. At the end of the day, the goal of these
different kinds of applied research is to improve human condition.
This is why these research methods are done and this is why they
are important for anyone and everyone to be able to know and
understand these things. Also, being able to have the goal of making
human condition better, these are commonly used by government
agencies, medical professionals, and even financial agencies around.
Retrieved from: [Link]

54
 English Teacher Guide
Teaching Strategies:
Teacher explains the four research strategies as students listen, and take
notes and then practice the strategies.

Learning Strategy:
Students listen, and take notes and practice the strategies.

Relevant Resources:
-- [Link]
-- A novel, short story, documentaries, Feature Articles

Suggested Resources:
-- A feature film, Newspaper Reports
-- Baing, S., 2008, English For Melanesia Book 2, Oxford University
Press, UK.

55
 Grade 9

Unit 1: Reading for all Purposes: Key Ideas and Details

Content Standard 9.1.2: Students will be able to determine central ideas
or themes of a text and analyse their development, summarise the key
supporting details and ideas with accuracy and fluency to support
comprehension at all levels.

Benchmark [Link]: Identify a theme or central idea of a text and

analyse in detail its development over the course of the text including
how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details: provide an
objective summary of the text.

Topic: How theme is developed in the text - Textual organization.

Text Types: News reports: print, television, short story and novels, films,
documentaries, cartoons, drama script, magazine.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Processes Skills Values Attitudes

Sequence Logical processes Sequencing Rationality Critical
and Summarizing
Summarizing

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Explain what a theme is and determine a central idea of a text.
ii. Analyse the development of the central idea of a text over the
course of the text, including its relationship to supporting ideas.
provide an objective summary of the text.
iii. Identify the different types of textual organization and their
purposes.

Content Background:

Patterns of Organization
Reading any type of writing is easier once you recognize how it is
organized. Writers usually arrange ideas and information in ways that
best show how they are related. There are several common patterns of
organization:
• main idea and supporting details
• chronological order
• cause-effect organization
• compare-and-contrast organization
• problem-solution order

Writers try to present their arguments in ways that will help readers
follow their reasoning. For more about common ways of organizing and
presenting arguments,

56
 English Teacher Guide

Strategies for Reading:

• To find a stated main idea in a paragraph, identify the paragraph’s
topic. The topic is what the paragraph is about and can usually be
summed up in one or two words. The word, or synonyms of it, will
usually appear throughout the paragraph. Headings and
subheadings are also clues to the topics topics of paragraphs.
• Ask: What is the topic sentence? The topic sentence states the most
important idea, message, or information the paragraph conveys
about this topic. It is often the first sentence in a paragraph; how
ever, it may appear at the end.
• To find an implied main idea, ask yourself: Whom or what did I just
read about? What do the details suggest about the topic?
• Formulate a sentence stating this idea and add it to the paragraph.
Does your sentence express the main idea?
Retrieved from: McDougal Littell Literature (2008)

The theme of a story is what the author is trying to convey — in other

words, the central idea of the story. Short stories often have just one
theme, whereas novels usually have multiple themes.

When 'Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development

over the course of the text, including its relationship to supporting ideas;
provide an objective summary of the text’, it is better to understand what
this means, there are a few key terms we need to define:
• central idea- the main idea or topic of a text
• supporting ideas- the details and facts that support the main/central
• idea
• objective- stating the facts versus giving an opinion
• summary- a brief statement in your own words about the
• information you read

Teaching Strategies:
Teacher explains the patterns of textual organization and then allow the
students to practice identifying the main ideas and the support sentences
and say the type of organization the text is organized and way.

Learning Strategy:
Students can work individually or in pairs or groups to analysis the text
and then identify it’s organization and say why it is organized that way.

Relevant Resources:
-- McDougal Littell, Literature (2008)
-- Current newspaper articles or Magazine articles.

Suggested Resources:
-- Documentaries or Reviews: Film or Book. News reports: print or TV.
-- Baing, S., 2008, English For Melanesia Book 2, Oxford University
Press,UK.

57
 Grade 9

Unit 1: Reading for all Purposes: Key Ideas and Details

Content Standard 9.1.3: Students will be able to analyse how and why
individuals, events and ideas develop and interact over the course of a
text and/or story.

Benchmark [Link]: Analyse how complex characters (e.g. those with

multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text
interact with other characters and advance the plot or develop the theme.

Topic: Characterization - Complex Characters

Text Types: Novels and short stories, documentaries’, biographies &

autobiographies, films, ballads, drama scripts, dairies.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Logical
Knowledge Skills Values Attitudes
Processes
Characterisation Logical Analysis Rationality Critical
Characters reasoning Self-Esteem Empathetic
Complex characters Open-minded

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Explain what a complex character is.
ii. Identify complex characters in stories.
iii. Analyse how complex characters interact with other characters and
advance the plot or develop the theme.

Content Background:

Characterization Definition
Characterization is a literary device that is used step-by-step in literature
to highlight and explain the details about a character in a story. It is in
the initial stage in which the writer introduces the character with
noticeable emergence. After introducing the character, the writer often
talks about his behavior; then, as the story progresses, the
thought-processes of the character.

The next stage involves the character expressing his opinions and ideas,
and getting into conversations with the rest of the characters. The final
part shows how others in the story respond to the character’s
personality.

A character is a person or other being in a narrative. The character may

be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, in which case the
distinction of a "fictional" versus "real" character may be made.

58
 English Teacher Guide

A complex character is a character who has a mix of traits that come

from both nature and experience (e.g. those with multiple or conflicting
motivations). Complex characters are more realistic than non-complex
characters.

A Complex character, also known as a Dynamic character or a Round

character displays the following characteristics:
1. He or she undergoes an important change as the plot unfolds.
2. The changes he or she experiences occur because of his or her
actions or experiences in the story.
3. Changes in the character may be good or bad.
4. The character is highly developed and complex, meaning they have
a variety of traits and different sides to their personality.
5. Some of their character traits may create conflict in the character.
6. He or she displays strengths, weaknesses, and a full range of
emotions.
7. He or she has significant interactions with other characters.
8. He or she advances the plot or develops a major theme in the text.
Retrieved from: [Link] › cms › lib › Centricity ›
Domain › Complex Cha...

Teaching Strategies:
Teacher explains what a complex character is and students listen and
take notes and then practice identifying complex characters in stories and
list the changes they went through.

Learning Strategy:
Students will be either viewing & answering questions or listening and
making notes. Students will look at the elements of literature in the text
they have read.

Relevant Resources:
-- Source: [Link] › cms › lib › Centricity › Domain ›
-- Complex Cha...
-- A short story or a novel, Ballads, Drama Script

Suggested Resources:
-- A feature film,
-- Baing, S., 2008, English For Melanesia Book 2, Oxford University
-- Press,UK.
-- [Link]

59
 Grade 9

Unit 2: Craft and Structure

Content Standard 9.1.4: Students will be able to interpret words and
phrases as they are used in a text including determining technical,
connotative and figurative meanings, and analyse how specific word
choices shape meaning or tone.

Benchmark [Link]: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as

they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings,
analyse figurative and connotative meanings, analyse the cumulative
impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g. how the
language evokes a sense of time and place, how it sets a formal or
informal tone).

Topic: Contextual Meanings - Figurative and Connotative meaning

Text Types: Novels and short stories, poems, drama scripts,

commentaries, documentaries, radio plays, magazine, song lyrics, film
and book reviews.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Logical
Knowledge Skills Values Attitudes
Processes
Contextual meaning Logical reasoning Analysis Rationality Critical
Figurative Drawing
expressions/phrases Conclusions
Connotative meaning

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Use context clue to determine the meaning of words and phrases
as they are used in the text.
ii. Determine figurative and connotative meanings as they are used in
the text.
iii. Analyse figurative and connotative meanings, and explain the
meanings.

Content Background:
Literal language means exactly what it says, while figurative language
uses similes, metaphors, hyperbole, and personification to describe
something often through comparison with something different.... Literal
Descriptions
Figurative: When speech or writing is not literal, it is figurative, like when
you say you have a ton of homework.... The adjective figurative comes
from the Old French word figuratif, which means “metaphorical.” Any
figure of speech — a statement or phrase not intended to be understood
literally — is figurative.
“Literal” has the same root as “literary,” which means “related to a
book.” A “literal” meaning is a meaning that is “by the book,” that is,
according to the dictionary meaning. This may be thought of as the
“direct” or “straight” meaning.

60
 English Teacher Guide

“Literal” has the same root as “literary,” which means “related to a

book.” A “literal” meaning is a meaning that is “by the book,” that is,
according to the dictionary meaning. This may be thought of as the
“direct” or “straight” meaning.

“Figurative” has the same root as “figure,” which is another word for
a diagram, display; an image or illustration. A “figurative” meaning is a
meaning that is not literal; the meaning used is not the meaning of the
word or phrase itself, but a different meaning implied by it. This meaning
is dependent on culture and history. This is the “indirect” meaning. For
example, one expression for a bad excuse is “the dog ate my
homework.” The reference is not usually to a child literally, that is, in
reality, claiming that his homework was eaten by his family dog. This
excuse is considered representative of all bad excuses, because it is
very unlikely a dog actually ate your homework! Far more likely is that
you (or the child, rather) was lazy and unmotivated and simply did not
work hard enough to finish the homework on time. “The dog ate my
homework” therefore has a figurative meaning of “making a ridiculous,
bad excuse for failure.”

Words used in their “figurative” meanings like this are often called
metaphors, because they point elsewhere for their true meaning;
expressions, because they express an idea without having to be “literal”
and therefore slower; and sayings, because they are “things people say”
to express ideas. However, a “saying” is usually a complete sentence;
metaphors and expressions can be smaller than a sentence.

The “figurative” meaning is also the idiomatic meaning. Therefore, an

idiom expresses the figurative meaning of a word or phrase signifying
or suggestive of an associative or secondary meaning in addition to the
primary meaning:

Connotation Meaning
When you look up a word in the dictionary, you will find its literal, or
denotative, meaning.... Though not part of the official dictionary
definition, the emotions and associations connected to a word are
known as its connotative meaning. Depending on how a word has been
used over time, it may have a positive, negative or neutral connotation.

The Importance of Connotation

To fully understand a word and use it correctly, you need to know both
its denotation (the standard definition) and its connotation (the feelings
associated with it). If you aren't fully aware of a word's connotation, you
may choose an inappropriate synonym in your writing, which can lead to
confusion or even to your reader taking offense. For example, consider
the words "group," "clique" and "club." All three have basically the
same denotative meaning: a set of more than one person. Each of these
words has a different connotative meaning, however. "Group" has a
neutral connotation, because it simply describes a number of people. It
does not inspire either positive or negative feelings.

61
 Grade 9

"Clique," also means a group of people, but it carries a negative

connotation. This is because "clique" is typically used in circumstances
where the group is known for excluding others. This word should be
used carefully: If you want to be thought of as a welcoming group, the
negative connotation of this word will turn people off!

Likewise, "club" also refers to a group of people, but this word has a
more positive connotation because a club is a collection of people that
voluntarily come together for a shared passion or purpose.

As you can see, it's important to understand the connotation as well as

the denotation of a word before you use it. Otherwise, you run the risk of
picking a word out of a thesaurus that is out of place and doesn't help
get your full idea across.

Connotative Words: Examples and Exercises

To see more example of how words with similar denotations can have
positive, neutral or negative connotations, refer to the chart below:

Positive Connotation
interested
employ
unique

Adopted from: [Link]

oAw&q=connotative+meaning&oq=connotative+meaning&gs_l=psy-
ab.3..0i71l8.213605.219178..221386...0.2..0.3083.3083.9-1......0....1..
gws-wiz.RlsHWXn4UO4&ved=0ahUKEwi06Y-cnb7lAhXPfSsKHTx-
BjUQ4dUDCAs&uact=5

Teaching Strategies:
Teacher explain the key terms to the students and the students take
notes.

Learning Strategy:
Student will listen, take notes and practice identifying the figurative and
connotative meanings of words or phrases used in the texts.

Relevant Resources:
-- [Link]
w&q=connotative+meaning&oq=connotative+meaning&gs_l=psy-
ab.3..0i1l8.213605.219178..221386...0.2..0.3083.3083.9-1......0....1..
gws-wiz.RlsHWXn4UO4&ved=0ahUKEwi06Y-cnb7lAhXPfSsKHTx-
BjUQ4dUDCAs&uact=5
-- A poem or drama script, Documentary

Suggested Resources:
-- Book and/or Film Review, Song Lyrics

62
 English Teacher Guide

Unit 2: Craft and Structure

Content Standard 9.1.5: Students will be able to analyse the structure of
texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs and larger portions of
the text (e.g. a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and
the whole.

Benchmark [Link]: Analyse how an author’s choices concerning how

to structure a text, order events or sequence of events within (e.g. a plot)
and manipulate time (e.g. stretch or condense time (e,g, pacing,
flashback) create such effects as mystery, tensions or surprise.

Topic: Author’s choices concerning how to structure a text

Text Types: Novels and short stories, poems, drama scripts,

commentaries, documentaries, drama scripts, radio plays, feature films,
biographies and autobiographies, brochure.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Processes Skills Values Attitudes

Textual Logical reasoning Reasoning Rationality Diligent
organisation Sequencing Critical

Learning Objectives: Students will be able:

i. Analyse language techniques, structures and conventions used by
the authors in a variety of texts to indicate time, tone and mood.
ii. View a film and analyse the way the director’s manipulates time,
sequences events in the film.
iii. Read and view a wide variety of texts and to examine how they are
structured and the different conventions used for different purposes
that influence people differently.

Content Background:

What is author's word choice?

An author's choice of words and their use. author's purpose. An
author's reason for writing; can include reasons for using words and
phrases. simile. a comparison of two things using like or as.

A person can have many reasons for writing. For example, a writer might
aim to:
• explain or provide information about a topic or event
• share thoughts or feelings about an issue or event
• persuade people to think or act in a certain way
• entertain the reader with a moving story

Even when writers have several goals, they often have one main reason
for writing. This is called the author’s purpose.

63
 Grade 9

How does an author use structure?

Text Structure: The author's method of organizing a text. Cause/Effect:
Causes stem from actions and events, and effects are what happen as a
result of the action or event. Compare/Contrast: Placing together
characters, situations, or ideas to show common or differing features in
literary selections.
Retrieved from: [Link] › assessment › analyze-how-an-au-
thor-s-choices-...

What does author’s choice mean?

Word choice refers to a writer's selection of words as determined by a
number of factors, including meaning (both denotative and connotative),
specificity, level of diction, tone, and audience. Another term for word
choice is diction.

The author's choices create a humorous tone for the passage. The
author's choices create foreshadowing of what will happen later on in
the story. The author's choices provide description of the main character
to the reader. The author's choices immediately introduce action to the
passage.
Text Structure
• Text structure refers to the way an author arranges information in his
writing. Text structure enables authors to organize their thoughts as
they write. It also helps the reader in that it provides a structure in
which information can be found and understood while it's being
read.

There are several different types of text structure, including:

• Chronological: discussing things in order
• Cause and effect: explaining a cause and its results
• Problem and solution: presenting a problem and offering a solution
• Compare and contrast: discussing similarities and differences
• Classification-division: sorting information into topics and categories
Retrieved from: McDougal Littell Literature (2008)

Teaching Strategies:
Read out a short story or a poem or a feature article from a newspaper
with enough copies for the students.

Learning Strategy:
Students will reflect on language choices and how they are used to
create and express thoughts, ideas and feelings in particular how they
create time and tone in the text.

Relevant Resources:
-- [Link] › assessment › analyze-how-an-author-s-
-- choices-...
-- McDougal Littell Literature (2008).

Suggested Resources:
-- Films, Poems, Song Lyrics and Drama Scripts
-- [Link]

64
 English Teacher Guide

Unit 2: Craft and Structure

Content Standard 9.1.6: Student will be able to assess how point of view
or purpose shaped the content and style of a text.

Benchmark [Link]: Analyse a particular point of view or cultural

experience reflected in a work of literature from outside Papua New
Guinea drawing on a wide reading of world literature.

Topic: Comparing and contrasting different point of views

Text Types: Novels and short stories, poems, commentaries,

documentaries, drama scripts, radio plays, feature films, biographies and
autobiographies, film & book reviews, advertisements, song lyrics, letters
to the editor.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Logical
Knowledge Skills Values Attitudes
Processes
Reading Decision-making Comparing and Tolerance Open-minded
techniques Contrasting

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Identify the different viewpoints presented by various authors as
their own products.
ii. Compare and contrast the different point of views.
iii. Discuss how different genres or texts reflect a person’s cultural
background and philosophies.

Content Background:

Point of view refers to who is telling or narrating a story. A story can be told
in three different ways: first person, second person, and third person. Writers
use point of view to express the personal emotions of either themselves or
their characters.

Similarities and Differences. Both first and third person points of view
describe a character in a story. However, in the first person, the
character is the one describing the experiences. In the third person,
someone outside of the story is describing a character and may not
always include thoughts and feelings.

Why Point of View is So Important for Novel Writers.... Each viewpoint

allows certain freedoms in narration while limiting or denying others.
Your goal in selecting a point of view is not simply finding a way to
convey information, but telling it the right way—making the world you
create understandable and believable

65
 Grade 9

Here are the four primary POV types in fiction:

• First person point of view. First person is when “I” am telling the
story. ...
• Second person point of view. The story is told to “you.” ...
• Third person point of view, limited. The story is about “he” or “she.”
• Third person point of view, omniscient.

There are different types of point of view. A story can be told from the
first person ("I", "my") or from the third person ("she", "they"). We can
get into the minds of the characters ("omniscient") or we can simply see
them from the outside, like real life ("objective"). ("omniscient") or we can
simply see them from the outside, like real life ("objective").
Retrieved from: [Link]
G858PG864&ei=kIu2XenMOprfrQHYrLiwAg&q=how+to+compare+
point+of+views&oq=how+to+compare+point+of+views&gs_l=psy-
ab.3...9419.11029..23373...0.2..0.437.2403.2-2j4j1......0....1..gws-
wiz.......0i71j33i10.sQDa7FDQwV0&ved=0ahUKEwjp1PLYqr7lAhWabysKHVgW
DiYQ4dUDCAs&uact=5

Comparing and Contrasting Different View Points

Comparing is telling how two/more things are alike.
Authors use clue words such as similar to, like, or as to compare.

Contrasting is telling how two/or more things are different.

Authors use clue words such as different from, but, or unlike to contrast.

Teaching Strategies:
Teacher explains the four main types of point of views while students
listen, take notes and practice identifying the different points of views.

Learning Strategy:
Students will take turns reading and discussing the texts in class and
explore the links between language culture and worldview and examine
alternative viewpoint to those of the texts.

Relevant Resources:
-- [Link]
G864&ei=kIu2XenMOprfrQHYrLiwAg&q=how+to+compare+p
oint+of+views&oq=how+to+compare+point+of+views&gs_l=psy-
ab.3...9419.11029..23373...0.2..0.437.2403.2-2j4j1......0....1..gws-
wiz.......0i71j33i10.sQDa7FDQwV0&ved=0ahUKEwjp1PLYqr7lAhWab
ysKHVgWDiYQ4dUDCAs&uact=5
-- Short Stories and Novels, Drama Scripts, Editorial Letters,
Commentaries on Issues.

Suggested Resources:
-- Films, Documentaries, Song Lyrics.

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 English Teacher Guide

Unit 3: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

Content Standard 9.1.7: Students will be able to integrate and evaluate
the content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually
and quantitatively, as well as in words.

Benchmark [Link]: Analyse the representation of a subject or a key

scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or
absent in each treatment.

Topic: Analysis the representation of a subject

Text Types: News report: print and TV, drama scripts, novels and short
stories, poems, magazines, documentaries, song lyrics.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Processes Skills Values Attitudes

Evaluation Logical reasoning Evaluation Truth Responsible
Assessment Assessment Honesty Empathy
Sensitivity

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Identify what representation of subject is.
ii. Identify the ways in which literary text e.g. poetry reflects a person’s
cultural background and perspectives and representation.
iii. Evaluate the techniques of media and texts are culturally
constructed and can be manipulated to influence cultural
perspectives and representations.

Content Background:

Representation is the use of signs that stand in for and take the place
of something else. It is through representation that people organize the
world and reality through the act of naming its elements. Signs are
arranged in order to form semantic constructions and express relations.

For many philosophers, both ancient and modern, man is regarded as

the "representational animal" or animal symbolicum, the creature whose
distinct character is the creation and the manipulation of signs – things
that "stand for" or "take the place of" something else.

Representation has been associated with aesthetics (art) and semiotics

(signs). Mitchell says "representation is an extremely elastic notion,
which extends all the way from a stone representing a man to a novel
representing the day in the life of several Dubliners".

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 Grade 9

The term 'representation' carries a range of meanings and

interpretations. In literary theory, 'representation' is commonly defined in
three ways:
1. To look like or resemble.
2. To stand in for something or someone.
3. To present a second time; to represent.
Representation began with early literary theory in the ideas of Plato and
Aristotle, and has evolved into a significant component of language,
Saussurian and communication studies.
Retrieved from: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (28/10/2019)

Teaching Strategies:
Teachers explain the concept of representation and provide examples.
The students listen, take notes and practice the idea of representation.

Learning Strategy:
The students listen, take notes and practice the idea of representation.
They will listen to texts and view films evaluate and assess the various
texts.

Relevant Resources:
-- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (28/10/2019)
-- Films, Documentaries, Magazines, Short Story and Novel, Poems

Suggested Resources:
-- Feature articles from newspapers, News reports.
-- [Link]

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 English Teacher Guide

Unit 3: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

Content Standard 9.1.8: Students will be able to delineate (define) and
evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text including the validity
of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.

Benchmark [Link]: Analyse argumentative text

Topic: Analyse argumentative text

Text Types: Newspapers – news and feature articles, book and film
reviews, reports, documentaries, advertisements – print and TV. current
affairs, magazines.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Processes Skills Values Attitudes

Augmentative Logical reasoning Comparing and Truth Positive
or persuasion Contrasting Rational Critical
Analysing

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Define what an argumentative text is.
ii. Practice analysing an argumentative text using the guide provided.

Content Background:

Definition: An argumentative essay uses evidence and facts to prove

whether or not a thesis is true. It presents two sides of a single issue,
and covers the most important arguments for and against. People
sometimes confuse the argumentative essay and the persuasive essay.

The five parts include a strong introductory paragraph with a clear

thesis, three body paragraphs substantiated with detailed evidence, and
a compelling conclusion. Students should also use transitional words
and phrases to guide readers through their arguments.

If you want to know about the three parts of an argumentative essay

then the parts are shown below:
1. Claim: The main argument of an Essay.
2. Reasoning: Reasons that support your claim.
3. Evidence: Statistics or information that support your reasoning and
back your claim.

How to analyse or write argumentative texts

Argumentative texts are leading article, comments, letters to the editor,
political speeches or essays. Their aim is to convince, to persuade or
even manipulate the reader or listener.

An argumentative text normally consists of 3 parts: the introduction, the

development and the conclusion but the structure can vary depending
on the author’s use of structural and stylistic/rhetorical devices.

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 Grade 9

Structure

Introduction
• author’s opinion is given, background or purpose for writing the text is given
• in speeches the speaker attracts the audience’s attention

Progressive structure antithetical structure

using a clearly defined starting point, contrasting and juxtaposing of facts,
developing in a cause-to effect ideas and arguments
or problem-solution arrangement -- clarity and emphasis through
-- clarity through unity, logical coherence, comparison and contrast
development
Development I
arguments that oppose the author’s
view are presented.
Development II
arguments and evidence that support
the author’s view are presented backed
up by facts, examples or personal
experience.
Conclusion
• mostly the last paragraph: the author’s opinion is repeated, often the most
important
reasons that have led to the opinion are summed up.
• in speeches the speaker often asks the audience to support his view or ideas and
gives briefly an outlook

Rhetorical Devices
Some rhetorical devices often used in argumentative texts:

1. Choice of words
The author uses/employs empathic, metaphorical, formal, colloquial or
emotive language. Emotive language is often used to raise and
maintain the reader/listeners attention. Strong adjectives or adverbs are
used to reinforce the speakers/author’s opinion/determination.

Emphatic language is often used to reinforce the argumentation.

Metaphorical language is employed to convey a vivid/lively/graphic
impression/picture and to enrich the language. It therefore conveys not
only a meaning but also feelings etc. “Pictures say more than a
thousand words”.

2. Stylistic Devices
The following devices are often used in argumentative texts:
• alliteration
• repetition
• anaphora
• metaphor
• symbol
• contrasts/antithesis
• comparison/simile
• enumeration/listing

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 English Teacher Guide

• exaggeration/hyperbole/understatement
• allusion
• analogy
• irony
• criticism
• The author alludes to/suggests that
• He/she draws a comparison/an analogy between
• He/she compares/contrasts A with B
• The speaker uses images/examples/metaphors/personification … to
convey …
• He/she illustrates his/her argumentation by …
• He/she repeats … /uses repetition/alliteration/analogies to under
line/stress/emphasise/underscore that …
• He/she criticises (sth in an ironical way)/attacks sb… . His/her
criticism/irony is directed against/attacks …

When structuring a text do not forget to use linking words that express
• reason: therefore, that is why, because, as …
• condition: if, unless …
• concession: although, even though, despite the fact that, …
• result: consequently, thus, as a result, …

To enrich or improve your language you should use:

• gerunds/infinitive-constructions
• participle constructions
• passive
Retrieved from: [Link] › argumentative texts

Teaching Strategies:
Teacher explains how to analysis and write an argumentative essay.

Learning Strategy:
Students listen, take notes and use the guide provided on how to analysis
and write argumentative essay to analysis and evaluate argumentative
essay.

Relevant Resources:
-- [Link] › argumentativetexts
-- Feature articles from Newspaper, Magazines, and Documentaries

Suggested Resources:
-- Book and film reviews, Letters to the Editor. Reports

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 Grade 9

Unit 3: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

Content Standard 9.1.8: Students will be able to delineate (define) and
evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text including the validity
of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.

Benchmark [Link]: Analyse increasingly complex text.

Topic: Analyse increasingly complex text

Text Types: Newspapers – news and feature articles, book and film
reviews, reports, documentaries, advertisements – print and TV.
cartoons and comics (political and social comment), magazines,
brochure.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Processes Skills Values Attitudes

Reviews and Logical reasoning Analysis Good judgement Critical
Text interpretation Rational

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Use conventions of the English language to evaluate a text and
summarise the main ideas/points of the text.
ii. Discuss the different purposes of the texts and the targeted
audiences.
iii. Read and discussion in groups to evaluate various texts and the
writing techniques and styles.

Content Background:

What is a “complex text”?

According to the Standards complexity is defined along three
dimensions:
1. Quantitative elements of a text such as word length, word
frequency, and sentence length;
2. Qualitative factors of a text such as text meaning or purpose, text
structure, language conventions and clarity; and
3. Reader and task considerations that reflect characteristics of a
specific reader, such as the reader’s background, motivation, and
knowledge about the topic, and the specific task, such as the
purpose and complexity of the task and the questions asked.
What are the particular difficulties of texts?
Text difficulty refers to challenges a reader experiences with particular
texts under specific conditions. The challenges in accessing a text can
arise from a multitude of factors, some of which have to do with their
own prior experience (e.g., level of schooling, literacy in their native
language) and some have to do with the instructional context
(e.g., counterproductive use of simplified texts, learning tasks that
discourage engagement in reading, and insufficient support for
developing metacognitive reading skills).
ELL – English Language Learners and MLL – Multilingual Learners

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 English Teacher Guide

Comprehending text in different disciplines involves understanding the

purposes, concepts, structural organization and language use unique to
those disciplines, ……

Here we present two ways of making texts more accessible ELLs/MLLs:

pedagogical scaffolding and text engineering. Together, these strategies
can address the difficulties ELLs/MLLs face in accessing challenging
texts.

Pedagogical scaffolding
Pedagogical scaffolding occurs when the teacher invites students to
engage in activities before, during, and after reading a text which provide
them with opportunities to make sense of, analyze, connect and finally
apply their newly gained understanding in novel situations. Pedagogical
scaffolding supports students in developing essential skills to tackle
difficult text both now and in the future. Important pedagogical scaffolds
for ELLs/MLLs include thoughtful selection of engaging texts and tasks
in which we activate or build on students’ background knowledge,
support the development of students’ metacognitive skills and their
metalinguistic awareness.

Background knowledge
When a teacher carefully selects a text and prepares students with tasks
which activate or build needed background knowledge (e.g., inviting
them to read in a jigsaw format about life during the times of
Shakespeare before they begin to read Macbeth), engagement in both
text and task is optimized and learning new information becomes easier.
Therefore, it is critical that we as educators get to know our students,
including their interests, strengths, and prior learning and use this
information as we select texts and design learning tasks.

Metacognitive skill development

Time taken to explicitly model and teach ELLs/MLLs metacognitive skills
can lead to increased development of strategies and resources. These
are further amplified when the student draws on both L1 and L2
metacognitive resources to successfully engage in strategic reading.
The idea is to support students with critical skill development so that
challenges in reading can be handled in the moment, to then build on
students’ ability to handle challenges in the future. In this way, a teacher
supports students’ growth of autonomy in the reading process and their
agency as learners.

Metalinguistic awareness
It is critical that we explicitly, and in interactive and powerful ways, teach
ELLs/MLLs text structures, along with their accompanying discourse
signals, and how to apply this knowledge while reading. Furthermore,
given that many English words are derived from Greek and Latin, ELLs/
MLLs who speak a romance language can be additionally supported
to recognize the many cognates, words that are similar in spelling and
meaning, that exist between the languages. Cognates then become an
additional metalinguistic resource ELLs/MLLs can use as they tackle
challenging texts.

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 Grade 9

Text engineering
Text engineering involves; 1) strategic amplification (not simplification) of
the language of a text through additional linguistic clues and redundancy
and 2) adaptation of key structural elements such as chunking the text
into meaningful units, adding headings and subheadings between the
chunks that alert the student as to what is coming next, and
incorporating focus questions to guide the student as s/he reads. ELLs/
MLLs need as many opportunities as possible to latch onto a concept
or theme as well as access to good language models that demonstrate
important language qualities.

In contrast to simplified text, a carefully engineered text contains richer

linguistic features (e.g., higher word counts, multisyllabic words, and
complex sentences) and thus can provide more clues to its meaning
leading to increased opportunities to support comprehension. Text
engineering serves to make reading a difficult text more manageable and
supports the eventual autonomy of the learner who begins to expect
these structures and eventually internalizes them, thus creating a habit
of mind as s/he approaches future texts.

Addressing text difficulty in action: Text engineering The visual above

is an example of text engineering in which the text has been “chunked”
into units. Above each chunk, subtitles and focus questions have been
inserted so as to alert the student to the most important information
without revealing everything. Also included are pictures to help students
visualize what they are reading, captions which elaborate on terminology
that is new for learners, as well as a space in the margin for taking notes.
Retrieved from: Office of Bilingual Education and World Languages [Link]
[Link]/bilingual-ed

Teaching Strategies:
Teacher explains the concept of difficulty/complex text including the
various areas mention that makes them complex.

Learning Strategy:
Read and discussion in groups to evaluate various texts and the writing
techniques and styles. And students listen and take notes and later
practice identifying complex text and say how difficult it is.

Relevant Resources:
-- Book and Film Reviews, Commentaries, News reports, research
reports.

Suggested Resources:
-- Documentaries, Brochures, Feature articles
-- Mitchell, A., 2006, Senior English Workbook VCE Units 1&2,
-- Australia, Macmillan Education Australia PTY LTD.

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 English Teacher Guide

Unit 3: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

Content Standard 9.1.9: Students will be able to analyse how two or
more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge
or compare the approaches the authors take.

Benchmark [Link]: Draw on and transform source material in a specific

work (e.g. how Shakespeare treats a theme or (topic from Ovid) or the
Bible or how a later author draws on a play be Shakespeare or how a
Papua New Guinean author uses oral tradition to create words of
literature).

Topic: Thematic Analysis

Text Types: Newspapers – news and feature articles, novels and short
stories, drama scripts, book and film reviews, reports, documentaries,
advertisements – print and TV, cartoons, magazines, song lyrics.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Logical
Knowledge Skills Values Attitudes
Processes
Making inferences Logical Analysis Self-Reflection Open-minded
Drawing conclusions reasoning Evaluation Truth Responsible
Honesty

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Read and view a wide variety of texts to find common themes.
ii. Read and view a wide variety of texts and do direct quotes and
then paraphrase using the MLA style.
iii. Write reflective summary capturing the common theme.

Content Background:

To take careful honest notes

Use these three ways to record information from a source;
• To quote the source, copy the important phrase, sentence or
paragraph word for word. Put quotation marks before and after what
you have copied.
• To paraphrase the source, write what the source says, but express it
in your own words. A paraphrase states an idea in about the same
number of words as the original source does.
• To summarize the source, use your own words to record only the key
ideas. A summary states an idea in fewer words than the original
source.
Retrieved from: McDougal Littell Literature (2008)

Teaching Strategies:
Teacher explains how to draw information from source and to quote,
paraphrase or summariez using the MLA style.

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 Grade 9

Learning Strategy:
Students listen, take notes and practice direct quote, paraphrase and
summarise notes.

Relevant Resources:
-- McDougal Littell Literature (2008).
-- Book and Film Reviews, Short Story and Novels, Drama Scripts.

Suggested Resources:
-- Drama Scripts, Song Lyrics, Commentaries, Documentaries, Letters
to the Editor.

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 English Teacher Guide

Unit 4: Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

Content Standard 9.1.10: Students will be able to read and comprehend
complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.

Benchmark [Link]: Read and comprehend literature and other texts

including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 9-10 text complexity
band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

Topic: Critical Reading

Text Types: Newspapers – news and feature articles, novels and short
stories, drama scripts, book and film reviews, reports, documentaries,
advertisements – print and TV, magazines, brochures.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Processes Skills Values Attitudes

Making Logical reasoning Research Rationality Open-minded
inference Evaluation Responsible

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Read and identify various symbols and traditional values
depicted in the story.
ii. Make inferences, and justifications of the symbols and traditional
values.
iii. Write a reflective paper on the symbols and traditional values.

Content Background:

A symbol that is a person, place or thing that stands for something

else. A sunrise, for example, might be a symbol of hope or a new
beginning. To identify symbols, look for:
• Things that the author mention over and over
• Object that seem to have great importance to the author
• Hero
Traditional values
What does it take to be a hero? In many cases, a hero is someone who
shows great bravery. In legends, though, a hero is expected not only to
be brave but also to uphold the cultural values of a society. These are
the behaviors a society wants its people to have. In ancient Greece, two
important cultural values were:
• Loyalty, or devotion to friends and family
• Honesty
Retrived from: McDougal Littell Literature (2008)

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 Grade 9

Values
In our case, values means: standards, moral, ethics, beliefs, ideals, etc..
Additional values taught in Greek and Roman myths are:
• Respect your elders
• Respecting and obeying the gods, who are often involved in
• humans’ everyday lives
• Know your place, etc..

Modern values – basically meaning, what modern generation values in

terms of human needs, societal needs, provincial needs and national
needs.

Teaching Strategies:
Teacher explains the three key concepts and then allow the students to
read stories and practice identifying the various values displayed in the
stories.

Learning Strategy:
Students to read stories and practice identifying the various values
displayed in the stories.

Relevant Resources:
-- McDougal Littell Literature (2008).
-- Films and documentaries and cartoons and Book and Film Reviews.

Suggested Resources:
-- Novels and short stories, Poems and Song Lyrics.

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 English Teacher Guide

Unit 4: Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

Content Standard 9.1.10: Students will be able to read and comprehend
complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.

Benchmark [Link]: Self-selected texts for personal enjoyment,

interest, and academic tasks.

Topic: Evaluation and Understanding of texts types and their functions.

Text Types: Newspapers, feature articles, novels and short stories,

drama scripts, book and film reviews, reports, documentaries,
advertisements – print and TV, cartoons, magazines.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Logical
Knowledge Skills Values Attitudes
Processes
Text types Logical Analysing Self-reflection Confident
reasoning Interpreting text Enterprise Positive

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Read for specific information.
ii. Identify the themes and analyse the plots of the various literary
genres and evaluate the unique language and style of the authors.
iii. Understand and provide a book review or personal comments and/
or opinions about the text or film/visual (drama).

Content Background:

Evaluating Text
Another reason for reading text is for to evaluate them. Usually,
evaluating text is the most subjective task, which relies on a person’s
personal experiences, biases, and personal feelings about the text or
topic.

Textual Analysis is the method communication researchers use to

describe and interpret the characteristics of a recorded or visual image.
The purpose of textual analysis is to describe the content, structure, and
functions of the messages contained in texts.

Teaching Strategies:
Provide copies of book/film reviews, short stories, drama scripts and
brochures for students to read and analyse their themes, their unique
language and styles of specific genres.

Learning Strategy:
Students to read and analyse their themes, their unique language and
styles of specific genres and identify their specific purpose for the
language and style of the text.

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 Grade 9

Relevant Resources:
-- Book and Film reviews, Brochures, Short story and Novel, Poetry

Suggested Resources:
-- Advertisements, Magazines, Drama Script, Films.

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 English Teacher Guide

Unit 4: Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

Content Standard 9.1.10: Students will be able to read and comprehend
complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.

Benchmark [Link]: Make sense of multiple perspectives and pluralistic

viewpoints.

Topic: Make sense of multiple perspective and pluralistic views

Text Types: Reports, novels, reports, newspaper articles, feature film,

documentaries, film and book reviews, commentaries, notes and
summaries, graphs/tables/diagrams, song lyrics, cartoons.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical
Skills Values Attitudes
Processes
Text Types Logical Evaluation Rationality Open-minded
reasoning Research Self-reflection Critical

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Investigate how different authors discuss a similar theme in
different genres.
ii. Evaluate the techniques of media are influencing public opinions on
a range of social and cultural issues.
iii. Analyse how different authors use different language techniques
and conventions to accomplish their purposes and from their own
perspectives.

Content Background:

Perspective is the view point from which the story is told from. It can
also be referred to as: viewpoint, stand point, outlook, view, perception,
side, angle. Thus when we talk about multi-perspectives, we are talking
about viewing the text from more than one or a number of perspectives.
On the same note, Pluralistic view means more than one view.

Now let us look at the different types of point of views.

• First-person point of view – the narrator is a character and tells the
story from the inside. The personal pronoun I, me, we are used. The
narrative view point is very personal and encourages the reader to
identify with the narrator and feel involved. It allows limited access to
other possible point of views.

• Third-person point of view – It reports on the action from a detached

vantage point. The third person narrator allows us to see things
from more than one perspective and provide insight into the
character’s thoughts and feelings. Some third person narrator has
access to the thoughts and feelings of multiple characters, while
others have access to one or two characters. The narrator uses the
personal pronouns he, she, it, they.

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 Grade 9

First person point of view:

- Is a character in the story
- Uses the pronoun I and me to refer to himself or herself
- Describe his or her own thoughts, feelings, and impressions
- Does not know what other characters are thinking or feeling

Third person point of view

-Is
- not a character in the story
-Is
- called limited if he or she tells the thoughts and feelings of only
one character
-Is
- called omniscient, or all knowing, if he or she reveals the
thoughts and feelings of all the characters

Teaching Strategies:
Teacher explains the different points of views to the students and then
allow the students to practice identifying the multi view or the pluralistic
views used in the story.

Learning Strategy:
Students will work in pairs or groups to read and analyse and compare
the different viewpoints. Students will further research more texts with
same viewports or themes.

Relevant Resources:
-- Oxford VCE english: units 3 & 4 Oxford University Press 2008.
-- News reports, Commentaries, Feature articles from magazine.

Suggested Resources:
-- Novels and Short Stories, Poems, Drama Script, Song Lyrics.

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 English Teacher Guide

Strand 2: Writing
Strand 2 consists of four units:

1. Text Types and Purposes

2. Production and Distribution of Writing
3. Research to Build and Present Knowledge
4. Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity.

Unit Topic

1. Text Types and Purposes • Elements of narrative texts

• Narrative techniques
• Composing plots of texts
• Writing informative essay
• Essays, editorials, journals, brochures
• Composing an informative essay
• Argumentative essay – Identifying topics and ideas
• Argumentative essays – Writing the body

2. Production and • Developing main ideas and subordinate ideas

Distribution of Writing • Study of writing process 1
• Study of writing process 2 – Introduction, Body,
Conclusion
• Study of writing process 3 – Writing Practices
• Study of writing process 3 – Writing Practices

3. Research to Build and • Research

Present Knowledge • Writing survey reports
• Research - Gathering information from different
sources
• Writing research report
• Research
• Research – Validating information

4. Range of Reading and • Writing portfolios 1 – Appropriate grammar

Level of Text Complexity • Writing portfolios

Unit of Work
Unit of work outlines the topics, Text-types to be used, essential KSAVs
to be achieved and the learning objectives that will work towards
achieving the essential KSAVS for each benchmark. It basically presents
what the teacher is expected to teach per the set standard. Teachers are
advised to use the learning objectives to create lesson topics and lesson
objectives in preparing lessons. Brief content background of each topic is
provided to aid teacher’s lesson preparation.

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 Grade 9

Unit 1: Text Types and Purposes

Content Standard 9.2.1: Students will be able to write narratives and

other creative texts to develop real or imagined experiences or events
using effective techniques, well-chosen details and well-structured event
sequences.

Benchmark [Link]: Engage and orient the reader by setting out a

problem, situation or observation, establishing one or multiple point(s) of
view, and introducing a narrator and/or characters; create a smooth
progression of experiences or events.

Topic: Elements of narrative texts

Text Types: School journals, narrative texts, short stories, poems

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes (KSVA):

Knowledge Logical processes Skills Values Attitudes

Elements of Creative design Narrating essay Creativity Creative
narrative texts process

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Discuss elements of a narrative or creative text.
ii. Develop and write out a simple narrative plot by setting out a
situation and introducing the setting and characters.

Content Background:

What is a narrative text?

A narrative is a spoken or written account of connected events; a story.
Or simply put, a story or a description of a series of events. It can be
either true or fictious. In most cases, a narrative is usually created by the
writer through the use of his or her own imagination.
What are narrative elements?
Narrative elements refer to all the aspects that make up a story. These
features include the setting, theme, plot, characters, point of view, tone,
and imagery or symbolism.

The setting of a story describes the environment that events take place
in. It includes location, time period, culture, mood and other atmospheric
qualities.

The theme is the central idea of a story or narrative. It summarizes what

the story is about. Themes often involve an issue, lesson or cause that is
represented in the story.

The plot of a narrative is shaped by the events that unfold. It typically

includes a conflict or problem, a climax, and a resolution. The climax is
generally the culmination of events that leads to the resolution. The plot
also involves the structure or arrangement of the events.
The climax is generally the culmination of events that leads to the
resolution.

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 English Teacher Guide

Characters are developed in a story through their actions, words and

descriptive traits. Characters are categorized as a protagonist or
antagonist, depending on their role in the events that transpire.

The point of view relates to the perspective that the story is told from.

The tone is created by the feelings portrayed by the characters.

The atmosphere of a story may also contribute to the tone. In addition,

imagery or symbolisms are employed as narrative elements in some
types of stories.

Teaching Strategies:
Provide copies of short stories and ask students to identify the elements
of narratives texts.

Learning Strategies:
Discuss elements of narrative texts using short stories.

Relevant Resources:
-- Grammar in Its Place – Rules, skills and practice.

Suggested Resources:
-- STEPS

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 Grade 9

Unit 1: Text Types and Purposes

Content Standard 9.2.1: Students will be able to write narratives and

other creative texts to develop real or imagined experiences or events
using effectively techniques, well-chosen details and well-structured
event sequences.

Benchmark [Link]: Use narrative techniques such as dialogue, pacing

description, reflection and multiple plot lines to develop experiences,
events and/or characters.

Topic: Narrative techniques

Text Types: School Journals, narrative texts, short stories, narrative

letters, dairies.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes (KSVA):

Knowledge Logical processes Skills Values Attitudes

Narrative Creative design Dialogue Creativity Creative
techniques process Pacing
Description
Reflection

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Describe narrative techniques used to develop experiences, events
and characters in studied texts.
ii. Write short narrative sentences and employ key techniques.
iii. Give a reflection of their writing experiences.

Content Background:

Narrative techniques
A narrative technique (also known as a literary device) is any of several
specific methods the creator of a narrative uses to convey what they
want, in other words, a strategy used in the making of a narrative to relay
information to the audience and, particularly, to develop the narrative,
usually in order to make it more complete, complicated, or interesting.
Literary techniques are distinguished from literary elements, which exist
in works of writing.

There are four important narrative techniques that writers use:

1. Dialogue, which means writing conversations;
2. Pacing, which means how fast your story unfolds;
3. Description, which simply means describing something (a person, a
place, a feeling, a situation, and more); and
4. Reflection, which means personal conclusions or explanations
about your story.

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Teaching Strategies:
Provide copies of short stories and ask students to identify the narrative
techniques employed by the writers.

Learning Strategies:
Write effective short narrative passages using appropriate narrative
techniques.

Relevant Resources:
-- Grammar In Place – Rules, Skills and Practice

Suggested Resources:
-- STEPS

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Unit 1: Text Types and Purposes

Content Standard 9.2.1: Students will be able to write narratives and
other creative texts to develop real or imagined experiences or events
using effectively techniques, well-chosen details and well-structured
event sequences.

Benchmark [Link]: Use a variety of techniques to sequence events so

that they build on one another to create a coherent whole.

Topic: Composing plots of texts

Text Types: Narrative texts, short stories, school journals, novels.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes (KSVA):

Knowledge Logical processes Skills Values Attitudes

Narrative Logical reasoning Logical Orderliness Diligent
techniques Creative design process sequencing Assertiveness

Learning Objective: Students will be able to:

i. Apply appropriate narrative techniques to develop the plot of a
short story.

Content Background:

Definition of Plot
Plot is a literary term used to describe the events that make up a story,
or the main part of a story. These events relate to each other in a pattern
or a sequence. The structure of a novel depends on the organization of
events in the plot of the story.

Plot is known as the foundation of a novel or story, around which the

characters and settings are built. It is meant to organize information and
events in a logical manner. When writing the plot of a piece of literature,
the author has to be careful that it does not dominate the other parts of
the story.

Primary Elements of a Plot

There are five main elements in a plot.
1. Exposition or Introduction
This is the beginning of the story, where characters and setting are
established. The conflict or main problem is introduced as well.

2. Rising Action
Rising action which occurs when a series of events build up to the
conflict. The main characters are established by the time the
rising action of a plot occurs, and at the same time, events begin to
get complicated. It is during this part of a story that excitement,
tension, or crisis is encountered.

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3. Climax
In the climax, or the main point of the plot, there is a turning point of
the story. This is meant to be the moment of highest interest and
emotion, leaving the reader wondering what is going to happen
next.

4. Falling Action
Falling action, or the winding up of the story, occurs when events
and complications begin to resolve. The result of the actions of the
main characters are put forward.

5. Resolution
Resolution, or the conclusion, is the end of a story, which may occur
with either a happy or a tragic ending.

Examples of Plot in Literature

Example #1: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (By J. K. Rowling)
Among the examples of plot in modern literature, Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer’s Stone is probably the most familiar to both readers and
moviegoers. The plot of the story begins when Harry learns that
Professor Snape is after the Sorcerer’s Stone. The Professor lets loose
a troll, who nearly kills Harry and his friends. In addition, Harry finds out
that Hagrid let out the secret of the giant dog to a stranger in return for a
dragon, which means that Snape can now reach the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Teaching Strategies:
Provide copies of a short story and ask students to recognise the plot or
sequence of events in the story.

Learning Strategies:
Summarise the plot of the story.

Recommended Resources:
-- Successful Writing, Essentials of Writing 1

Suggested Resources:
-- 2020 Literary Devices, 2020, Plot – Examples and Definitions of
Plot:
-- Literary Devices, [Link]

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Unit 1: Text Types and Purposes

Content Standard 9.2.2: Students will be able to write informative/

explanatory texts to examine and convey ideas and information clearly
and accurately through the effective selection, organisation and analysis
of content.

Benchmark [Link]: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a

topic and convey ideas, concepts and information through the selection,
organisation and analysis of relevant content.

Topic: Writing informative essay

Text Types: Newspaper weekender magazines, magazine articles,

Journals, recipes, reports.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes (KSVA):

Knowledge Logical processes Skills Values Attitudes

informative Concept mapping Writing Truth Diligent
essay Design process informative Rationality Creative
Logical reasoning essay Simplicity Open-minded

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Discuss elements that are needed to write an informative/
explanatory essay.
ii. Write an informative text based on a selected topic.
iii. Read and share information of their informative text.

Content Background:

What is an informative essay?

Informative essays are informational write-ups that deal with conveying
information to its readers. An example of this would be a paper
regarding the amount of pollution produced by humans every year - and
its impact on the ice caps. Bottom line: No matter the field chosen as
a topic or the level of knowledge required, an informative essay should
present in-depth knowledge and basic facts regarding the chosen topic
at hand. Typically, this type of essay will include an introduction, a few
body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

The introductory paragraph of the paper offers a brief overview of the

paper's topic. It may also present a surprising fact, geared to hook the
reader and encourage him to read the rest of the essay. The last
sentence of the opening paragraph will usually contain the point of the
informative essay, also called the thesis statement. Generally, it is the
most important sentence in the entire essay, as it sets forth the direction
for the rest of the paper.

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The body paragraphs of an informative essay will contain the facts

that support the thesis statement, presenting the reader with information
about the topic in an organized manner. This can be done through
examples, step-by-step analysis, or by presenting expert opinions.
Generally, each fact should refer back to and support the opening thesis
statement. The writer must make sure not to express his thoughts or
opinions, even in a subtle fashion, since all facts and discussion of the
facts must be done in an unbiased manner.

At the end of the informative essay, the writer will have a concluding
paragraph. This paragraph summarizes the facts that were discussed
throughout the body of the essay. It can also restate the thesis sentence.
The writer should make sure that he does not introduce any new points
or facts in this paragraph.

Teaching Strategies:
Provide copies of an informational essay and ask student to discuss the
features of the text.

Learning Strategies:
Write an effective informational text on a selected topic.

Relevant Resources:
-- Successful writing Second Edition, Basic Skills in Writing.

Suggested Resources:
-- STEPS

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Unit 1: Text Types and Purposes

Content Standard 9.2.2: Students will be able to write informative/

explanatory texts to examine and convey ideas and information clearly
and accurately through the effective selection, organisation and analysis
of content.

Benchmark [Link]: Develop the topic with well-chosen relevant and

sufficient facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations or other
information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the
topic.

Topic: Informative essay – Validating information

Text Types: Essays, editorials, journals, brochures.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes (KSVA):

Knowledge Logical processes Skills Values Attitudes

Informative Logical Informative Validating Rationality
essay reasoning essay information

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Research information on a given topic.
ii. Analyse information collected for its reliability to develop the topic.
iii. Develop the topic using the information collected and validated.

Content Background:

Extended definitions
In a paragraph, essay, or speech, an extended definition is an
explanation and/or illustration of a word, thing, or concept. An extended
definition can also serve a persuasive purpose.

Simply put, a definition is a statement of the meaning of a word or

phrase. An extended definition goes beyond what can be found in a
dictionary, offering an expanded analysis and illustration of a concept
that might be abstract, controversial, unfamiliar, or frequently
misunderstood.

An extended definition is a one or more paragraphs that attempt to

explain a complex term. Some terms may be so important in your report,
there may be so much confusion about them, or they may be so difficult
to understand that an extended discussion is vital for the success of
your report.

Teaching Strategies:
Explain briefly what an informative or expository texts/essay is and
challenge students to develop suitable topics. Provide samples to
students for study and reference.

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Learning Strategies:
Students identify topics and work on main ideas. They will also validate
information collected or developed for relevancy and accuracy.

Recommended Resources:
-- Successful Writing

Suggested Resources:
-- STEPS

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 Grade 9

Unit 1: Text Types and Purposes

Content Standard 9.2.2: Students will be able to write informative/

explanatory texts to examine and convey ideas and information clearly
and accurately through the effective selection, organisation and analysis
of content.

Benchmark [Link]: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a

topic and convey ideas, concepts and information through the selection,
organisation and analysis of relevant content.

Topic: Composing an informative essay

Text Type: Newspaper weekender magazines, magazine articles, journals

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes (KSVA):

Knowledge Logical Process Skills Values Attitudes

Informative Logical reasoning Writing informative Rationality Open-minded
essay essay

Learning Objective: Students will be able to:

i. Use information collected from personal research or experiences to
write an informative essay on any given topic.

Content Background:

Informative Essay Outline

The informative essay outline is written in the standard essay style.
Usually speaking, it will consist of:
• An introduction + thesis statement: It serves to present the main
argument in an exciting and interesting manner;
• 3 Body Paragraphs: Body paragraphs will be mainly used to support
the thesis created in the introduction;
• The Conclusion: It will wrap up the information and present its
significance in the real world!

Parts of an Informative Essay

(For 3 main ideas)
Think of the acronym I + MID + C

1st Paragraph
I = Introduce the topic using words from the prompt. Then write a
thesis statement that contains all the main ideas you want to write
about.
2nd Paragraph
MI = 1st Main Idea sentence; Begin with: First.
D = Details; Use text evidence to prove your point.

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3rd Paragraph
MI = 2nd Main Idea sentence; Begin with: In addition.
D = Details; Use text evidence to prove your point.
4th Paragraph
MI = 3rd Main Idea sentence; Begin with: Finally.
D = Details; use text evidence to prove your point.
5th Paragraph
C = Conclusion; Restate the thesis statement. Begin with: In
conclusion. Wrap up the essay.

Informative essay is not a persuasive essay; it should be objective and

impartial. It is the best way to explain something that is complicated…in
an uncomplicated way.
7 steps to succeed in the informative essay writing
Step 1
• Choose the topic for your informative essay.
• Remember that the aim of informative essay is not impose your view,
but to inform and educate the audience on a topic chosen.

Step 2
• Create the outline that will organize your facts in a logical way.
• List all the questions you have about your topic and what you are
going to perform.

Step 3
• Gather all the necessary information for the work, from at least four
sources.
• Research your topic online and in a library. Find authoritative,
credible sources
• Analyze the facts and research details found.

Step 4
The Introduction.
• Present the topic and grab your audience attention.
• Give some background information about the key words and
terminology.
• Compare the viewpoints and facts on a controversial subject or
different sources data.
• Start with a general idea which gradually gets more and more
specific.

Imagine the inverted pyramid:

General Idea
Specific Thesis

Step 5
The Body.
- Provide all the necessary information and materials to your target
audience
- Use various sources, facts and expert judgments
- Make sure all your facts are accurate

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Step 6
The Conclusion.
• Restate about the seriousness of issue and summarize the facts for
and against your main thesis
• Never introduce some new information or ideas in the conclusion
• The main purpose for your conclusion is to round off the essay by
summing up

Step 7
Analyze all the work done.
Think whether all the information has been provided and if there could
arise any prejudices in the audience according to the material presented

Remember:
Informative essay is not a persuasive essay;
It should be objective and impartial; Your writing should be both
informative and interesting without making an argument or imparting the
author’s view point.

Teaching Strategies:
Distribute material to students to write their essays or texts.

Learning Strategies:
Students write first drafts of the essays or texts taking into account of
relevant information, correct application of essay formats, language usage
and vocabulary usage.

Recommended Resources:
-- Successful Writing, Basics In Writing,

Suggested Resources:
-- Zebley, 2017, Pen & the Pad: Parts of an informative Essay, https://
[Link]/[Link].
-- Buzz essay .com, 2017, How to Write an Informative essay, useful
tips, [Link]

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Unit 1: Text Types and Purposes

Content Standard 9.2.1: Students will be able to write arguments to

support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid
reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

Benchmark [Link]: Introduce a topic, organise complex ideas, concepts

and information to make important connections and distinctions, include
formatting (e.g. headings), graphics (e.g. figures, tables), and multimedia
when useful to aiding comprehension.

Topic: Argumentative essay – Identifying topics and ideas

Text Types: Newspaper editorials and commentaries, argumentative

essays, research publications.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes (KSVA):

Knowledge Logical Reasoning Skills Values Attitudes

Argumentative Logical reasoning Essay writing Rationality Critical
essay

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Understand what an argumentative essay is.
ii. Study parts of an argumentative essay.
iii. Brainstorm topic with relevant and valid ideas.

Content Background:

Definition of Argumentative Essay

An argumentative essay is a type of essay that presents arguments
about both sides of an issue. It could be that both sides are presented
equally balanced, or it could be that one side is presented more
forcefully than the other. It all depends on the writer, and what side he
supports the most. The general structure of an argumentative essay
follows this format:
1. Introduction: Attention Grabber/hook, Background Information,
Thesis Statement
2. Body: Three body paragraphs (three major arguments)
3. Counterargument: An argument to refute earlier arguments and
give weight to the actual position
4. Conclusion: Rephrasing the thesis statement, major points, call to
attention, or concluding remarks.

Function of Argumentative Essay

An argumentative essay presents both sides of an issue. However, it
presents one side more positively or meticulously than the other one, so
that readers could be swayed to the one the author intends. The major
function of this type of essays is to present a case before the readers in
a convincing manner, showing them the complete picture.

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How to Write an Argumentative Essay

Step 1: Choose a topic

Step 2: Take a position
Step 3: Gather evidence
Step 4: Present argument logically
Step 5: Provide counterarguments

Teaching Strategies:
Explain what an argumentative essay is and outline the parts then
distribute resources or texts for student activities and practices.

Learning Strategies:
Students understand what argumentative essay is and develop topics and
ideas.

Recommended Resources:
-- Successful Writing, Basics In Writing

Suggested Resources:
-- Fleming, 2020, Tips on how to write an argumentative essay: how
to write an argument, [Link]
ment-essay-1856986

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 English Teacher Guide

Unit 1: Text Types and Purposes

Content Standard 9.2.1: Students will be able to write arguments to

support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid
reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

Benchmark [Link]: Introduce a topic, organise ideas, concepts and

information using strategies such as definition, classification, comparison/
contrasting and cause/effect; include formatting (eg. headings), graphics
(e.g. charts, tables) and multimedia use to add comprehension.

Topic: Argumentative essays – Writing the body

Text Types: Newspaper editorials, newspaper commentaries,

argumentative essays

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes (KSVA):

Knowledge Logical Reasoning Skills Values Attitudes

Parts of Essay Logical reasoning Analysing parts Rationality Critical

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Examine parts of an argumentative essay.
ii. Develop a topic with relevant facts, definitions, concrete details,
quotations and other information and examples.
iii. Use ideas to develop paragraphs in a logical sequence.

Content Background:

Parts of an argument
To effectively write an argument, you need to know the four basic parts.
In this lesson, you will learn the definitions of the four basic parts and
why you need them in an argument.

How would you like to be able to win any argument? Today we're going
to learn about the parts of an argument necessary to win one! The
purpose of an argument, whether it's in a paper or a speech, is to
convince or persuade. The main parts of an argument are:
• Claims
• Counterclaims
• Reasons
• Evidence

Claims
'Mom, I really need a new cell phone!' If you've ever said this or
something like it, you've made a claim. Making a claim is just a fancy
way of saying that you're stating your main point. In a formal paper, you
might say something like, 'It is necessary for me to obtain a new cell
phone.' Claims are not just opinions. A claim tells what you think is true
about a topic based on your knowledge and your research. If you're ever

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going to convince your mom to get that new cell phone that's just
perfect for you, you're going to have to move beyond mere opinions.
You're going to need to support your claim to get rid of that crummy,
old, obsolete phone that's holding you back.
Counterclaims
But there are two sides to every argument. In your argument for a new
cell phone, your mom stands on the other side. She has something
to say against your claim that you need a new cell phone, and it goes
something like, 'No, you don't.'

That's your mom's counterclaim. A counterclaim is just the opposite of a

claim. In a more formal way, she might say, 'Your current situation does
not require a new cell phone.' Counterclaims are also provable and
supportable by reasons and evidence. Not just, 'Because I said so.'
When you're planning an argument, you need to know what the
counterclaim might be so that you can make sure that you disprove it
with your reasons and evidence.

Reasons
After your mom's counterclaim, she'll probably ask, 'Why is that you
think you need a new cell phone?'

Then it's time for the reasons you've prepared well in advance, because
you know exactly what she'll ask. 'My cell phone doesn't have Internet
access.'

That's a reason. A reason tells why. A reason makes someone care and
tells the importance of the claim and the argument. 'Because I said so,'
doesn't work, and 'Just because,' doesn't work - until you're a parent.
In an argument, your, 'My cell phone doesn't have Internet access,'
would need to be beefed up a little, to, 'My current cell phone doesn't
provide Internet access, which is necessary for me to complete all my
homework.' That is provable, because your phone is so old it barely has
texting!

Teaching Strategies:
Explain the meaning of argumentative essay is and the outline with some
samples. Then allow time for students to construct parts.

Learning Strategies:
Students write the actual parts of texts or essays based on a topic of their
choice.

Recommended Resources:
-- Successful Writing, Essentials of Writing 1

Suggested Resources:
-- McGee, 2019, The Parts of an Argumentative Essay, [Link]
[Link]/[Link]

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Unit 1: Text Types and Purposes

Content Standard 9.2.1: Students will be able to write arguments to

support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid
reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

Benchmark [Link]: Develop the topic with relevant facts, definitions,

concrete details, quotations or other information and examples.

Topic: Argumentative essay – Composing the essay

Text Types: Newspaper editorials, newspaper commentaries,

argumentative essays

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes (KSVA)

Knowledge Logical Reasoning Skills Values Attitudes

Topics and Logical reasoning Identifying topic Facts/truth Optimistic
ideas and ideas

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Develop topics with relevant facts, definitions, concrete details,
quotations and other information and examples.
ii. Develop a thesis statement for the argumentative essay.
iii. Compose an argumentative essay.

Content Background:

Essay: Topic,
Introduction - Overview
Body – Topic Sentence, Main Idea, Detail, Examples
Conclusion – summary

ARGUMENTATIVE - ONE side only

• general statement/hook
• elaboration - scope (can include a
INTRO definition)
• thesis statement clearly ststing the
position (one side) of the author
ARGUMENT 1 FOR OR topic sentence
AGAINST • support
BODY

ARGUMENT 2 FOR OR topic sentence

AGAINST • support
ARGUMENT 3 FOR OR topic sentence
AGAINST • support
CONCLUSION • restate thesis statement and opinion
summary of position & • summarise ideas
ideas/link to action • closing comments/final thoughts

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Teaching Strategies:
Distribute materials for students to write their essays and write suggested
topics to aid their writing.

Learning Strategies:
Students explore topics and compose essays using the writing
processes.

Recommended Resources:

Suggested Resources:

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Unit 2: Production and Distribution of Writing

Content Standard 9.2.4: Students will be able to produce clear and

coherent writing in which the development, organisation, and style are
appropriate to task, purpose and audience.

Benchmark [Link]: Formulate clear and coherent ideas for writing in

which the development, organisation and style are appropriate to task,
purpose and audience.

Topic: Developing main ideas and subordinate ideas

Text Types: Essays, commentaries, editorials, academic texts, reports.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes (KSVA):

Knowledge Logical Reasoning Skills Values Attitudes

Main Ideas Logical reasoning Writing main ideas Rationality Critical

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Identify and note main ideas which, are essential for writing
organisation, development, styles, purpose and audience.
ii. Write down supporting ideas that have relevant details to
supporting the thesis statement in developing various texts

Content Background:

Find out what supporting details are and their role in essay writing.
Learn the different ways to include supporting details, then take a quiz to
test your new skills.

Supporting Details
Supporting details provide the information that supports the topic
sentence. You can create supporting details with descriptions,
examples, reasons, explanations and comparisons.

The details you use to support your topic sentences depends somewhat
on the development strategy (persuasive, compare/contrast, narrative,
expository, etc.) that you're using. Are you writing a narrative or
descriptive essay? Make your paragraphs come alive with details. A
persuasive essay? Use plenty of facts and evidence. You may end up
combining several types of supporting details.

Description & Examples

Descriptive details will expand on the main idea in your topic sentence.
Describe the colors, smells, textures and size of things. If your topic
sentence claims that a fire was particularly damaging, you would include
the color and size of the flames, the smoke, the smell of burning
materials, etc. Description can include emotional details as well.
Describe your feelings or the feelings others described.

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Examples support topic sentences like evidence supports an

argument. If you say that your car is in disrepair, give some examples. Is
the engine barely running? Does it burn oil? Or, are you referring to the
interior with exposed springs? Examples can also be shown with an
anecdote, which are brief stories that illustrate the main idea in your
topic sentence.

Compare/Contrast
Let's say you're writing a compare/contrast essay about two brands of
e-book readers. If your topic sentence says that one has an
easy-to-read home page, you might discuss the font sizes and screen
colors and follow with what's lacking on the other brand's home page.
If your topic sentence states that they're similar in many ways, show the
many ways and not just one or two.

Reasons & Explanations

Use reasons to support your opinions. If your main idea is about places
to do homework, and you have a topic sentence stating that you feel
comfortable in a particular coffee shop, include the reasons. Is it the
lighting? The music? Also, if you dislike something, be prepared to
include the reasons if you want your claim to be effective.

Explanations focus on clarifying an idea for readers who are unfamiliar

with the topic. For example, if your topic is about taxes, and your topic
sentence is about tax increment financing, you would include an
explanation of what that is.
Clear and Coherent Writing

Recognize Effective Thesis Statements, Topic Sentences, and Supporting

Details
A paragraph presents a collection of information unified by the main idea
stated in the topic sentence. All the information in the paragraph must
be relevant to the main idea. Relevance in a paragraph means that a
piece of information is directly related to the topic sentence. The
information must relate not only to the very limited subject but also to
what you will show about it.

For the two topic sentences below, find any information listed that is not
relevant.

Topic Sentence: Toxic chemicals can cause drastic harm.

burn lungs when inhaled
expensive
poison animals
kill plant life
pollute water supply
corrode skin if touched
necessary in manufacturing
dumps look unsightly

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Topic Sentence: Her office desk was a picture of professional efficiency.

appointment book
family photos
good desk lamp
scratches on the desk
computer
calculator
worksheets placed in folders
Oriental carpet on floor

Just stating a main idea in a topic sentence is not enough to inform, to

persuade, or to entertain your readers. You must develop the main idea
with enough information to achieve your purpose.

As you read this paragraph, watch how the speaker tries to persuade
you that something is wrong with the masculine ideal in the love
relationship.

Topic Sentence
Mahesh was my friend. But I thought of him as a man who had been
stunted by his relationship with Shoba. That had been achievement
enough for him. Shoba admired him and needed him, and he was
therefore content with himself, content with the person she admired. His
only wish seemed to be to take care of this person. He dressed for her,
preserved his looks for her. I used to think that when Mahesh considered
himself physically he didn't compare himself with other men, or judge
himself according to some masculine ideal, but saw only the body that
pleased Shoba. He saw himself as his woman saw him; and that was
why, though he was my friend, I thought that his devotion to Shoba had
made him half a man, and ignoble.
(V. S. Naipaul, The Bend in the River)

Teaching Strategies:
Explain the components main ideas, supporting ideas and examples and
instruct students to use samples to identify.

Learning Strategies:
Students brainstorm main ideas and supporting ideas relating to topic or
question.

Recommended Resources:
-- Successful Writing, Essentials of writing 1.

Suggested Resources:
-- McGee, 2019, The Parts of an Argumentative Essay, [Link]
[Link]/[Link]

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Unit 2: Production and Distribution of Writing

Content Standard 9.2.4: Students will be able to produce clear and

coherent writing in which the development, organisation, and style are
appropriate to task, purpose and audience.

Benchmark [Link]: Analyse the processes of writing, planning, drafting,

revising, editing and rewriting.

Topic: Study of writing process 1

Text Types: Essays, commentaries, editorials, academic texts, reports.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes (KSVA)

Knowledge Logical Reasoning Skills Values Attitudes

The writing Design process Writing skills Perfection Optimistic
process thinking Systematic

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Explore the writing process.
ii. Examine sample essays to verify with justifications whether or not
the writer has followed the writing process steps one to four.
iii. Rewrite the wrong samples of essay correctly.

Content Background:

The Writing Process

Whether you know it or not, there’s a process to writing – which many
writers follow naturally. If you’re just getting started as a writer, though,
or if you always find it a struggle to produce an essay, short story or
blog, following the writing process will help.

Prewriting
Have you ever sat staring at a blank piece of paper or a blank document
on your computer screen? You might have skipped the vital first stage
of the writing process: prewriting. This covers everything you do before
starting your rough draft. As a minimum, prewriting means coming up
with an idea!

Ideas and Inspiration

Ideas are all around you. If you want to write but you don’t have any
ideas, try:
• Using a writing prompt to get you started.
• Writing about incidents from your daily life, or childhood.
• Keeping a notebook of ideas – jotting down those thoughts that
occur throughout the day.
• Creating a vivid character, and then writing about him/her.

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Tip: Once you have an idea, you need to expand on it. Don’t make the
mistake of jumping straight into your writing – you’ll end up with a badly
structured piece.

Building on Your Idea

These are a couple of popular methods you can use to add flesh to the
bones of your idea:
• Free writing: write everything that comes into your head about your
chosen topic. Don’t stop to edit, even if you make mistakes.
• Brainstorming: Write the idea or topic in the center of your page. Jot
down ideas that arise from it – sub-topics or directions you could
take with the article.

Once you’ve done one or both of these, you need to select what’s
going into your first draft.

1. Planning and Structure

Some pieces of writing will require more planning than others.
Typically, longer pieces and academic papers need a lot of thought at
this stage.

First, decide which ideas you’ll use. During your free writing and
brainstorming, you’ll have come up with lots of thoughts. Some belong
in this piece of writing: others can be kept for another time.

Then, decide how to order those ideas. Try to have a logical progression.
Sometimes, your topic will make this easy: in this article, for instance, it
made sense to take each step of the writing process in order. For a short
story, try the eight-point story arc.
2. Writing
Sit down with your plan beside you, and start your first draft (also known
as the rough draft or rough copy). At this stage, don’t think about
word-count, grammar, spelling and punctuation. Don’t worry if you’ve
gone off-topic, or if some sections of your plan don’t fit too well. Just
keep writing!

If you’re a new writer, you might be surprised that professional authors

go through multiple drafts before they’re happy with their work. This is a
normal part of the writing process – no-one gets it right first time.

Some things that many writers find helpful when working on the first
draft include:
-Setting
- aside at least thirty minutes to concentrate: it’s hard to
establish a writing flow if you’re just snatching a few minutes here
and there.

You might write several drafts, especially if you’re working on fiction.

Your subsequent drafts will probably merge elements of the writing
stage and the revising stage.

Tip: Writing requires concentration and energy. If you’re a new writer,

don’t try to write for hours without stopping. Instead, give yourself a time
limit (like thirty minutes) to really focus – without checking your email!

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3. Revising
Revising your work is about making “big picture” changes. You might
remove whole sections, rewrite entire paragraphs, and add in
information which you’ve realized the reader will need. Everyone needs
to revise – even talented writers.

The revision stage is sometimes summed up with the A.R.R.R.

(Adding, Rearranging, Removing, Replacing) approach:

Adding
What else does the reader need to know? If you haven’t met the
required word-count, what areas could you expand on? This is a good
point to go back to your prewriting notes – look for ideas which you
didn’t use.
Rearranging
Even when you’ve planned your piece, sections may need rearranging.
Perhaps as you wrote your essay, you found that the argument would
flow better if you reordered your paragraphs. Maybe you’ve written a
short story that drags in the middle but packs in too much at the end.
Removing
Sometimes, one of your ideas doesn’t work out. Perhaps you’ve gone
over the word count, and you need to take out a few paragraphs. Maybe
that funny story doesn’t really fit with the rest of your article.

Replacing
Would more vivid details help bring your piece to life? Do you need to
look for stronger examples and quotations to support your argument? If
a particular paragraph isn’t working, try rewriting it.

Tip: If you’re not sure what’s working and what isn’t, show your writing
to someone else. This might be a writers’ circle, or just a friend who’s
good with words. Ask them for feedback. It’s best if you can show your
work to several people, so that you can get more than one
opinion.

4. Editing
The editing stage is distinct from revision, and needs to be done after
revising. Editing involves the close-up view of individual sentences and
words. It needs to be done after you’ve made revisions on a big scale: or
else you could agonize over a perfect sentence, only to end up cutting
that whole paragraph from your piece.

When editing, go through your piece line by line, and make sure that
each sentence, phrase and word is as strong as possible. Some things
to check for are:
• Have you used the same word too many times in one sentence or
paragraph? Use a thesaurus to find alternatives.
• Are any of your sentences hard to understand? Rewrite them to
make your thoughts clear.
• Which words could you cut to make a sentence stronger? Words like
“just” “quite”, “very”, “really” and “generally” can often be removed.

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• Are your sentences grammatically correct? Keep a careful look out

for problems like subject-verb agreement and staying consistent in
your use of the past, present or future tense.
• Is everything spelt correctly? Don’t trust your spell-checker – it
won’t pick up every mistake. Proofread as many times as necessary.
• Have you used punctuation marks correctly? Commas often cause
difficulties. You might want to check out the Daily Writing Tips
articles on punctuation.

Tip: Print out your work and edit on paper. Many writers find it easier to
spot mistakes this way.

5. Publishing
The final step of the writing process is publishing. This means different
things depending on the piece you’re working on. Bloggers need to
upload, format and post their piece of completed work.

Students need to produce a final copy of their work, in the correct for-
mat. This often means adding a bibliography, ensuring that citations are
correct, and adding details such as your student reference number.

Journalists need to submit their piece (usually called “copy”) to an editor.

Again, there will be a certain format for this.

Fiction writers may be sending their story to a magazine or competition.

Check guidelines carefully, and make sure you follow them. If you’ve
written a novel, look for an agent who represents your genre. (There are
books like Writer’s Market, published each year, which can help you with
this.)

Tip: Your piece of writing might never be published. That’s okay – many
bestselling authors wrote lots of stories or articles before they got their
first piece published. Nothing that you write is wasted, because it all
contributes to your growth as a writer.

Teaching Strategies:
Review the writing process and engage students to work on suggested
topics using writing process. Distribute enough material to students.

Learning Strategies:
Students work on suggested topics to plan, draft, proofread and do final
draft.

Recommended Resources:
-- Successful Writing, Essentials of Writing 1, Writing Skills

Suggested Resources:
-- Hale, 2009, Daily Writing Tips: The Writing Process, [Link]
[Link]/the-writing-process/

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Unit 2: Production and Distribution of Writing

Content Standard 9.2.5: Students will be able to use a writing process to
develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, drafting, revising,
editing, rewriting or trying a new approach.

Benchmark [Link]: Use grade appropriate strategies to organise

thoughts before writing. (For example, students will be able to identify
topics, purpose and audience brainstorm and use concept maps and
other organiser).

Topic: Study of writing process 2 – Introduction, body, conclusion

Text Types: Newspaper editorials, newspaper commentaries, essays.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes (KSVA):

Knowledge Logical Reasoning Skills Values Attitudes

Writing process Logical reasoning Planning Rationality Open-minded
step 1 essay Perfection Systematic

Learning Objective: Students will be able to:

i. Organise thoughts before writing.

Content Background:

The Writing Process

1. Prewriting
Have you ever sat staring at a blank piece of paper or a blank
document on your computer screen? You might have skipped the vital
first stage of the writing process: prewriting. This covers everything you
do before starting your rough draft. As a minimum, prewriting means
coming up with an idea!
Ideas and Inspiration
Ideas are all around you. If you want to write but you don’t have any
ideas, try:
• Using a writing prompt to get you started.
• Writing about incidents from your daily life, or childhood.
• Keeping a notebook of ideas – jotting down those thoughts that
occur throughout the day.
• Creating a vivid character, and then writing about him/her.
Tip: Once you have an idea, you need to expand on it. Don’t make the
mistake of jumping straight into your writing – you’ll end up with a badly
structured piece.
Building on Your Idea
These are a couple of popular methods you can use to add flesh to the
bones of your idea:
• Free writing: write everything that comes into your head about your
chosen topic. Don’t stop to edit, even if you make mistakes.

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 English Teacher Guide

• Brainstorming: Write the idea or topic in the center of your page.

Jot down ideas that arise from it – sub-topics or directions you could
take with the article.

Once you’ve done one or both of these, you need to select what’s going
into your first draft.

Planning and Structure

Some pieces of writing will require more planning than others. Typically,
longer pieces and academic papers need a lot of thought at this stage.

First, decide which ideas you’ll use. During your free writing and
brainstorming, you’ll have come up with lots of thoughts. Some belong
in this piece of writing: others can be kept for another time.

Then, decide how to order those ideas. Try to have a logical progression.
Sometimes, your topic will make this easy: in this article, for instance, it
made sense to take each step of the writing process in order. For a short
story, try the eight-point story arc.

Teaching Strategies:
Distribute materials evenly amongst students for writing their final drafts.
Teacher evaluates and provide feedback to students on their
achievements levels.

Learning Strategies:
Students write outline of the essays and write for publishing.

Recommended Resources:
-- Successful Writing

Suggested Resources:
-- Calonia, 2019, The Writing Process: 5 Steps Every Writer Should
Know, [Link]

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 Grade 9

Unit 2: Production and Distribution of Writing

Content Standard 9.2.5: Students will be able to use a writing process to

develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, drafting, revising,
editing, rewriting or trying a new approach.

Benchmark [Link]: Develop and strengthen writing as needed by

planning, drafting, revising, editing, rewriting or trying a new approach
focussing on addressing what is the most significant for specific purpose
and audience (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of
language standards).

Topic: Study of Writing Process 3 – Writing Practices

Text Types: Newspaper editorials, newspaper commentaries, essays,

reports.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes (KSVA):

Knowledge Logical Reasoning Skills Values Attitudes

Writing process Logical reasoning Writing Rationality Creative
step 2

Learning Objective: Students will be able to:

i. Confidently apply the writing process step one (prewriting) when
writing (Write relevant ideas for introduction; Write relevant ideas
for body; Write relevant ideas for conclusion).

Content Background:

1. Writing
Sit down with your plan beside you, and start your first draft (also known
as the rough draft or rough copy). At this stage, don’t think about
word-count, grammar, spelling and punctuation. Don’t worry if you’ve
gone off-topic, or if some sections of your plan don’t fit too well. Just
keep writing! If you’re a new writer, you might be surprised that
professional authors go through multiple drafts before they’re happy with
their work. This is a normal part of the writing process – no-one gets it
right first time.

Some things that many writers find helpful when working on the first
draft include:
-Setting
- aside at least thirty minutes to concentrate: it’s hard to
establish a writing flow if you’re just snatching a few minutes here
and there.
-You
- might write several drafts, especially if you’re working on
fiction. Your subsequent drafts will probably merge elements of the
writing stage and the revising stage.

Tip: Writing requires concentration and energy. If you’re a new writer,

don’t try to write for hours without stopping. Instead, give yourself a time
limit (like thirty minutes) to really focus – without checking your email!

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 English Teacher Guide

2. Revising
Revising your work is about making “big picture” changes. You might
remove whole sections, rewrite entire paragraphs, and add in
information which you’ve realized the reader will need. Everyone needs
to revise – even talented writers.

The revision stage is sometimes summed up with the A.R.R.R.

(Adding, Rearranging, Removing, Replacing) approach:

Adding
What else does the reader need to know? If you haven’t met the
required word-count, what areas could you expand on? This is a good
point to go back to your prewriting notes – look for ideas which you
didn’t use.
Rearranging
Even when you’ve planned your piece, sections may need rearranging.
Perhaps as you wrote your essay, you found that the argument would
flow better if you reordered your paragraphs. Maybe you’ve written a
short story that drags in the middle but packs in too much at the end.
Removing
Sometimes, one of your ideas doesn’t work out. Perhaps you’ve gone
over the word count, and you need to take out a few paragraphs. Maybe
that funny story doesn’t really fit with the rest of your article.

Replacing
Would more vivid details help bring your piece to life? Do you need to
look for stronger examples and quotations to support your argument? If
a particular paragraph isn’t working, try rewriting it.

Tip: If you’re not sure what’s working and what isn’t, show your writing
to someone else. This might be a writers’ circle, or just a friend who’s
good with words. Ask them for feedback. It’s best if you can show your
work to several people, so that you can get more than one
opinion.

Teaching Strategies:
Distribute materials evenly amongst students for writing their writing
lessons. Teacher evaluates and provide feedback to students on their
achievements levels.

Learning Strategies:
Students write variety of different texts required that employ writing
process techniques.

Recommended Resources:
-- Successful Writing, Writing Skills, Essentials of Writing 1

Suggested Resources:
-- Elite Essay Writers, 2020, Writing Conventions, [Link]
[Link]/blog/writing-conventions/

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 Grade 9

Unit 2: Production and Distribution of Writing

Content Standard 9.2.6: Students will be able to use technology,
including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or
shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link
other information and to display information flexibility and dynamically.

Benchmark [Link]: Appreciate technology, including the Internet to

produce, publish and update individual or shared writing products.

Topic: Publishing writing products

Text Types: Reports, workplace documents, formal letters, essays,

electronic articles.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes (KSVA):

Knowledge Skills Values Attitudes

Writing products Publishing Creativity Open-minded

Learning Objectives: Students will be able:

i. Explore publishing avenues available to students.
ii. Publish writing or texts using publishing outlets such as profile
folders, newsletter, submission, e-mails, facebook, whatsup
blogs, etc.

Content Background:

Publishing writing products can be understood as sharing a finished

text by using different media outlets to share. For example, a document
compilation, E-mailing posting, whatsup, powerpoint presentations.

Teaching Strategies:
Distribute enough material for students work and provide procedures for
publishing writing products.

Learning Strategies:
Students will write various texts and use various publishing outlets to
share information or texts or ideas.

Recommended Resources:
-- Successful Writing, Writing Skills

Suggested Resources:
-- Carnoy, 2012, Self-publishing a book: 25 things you need to know,
[Link]
need-to-know/

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Unit 3: Research to Build and Present Knowledge

Content Standard 9.2.7: Students will be able to conduct short as well

as more sustained research projects based on focused questions,
demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.

Benchmark [Link]: Conduct short as well as more sustained research

projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or
solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate;
synthesise multiple sources on the subject; demonstrating understanding
of the subject under investigation.

Topic: Research

Text Types: Newspaper editorials, newspaper commentaries, persuasive

essays, survey reports, persuasive essays, survey reports.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes (KSVA):

Knowledge Logical Reasoning Skills Values Attitudes

Research Logical reasoning Researching Creative Open-minded
techniques Design process thinking

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Conduct short research projects to answer a questions or solve a
problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate;
synthesise multiple sources on the subject; demonstrating
understanding of the subject under investigation.
ii. Conduct more sustained research projects to answer a question or
solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate;
synthesise multiple sources on the subject; demonstrating
understanding of the subject under investigation.

Content Background:

Research is a diligent and systematic inquiry or investigation into a

subject in order to discover or revise facts, theories, applications, etc.:

World War II
How did the fuzzy wuzzy angels assist the Australian soldiers?

How to Conduct Academic Research

A strong research involves accessing and evaluating various forms of
information. You then analyze the information you find to answer a
question or come to a conclusion about an issue. Once your research is
complete, you'll present your findings, typically in a research paper or a
presentation.

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 Grade 9

Part 1: Part 2: Part 3:

Define Your Research Finding Research Evaluating Your Sources
Question Sources
1. Determine a broad topic 1. Use non-academic Reliable sources
for your research. sources as a starting include;
2. Explore the broad topic point (Documentary • reputable newspapers,
to find a potential films) • experts on the topic,
question. 2. Identify locations of likely • government websites,
3. Conduct an initial search sources. • university websites.
to test your question. 3. Search for books and
scholarly articles. 1. Identify what type of
4. Reevaluate your
4. Get a research librarian source you're using
research question based
on what you've learned. to assist you. (Primary/Secondary)
5. Keep organized notes on 2. Review the credentials
each of your sources. of the author or
6. Synthesize your producer of the source.
information and tie up 3. Check the year the
loose ends. source was published.
7. Craft your thesis 4. Assess the reputation
statement based on of the publisher of the
what you've found. source.
5. Consider the reliability
of online sources.

Teaching Strategies:
Write topics for survey and allow students to choose and formulate
survey questionnaires. Provide adequate information and materials
necessary for the surveys.

Learning Strategies:
Create survey questionnaire formats and carry out surveys. Publish
findings in various forms.

Recommended Resources:
-- Successful Writing, Essentials of Writing 1

Suggested Resources:
-- Hadley, 2020, How to Conduct Academic Research, [Link]
[Link]/Conduct-Academic-Research

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Unit 3: Research to Build and Present Knowledge

Content Standard 9.2.7: Students will be able to conduct short as well

as more sustained research projects based on focused questions,
demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.

Benchmark [Link]: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to

support analysis, reflection and research.

Topic: Writing survey reports

Text Types: Survey reports, survey formats or templates.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes (KSVA):

Knowledge Logical Reasoning Skills Values Attitudes

Survey Reports Logical reasoning Reportwriting Rationality Optimist

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Formulate survey questions based on a given research topic.
ii. Collect data from a designed questionnaire.
iii. Write survey reports from data collected.

Content Background:

How to Write a Survey Report

Once you have finished conducting a survey all that is left to do is write
the survey report. A survey report describes a survey, its results, and any
patterns or trends found in the survey. Survey reports make
recommendations based on a careful analysis of data tallied and
organized from survey findings. A good survey report requires you to
systematically move from a big-picture summary down to your specific
recommendations. Most survey reports follow a standard organization,
broken up under certain headings. Each section has a specific purpose.
Fill out each section correctly and proofread the paper to create a
polished and professional report. How you write it determines whether
you convince others to follow your advice or you are ignored.

Part 1: Writing the Summary and Background Information

Part 2: Explaining the Method and Results
Part 3: Analysing Your Results
Part 4: Polishing Your Report

 Title Page
 Table of contents
 Executive summary
 Background and objectives
 Methodology
 Results
 Conclusion and
recommendations
 Appendices

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Teaching Strategies:
Distribute enough materials to the students to compile survey reports and
provide guidance for conducting surveys.

Learning Strategies:
Students compile survey reports and present reports using various forms
such as power-point presentation, e-mailing, facebook, whatsup, student
forums, profile folders,

Recommended Resources:
-- Essentials of Writing 1, Successful Writing

Suggested Resources:
-- Hamilton, 2018, How to Write a Survey Report, [Link]
com/[Link]

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 English Teacher Guide

Unit 3: Research to Build and Present Knowledge

Content Standard 9.2.8: Students will be able to gather relevant

information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility
and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding
plagiarism.

Benchmark [Link]: Gather information from a variety of sources; analyse

and evaluate the quality and relevance of the source and use it to answer
complex questions.

Topic 1: Research - Gathering information from different sources

Text Types: Newspaper editorials, newspaper commentaries, essays,

visual texts, graphical texts.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes (KSVA):

Knowledge Logical Reasoning Skills Values Attitudes

Research Logical reasoning Analysing Critical thinking Critical

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Gather information on a given topic from various sources;
ii. Evaluate the reliability of each source from which information was
collected on the given topic with justification and evidences;
iii. Use the information collected from the most reliable source(s) to
address the given topic.

Content Background:

INTRODUCTION
You can begin evaluating a physical information source (a book or an
article for instance) even before you have the physical item in hand.
Appraise a source by first examining the bibliographic citation. The
bibliographic citation is the written description of a book, journal
article, essay, or some other published material that appears in a catalog
or index. Bibliographic citations characteristically have three main
components: author, title, and publication information. These
components can help you determine the usefulness of this source for
your paper. (In the same way, you can appraise a Web site by examining
the home page carefully.)

I. INITIAL APPRAISAL
A. Author
1. What are the author's credentials--institutional affiliation (where he or
she works), educational background, past writings, or experience? Is
the book or article written on a topic in the author's area of
expertise? You can use the various Who's Who publications for the
U.S. and other countries and for specific subjects and the
biographical information located in the publication itself to help
determine the author's affiliation and credentials.

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 Grade 9

2. Has your instructor mentioned this author? Have you seen the
author's name cited in other sources or bibliographies? Respected
authors are cited frequently by other scholars. For this reason,
always note those names that appear in many different sources.
3. Is the author associated with a reputable institution or organization?
What are the basic values or goals of the organization or institution?

B. Date of Publication
1. When was the source published? This date is often located on the
face of the title page below the name of the publisher. If it is not
there, look for the copyright date on the reverse of the title page. On
Web pages, the date of the last revision is usually at the bottom of
the home page, sometimes every page.
2. Is the source current or out-of-date for your topic? Topic areas of
continuing and rapid development, such as the sciences, demand
more current information. On the other hand, topics in the
humanities often require material that was written many years ago.
At the other extreme, some news sources on the Web now note the
hour and minute that articles are posted on their site.
C. Edition or Revision
Is this a first edition of this publication or not? Further editions indicate a
source has been revised and updated to reflect changes in knowledge,
include omissions, and harmonize with its intended reader's needs.
Also, many printings or editions may indicate that the work has become
a standard source in the area and is reliable. If you are using a Web
source, do the pages indicate revision dates?

D. Publisher
Note the publisher. If the source is published by a university press, it is
likely to be scholarly. Although the fact that the publisher is reputable
does not necessarily guarantee quality, it does show that the publisher
may have high regard for the source being published.

E. Title of Journal
Is this a scholarly or a popular journal? This distinction is important
because it indicates different levels of complexity in conveying ideas.
If you need help in determining the type of journal, see Distinguishing
Scholarly from Non-Scholarly Periodicals. Or you may wish to check
your journal title in the latest edition of Katz's Magazines for Libraries
(Olin Ref Z 6941 .K21, shelved at the reference desk) for a brief
evaluative description.

II. CONTENT ANALYSIS

Having made an initial appraisal, you should now examine the body of
the source. Read the preface to determine the author's intentions for the
book. Scan the table of contents and the index to get a broad overview
of the material it covers. Note whether bibliographies are included. Read
the chapters that specifically address your topic. Scanning the table of
contents of a journal or magazine issue is also useful. As with books,
the presence and quality of a bibliography at the end of the article may
reflect the care with which the authors have prepared their work.

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A. Intended Audience
What type of audience is the author addressing? Is the publication
aimed at a specialized or a general audience? Is this source too
elementary, too technical, too advanced, or just right for your needs?

B. Objective Reasoning
1. Is the information covered fact, opinion, or propaganda? It is not
always easy to separate fact from opinion. Facts can usually be
verified; opinions, though they may be based on factual information,
evolve from the interpretation of facts. Skilled writers can make you
think their interpretations are facts.
2. Does the information appear to be valid and well-researched, or is
it questionable and unsupported by evidence? Assumptions should
be reasonable. Note errors or omissions.
3. Are the ideas and arguments advanced more or less in line with
other works you have read on the same topic? The more radically
an author departs from the views of others in the same field, the
more carefully and critically you should scrutinize his or her ideas.
4. Is the author's point of view objective and impartial? Is the language
free of emotion-arousing words and bias?
C. Coverage
1. Does the work update other sources, substantiate other materials
you have read, or add new information? Does it extensively or
marginally cover your topic? You should explore enough sources to
obtain a variety of viewpoints.
2. Is the material primary or secondary in nature? Primary sources are
the raw material of the research process. Secondary sources are
based on primary sources. Choose both primary and secondary
sources when you have the opportunity.

D. Writing Style
Is the publication organized logically? Are the main points clearly
presented? Do you find the text easy to read, or is it stilted or choppy?
Is the author's argument repetitive?

E. Evaluative Reviews
1. Locate critical reviews of books in a reviewing source, such as Book
Review Index, Book Review Digest, OR ProQuest Research Library.
Is the review positive? Is the book under review considered a
valuable contribution to the field? Does the reviewer mention other
books that might be better? If so, locate these sources for more
information on your topic.
2. Do the various reviewers agree on the value or attributes of the book
or has it aroused controversy among the critics?
3. For Web sites, consider consulting one of the evaluation and
reviewing sources on the Internet.

Teaching Strategies:
Highlight suggested topics and sources for students to conduct research.

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Learning Strategies:
Students formulate research formats, conduct research on given topics
and evaluate the reliability of each source used to collect information.

Recommended Resources:
-- Successful Writing, Essential of Writing 1

Suggested Resources:
-- Fleming, 2019, How to Determine a Reliable Source on the Internet,
[Link]

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 English Teacher Guide

Unit 3: Research to Build and Present Knowledge

Content Standard 9.2.8: Students will be able to gather relevant

information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility
and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding
plagiarism.

Benchmark: [Link] Implement the writing process successfully to plan,

revise and edit written work.

Topic: Writing research report

Text Types: Business journals/magazines, newspaper articles, essays,

visual texts, graphical texts.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes (KSVA):

Knowledge Logical Reasoning Skills Values Attitudes

Research report Logical reasoning Report Writing Rationality Critical

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Formulate a research questionnaire.
ii. Conduct the research.
iii. Analyse data.
iv. Write a research report using information collected.

Content Background:

Research Report
Research report is the systematic, articulate, and orderly presentation of
research work in a written form. It is also define the term as a research
document that contains basic aspects of the research project. In the
same way, it can be said that Research report involves relevant
information on the research work carried out.

Report Format
There is no one best format for all reports. Format depends on several
relevant variables. One must employ a suitable format to create
desirable impression with clarity. Report must be attractive. It should be
written systematically and bound carefully. A report must use the format
(often called structure) that best fit the needs and wants of its readers.
Normally, following format is suggested as a basic outline, which has
sufficient flexibly to meet the most situations.

Research report is divided into three parts as:

I. First Part (Formality Part):

(i) Cover page
(ii) Title page
(iii) Certificate or statement
(iv) Index (brief contents)
(v) Table of contents (detailed index)

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(vi) Acknowledgement
(vii) List of tables and figures used
(viii) Preface/forwarding/introduction
(ix) Summary report
II. Main Report (Central Part of Report):
(i) Statement of objectives
(ii) Methodology and research design
(iii) Types of data and its sources
(iv) Sampling decisions
(v) Data collection methods
(vi) Data collection tools
(vii) Fieldwork
(viii) Analysis and interpretation (including table, charts, figures, etc.)
(ix) Findings
(x) Limitations
(xi) Conclusions and recommendations
(xii) Any other relevant detail

III. Appendix (Additional Details):

(i) Copies of forms used
(ii) Tables not included in findings
(iii) A copy of questionnaire
iv) Detail of sampling and rate of response
(v) Statement of expenses
(vi) Bibliography – list of books, magazines, journals, and other

While preparing research report, following issues must be considered:

(i) Objectives
(ii) Type of problem/subject
(iii) Nature and type of research
(iv) Audience or users of research work
(v) Size of report
(vi) Form of writing – handwritten, typed, or computerized.
(vii) Time and cost
(viii) Language
(ix) Contents of report
(x) Order of contents
(xi) Number of copies
(xii) Format – type and size of paper; lengths width, and depth of report;
and pattern of writing including paragraph, indent, numbering, font size
and type, colouring, etc.

Teaching Strategies:
Provide materials and resources necessary for compiling reports. And
evaluate and provide feedback on students writing production.

Learning Strategies:
Students use validated information to compile reports and publish in
various forms of their choices.

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Recommended Resources:
-- Successful Writing, Essentials of Writing 1

Suggested Resources:
-- OZ Essay, 2017, How to Write a Research Report, [Link]
[Link]/blog/how-to-write-a-research-report
-- Jaideep, 2020, Research Report: Introduction, Definition and Report
Format, [Link]
port-introduction-definition-and-report-format/48713

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Unit 3: Research to Build and Present Knowledge

Content Standard 9.2.9: Students will be able to draw evidence from

literal or informational texts to support analysis, reflection and research.

Benchmark [Link]: Use research skills to collect a variety of information

from print and electronic sources.

Topic: Research – Data collection

Text Types: Newspaper editorials, newspaper commentaries, essays,

reports, academic texts.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes (KSVA):

Knowledge Logical Reasoning Skills Values Attitudes

Research Logical reasoning Researching Rationality Critical

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Research and gather information from variety of print sources to
support an opinion.
ii. Research and gather information from variety of electronic sources
to support an opinion.
iii. Synthesis data collected from various sources to draw evidence to
support opinion.

Content Background:

Research Sources
What Are Print Sources?
A print source is exactly as its name suggests - material that has been
printed and can be produced in a hard copy. Examples of print sources
are books, magazines, scholarly journals, and newspapers.
What Are Web Sources?
Web sources include anything you can find on the Internet, which
contains a wealth of high-quality information if you know where to look.
Some web sources are databases of scholarly articles. These databases
are a great place to find information. Other web sources can be
self-published with unclear origins.
There is little quality control over the information you find, and anyone
with access to the Internet can publish online. This makes it difficult to
avoid bias or inaccuracies. It can also be hard to locate authors and
references. Because of these concerns, you cannot assume that
information on the web is accurate. Each web page must be critically
examined.

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The Benefits of Good Research

Whether you need to do research for a class or for another sort of
assignment, there are many advantages to using as many research tools
as you can.
• More fact corroboration: When you find a fact in one reference
source that is supported in another reference source, you can be
assured that the fact you are using in your business paper or
assignment is accurate.
• More viewpoints: The more resources you use, the more view
points you will consider during your topic exploration. This allows
you to consider more ideas than the original one you may have been
assigned.
• More facts: When you use more research skills and sources, you
will be able to gain more facts for your final project.
• Larger frame of understanding: Because different research
sources offer different kinds of information, you can find different
ways to understand your topic, depending on the manner in which
you need to present your findings.
• Gain knowledge quickly: If you need to prepare for a presentation
or a test, you want to be able to find the facts about your topic
quickly. With basic research skills, you will find what you need
promptly.

How to Do the Best Research

When you are collecting information, you need to do more than to just
look for the answers you need. You also need to ensure that the
information you have gathered is truthful.

Here are some ways to make sure your research is accurate:

• Check the author. When you read a book or find an article, find out
who the author is and consider that person's credentials. This will
allow you to determine whether the writing is supported by
expertise.
• Check the publisher. The publisher's reputation can also help you
begin to see whether the information is credible. If the publisher
publishes only work by people with strong backgrounds, then the
book is trustworthy.
• Find the information in another way. Though the information
might seem accurate, it is always best to look for the same
information in another place. This will ensure that the facts are
supported.

As you compile your research, make a list of the sources you have used,
when you found them, and what you found in them. This will help you in
case you have further questions later on.

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10 Ways to Improve Student Research Skills

These tips to help students successfully complete research
assignments are based on results of studies conducted by Project
Information Literacy (PIL), an ongoing national study of college students'
research practices.
1. Define research as it applies to the assignment or discipline.
2. Break the research assignment into manageable parts.
3. Review criteria for evaluating sources.
4. Discuss plagiarism, its consequences, and how to avoid it.
5. Explain how research will be evaluated.
6. Encourage students to consult a librarian.
7. Embed a library research guide in Blackboard, or request one from
your librarian.
8. Suggest specific library databases or resources by name.
9. If appropriate, direct students to a variety of library resources.
10. Collaborate with a librarian on a research assignment.

Teaching Strategies:
Provide instructions and guides to students for the research activities and
allocate enough materials to aid their research.

Learning Strategies:
Students choose topics, develop research methods and conduct research
on given topics.

Recommended Resources:
-- Successful Writing, Essentials of Writing 1

Suggested Resources:
-- [Link], 2020, Evaluating Print & Electronic Sources for
Research Projects, [Link]
[Link]

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Unit 3: Research to Build and Present Knowledge

Content Standard 9.2.9: Students will be able to draw evidence from
literal or informational texts to support analysis, reflection and research.

Benchmark [Link]: Analyse informational and persuasive texts to

develop idea with relevant support.

Topic: Research – Validating Information

Text Types: Newspaper editorials, newspaper commentaries, essays,

reports, academic texts.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes (KSVA):

Knowledge Logical Reasoning Skills Values Attitudes

Research Logical reasoning Analysing Rationality Critical

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Validate information collected from research.
ii. Organise information according to topics.
iii. Use information to support main ideas.

Content Background:

Informational text is nonfiction writing, written with the intention of

informing the reader about a specific topic. It is typically found in
magazines, science or history books, autobiographies and instruction
manuals. They are written using special text features that allow the
reader to easily find key information and understand the main topic.

Persuasive text is a form of writing that aims to persuade the reader to

take on a particular point of view, opinion, or idea. To improve
comprehension of persuasive texts, it helps for you to understand their
specific structure, organization, and features.

Validating Information
1. Confirm date of publication and source derived (academic or
business reports, journal, seminar papers
2. Group information according to cluster of ideas
3. Create portfolios or files

Analysing persuasive texts

Whenever you write about the language features being used to
persuade, it is important to look at as many of these features as
possible. It is important to explain how each is being used so that you
are able to evaluate how the writer persuades the reader on every level.
Using the PEA or IDEAS technique to structure your analysis will help
with this.

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PEA stands for:

Point - When planning a piece of writing, based on something you've
read, you first need to come up with the point of your argument.
Evidence (a quotation) - Once you have decided on the point that you
want to make, you will then need to show evidence from the text which
backs up your point.
Analysis - A closing statement, showing the outcome of your argument.

If you want to expand on your analysis of a text and add your own
personal opinions, you can use the IDEAS format:
Identify - Give your opinion about how you think the writer wants the
reader to respond to a text along with a quotation to support your view.
"I think… because it says 'quotation'”
Describe - Describe why the quotation supports your view. "This
shows... because…"
Explore - Offer an alternative explanation, saying what else the
quotation might tell us. Use tentative words like could or might. “It could
also mean …because… “. Or build further by using more quotations to
support your argument. "This impression is enhanced by..."
Analyse - Focus on individual words or phrases to say how and why they
are effective in relation to what you have identified the writer as trying to
do. “The word ‘……’ is effective because…”
Assess - Show that you can prove what the writer’s intentions might
have been because you can link this same theme or idea to other parts
of the text: “The writer may have done this because…”

Teaching Strategies:
Provide instructions and guides to students for the research activities and
allocate enough materials to aid their research.

Learning Strategies:
Students choose topics, develop research methods and conduct research
on given topics.

Recommended Resources:
-- Successful Writing, Essentials of Writing 1

Suggested Resources:
-- [Link], 2020, What is Informational Text? - Definition,
Characteristics & Examples, [Link]
[Link]

-- [Link], 2020, What is Persuasive Text? - Definition & Examples,

[Link]
[Link]

-- BBC, 2020, Analysing persuasive texts, [Link]

size/guides/zqjsyrd/revision/4

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Unit 4: Range of Writing

Content Standard 9.2.10: Students will be able to write routinely over
extended time frames (time for research, reflection and revision) and
shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks,
purposes and audience.

Benchmark [Link]: Demonstrate through writing their understanding of

grammar and language usage, mechanics and clarity which are the basis
of on-going refinements and revisions within the writing process.

Topic 1: Writing portfolios 1 – Appropriate grammar

Text Types: Newspaper editorials, newspaper commentaries, essays.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes (KSVA):

Knowledge Logical Reasoning Skills Values Attitudes

Portfolios Logical reasoning Grammar building Rationality Creative

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Correctly apply basic grammar rules in their writings.
ii. Use formal language in their writings.
iii. Do peer-review of each other’s writings.

Content Background:

12 Basic Rules of Grammar

Twelve basic rules make up the foundation of English grammar
Grammar is a topic people either love or hate. Those who love grammar
usually appreciate the logic of its rules; those who hate it often get
frustrated by the constant exceptions to the rules. However, 12 basic
rules serve as the foundation of English grammar. The topics of these
rules are nouns and pronouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs, and
punctuation.

Nouns and Pronouns

The first noun rule relates to the spelling changes in plural forms:
consonant –y changes to consonant –ies as in "skies," and nouns
ending in glottal sounds such as "sh" take –es. Pronouns, which take the
place of nouns, comprise the second rule: pronouns must refer clearly
to an antecedent. For example, in the sentence "Liz drove her car and
parked it in the lot," the pronoun "it" clearly refers to the antecedent
"car." The third rule relates to a common pronoun mistake: "who" vs.
"whom." "Whom" is correct when it is replacing the object of a
sentence. To determine the correct pronoun, replace it with "he" or
"him." For instance, "For whom should I vote?" is correct because
"Should I vote for him?" is correct, not " Should I vote for he?"

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Verbs
The first verbs rule is very basic: every sentence must contain a verb,
or action word. The second verbs rule is that the tense of the sentence
comes from the verb itself. For example, the present-tense construction
"is blowing" indicates an action happening right now -- the wind is
blowing this minute. Conversely, the past tense "blew" indicates the
wind blew in the past sometime, while "will blow" specifies a future
action. The third verbs rule states that the verb and subject must agree,
meaning a singular subject such as "wind" takes a singular form of the
verb -- "blows" instead of the plural "blow."

Adjectives and Adverbs

First, adjectives describe nouns or pronouns while adverbs modify
verbs, adjectives and other adverbs. One common mistake relates to
using adjectives instead of adverbs. Because adverbs modify other
adverbs, a correct phrase is "She sings really well" instead of "real well,"
because "really" is modifying the adverb "well." Likewise, "She sings
good" is incorrect because "good" is an adjective being used to modify
a verb: how she sings. The third rule states that the –ly of adverbs never
gets dropped in the comparison form. "She talks more quietly" is
correct, and "She talks quieter" is not; "quieter" is the comparison form
of the adjective "quiet."
Punctuation
With punctuation, the first grammar rule is that commas come in specific
places; for example, between two complete sentences joined by a
conjunction such as "and" or "but." Second, commas also separate
nonessential descriptive phrases. For example, the phrase in the
following statement describing the cat is nonessential: "The cat, who
has six toes, belongs to my neighbor." In that sentence, removing the
phrase does not significantly impact the meaning as it would in the
following: "Cats who have six toes are Hemingway cats." For the third
punctuation rule, apostrophes indicate contractions, as in "don't," and
possession, as in "Bob's hat." However, apostrophes do not indicate
possession in pronouns, which is why "it's" always means "it is," not
possession.

Formal and informal language

We use formal language in situations that are serious or that involve
people we don’t know well. Informal language is more commonly used in
situations that are more relaxed and involve people we know well.

Formal language is more common when we write; informal language is

more common when we speak. However, there are times where writing
can be very informal, for example, when writing postcards or letters to
friends, emails or text messages. There are also examples where spoken
English can be very formal, for example, in a speech or a lecture. Most
uses of English are neutral; that is, they are neither formal nor informal.
Formal language and informal language are associated with particular
choices of grammar and vocabulary.

Contractions, relative clauses without a relative pronoun and ellipsis are

more common in informal language.

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Compare:
She has decided to accept the job. formal
She’s decided to accept the job. Informal: she’s = contraction

Compare:
The girl whom I met in Singapore was formal
interested in working in Australia.
The girl I met in Singapore was interested informal: relative clause without the
in working in Australia. relative pronoun whom

Compare:
We went to Barcelona for the weekend. formal
We have a lot of things to tell you.
Went to Barcelona for the weekend. Lots Informal: ellipsis (more likely to be written
to tell you. or texted than spoken)

More formal vocabulary commonly involves longer words or words with

origins in Latin and Greek. More informal vocabulary commonly involves
shorter words, or words with origins in Anglo-Saxon. Most dictionaries
indicate very informal and/or formal words.

Formal Informal
Commence Start
Terminate End
Endeavor Try

We often choose to use certain modal verbs to be more formal and

polite:
Can I suggest you try this new model? (neutral)
May I suggest you try this new model? (more formal)
Might I suggest you try this new model? (very formal)

Teaching Strategies:
Explain grammar items and set practice exercise for students by using
simple, compound and complex sentences and vary text types for
paragraph developments. Evaluate and provide feedbacks.

Learning Strategies:
Students take note of important and target grammar items and write
practical exercises.

Recommended Resources:
-- Improve Your writing skills (Susan Baing), Successful writing

Suggested Resources:
-- Archuleta, 2020,12 Basic Rules of Grammar, [Link]
[Link]/[Link]

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 Grade 9

Unit 4: Range of Writing

Content Standard 9.2.10: Students will be able to write routinely over
extended time frames (time for research, reflection and revision) and
shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks,
purposes and audience.

Benchmark [Link]: Compose literary and narrative texts that

incorporate a range of stylistic devices, which demonstrate knowledge of
genre features.

Topic: Writing portfolios

Text Types: Newspaper editorials, newspaper commentaries, essays,

reports, academic texts.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes (KSVA):

Knowledge Logical Reasoning Skills Values Attitudes

Portfolios Logical reasoning Essay writing Creative Open-minded

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Incorporate a range of stylistic devices in their literary and narrative
texts.
ii. Write literary texts types for individual or portfolios.
iii. Write narrative texts for individual or group portfolios.

Content Background:

Portfolios
A compilation of various texts or texts types can constitute a portfolio.
Portfolio can be done individually or in groups.

Some Stylistic Devices for Creative Writers

Without figurative language, writing would be plain and shallow. The
more stylistic devices you know, the more unique your writing can be.
Here’s a list of a few of them:

Stylistic Device Definition Example

1. Adnomination Repetition of words with the “Nobody loves no one.” (Chris
same root. The difference lies in Isaak). Someone, somewhere,
one sound or letter. A nice wants something.
euphony can be achieved by
using this poetic device.
2. Allegory Representation of ideas through Animal Farm by George Orwell
a certain form (character, event, is all about the Russian
etc.). Allegory can convey Revolution. And characters
hidden meanings through stand for working and upper
symbolic figures, actions, and classes, military forces, and
imagery. political leaders.

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Stylistic Device Definition Example

3. Alliteration The repeated sound of the first A lazy lying lion. Peter picked
consonant in a series of words, a peck of pickled peppers.
or the repetition of the same Sally sells seashells by the
sounds of the same kind at the seashore.
beginning of words or in
stressed syllables of a phrase.
4. Allusion Reference to a myth, character, I feel like I’m going down the
literary work, work of art, or an rabbit hole (an allusion to
event. Alice’s Adventures in
Wonderland by Lewis Carroll).
5. Anaphora Word repetition at the “Let freedom ring from the
beginnings of sentences in mighty mountains of New
order to give emphasis to them. York. Let freedom ring from
the heightening Alleghenies
of Pennsylvania. Let freedom
ring from the snow-capped
of Colorado. Let freedom ring
from the curvaceous slopes
of California.” (Martin Luther
King)
Opposite: Epiphora. Word
repetition at the end of
sentences.
Example: “And that govern-
ment of the people, by the
people, for the people, shall
not perish from the earth.”
(Abraham Lincoln)
6. Antithesis Emphasizing contrast between “Love is an ideal thing,
two things or fictional marriage a real thing; a
characters. confusion of the real with the
ideal never goes unpunished.”
(Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)
7. Apostrophe Directed speech to someone “Work on, my medicine, work!
who is not present or to an Thus credulous fools are
object. caught.” (William
Shakespeare)
8. Metaphor Comparing two different things “Love is clockworks and cold
that have some characteristics steel.” (U2)
in common.
9. Simile Direct comparison. “Your heart is like an ocean,
mysterious and dark.” (Bob
Dylan)
10. Personification Attributing human Practically all animals in fairy
characteristics to nonhumans. tales act like human beings.
They speak and have traits
that are typical of people.

Teaching Strategies:
Distribute materials and resources for students to create their portfolios.
Evaluate progress and provide feedback on the writing productions.

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 Grade 9

Learning Strategies:
Students identify topics and write different text types to create their
portfolios.

Recommended Resources:
-- Successful Writing, Basics of Writing, Essentials of Writing

Suggested Resources:
-- Lakin, 2015, 31 Stylistic Devices for Creative Writers, [Link]
[Link]/2015/12/21/31-stylistic-devices-for-creative-
writers/

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Strand 3: Listening
Strand 3 consists of five units:

1. Oral Instructions Comprehension

2. Identify main ideas and Supporting Details of Spoken text
3. Determine Speaker Attitude and Point of View
4. Comprehend the Meaning of Oral Academic and/or Specialized
Vocabulary
5. Making Inferences and Predictions

Unit Topic

1. Oral Instructions Comprehension • Effective listening - Discourse markers

• Oral speeches, story-telling, play recordings.
• Instructions and procedures

2. Identify main ideas and Supporting • Listening techniques - Main ideas

Details of Spoken text • Listening techniques - Supporting details

3. Determine Speaker Attitude and • Non-verbal communication

Point of View • Making inferences

4. Comprehend the Meaning of Oral • Academic vocabulary I

Academic and/or Specialized • Specialized vocabulary I
Vocabulary • Academic vocabulary II

5. Making Inferences and Predictions • Simple predictions I

• General predictions
• Inferences and predictions

Unit of Work
Unit of work outlines the topics, Text-types to be used, essential KSAVs
to be achieved and the learning objectives that will work towards
achieving the essential KSAVS for each benchmark. It basically presents
what the teacher is expected to teach per the set standard. Teachers are
advised to use the learning objectives to create lesson topics and lesson
objectives in preparing lessons. Brief content background of each topic is
provided to aid teacher’s lesson preparation.

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 Grade 9

Unit 1: Oral Instructions Comprehension

Content Standard 9.3.1: Students will be able to develop the English
Listening skills required both for academic achievement and for
communication in socially and culturally appropriate ways.

Benchmark [Link]: Demonstrate listening strategies which are

techniques that contribute to understanding different situations and
serving different purposes.

Topic: Effective listening: Discourse markers

Text Types: Oral speeches, story-telling, play recording, you tube videos,
song lyrics.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Processes Skills Values Attitudes

Discourse Analysing Effective Truth Open-mindedness
markers listening Ethics

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Pay attention to oral message to get a general idea of what the
content of information is all about.
ii. Identify key words or phrases to support analysis of what the oral
message says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the oral
message.
iii. Analyze the usage of discourse markers used in oral messages.
iv. Evaluate the effectiveness of the oral message in understanding
different situations and serving different purposes.

Content Background:

Listening Skills
Listening is the ability to accurately receive and interpret messages in
the communication process.

Listening is key to all effective communication. Without the ability to

listen effectively, messages are easily misunderstood. As a result,
communication breaks down and the sender of the message can easily
become frustrated or irritated.

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 English Teacher Guide

The Purpose of Listening

1. To specifically focus on the messages being communicated,
avoiding distractions and preconceptions.
2. To gain a full and accurate understanding into the speaker’s point of
view and ideas.
3. To critically assess what is being said.
4. To observe the non-verbal signals accompanying what is being said
to enhance understanding.
5. To show interest, concern and concentration.
6. To encourage the speaker to communicate fully, openly and honestly.
7. To develop a selflessness approach, putting the speaker first.
8. To arrive at a shared and agreed understanding and acceptance of
both sides views.

Effective Listening
There’s no point in someone giving instructions if people do not listen.
Effective listening however is a skill. Steps to effective listening:
1. Face the speaker and maintain eye contact.
2. Be attentive, but relaxed
3. Keep an open mind.
4. Listen to the words and try to picture what the speaker is saying.
5. Don’t interrupt and don’t impose your “solutions”.
6. Wait for the speaker to pause to ask clarifying questions.
7. Ask questions only to ensure understanding.
8. Try to feel what the speaker is feeling.
9. Give the speaker regular feedback
10. Pay attention to what isn’t said – to nonverbal cues.

Some words, phrases and or logical connectors can be discourse

markers (logical connectors, rhetorical questions, etc.)

Teaching Strategies:
Play recording/tell stories or invite a speaker to give an oral speech.

Learning Strategy:
Analyze a speech.

Relevant Resources:

Suggested Resources:
-- Guest & Eshuys, 1997, English Elements 1, Jacaranda Wiley LTD,
Australia.

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 Grade 9

Unit 1: Oral Instructions Comprehension

Content Standard 9.3.1: Students will be able to develop the English
Listening skills required both for academic achievement and for
communication in socially and culturally appropriate ways.

Benchmark [Link]: Use feedback to monitor speaking and listening

effectiveness.

Topic: Speaking and Listening

Text Types: Oral speeches, story-telling, play recordings.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Processes Skills Values Attitudes

Radio Logical Listening and Individuality With a desire
programs Comprehending to learn

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Demonstrate the effective listening skills when listening.
ii. Provide appropriate feedback after listening.
iii. Speak effectively in various settings.

Content Background:

Effective Speaking and Listening Instructions

Speaking and Listening refers to the various formal and informal ways
oral language is used to convey and receive meaning. It involves the
development and demonstration of knowledge about the appropriate
oral language for particular audiences and occasions, including body
language and voice. It also involves the development of active-listening
strategies and an understanding of the conventions of different spoken
texts.

Effective Speaking
Speaking effectively is defined as speaking in such a way that your
message is clearly heard and, if possible, acted upon. There are two
main elements to speaking effectively: what you say, and how you say
[Link] you say means your choice of words. The words you might use
when chatting to a friend are likely to be quite different from those used
in a formal presentation or interview. Similarly, the way that you speak
will also vary in different situations. However, there are also likely to be
some common factors: for example, whether you naturally talk quietly or
loudly, and how you use body language.

There are three main elements of effective speaking

1. The words you use- What you say—the words you choose—matters.
2. Your voice- your voice can reveal as much about your personal
history as your appearance. The sound of a voice and the content of
speech can provide clues to an individual's emotional state.

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3. Your other non-verbal communication, particularly body language-

a considerably amount of communication—some estimates suggest
over 50%—is non-verbal. Tone of voice, pace and emphasis are all
part of non-verbal communication.

10 Steps To Effective Listening

Step 1: Face the speaker and maintain eye contact
Step 2: Be attentive, but relaxed
Step 3: Keep an open mind.
Step 4: Listen to the words and try to picture what the speaker is saying.
Step 5: Don't interrupt and don't impose your "solutions."
Step 6: Wait for the speaker to pause to ask clarifying questions.
Step 7: Ask questions only to ensure understanding.
Step 8: Try to feel what the speaker is feeling.
Step 9: Give the speaker regular feedback
Step 10: Pay attention to what isn't said—to nonverbal cues.

Teaching Strategies:
Expose student to different settings of oral communication for them to
apply effective listening and speaking skills.

Learning Strategy:
Apply effective listening skills and provide appropriate feedbacks.
Participate in oral communication, bearing in mind the three main
elements of effective speaking.

Relevant Resources:
-- Guest & Eshuys, 1997, English Elements 2, Jacaranda Wiley LTD,
Australia.

Suggested Resources:
-- Schilling, 2012, 10 Steps To Effective Listening, [Link]
[Link]/sites/womensmedia/2012/11/09/10-steps-to-effective-
listening/#8be1dab38918

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Unit 1: Oral Instructions Comprehension

Content Standard 9.3.1: Students will be able to develop the English

Listening skills required both for academic achievement and for
communication in socially and culturally appropriate ways.

Benchmark [Link]: Analyse multi-step directions, with repetition or

rephrasing, within a familiar context.

Topic: Instructions and procedures

Text Types: Examples of instructions and labels, manuals, essays

instructions.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Processes Skills Values Attitudes

Instructions Deconstruction Modelling Individuality Participatory
and Labels and reconstruction

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Examine instructions and procedures in oral messages within a
familiar text.
ii. Understand and explain certain instructions and procedures in
socially and culturally appropriate ways.
iii. Analyze a method or procedure of doing something.
iv. Paraphrase oral instructions using appropriate synonyms.

Content Background:

Difference between Instructions and Procedures

In comparison, a procedure is less detailed than an instruction and it
gives a general overview of what must be done. An instruction is more
detailed and deals with the point by point guidelines or how the said
work must be done. Basically, both procedures and instructions serve
different purposes and must be used complimenting each other.

Instructions and procedures are two different words, which may be

commonly confused. The main difference between the two is that
procedures describe a process, while instructions act as guidelines.

Procedures are more general than instructions.

Teaching Strategies:
Read out instructions and information on selected labels. Engage labels
on both instructions and procedures so students can be able to
differentiate.

Learning Strategy:
Analyze information on labels. Differentiate instructions from procedures.

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Relevant Resources:
-- English Resource Book for Lower Secondary, Grade 10, By Simbu
English Teachers Association in Partnership with VSO.
-- Step Ahead 3 by Robyn Mann

Suggested Resources:
-- Step Ahead 4 by Robyn Mann.

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 Grade 9

Unit 2: Identify main ideas and Supporting Details of Spoken text

Content Standard 9.3.2: Students will be able to identify main ideas and
supporting details of spoken languages.

Benchmark [Link] Identify the main idea of longer, routine messages in

familiar context texts.

Topic: Active listening - Main ideas

Text Types: Recount, report, speech, lectures, documentaries, current

affairs, debates and speeches.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Processes Skills Values Attitudes

Main ideas Logical reasoning Listening Courage Participatory
Reflection Identifying Openness Cooperation

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Listen to a recorded text and identify the main idea.
ii. Use main ideas to summarise to summarise texts in one sentence.
iii. Write an appropriate title for the text.

Content Background:

• Listening Skills – There are 5 key active listening techniques you

can use to help you become a more effective listener:
1. Pay attention
2. Show that you are listening
3. Provide feedback
4. Defer judgment
5. Respond appropriately.

• Main ideas – The main idea is the purpose of the paragraph or text.
It is the most important thought about the topic. To figure out the
main idea, ask yourself these questions: What is being said about the
person, thing, or idea (topic)? The author can locate the main idea in
different places with the paragraph.

The purpose of the paragraph or text:

• All information in the paragraph should connect to the main idea
• Some information is not as important
• Good readers identify key ideas.

Identifying Main Idea

1. Listen to or read the whole text.
2. Ask, “What is the author doing here?”
3. Pay attention to the first and last sentence/statement.

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 English Teacher Guide
Teaching Strategies:
Play a recorded radio broadcast to in class and ask students to identify
the main idea of a text through active listening.

Learning Strategy:
Students learn by actually, individually applying the listening techniques.

Relevant Resources:
-- Recorded radio broadcast

Suggested Resources:
-- Recorded radio broadcast, laptop and digital projector.

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 Grade 9

Unit 2: Identify main ideas and Supporting Details of Spoken text

Content Standard 9.3.2: Students will be able to identify main ideas and
supporting details of spoken languages.

Benchmark [Link] Identify the main idea and details of simple fiction
read aloud.

Topic: Listening techniques - Supporting details

Text Types: Speech, lectures, news reports, conversations

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Logical
Knowledge Skills Values Attitudes
Processes
Listening Techniques Logical Analysing Courage Participatory
Stages of listening reasoning Sequencing Openness Confident
Supporting details Reflection Supporting Individuality Cooperation

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Listen and recognize supporting details in text types.
ii. Distinguish main ideas and supporting idea in a simple text type.
iii. Summarise the texts in their own words.

Content Background:

• Four Types of Listening

There are four (of many) types of listening:
1. Appreciative listening
2. Critical listening
3. Relationship listening
4. Discriminate listening

• Five Stages of Listening

The listening process is divided into five stages:
1. Receiving
2. Understanding
3. Remembering
4. Evaluating
5. Responding

• Listening for Supporting Ideas

While the main idea is usually in the first sentence, the next most
common placement is the last sentence of a paragraph. The author
gives support information first and then makes the point in the last
sentence.

Teaching Strategies:
Play a recorded radio broadcast to in class and ask students to identify
the main idea of a text through active listening.

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 English Teacher Guide
Learning Strategy:
Students learn by actually, individually applying the listening techniques.

Relevant Resources:
-- Recorded radio broadcast

Suggested Resources:
-- Recorded radio broadcast, laptop and digital projector.

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 Grade 9

Unit 3: Determine Speaker Attitude and Point of View

Content Standard 9.3.3: Students will be able to identify main ideas and
supporting details of spoken languages.

Benchmark [Link]: Identify and describe the speaker’s attitude, mood

or emotion in oral messages by reading body language and or tone and
voice quality, with limited support.

Topic: Non-verbal communication

Text Types: Short stories, narrative poems, you tube videos, public
speeches, interviews.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Processes Skills Values Attitudes

Non-verbal Logical reasoning Identifying Individuality Open-minded
communication and Critical
describing

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Describe body languages expressed by the speaker while reading.
ii. Analyze and relate the body language with oral message content to
infer the speaker’s attitude, mood and emotion.

Content Background:

Non-verbal communication/Body Language

A considerable amount of communication – some estimates suggest
over 50% - is non-verbal. Tone of voice, pace and emphasis are all part
of non-verbal communication.

However, your body language is also important. This includes how you
stand, your facial expressions, the way you use your hands to
emphasise your speech, and even whether and with whom you make
eye contact.

There is more about how to use body language to communicate

effectively.

For communication to be effective, your non-verbal communication

needs to reinforce your words: the two must say the same thing.
Non-verbal communication is much harder to disguise than verbal - if
you see that someone’s body language is giving a different message
from their words, it pays to listen to the non-verbal communication first
as it is more likely to reflect their real views.

You may therefore need to put some thought into how you want to use
body language and other non-verbal cues. This is particularly important
if you are trying to get across a difficult or unwelcome message.

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 English Teacher Guide
Teaching Strategies:
Expose students to different oral communication scenario and get them
to observe and analyse body languages of speakers to describe the
speaker’s attitudes, moods or emotions.

Learning Strategy:
Students observe the body languages of each speaker and analyse his/
her body languages accordingly to describe his/her attitudes, moods or
emotions.

Relevant Resources:
-- Step Ahead 3 by Robyn Mann

Suggested Resources:
-- English for Melanesia Book 2 by Susan Baing

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 Grade 9

Unit 3: Determine Speaker Attitude and Point of View

Content Standard 9.3.3: Students will be able to identify main ideas and
supporting details of spoken languages.

Benchmark [Link]: Interpret the speaker’s attitude, mood, emotion and/

or innuendo in extended oral messages by reading body language and/or
tone and voice quality, with limited support.

Topic: Inferences from body languages

Text Types: Short stories, narrative poems

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Processes Skills Values Attitudes

Making Creative thinking Inferring Desire to learn Open-minded
inferences

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Analyze a speaker’s intention in oral message by reading the body
languages.
ii. Examine the body language used by the speaker to portray
attitude, mood and emotion.
iii. Evaluate speaker’s attitude with limited support culturally and
socially.

Content Background:

INFERRING: Searching for Clues

We are often asked to ‘read between the lines’, put clues together, and
make a judgement about what is meant. This is a skill called inferring.
• When we infer, we:
• Use the clues provided
• Contemplate
• Make connections
• Gather information
• Make intelligent guesses
• Suppose
• Speculate
• Assume
• Judge
• Wonder
• Predict
• Workout
• Workout
• Reason
• Make an assumption
• Understand
• Decide
• Imagine

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 English Teacher Guide

• Hypothesis
• Sum up
• Consider
• Theorise
Draw Conclusions

Teaching Strategies:
Read a short story or poem to the class with appropriate gestures.

Learning Strategy:
Listen and examine body language as well to interpret point of view.

Relevant Resources:
-- Guest & Eshuys, 1997, English Elements 2, Jacaranda Wiley LTD,
Australia.

Suggested Resources:
-- English for Melanesia Book 2 by Susan Baing

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 Grade 9

Unit 4: Comprehend the Meaning of Oral Academic and/or

Specialized Vocabulary
Content Standard 9.3.4: Students will be able to comprehend meaning
of academic and/or specialized vocabulary when spoken.

Benchmark [Link]: Recognize high-frequency, grade-level spoken

academic vocabulary when presented with extensive contextual support.

Topic: Academic vocabulary I

Text Types: Reports (newspaper articles, scientific reports), academic

texts, essays.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Processes Skills Values Attitudes

Academic Logical Listening Self-esteem Positive
vocabulary reasoning Recognizing Integrity Confident

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Explain academic vocabulary and what they are used for.
ii. Identify high-frequency, grade-level spoken academic vocabulary
when presented with extensive contextual support.
iii. Use high frequency grade-level academic vocabulary correctly in
sentences.

Content Background:

Academic Vocabulary – Academic Vocabulary refers to words that

are traditionally used in academic dialogue and text. These types of
words are used to explain a concept; they are not necessarily
common or frequently encountered in informal conversation.
• In Grade 9 there are common academic vocabulary (words and
phrases) that students must recognize and learn their meanings.
• Examples: analysis, area, benefit, concept, definition, derived,
estimate, export, factors, roles, etc.

Teaching Strategies:
Provide a list of frequently used grade 9 academic vocabulary and read
aloud a text to students to recognize the words and phrases as used in
the text.

Learning Strategy:
Listen attentively to a spoken text, recognize the words on the list and
define the meaning of each of the words.

Relevant Resources:
-- List of academic vocabulary (words)
-- Reports (newspaper articles, scientific reports)

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 English Teacher Guide
-- Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

Suggested Resources:
-- English for Melanesia Book 2 by Susan Baing
-- Georgia. S, 2000, The Top 60 Most Common Academic Words,
[Link] >lists

153
 Grade 9

Unit 4: Comprehend the Meaning of Oral Academic and/or

Specialized Vocabulary
Content Standard 9.3.4: Students will be able to comprehend meaning
of academic and/or specialized vocabulary when spoken.

Benchmark [Link]: Comprehend specialized vocabulary spoken in

familiar, routine and/or social contexts, with extensive support.

Topic: Specialized vocabulary I

Text Types: Reports (newspaper articles, scientific reports, technical

reports), essays.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Logical
Knowledge Skills Values Attitudes
Processes
Specialized Logical Listening Self-esteem Positive
vocabulary reasoning Comprehending Integrity Confident

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Explain the difference between specialized vocabulary and general
academic vocabulary.
ii. Examine specialized vocabulary specific to professions.
iii. Interpret specialized vocabulary spoken in familiar, routine and/or
social contexts.

Content Background:

Specialized Vocabulary
Specialized Vocabulary refers to words and phrases that express
specialized concepts by means of specialized vocabulary, professional
terms, technical terms, jargon etc. Each of the professions, trade or field
has its specialized vocabulary specific to that profession of trade. For
example: Doctors have their own specialized vocabulary and so do
lawyers, teachers, plumbers, architects, divers, tailors, locksmiths, etc.
They are technical terms that are specific to a particular subject.

General academic vocabulary are formal vocabulary that you may find in
many subject areas.

Teaching Strategies:
Provide a list of frequently used grade 9 specialized vocabulary used in
various professions. Read aloud a text to students and ask students to
comprehend the meaning of the words and phrases as used in the text.

Learning Strategy:
Listen attentively to identify the words and define the meaning of each of
the words.

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 English Teacher Guide
Relevant Resources:
-- List of specialized vocabulary
-- Reports (newspaper articles, scientific reports)
-- Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

Suggested Resources:
-- Calisha, Specialized Vocabularies: Slangs and Terminologies, www.
[Link]>view>go

155
 Grade 9

Unit 4: Comprehend the Meaning of Oral Academic and/or

Specialized Vocabulary
Content Standard 9.3.4: Students will be able to comprehend meaning
of academic and/or specialized vocabulary when spoken.

Benchmark [Link]: Recognize and comprehend high-frequency,

grade-level spoken academic vocabulary when presented with contextual
support.

Topic: Academic vocabulary II

Text Types: Reports (newspaper articles, scientific reports)

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Logical
Knowledge Skills Values Attitudes
Processes
Academic Logical Listening Truth Positive
vocabulary reasoning Recognizing Self-esteem Confident
Comprehending

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Explore and define high-frequency, grade-level spoken academic
vocabulary.
ii. Construct sentences (simple, compound and complex) using
high-frequency, grade-level spoken academic vocabulary.
iii. Analyze to interpret high-frequency words and phrases as they are
presented in a spoken text.

Content Background:

Academic Vocabulary – Academic Vocabulary refers to words that are

traditionally used in academic dialogue and text. These types of words
are used to explain a concept; they are not necessarily common or
frequently encountered in informal conversation.

In Grade 9 there are common academic vocabulary (words and phrases)

that students must recognize and learn their meanings.

Example: analysis, area, benefit, concept, definition, derived, estimate,

export, factors, roles, etc.

Teaching Strategies:
Provide a list of frequently used grade 10 academic vocabulary and read
aloud text to students to comprehend the meaning of the words and
phrases.

Learning Strategy:
Study the list of academic vocabulary and define the meaning of each of
the words as used in the text.

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 English Teacher Guide
Relevant Resources:
-- List of academic vocabulary
-- Reports (newspaper articles, scientific reports)
-- Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

Suggested Resources:
-- Georgia. S, 2000, The Top 60 Most Common Academic Words,
[Link] >lists

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 Grade 9

Unit 5: Making Inferences and Predictions

Content Standard 9.3.5: Students will be able to make inferences and
predictions while listening to different speakers.

Benchmark [Link] Observe simple predictions based on familiar, brief

spoken material, with support.

Topic: Simple predictions I

Text Types: Narrative (short story, poem, song lyrics), you tube videos

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Processes Skills Values Attitudes

Simple Logical reasoning Listening Self-esteem Positive
predictions Predicting Simplicity Confident
Optimistic

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Define predictions and explain what ‘simple predictions’ are.
ii. Make simple predictions based on an oral presentation.
iii. Make simple predictions based on familiar spoken material.

Content Background:

• Prediction – An educated guess about what will happen later in the

future.
• Based on things that have already happened.
• Informed by things that you know.
• Should be related to what has already happened.

The following are just a few of the many words and phrases which may
be used to indicate prediction:

• It is possible to predict that …

• It will result in …
• If this continues, it is likely
• In the future …
• It seems/looks as if …
• The most likely future development is …

Teaching Strategies:
Explain ‘prediction’ and guide students to make simple predictions based
spoken familiar texts.

Learning Strategy:
Listen to short spoken texts to determine what will happen next, and
support their predictions with evidence.

Relevant Resources:
Narrative - short stories, poems, song lyrics.

Suggested Resources:
Create and communicate Book 4.

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 English Teacher Guide

Unit 5: Making Inferences and Predictions

Content Standard 9.3.5: Students will be able to make inferences and

predictions while listening to different speakers.

Benchmark [Link]: Make predictions based on unfamiliar, extended

spoken material, with support.

Topic: General predictions

Text Types: Non-fiction (newspaper reports, speeches, TV broadcast),

you tube videos.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Processes Skills Values Attitudes

General Logical Listening Self-esteem Confident
predictions reasoning Predicting Simplicity Optimistic

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Make simple predictions about the future from given points.
ii. Analyze unfamiliar, extended spoken material to make predictions.
iii. Evaluate existing evidence to make general statements.

Content Background:

General Predictions – There are two ways we can make predictions

about the future.

The simple future with will is one of the ways that we can make
predictions. We can use this form to make almost any prediction about
the future, whether we are talking about tomorrow or a hundred years
from now.

We can also use the future with going to if we want to make general
predictions about the future.

Example:
Jenny will arrive on time. She is always very punctual.
OR Jenny is going to arrive on time. She is always very punctual.

If we want to make predictions based on a situation that we can see

right now, we must use the future with going to.

Teaching Strategies:
Read aloud unfamiliar oral texts and assign students to make predictions
based on the texts.

Learning Strategy:
Listen attentively to a spoken text and make predictions based on
unfamiliar spoken text using logical reasoning.

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 Grade 9

Provide students with copies of pictures containing situations and

circumstances that will likely lead to expected outcomes. Study the
pictures and suggest alternative positive outcomes by changing the
situations and circumstances portrayed in the pictures.

For example: Students are shown a picture of a boy riding his bicycle too
fast. The obvious prediction students may make is that the boy will
collide into an object or another person causing serious bodily injuries.
The teacher can now ask the students to suggest an alternative ending
whereby the rider is riding slowly in order that he avoids having an
accident.

Relevant Resources:
-- Non-fiction (newspaper reports, speech, TV broadcast)

Suggested Resources:
-- Really Learn English, 2020, Making Predictions about the Future in
English, [Link]/[Link]

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 English Teacher Guide

Unit 5: Making Inferences and Predictions

Content Standard 9.3.5: Students will be able to make inferences and
predictions while listening to different speakers.

Benchmark [Link] Analyse inferences and predictions based on

unfamiliar, extended spoken material, with little support.

Topic: Inferences and Predictions

Text Types: Narrative (song lyrics, short stories, poems), you tube
videos.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Processes Skills Values Attitudes

Inferences and Logical reasoning Listening Truth Confident
Predictions Problem-solving Inferring Simplicity Participatory
Predicting

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Explain the difference between inferences and predictions.
ii. Examine inferences and predictions made based on unfamiliar,
extended spoken material, with little support.
iii. Make inferences and predictions on spoken materials.

Content Background:

Inference – An inference is an assumption or conclusion that is

rationally and logically made, based on the given facts or
circumstances.

Prediction – is an educated guess (often about explicit details) that can

be confirmed or denied.

Making inferences and predictions require students to:

• Read between the lines.
• Combine information from the text with information they know to
come up an answer.
• Combine clues to reach a conclusion.
• All of the above.

Teaching Strategies:
Play CDs and students listen to the music and think about what kind of
music it is. Ask students to tell you about the music. Describe it using
adjectives. Ask students about the type of person who (they think)
generally listens to this genre of music. Play another sample and ask
students to repeat process above. Explain to students about inferences
and predictions.

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 Grade 9

Learning Strategy:
Listen attentively to a spoken text and make predictions based on
unfamiliar spoken text using logical reasoning.

Relevant Resources:
-- Narrative (short stories, poems, song lyrics)

Suggested Resource:
-- Teach Thought Staff, 2013, The Diference Between Inferences and
Predictions, [Link]/literacy/difference between
inferences and prediction/

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 English Teacher Guide

Strand 4: Speaking
Strand 4 consists of four units:

1. Fluency and Pronunciation

2. Speaking Using Appropriate Grammar and Vocabulary
3. Speaking For Varied Purposes, Both Informal and Formal
4. Comprehension and Collaboration.

Unit Topic

1. Fluency and Pronunciation • Speech/Oral messages

• What is a conversation?
• Identifying main ideas of longer, routine messages

2. Speaking Using Appropriate • Identifying main ideas of longer, routine messages

Grammar and Vocabulary • Main ideas and supporting details of simple fiction

3. Speaking For Varied • Identifying formal and informal language

Purposes, Both Informal and • Body language in oral messages
Formal • Identifying the speaker’s tone and attitude

4. Comprehension and • Defining academic vocabulary using context clues

Collaboration • Defining specialized vocabulary using context clues
• Identifying high-frequency academic vocabulary

Unit of Work
Unit of work outlines the topics, Text-types to be used, essential KSAVs
to be achieved and the learning objectives that will work towards
achieving the essential KSAVS for each benchmark. It basically presents
what the teacher is expected to teach per the set standard. Teachers are
advised to use the learning objectives to create lesson topics and lesson
objectives in preparing lessons. Brief content background of each topic is
provided to aid teacher’s lesson preparation.

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 Grade 9

Unit 1: Fluency and Pronunciation

Content Standard 9.4.1: Students will be able to speak fluently, using

clear pronunciation and with appropriate intonation and stress.

Benchmark [Link]: Give simple oral directions, with repetition or

rephrasing.

Topic: Effective speech

Text Types: Speech/oral messages, you tube videos and oral

presentations

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Processes Skills Values Attitudes

Effective Logical reasoning Speaking Betterment of Appreciative
speech human kind

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Choose appropriate words and type of language depending on the
audience when giving simple oral directions, with repetition or
rephrasing.
ii. Improve command of voice usage.
iii. Evaluate the effectiveness of fluency and pronunciation in spoken
language.

Content Background:

Aspects of effective speaking

Speaking is an act of making vocal sounds. We can say that speaking
means to converse, or expressing one’s thoughts and feelings in spoken
language. To speak often implies conveying information. It may be from
an informal remark to a scholarly presentation to a formal address.

Speaking effectively is defined as speaking in such a way that your

message is clearly heard and, if possible, acted upon. There are two
main elements to speaking effectively: what you say, and how you say
it.

What you say means your choice of words. The words you might use
when chatting to a friend are likely to be quite different from those used
in a formal presentation or interview.

Similarly, the way that you speak will also vary in different situations.
However, there are also likely to be some common factors: for example,
whether you naturally talk quietly or loudly, and how you use body
language.

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 English Teacher Guide

Effective speaking means being able to say what you want to say in such
a way that it is heard and acted upon.
There are three main elements of effective speaking
• The words you use.
• Your voice.
• Your other non-verbal communication, particularly body language.
Choosing your words
What you say - the words you choose - matters.
If in doubt about your meaning, your audience will come back to the
words that you used and double-check what you might have meant. It is
therefore important to choose carefully, especially when you are saying
something important. Things to consider include:
• Your audience. The words you choose will be different if you are
talking to your classmates, 200 people at a conference, a close
friend, or your boss. You need to think about your audience’s overall
level of understanding of the subject, and also the type of language
that you use.
• Shorter sentences are easier to process and understand. Using
shorter sentences also creates urgency.
• Simpler words are also easier to understand. If you cannot
explain something in simple terms, you have probably not
understood it yourself.

It is worth remembering, however, that words are only a part of your

overall communication and message. The tone of voice and your body
language also send strong messages.
Your voice
Your voice can reveal as much about your personal history as your
appearance. The sound of a voice and what you say can provide clues
to an individual's emotional state. For instance, if self-esteem is low,
it may be reflected by hesitancy in the voice. A shy person may speak
quietly, but someone who is confident in themselves will be more likely
to have command of their voice and clarity of speech.

It is worth taking time to improve your command over your voice,

especially if you find it hard to speak in public. It can even help to boost
your confidence! It is important to get used to the sound of your own
voice.

Retrieved: [Link]

Teaching Strategies:
Instruct students to observe a visual text and ask them to describe
aspects of effective speaking.

Learning Strategy:
Collect information on a particular topic or issue and orally present the
information in class.

165
 Grade 9

Relevant Resources:
-- Create and communication Book 3

Suggested Resources:
-- [Link]
-- [Link]

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 English Teacher Guide

Unit 1: Fluency and Pronunciation

Content Standard 9.4.1: Students will be able to speak fluently, using

clear pronunciation and with appropriate intonation and stress.

Benchmark [Link]: Give multi-step directions, with repetition or

rephrasing, within a familiar context or with visual support.

Topic: Assertive conversations

Text Types: Short stories, scripts, plays, dialogues and you tube videos.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Processes Skills Values Attitudes

What is a Logical reasoning Effective Betterment of Confident
conversation? speaking human kind

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Discuss the rules of conversation that will enable good command
of spoken language.
ii. Reflect upon own performance in conversation and follow multi-
step directions in familiar contexts.
iii. Repeat and rephrase multi-step directions fluently and clearly.

Content Background:

Rules of conversation
Conversations are supposed to be fun. They involve personal
interactions between two or more people about something of interest.
But many people worry about having conversations. They are concerned
that they won’t be able to keep the conversation going, or about what
they will say.

Keeping a conversation going is something of an art, and one which

many of us now seem to lack. This topics explains how you can learn
this ‘dying art’, and have constructive and enjoyable conversations with
others.

Conversation is “Intercourse, talk, familiar discourse, behaviour or

deportment” Chambers English Dictionary, 1989 edition.

In other words, conversation is simply talking to someone else,

usually informally

So why is it considered difficult? It certainly wasn’t for our

grandparents’ generation. Some commentators have put the problem
down to the growth of social media, with its emphasis on ‘broadcasting’
and its ‘me’ focus, and this certainly doesn’t make it any easier.

But all is not lost. Not only can conversational skills be learned and
developed, but it is surprisingly easy to do so, especially if you follow
some simple rules.

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 Grade 9

1. Conversation is a Two-Way Street

The first and most important rule of conversation is to try to achieve
a balance between talking and listening in any conversation.

2. Be Friendly and Polite

Smiling, and being nice, will take you a long way in conversational
terms. Everyone would rather chat to someone friendly and pleasant.

3. Respond to what they are saying

To respond genuinely to what someone has just said means that you
have to listen. It’s important to focus on the other person, and what
they’re saying.

4. Create Emotional Connections

It is perfectly normal to conduct a conversation entirely at the level of
small talk, with nothing important being said. But conversation is
also a way to explore whether you wish to know someone better and
build a relationship with them. It can therefore be useful to under
stand how to use conversation to create and build emotional
connections.

The key is sharing appropriate information. All these ideas can perhaps
be boiled down into one idea:
If you are interested in others, and in the world around you, you will be
interesting to talk to.

Teaching Strategies:
Provide copies of an extract of a play (Harold Pinter’s The Caretaker) and
ask students to study the different rules of conversation in use.

Learning Strategy:
Study the play and participate in holding conversations with friends or
relatives, by breaking various rules of conversation, and writing an
account of their experiment, showing what they did and how they
reacted.

Relevant Resources:
-- Geoff Barton, 1996, Skills and Practice: English to GCSE, Oxford
University Press, UK.

Suggested Resources:
-- [Link]

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 English Teacher Guide

Unit 2: Speaking Using Appropriate Grammar and Vocabulary

Content Standard 9.4.2: Students will be able to speak using appropriate

grammar and vocabulary.

Benchmark [Link]: Identify the main idea of longer, routine messages in

familiar contexts, which may be supported by visuals.

Topic: Identifying main ideas in longer, routine messages

Text Types: Routine messages, visual texts (pictures and slides), lectures,
you tube conversations.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Processes Skills Values Attitudes

Main ideas of Logical reasoning Generating Dignity Participatory
longer, routine ideas
messages in
familiar contexts

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Listen to or view routine messages in familiar contexts on slides or
pictures.
ii. Identify and discuss the main ideas of routine messages using
visuals.
iii. Write a summary on main ideas from texts.

Content Background:

What is the definition of 'routine message'?

A routine message is a division of importance for messages that explain
the circulation by quick means unless they are significantly more urgent
and need to be placed at a higher level of importance. An example may
be the termly school newsletter.

What is the definition of 'routine'?

The definition of routine is a procedure or process which is repeated on
a regular basis. For example, one may have a morning routine where a
set of tasks is done in the same order each day.

What is the definition of author's message?

The main idea of their text should present their message.

How do you write a routine message?

The way to write a routine message is simple. Take the name of the
person, the contact information, and the message they need to relay. All
of this information is need to give in the routine message.

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How to define the main idea

The main idea of a paragraph is the primary point or concept that the
author wants to communicate to the readers about the topic. Hence, in a
paragraph, when the main idea is stated directly, it is expressed in what
is called the topic sentence. It gives the overarching idea of what the
paragraph is about and is supported by the details in subsequent
sentences in the paragraph. In a multi-paragraph article, the main idea is
expressed in the thesis statement, which is then supported by individual
smaller points.

How to find the main idea

Finding the main idea is critical to understanding what you are reading or
listening to. Try these specific tips to pinpoint the main idea of a text.

1. Identify the Topic

Read the passage through completely, then try to identify the topic.
Who or what is the text about? This part is just figuring out a topic,
don't worry yet about deciding what argument the passage is
making about this topic.
2. Summarize the Passage
After reading the text thoroughly, summarize it in your own words in
one sentence.
3. Look at the First and Last Sentences of the Passage
Authors often put the main idea in or near either the first or last
sentence of the paragraph or article, so isolate those sentences to
see if they make sense as the overarching theme of the passage.
4. Look for Repetition of Ideas
If you read through a text and you have no idea how to summarize it
because there is so much information, start looking for repeated
words, phrases, or related ideas.

Teaching Strategies:
Present routine messages with visuals and accompanying questions; ask
the questions (who, what, where, when, and how) to locate the main idea.

Learning Strategy:
Respond to the routine message and answer accompanying questions
and state the main idea using appropriate grammar and vocabulary.

Relevant Resources:
-- Routine messages, visual texts (pictures and slides)

Suggested Resources:
-- Create and communicate Book 3

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Unit 2: Speaking Using Appropriate Grammar and Vocabulary

Content Standard 9.4.2: Students will be able to speak using appropriate

grammar and vocabulary.

Benchmark [Link]: Identify the main idea and supporting details of

simple fiction read aloud supported by visuals.

Topic: Main ideas and supporting details in simple fiction

Text Types: Narrative (plays, short stories, poems), you tube reflections

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Processes Skills Values Attitudes

Main ideas and Logical reasoning Generating Honesty Participatory
supporting details ideas
of simple fiction

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Discuss features of simple fictional texts read aloud supported by
visuals.
ii. Identify the main ideas and supporting details of the text.
iii. Write a reflective summary of the main ideas elicited from texts

Content Background:

What is Fiction?
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fiction is any story made up by the author. It is a creation of the author’s
imagination. It is not based strictly on history of facts. The opposite of
fiction is non-fiction, which deals with facts and true events. Usually the
purpose of fiction is to entertain.

Studying the story elements and structure of fiction is an important way

to deepen student’s comprehension because it helps them understand
what is important. It also spills over nicely into helping them write their
own fictional stories.

Some fiction elements include:

Characters: main characters & supporting characters
Setting: when and where did the story take place
Problem or Conflict: usually introduced early on; can be external or
internal
Plot or Text Structure: the rise and fall of action
Solution or Resolution: how the problem or conflict is solved
Point of View: 1st person (main character telling story; use of “I” and
“me”) or 3rd person (narrator telling story; use of “he/she”, “him/her”)
Theme: More than the topic of the story, the “message” the author is
trying to send through the use of the story

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Types of Fiction
There are three main types of fiction: the short story, the novella and the
novel. Let's explore each of these.

Short story. A short story is a piece of fiction that can be read in one
sitting of about a half hour to about two hours. Short stories contain
between 1,000 and 20,000 words and typically run no more than 25 or
30 pages. Because of their limited length, short stories generally focus
on one major plot or storyline and a few characters.

Novella. Novellas are longer than short stories and tend to run about
20,000 to 50,000 words, usually between 60 and 120 pages. Because
novellas have more room to work with, they typically have a more
complex plot or storyline and more characters than short stories.

Novel. A Novel is a work of fiction that contains over 50,000 words or

120 pages. Novels are even more complex than novellas, and they
usually have more than one plot or storyline and many well-developed
characters. Novels can be as long as their authors want them to be.
There is no outer limit to their length. In fact, the longest novel ever
written is a 17th century work that contains over two million words and
more than 13,000 pages. Believe it or not, the book was very popular
with the readers of its day.

Teaching Strategies:
Read aloud a fictional text to the class and ask students to identify the
main idea and supporting details.

Learning Strategy:
Listen to an oral fictional text and discuss the main ideas and
supporting details of the text fluently and clearly using appropriate
grammar and vocabulary.

Relevant Resources:
-- Narrative (plays, short stories, poems)

Suggested Resources:
-- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Unit 3: Speaking For Varied Purposes, Both Informal and Formal

Content Standard 9.4.3: Students will be able to use and speak English
for varied purposes, both informal and formal, with focus, relevance, and
cohesion.

Benchmark [Link]: Identify and/or describe the speaker’s attitude, mood

or emotion in oral messages by reading body language and/or tone and
voice quality, with limited support.

Topic: Identifying formal and informal language

Text Types: Speech, conversations, dialogue, dramas, plays.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Processes Skills Values Attitudes

Formal and Logical reasoning Speaking Rationality Critical
informal language

Lesson Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Differentiate formal and informal language with limited support.
ii. Explain features of formal and informal speeches/languages with
examples.
iii. Identify body language, tone and voice to determine the speaker’s
attitude, mood or emotion.
iv. Use speech in a variety of situations effectively in social and
academic settings.

Content Background:

Formal and informal language

Formal language is a language reputable writers or speakers use when
addressing an education audience about a serious topic. It is the kind of
language found in serious writing or speech, such as business letters,
formal speeches, debates, serious editorials and essays. Formal
language is signified by:
• a serious purpose, dignified tone
• logical presentation, coherent structure
• being directed at an educated audience
• correct grammatical constructions
• polished turns of phrase, variation in sentence structure.

Informal language
Informal language is the relaxed, friendly language of speech and
writing. It is commonly referred to as colloquial English. It occurs in
everyday conversations and is also used in emails, personal letters,
popular magazine articles, newspaper columns and novels. Informal
language is frequently characterized by:
• colloquialisms or slangs, clichés
• contractions such as can’t instead of cannot, and gonna instead of
going to.
• casual tone, short, often staccato, sentences.

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Teaching Strategies:
Provide examples of written speeches that serve different purposes with
guide questions.

Learning Strategy:
Read and analyse the speeches according to guide questions.

Relevant Resources:
-- Sadler R. and Sadler S., Into English, 2004, Macmillan Education
Australia Pty Ltd, Australia.

Suggested Resources:
-- [Link]

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Unit 3: Speaking Using Appropriate Grammar and Vocabulary

Content Standard 9.4.3: Students will be able to use and speak English
for varied purposes, both informal and formal, with focus, relevance, and
cohesion.

Benchmark [Link]: Interpret the speaker’s attitude, mood, emotion and/

or innuendo in extended oral messages by reading body language and/or
tone and voice quality, with limited support.

Topic: Identifying body language in oral messages

Text Types: Extended oral messages, drama/plays, and video recordings

of conversation.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Logical
Knowledge Skills Values Attitudes
Processes
Body language in Critical Interpreting Self-cultivation Critical
oral messages attributing

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Identify the speaker’s attitude, mood or emotion by reading body
language or tone and voice quality when presenting oral messages.
ii. Interpret the speaker’s attitude, mood, emotion and/or innuendo
in extended oral messages by reading body language and/or tone
and voice quality.

Content Background:

Body Language
The way in which we use voice, facial expression, and body language
affects the messages we are trying to give. Speakers are not always
aware that their posture or the way they approach another person
speaks volumes in itself. By understanding how a person uses his or her
body and voice, teachers can help students to become critically aware
of the non-verbal behaviours that will equip them to express themselves
in an effective manner.

Use of voice: The use of intonation and pauses that convey meaning and
attitude.

Volume: Volume depends on the needs of the situation, purpose and

audience. There are times when loud voices are required and at other
times when quiet voices are necessary. Generally speaking a voice
should be loud enough that the intended audience can hear and
understand the message being delivered.

Tone: Tone involves the volume you use, the level and type of emotion
that you communicate and the emphasis that you place on the words
that you choose.

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Teaching Strategies:
Play an audio recording or video clip and ask students to identify the
speaker’s attitude, mood or emotion by reading body language or tone
and voice quality.

Learning Strategy:
Observe or view an oral presentation or speech and discuss the speaker’s
attitude, mood or emotion by reading body language or tone and voice
quality.

Relevant Resources:
-- Geoff Barton, 1996, Skills and Practice: English to GCSE, Oxford
University Press, UK

Suggested Resources:
-- Create and communicate Book 4.

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Unit 3: Speaking Using Appropriate Grammar and Vocabulary

Content Standard 9.4.3: Students will be able to use and speak English
for varied purposes, both informal and formal, with focus, relevance, and
cohesion.

Benchmark [Link]: Identify the speaker’s obvious attitude, mood or

emotion in simple oral messages by reading body language and/or tone
and voice quality, with limited support.

Topic: Identifying the speaker’s tone and attitude

Text Types: Recorded oral messages, dialogues, recorded scripts, you

tube videos

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Processes Skills Values Attitudes

Identifying the Logical reasoning Making Integrity Optimistic
speaker’s tone and inferences
attitude

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Identify the speaker’s tone and attitude in simple oral messages.
ii. Discuss the speaker’s tone and attitude in simple oral messages by
reading body language.

Content Background:

Listening for Tone and Attitude

Instructor: Elizabeth Foster
When you're learning English, listening for a speaker's tone or attitude
can be even harder than listening for meaning - here are some tips for
how to make it work.

Tone, Attitude and Certainty

When you're learning to understand spoken English, you won't just have
to understand what the speaker says. To really get the point, often you'll
also have to pick up on clues about the speaker's tone, attitude or
degree of certainty. In other words, it's not just about what someone
says; it's about how she feels about it. Did she say it with a confident
tone, an angry tone, a defeated tone or something else? In this lesson,
you'll get some tips and practice for figuring all of that out.

Volume, pitch and speed

Before we even get into the words themselves, we'll cover three clues
that you can get just from listening to the sound of the speaker's voice:
volume, pitch and speed. One big clue that you can listen for is volume.
Volume refers to how loudly or quietly a speaker is talking.

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In English, volume can indicate several different things:

• Emphasis - if a speaker thinks he's saying something
important,he'll probably say it louder. In the middle of a paragraph
at normal volume, a sentence spoken more loudly stands out.

• Strong emotion - if a speaker has a very strong opinion on

something, her volume will probably increase. This is true whether
the emotion is positive or negative. People shout when they're
angry, but also when they're excited.

• Certainty - people who are sure of their opinions tend to speak

more loudly. On the other hand, people who aren't confident tend to
speak more quietly.

A second clue is pitch. Pitch is how high or low the speaker's voice is.
Rising pitch toward the end of a sentence in English generally indicates
a question, as in 'Did you get the milk?' But, if a speaker's voice rises in
pitch toward the end of all his sentences, even when they aren't
questions, it can show uncertainty. For example: 'I was thinking about
the book we read for class, and I thought maybe James isn't supposed
to be the villain…? Maybe he's supposed to be morally gray…? He's not
good or bad…?'

A third clue is speed, or how fast the speaker is talking. In general, any
change from a steady speaking pace indicates that something important
is going on. For example:
• Slowing down can indicate emphasis because it's a sign that the
speaker wants you to pay attention to every single word.
• Speeding up can indicate strong emotion because English speakers
tend to talk faster when they get excited about something.

Teaching Strategies:
Play an audio recording or video clip and ask students to identify the
speaker’s tone and attitude.

Learning Strategy:
Observe or view a simple oral text or speech and discuss the speaker’s
tone and attitude.

Relevant Resources:
-- Geoff Barton, 1996, Skills and Practice: English to GCSE, Oxford
University Press, UK

Suggested Resources:
-- Create and Communicate Book 3

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Unit 4: Comprehension and Collaboration

Content Standard 9.4.4: Students will be able to prepare for and

participate effectively in a range of conversations with diverse partners,
building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly persuasively.

Benchmark [Link]: Recognize high-frequency, grade-level spoken

academic vocabulary when presented with extensive contextual support.

Topic: Academic vocabulary in context

Text Types: Reports (Newspaper articles, scientific reports), essays,

academic reviews.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge LogicalProcesses Skills Values Attitudes

Defining academic Logical reasoning Making Integrity Optimistic
vocabulary using inferences
context clues

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Determine meanings of general academic and domain-specific
words or phrases in a text relevant to a Grade 9 topic or subject
area using context clues.
ii. Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and
understanding, rereading as necessary.

Content Background:

What is Academic Vocabulary?

Academic vocabulary can be difficult to define. One broad definition is
the vocabulary which can be used in academic contexts. The problem
here though is what do we mean by 'academic contexts'? Does this
mean spoken contexts (e.g. lectures, seminars, presentations), written
contexts (e.g. essays, articles, reports), or both? Writers on academic
vocabulary tend to focus on the latter, and often overlook the former. It
also depends on what subject we are talking about. The academic
vocabulary necessary for writing a science laboratory report
(e.g. apparatus, procedure, errors) has some differences from the
academic vocabulary which might be used in social science research
(e.g. survey, population, sample), though of course they would also have
much in common.

What are Context Clues?

Context clues are hints in the sentence that help good readers figure
out the meanings of unfamiliar words. When we look at the “context”
of a word, we look at how it is being used. Based on how these words
are used, and on our knowledge of the other words in the sentence,
we make an educated prediction as to what the challenging vocabulary
word may mean.

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See types of context clues in the table below:

Type Description Clue “Signal Words” Example

1. Definition The author provides a Is, are Archeology refers to the

direct (explicit) definition Is/are called scientific study of
of an unknown word in a Is/are known as prehistoric cultures by
sentence. Is defined as excavation of their
Means, Refers to remains.
2. Synonym or The author uses a word Commas , Semicolon ; Carnivores, that is, meat
Restatement having the same or nearly Dashes - Parenthesis ( ) eaters, are the top of the
the same meaning as Sometimes signal words food chain.
another word or words in or, that is, or in other
the sentence. words are used.
3. Antonym or Contrast The author uses another Words used are: But, While Manu is
word or phrase that however, although, hardworking, his indolent
means the opposite of otherwise, unless, instead brother spends most of
another word. of, on the contrary, on the the time sitting around
other hand, while, unlike with friends.
4. Comparison In comparison clues, the Words used are: The stench of the old
author uses words and like, as, similar to, in the shoes was like the smell
phrases that have the same way, likewise, of garbage.
same or similar meaning resembling, too
as an unfamiliar word.
5. Example/Explanation The author provides For example, Celestial bodies, such
examples or additional For instance as the sun, moon, and
explanations or Including stars, are governed by
summaries to help you Such as predictable laws.
understand an unfamiliar Specifically
word. The word is cleared To illustrate
up by giving an example.
6. Cause and Effect The meaning of an As a result, Accordingly Since no one came to
unknown word depends Because, Since the first meeting,
on the cause/effect Consequently, attendance for the
relationship with other For this reason second one is mandatory
words in the text. Hence, if … then for all staff.

7. List or Series The unfamiliar word is Look for a list of words North American
included in a series of predators include grizzly
related words that give an bears, pumas, wolves,
idea of the word’s and foxes.
meaning.
8. Inference or General The meaning of an Look for clues over The monkey’s vociferous
Context unfamiliar word can be several words or chatter made me wish I
inferred (guessed) from sentences had earplugs.
the description of a
situation. The author
provides non-specific
clues, often spread over
the sentence or number of
sentences.

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 English Teacher Guide
Teaching Strategies:
Provide a list of frequently used grade relevant academic vocabulary and
ask students to use context clues to determine the meaning of words.

Learning Strategy:
Listen attentively to a spoken text and use context clues to comprehend
the meaning of words and phrases with extensive contextual support.

Relevant Resources:
-- Reports (newspaper articles, scientific reports)

Suggested Resources:
-- Create and Communicate Book 3.

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 Grade 9

Unit 4: Comprehension and Collaboration

Content Standard 9.4.4: Students will be able to prepare for and

participate effectively in a range of conversations with diverse partners,
building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly persuasively.

Benchmark [Link]: Comprehend specialized vocabulary spoken in

familiar, routine and/or social contexts, with extensive support.

Topic: Specialized vocabulary in context

Text Types: Reports (Newspaper articles, scientific reports), essays,

academic articles.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Processes Skills Values Attitudes

Defining Logical reasoning Listening Integrity Optimistic
specialized Comprehending
vocabulary
using
context clues

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Define specialized vocabulary and make a list of grade relevant
specialized vocabulary.
ii. Identify specialized vocabulary spoken in familiar, routine and/or
social contexts, with extensive support.
iii. Determine the meaning of grade relevant specialized words and
phrases spoken in familiar, routine and/or social contexts using
context clues.

Content Background:

What is Specialized Vocabulary?

Specialized vocabulary refers to words and phrases that express
specialized concepts by means of specialized vocabulary, professional
terms, technical terms, jargon etc. Each of the professions, trade or field
has its specialized vocabulary specific to that profession of trade.
There are many and varied specialised vocabulary that students at this
level must try to learn and use their meanings. It is important for
students to learn to determine the meaning of these words and phrases
using context clues. Words can have multiple meanings, so being able
to infer the correct definition from context is valuable to the reader and
listener for comprehension purposes.

Context clues are hints found within a sentence, paragraph, or passage

that a reader can use to understand the meanings of new or unfamiliar
words. Learning the meaning of a word through its use in a sentence or
paragraph is the most practical way to build vocabulary, since a
dictionary is not always available when a reader encounters an unknown
word.

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A reader must be aware that many words have several possible

meanings. Only by being sensitive to the circumstances in which a word
is used can the reader decide upon an appropriate definition to fit the
context.

Teaching Strategies:
Provide a list of frequently used grade-relevant specialized vocabulary
and read aloud text to students to comprehend the meaning of the words
and phrases.

Learning Strategy:
Listen to an oral text and determine the meaning of specialized
vocabulary spoken in familiar, routine and/or social contexts using context
clues.

Relevant Resources:
-- Reports (Newspaper articles, scientific reports)

Suggested Resources:
-- Create and communication Book 4

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 Grade 9

Unit 4: Comprehension and Collaboration

Content Standard 9.4.4: Students will be able to prepare for and
participate effectively in a range of conversations with diverse partners,
building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly persuasively.

Benchmark [Link]: Recognize and comprehend high-frequency,

grade-level spoken academic vocabulary when presented with contextual
support.

Topic: Identifying high-frequency academic vocabulary

Text Types: Reports (newspaper articles, scientific reports), essays,

academic reviews.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Processes Skills Values Attitudes

High-frequency Logical reasoning Analyzing Benevolence With respect
academic for beliefs and
vocabulary opinions

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Make a list of high-frequency, grade relevant spoken academic
vocabulary when presented with contextual support.
ii. Look up each word and explain the meaning of each word and
phrase using a dictionary.
iii. Recognize and comprehend high-frequency grade relevant spoken
academic vocabulary using context clues.

Content Background:

What is Academic Vocabulary?

Academic vocabulary can be difficult to define. One broad definition is
the vocabulary which can be used in academic contexts. The problem
here though is what do we mean by 'academic contexts'? Does this
mean spoken contexts (e.g. lectures, seminars, presentations), written
contexts (e.g. essays, articles, reports), or both? Writers on academic
vocabulary tend to focus on the latter, and often overlook the former. It
also depends on what subject we are talking about. The academic
vocabulary necessary for writing a science laboratory report
(e.g. apparatus, procedure, errors) has some differences from the
academic vocabulary which might be used in social science research
(e.g. survey, population, sample), though of course they would also have
much in common.
In general, academic vocabulary can be considered to consist of three
types of vocabulary:
general words which are acceptable for academic use;
non-general 'academic' words’;
technical words specific to an individual subject area.
Refer to BM [Link] for the use of context clues to understand meanings
of grade relevant academic vocabulary.

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 English Teacher Guide
Teaching Strategies:
Listen to an audio recording and identify frequently used grade-relevant
academic vocabulary when presented with contextual support.

Learning Strategy:
Listen attentively to an oral text and determine the meaning of frequently
used grade-relevant academic vocabulary using context clues.

Relevant Resources:
-- Reports (newspaper articles, scientific reports)

Suggested Resources:
-- Create and Communicate Book 3

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 Grade 9

Strand 5: Communication
Strand 5 consists of five units:
1. Interpretative Listening
2. Interpretative Reading
3. Interpersonal Communication
4. Presentational Speaking
5. Presentational Writing

Unit Topic

1. Interpretative Listening • Extended speech

• Critical listening

2. Interpretative Reading • Viewpoints

• Making predictions and inferences
• Newspaper article analysis
• Main ideas and supporting details

3. Interpersonal Communication • Conduct interviews in role play/fluency in

communication
• Connect and express ideas in conversation
• Justify to persuade

4. Presentational Speaking • Short oral presentation

• Explain viewpoints of an issue
• Impromptu speech

5. Presentational Writing • Expressing Ideas clearly

• Write well-organized piece of writings (Summaries)

Unit of Work
Unit of work outlines the topics, Text-types to be used, essential KSAVs
to be achieved and the learning objectives that will work towards
achieving the essential KSAVS for each benchmark. It basically presents
what the teacher is expected to teach per the set standard. Teachers are
advised to use the learning objectives to create lesson topics and lesson
objectives in preparing lessons. Brief content background of each topic is
provided to aid teacher’s lesson preparation.

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Unit 1: Interpretative Listening

Content Standard 9.5.1: Students will be able to analyse and interpret

information, concepts and ideas orally from culturally authentic sources
on a variety of topics in English.

Benchmark [Link]: Demonstrate understanding of extended speech on

familiar and unfamiliar topics.

Topic: Extended speech

Text type: Radio play, drama, song lyrics, lectures, recorded

conversations.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Process Skills Attitude Values

Extended speech Logical reasoning Listening Corporative Individuality
Main ideas, theme, Speaking Responsible Openness
facts, opinion Open-minded Justice

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Define and write the term ‘Extended Speech’ for easy reference.
ii. Listen and identify the main ideas and issues mentioned.
iii. Categorize facts and opinions from the extended speech.

Content background:

1. Extended speech is monologue in literature and drama – a type

of monologue in which a character directly addresses an audience or
speak his thoughts aloud while alone or while the other actors keep
silent.
2. Main ideas/issues - the point of the talk
3. Facts – information that makes a talk a true talk, based on facts and
evidences
4. Opinions – a view or judgment formed about something

Teaching Strategies:
Provide an audio recording of a drama/play and the students will listen to
identify the extended speech; the main ideas, themes, issues, facts and
opinion.

Learning Strategies:
Listen to the recorded audio to identify the extended speech; the main
ideas, themes, issues, facts & opinion.

Relevant Resources:
-- McDougal, Littell Basic Skills in English – Orange Level
-- Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary – 7th Edition
-- Prentice Hall – Literature, Teacher’s Edition Grade 8, 2007

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 Grade 9

Suggested Resources:
-- Lecture_listening_and_note-taking_dhb.pdf
-- [Link]
%20comprehension%20as%20a%20complex%20skill%20and%20
the%20sub-skills%20involved%20i

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Unit 1: Interpretative Listening

Content Standard 9.5.1: Students will be able to analyse and interpret
information, concepts and ideas orally from culturally authentic sources
on a variety of topics in English.

Benchmark [Link]: Follow presentations on familiar and unfamiliar

topics in different situations.

Topic: Critical listening

Text type: Radio play/drama, speeches, lectures, you tube

documentaries.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Process Skills Attitude Values

Set purpose Logical reasoning Listening Corporation Individuality
Identify hint Responsible Openness
Eliminate barriers Open-minded Justice
Questioning text

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Define what critical listening is.
ii. List the strategies for critical listening.
iii. Demonstrate critical listening.

Content background:

What is critical listening?

Critical listening involves analyzing a speaker’s message in order to
judge whether the message is accurate and reliable. Use the following
strategies as you listen to public speakers:
• Determine the Speaker’s Purpose Think about the background,
viewpoint, and possible motives of the speaker. Separate facts from
opinions. Listen carefully to details and evidence that a speaker uses
to support the message.
• Listen for the Main Idea Figure out the speaker’s main message
before allowing yourself to bedistracted by seemingly convincing
details.
• Recognize Persuasive Speech Pay attention to a speaker’s tone,
mood, and emotion. Also, speakers may present information in a
particular way to persuade you to accept an idea. Persuasive
devices such as glittering generalities, either/or reasoning, and
bandwagon or snob appeal may represent faulty reasoning and
provide misleading information.
• Recognize Rhetorical Devices A speaker may draw attention to
important ideas with repetition of words and phrases or by changing
the cadence, or rhythm and timing, of the speech.
Source: McDougal Littell Literature (2008)

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Teaching Strategies:
Go through the strategies for critical listening and then get the students
to try out the steps to become critical listeners. Inform students about the
task for the listening lesson.

Learning Strategies:
Listen and make notes of the listening strategies and practice the
strategies.

Relevant Resources:
-- McDougal Littell – Literature (2008) a division of Houghton Mifflin
Company.
-- Prentice Hall – Literature, Teacher’s Edition Grade 8, 2007
-- Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary – 7th Edition

Suggested Resources:
-- McDougal, Littell 'Basic Skills in English' – Orange Level
-- [Link]
[Link]

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Unit 2: Interpretative Reading

Content Standard 9.5.2: Students will be able to analyse and interpret
information, concepts and ideas in writing from culturally authentic
sources on a variety of topics in English.

Benchmark [Link]: Demonstrate understanding of viewpoints expressed

in literary and non-literary text from a variety of culturally authentic
sources.

Topic: Viewpoints

Text type: Literary and non-literary text: Short story, essay.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Skills Attitude Values Process

Reading - for Reading Corporation Individuality Logical reasoning
viewpoints Responsible Openness Decision-making
Open-minded Justice

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Define what viewpoint is.
ii. List the viewpoint of a literary text and a non-literary text.
iii. Comment on which point of view they agree with and why.

Content background:
What is viewpoint, what is literary and non-literary text?
1. Viewpoint or Point of view - is the angle of considering things, which
shows us the opinion or feelings of an individual in a situation. It is
a way for thinking or looking at things.
2. Literary – related to literature or works of creativity like stories,
poems, play, films, songs etc..
3. Non-literary – does not related to works of literature. Based on
facts, etc..
4. Viewpoint can be a position giving a good view or a person’s
opinion or point of view

Teaching Strategies:
The teacher discuss the definition of view point and then give out copies
of short story and essay for students to identify and list the viewpoint.

Learning Strategies:
The students will take note of the meaning of viewpoint and then read
short story and essay to identify the viewpoints.

Relevant Resources:
-- Prentice Hall – Literature -Teacher’s Edition Grade 8 (2007)
-- Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary – 7th Edition

Suggested Resources:
-- [Link]/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Advanced-
[Link] e-book
“ Literacy: Cross-curricular Approach’s, Grades 7 – 12”
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 Grade 9

Unit 2: Interpretative Reading

Content Standard 9.5.2: Students will be able to analyse and interpret

information, concepts and ideas in writing from culturally authentic
sources on a variety of topics in English.

Benchmark [Link]: Make inferences and prediction from a written

source.

Topic: Making predictions and inferences

Text type: Short story, essay, photos.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Process Skills Attitude Values

inference & prediction Logical reasoning Reading Corporation Individuality
makings Responsible Openness
Open-minded Justice

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Define ‘prediction’ and ‘inferences’.
ii. Predict the content from the cover of a book.
iii. Make inference from the introductory paragraph.

Content Background:

Making predictions and inferences

1. Prediction – guess the content
2. Inferences - conclusion drawn from evidence in a text or reasoning
about the text. Information is implied and not directly stated.

Teaching Strategies:
Explain the two terms: what prediction and inferences then provide book
covers, photos and introductory paragraph of an essay for the students to
predict and infer for the content.

Learning Strategies:
Take note on the two key terms and then practice making predictions and
inferences of the content.

Relevant Resources:
-- Prentice Hall – Literature, Teacher’s Edition Grade 8 2007
-- Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary – 7th Edition

Suggested Resources:
-- [Link]/article/making-inferences-and-drawing-
conclusions e-book “ Literacy: Cross-curricular Approach’s, Grades
7 – 12”

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Unit 2: Interpretative Reading

Content Standard 9.5.2: Students will be able to analyse and interpret
information, concepts and ideas in writing from culturally authentic
sources on a variety of topics in English.

Benchmark [Link]: Demonstrate understating of significant points and

essential details presented through newspaper articles or official
documents.

Topic: Newspaper article analysis

Text type: Newspaper, official documents, reports, literary texts, essays.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Process Process Skills Attitude Values

Read for significant Logical reasoning Reading Corporation Individuality
and essential points Responsible Openness
Open-minded Justice

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Define the key term: ‘significant point’ and ‘essential details’.
ii. Identify and make significant points from newspaper article or
official documents.
iii. Identify and make essential details from newspaper article or official
documents.

Content Background:
1. Significant points – important points or key-terms that hint the main
idea. The main idea of a work of non-fiction work summarizes the
work while details in the work support the main idea. Sometimes the
author directly states the main idea, more often the author implies,
or suggests, the main idea. To identify the implied main idea,
connect details to determine what they have in common. Use these
connections to help you figure out the main idea of a work.
2. Essential details – vital details that make the meaning stands out/
clear. Or a basic, necessary element.

Teaching Strategies:
Explain the two key terms: significant points and essential details then
allow the students to identify the two terms from the essay and short
story provided.

Learning Strategies:
Read and identify and highlight the significant points and essential details.

Relevant Resources:
-- Prentice Hall – Literature -Teacher’s Edition Grade 8 (2007)
-- Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary – 7th Edition
Suggested Resources:
-- [Link]
&pq=what+is+significant+pont&sc=8-25&cvid=F70FFF0F8F19450B
8EA8016B1FF66BBC&FORM=QBRE&sp=1&ajf=70
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Unit 2: Interpretative Reading

Content Standard 9.5.2: Students will be able to analyse and interpret
information, concepts and ideas in writing from culturally authentic
sources on a variety of topics in English.

Benchmark [Link]: Demonstrate understanding of main ideas and

supporting details from different types of texts that contain
high-frequency idioms.

Topic: Main ideas and supporting details

Text type: Short stories, essay, newspaper that contains high-frequency

idioms, biographies, academic texts.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Process Skills Attitude Values

Main ideas, Logical reasoning Reading Corporation Individuality
supporting details Writing Responsible Openness
& high frequency Open-minded Justice
idioms

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Define what main idea, supporting details and idioms is.
ii. Identify main idea and supporting details from newspaper article or
official documents.
iii. Identify high frequency idioms from newspaper article or official
documents.

Content Background:

1. Main idea - central point or message convey in a passage or text

2. Support details - details that support the main ideas
3. High-frequency idioms – idioms that are more frequently used
4. Idioms – is an expression, word or phrase that which means
something different from its literal meaning but can be understood.
For example, Kill two birds with one stone; piece of cake; takes two
to tango,
5. Idioms are not meant to be taken literally.

Teaching Strategies:
Give out copies of newspaper articles to the students.

Learning Strategies:
Read, identify and take note of main ideas, support ideas and idioms.

Relevant Resources:
-- Prentice Hall – Literature -Teacher’s Edition Grade 8 (2007)
-- McDougal, Littell, Basic Skills in English – Orange Level
-- Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary – 7th Edition

Suggested Resources:
-- e-book Oxford Dictionary of Idioms

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Unit 3: Interpersonal Communication

Content Standard 9.5.3: Students will be able to engage in

conversations and exchange information, concepts and ideas orally and
in writing with a variety of speakers or readers on a variety of topics in a
culturally appropriate context in English.

Benchmark [Link]: Communicate with moderate fluency and

spontaneity on familiar topics, even in complex situation.

Topic: Conduct interviews in role-play/Fluency in communication

Text type: Short stories, essay, official documents, reports.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Process Skills Attitude Values

Conduct Logical reasoning Communication Corporation Individuality
interviews Responsible Openness
Role play Open-minded Justice
Fluency in
communication

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. List the steps in conducting an interview.
ii. Practice conducting interviews in-turn.
iii. Take part in a role play and conduct interview.

Content Background:

1. Steps in interview -:
a. Prepare for interview –
• Identify your purposes
• Draw up questions
b. Conducting the interview
• Listening actively-good questions, eye contact & attentive
listening
• Respect other’s view
2. Role-play - play the role of different professional, high profile people
and interview the person to get more details or information.

Teaching Strategies:
Explain the steps in making an interview and the students choose
different character and practice their interview.

Learning Strategies:
Role play an interview session.

Relevant Resources:
-- [Link]
=what+is+impromptu+
-- Prentice Hall – Literature -Teacher’s Edition Grade 8 (2007)

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 Grade 9

-- Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary – 7th Edition

Suggested Resources:
-- [Link]
=what+is+impromptu+speech&oq=what+is+impromptu&gs_l=psy-

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Unit 3: Interpersonal Communication

Content Standard 9.5.3: Students will be able to engage in conversation
and exchange information, concepts and ideas orally and in writing with a
variety of speakers or readers on a variety of topics in a culturally
appropriate context in English.

Benchmark [Link]: Express and connect ideas when engaged in a

lengthy conversation.

Topic: Connect and express ideas in conversation

Text type: Charts, picture, short stories, essay, official documents.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Process Skills Attitude Values

Express and Logical reasoning Communication Corporation Individuality
connect Responsible Openness
ideas Open-minded Justice

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Identify the different uses of various logical connectors.
ii. Practice using logical connectors to connect ideas.
iii. Express and connect ideas to tell a story in-turn in groups of four
using a picture.

Content background:

Conversations are informal, but they are an important form of

communicating. When two or more people exchange messages, it is
important for each person to contribute and actively listen to the other
person. How to express and connect ideas

Guidelines for Discussion

• Be informed about the topic.
• Participate in the discussion; ask questions, and respond
• appropriately to questions.
• Don’t talk while someone else is talking.
• Support statements and opinions with facts and examples.
• Listen attentively; be courteous and respectful of others’ viewpoints.
• Work toward the goal; avoid getting sidetracked by unrelated topics.

Use logical connectors such as: in addition to, furthermore, however, on

the other hand, on the same note, beside.

Adopted from McDougal Littell Literature (2008)

Teaching Strategies:
Explain different logical connectors and allow the students to use the
logical connectors to connect their ideas.

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 Grade 9

Learning Strategies:
Use the logical connectors to connect their ideas and write paragraphs.

Relevant Resources:
-- McDougal Littell Literature (2008)
-- Prentice Hall – Literature -Teacher’s Edition Grade 8 (2007)
-- Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary – 7th Edition

Suggested Resources:
-- [Link]
20connectors%3F&qs=n&form=QBRE&sp=-1&pq=&sc=0-0&sk=&c
vid=4010784C1AF34E3292A67F7C27CEE71F

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Unit 3: Interpersonal Communication

Content Standard 9.5.3: Students will be able to engage in conversation
and exchange information, concepts and ideas orally and in writing with a
variety of speakers or readers on a variety of topics in a culturally
appropriate context in English.

Benchmark [Link]: Justify personal preferences, needs, and feelings in

order to persuade others.

Topic: Justify to persuade

Text type: Charts, picture, short stories, essay, official document.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Process Skills Attitude Values

Justify with Logical reasoning Communication Corporation Individuality
reasons Speaking Responsible Openness
Writing Open-minded Justice

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Analyse personal preferences, needs and feelings to justify point in
communication.
ii. Justify points reasonably.
iii. Evaluate justifications made to persuade others on a variety of
topics in a culturally appropriate context.

Content Background:
We justify personal preference by giving reasons why we made certain
decision. The decision has to be backed with reasons. Reasons are
declarations made to justify an action, decision, or belief. For example,
“I carry an umbrella because it rains so often.” Personal preference is a
particular preference or point of view that is personal. The reason can be
bias, opinion or based on certain facts or personal experiences
1. We justify by making references to certain experiences, beliefs,
values etc….
2. We also justify with evidence to support our preference.

Teaching Strategies:
Explain the key terms: personal preference, needs, feelings and
references. Get students into pairs to communicate and persuade.

Learning Strategies:
Express their personal preference, needs, feelings, and justify them with
valid reasons in order to persuade.
Relevant Resources:
-- McDougal, Littell Basic Skills in English – Orange Level
-- Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary – 7th Edition
Suggested Resources:
-- [Link]/.../Developing-skill-in-expressing-myself-orally-or-
in-writing
-- Prentice Hall – Literature -Teacher’s Edition Grade 8 (2007)
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 Grade 9

Unit 4: Presentational Speaking

Content Standard 9.5.4: Students will be able to present information,
concepts and ideas to an audience of listeners on a variety of topics in a
culturally appropriate context in English.

Benchmark [Link]: Deliver a short presentation on social, academic, or

work topics with appropriate complexity for the target audience.

Topic: Short oral presentation

Text type: Charts, picture, short stories, essay, official document.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Process Skills Attitude Values

Presentation Logical reasoning Speaking Corporation Individuality
skills – Research, Responsible Openness
organize, outline Open-minded Justice
and present

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Identify essential aspects of oral presentation.
ii. Research, organize and outline notes for oral presentation.
iii. Present their topic orally.

Content Background:
1. Oral presentation involved: delivering an address to an audience,
Brief discuss of a topic in order to impact knowledge or to stimulate
discussion.
Things to prepare for oral presentation:
• Identify the audience (what kind of group are you presenting to?);
• the purpose (why are you presenting this presentation); and
• the occasion (is it formal, what event? Etc….)

2. Research, organize notes, make outline, use visual aids and practice
before actual presentation

Teaching Strategies:
Explain the essential aspects of oral presentation and guide the students
into preparing for the presentation. Give out topics for presentation.
Learning Strategies:
Prepare and present the talk/speech.
Relevant Resources:
-- Prentice Hall – Literature -Teacher’s Edition Grade 8 (2007)
-- McDougal, Littell Basic Skills in English – Orange Level
-- Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary – 7th Edition
Suggested Resources:
-- [Link]/.../Developing-skill-in-expressing-myself-orally-or-
in-writing

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 English Teacher Guide

Unit 4: Presentational Speaking

Content Standard 9.5.4: Students will be able to present information,
concepts and ideas to an audience of listeners on a variety of topics in a
culturally appropriate context in English.

Benchmark [Link]: Explain viewpoint on an issue of interest and provide

advantages and disadvantages of the various opinions.

Topic: Explain viewpoints of an issue

Text type: Charts, picture, short stories, essay, official documents,

academic texts.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Process Skills Attitude Values

Viewpoints, Logical reasoning Speaking Corporation Individuality
advantages & Responsible Openness
disadvantages Open-minded Justice

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Listen to an issue and identify its viewpoint.
ii. Identify and explain advantages and disadvantages of that
viewpoint.

Content background:
1. Viewpoint – a position giving a good view or a person’s opinion or
point of view
2. Viewpoint or perspective, standpoint, angle, position, point of
observation
3. Advantages and disadvantages of certain point of view. For
example to view thing through only one position like the ways
parent’s see things as oppose to the way children see things. Think
of factors such as experiences, mental ability to comprehension,
physical abilities to handle such issues, etc….

Teaching Strategies:
Allow the students to practice identifying viewpoints from different
real-life situations like boy-girl relationship, drug abuse or alcohol abuse
and give their viewpoints.

Learning Strategies:
Identify viewpoints from familiar social issues mentioned above and
present their viewpoints.

Relevant Resources:
-- Prentice Hall – Literature -Teacher’s Edition Grade 8 (2007)
-- McDougal, Littell Basic Skills in English – Orange Level
-- Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary – 7th Edition
Suggested Resources:
-- [Link]/.../Developing-skill-in-expressing-myself-orally-or-
in-writing

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 Grade 9

Unit 4: Presentational Speaking

Content Standard 9.5.4: Students will be able to present information,

concepts and ideas to an audience of listeners on a variety of topics in a
culturally appropriate context in English.

Benchmark [Link]: Speak using different time frames and appropriate

mood with good control

Topic: Impromptu speech

Text type: charts, picture, short stories, essay, official documents,

reports.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Process Skills Attitude Values

Impromptu Logical reasoning Speaking Corporation Individuality
speech Responsible Openness
Open-minded Justice

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. List the various aspects of an impromptu speech.
ii. Present an impromptu speech.

Content Background:

Impromptus speech
An impromptu speech is a speech that you have to make without much
or any time to prepare. While impromptus speech may seem like a cruel
trick from a student's point of view, it actually builds confidence and is
great preparation for life.

At some point in your life, however, you may be asked to speak without
notice. There are a few things you can do to avoid panic and
embarrassment. – from: [Link]/

1. Grab a pen and a piece of paper. If you have a few moments before
your speech is expected to begin, grab a writing utensil and
something to write on, whether it's a napkin, envelope, or the back
of a receipt you have on hand, and jot down a few thoughts.

2. Highlight a few interesting or significant points. Keep in mind, your

impromptu speech doesn't have to be long. A little-known fact about
effective speeches is that if you start with a good line and then end
with a really great punch, the speech will be perceived as a total
success. So the beginning and ending markers are critical. The
middle portion of your speech should relate to the event you're
attending or the class assignment, but if you have to choose one
great moment, your ending line is particularly important. If you can
walk away gracefully, your speech will be a hit, so keep your big
zinger for last.

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 English Teacher Guide

3. Try to memorize key points. If you have time before your speech,
create an outline of the major themes or points and commit it to
memory with a memorization trick, like an acronym. Don't try to
remember the entire speech in detail like this; just remember
important points.
4. Hijack the topic. There is an old trick that politicians use when
they're being interviewed on TV, and once you realize this, you can
use it yourself. They think of questions ahead of time (or topics to
discuss), prepare some talking points, and talk about those, despite
the topic or question they're given. This is a handy trick when you're
facing a hard question or asked to discuss a topic with which you're
unfamiliar.
5. Remember you're in charge of this time. Your goal is to deliver a
one-sided conversation, off the cuff, so you are in complete control.
Relax and make it your own. If you want to make this a funny story
about your pesky little brother who always bothers you during home
work time, then do it. Everyone will applaud your effort.
6. Feel free to acknowledge that you have not prepared for a speech. If
you are speaking in front of friends or family, it may ease your
nervousness to express your lack of preparation. This should not
be an attempt to garner pity, but rather a way to put yourself and
your audience at ease. Then, take a deep breath before you begin
speaking. Zone out the audience or choose someone specific to
focus on, whichever makes you more comfortable.
7. Begin with your introductory sentence, elaborate, then start working
your way to your ending sentence. Fill in the middle space with as
many points as you can, elaborating on each one as you go. Just
concentrate on the zinger you've reserved for the end.
8. As you deliver your speech, concentrate on diction and tone. If you
are thinking about this, you won't be thinking about the eyes
watching you. Your mind can't think about too many things at once,
so think about breathing, enunciating your words, and controlling
your tone, and you'll maintain more control.
What to Do If You Draw a Blank
If you suddenly lose your train of thought or draw a complete blank,
there are a few you can do to keep from panicking.
1. Pretend you're pausing on purpose. Walk back and forth slowly, as if
you're letting your last point sink in.
2. There is always a jokester or friendly person who will stand out in the
crowd. Make eye contact and try to draw a response from him or her
while you think.
3. If you need more time to think, you may want to ask the audience a
question. Have a few prepared ahead, like "Do you have any
questions," or "Can everyone hear me okay?"
4. If you still can't remember what you were going to say, make up a
reason to pause the speech. You can say, "I'm sorry, but my throat is
very dry. Can I please get a glass of water?" Someone will go to get
you a drink, and you will have time to think of two or three points to
talk about.

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 Grade 9

If these tricks don't appeal to you, think of your own. The goal is to
have something ready for every possible scenario ahead of time. If you
know you may be asked to give an impromptu speech soon, try going
through the entire preparation process with a few common speech
topics.

When caught off guard, many people can suffer extreme anxiety about
speaking off the cuff. That's why the best speakers are always prepared.

Teaching Strategies:
Explain the guides on impromptu speech. Allow the students to practice
and present impromptu speech.

Learning Strategies:
Students prepare and present their impromptu speech.

Relevant Resources:
-- Prentice Hall – Literature -Teacher’s Edition Grade 8 (2007)
-- McDougal, Littell “Basic Skills in English – Orange Level
-- Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary – 7th Edition

Suggested Resources:
-- [Link]/.../Developing-skill-in-expressing-myself-orally-or-
in-writing
-- [Link]

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 English Teacher Guide

Unit 5: Presentational Writing

Content Standard 9.5.5: Students will be able to present information,
concepts and ideas to an audience of readers on a variety of topics in a
culturally appropriate context in English.

Benchmark [Link]: Express, in writing, ideas on a variety of topics

presented in clear organized texts.

Topic: Expressing ideas clearly

Text type: Charts, picture, short stories, essay, official document, reports,
academic texts.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Process Skills Attitude Values

Expressing Logical reasoning Writing Corporation Individuality
ideas Responsible Openness
Open-minded Justice

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Examine the properties of a clear and organized text.
ii. Analyse and list logical connectors that connects ideas.
iii. Write clear and organized text.

Content Background:

Unity
A paragraph has unity when all the sentences support and develop one
stated or implied idea. Use the following technique to create unity in
your paragraphs:

Write a Topic Sentence A topic sentence states the main idea of the
paragraph; all other sentences in the paragraph provide supporting
details. A topic sentence is often the first sentence in a paragraph.

However, it may also appear later in a paragraph or at the end, to

summarize or reinforce the main idea.

Coherence
A paragraph is coherent when all its sentences are related to one
another and each flows logically to the next. Use the following
techniques to make your paragraphs more coherent:
• Present your ideas in the most logical order.
• Use pronouns, synonyms, and repeated words to connect ideas.
• Use transitional words to show relationships among ideas.

In the model shown here, the writer used several techniques to create a
coherent paragraph. (Where is the model? Need to insert as stated)
Adopted from: McDougal Littell – Literature (2008)

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 Grade 9

Teaching Strategies:
Explain the features of a clear and organized text. Allow the students to
identify parts of a well-organized text.

Learning Strategies:
Write well organized text following the guide provided.

Relevant Resources:
-- McDougal Littell – Literature (2008)
-- Prentice Hall – Literature -Teacher’s Edition Grade 8 (2007)
-- McDougal, Littell “Basic Skills in English – Orange Level
-- Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary – 7th Edition

Suggested Resources:
-- [Link]/.../Developing-skill-in-expressing-myself-orally-or-
in-wr

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 English Teacher Guide

Unit 5: Presentational Writing

Content Standard 9.5.5: Students will be able to present information,
concepts and ideas to an audience of readers on a variety of topics in a
culturally appropriate context in English.

Benchmark [Link]: Write work related documents (fill out an application,

prepare a resume, and write a business letter).

Topic: Write work-related documents

Text type: Essay, official document, application form, resume, business

letter, curriculum vitae.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Process Skills Attitude Values

Curriculum vitae Logical reasoning Writing Corporation Individuality
Responsible Openness
Open-minded Justice

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Examine structure of a Curriculum Vitae.
ii. Brainstorm ideas to write a curriculum vitae.
iii. Construct a curriculum vitae.

Content Background:

Work related documents: Curriculum Vitae

Elements of CV:
a. Personal Details - Name, Age, Sex, Date of Birth, Home Province,
Country, etc
b. Personal Objectives
c. Certificates completed so far
d. Other productive Skills
e. Hobbies
f. Referees

Teaching Strategies:
Give the layout of the curriculum vitae. Allow the students to follow the
example/samples and write their own.

Learning Strategies:
Follow the sample and write own curriculum vitae.

Relevant Resources:
-- Prentice Hall – Literature -Teacher’s Edition Grade 8 (2007)
-- McDougal, Littell “Basic Skills in English – Orange Level
-- Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary – 7th Edition

Suggested Resources:
-- [Link]/.../Developing-skill-in-expressing-myself-orally-or-
in-writing

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 Grade 9

Unit 5: Presentational Writing

Content Standard 9.5.5: Students will be able to present information,
concepts and ideas to an audience of readers on a variety of topics in a
culturally appropriate context in English.

Benchmark [Link]: Write well-organized essays, summaries, and reports

on a broad range of topics including those that have been personally
researched using authentic texts.

Topic: Well-organized piece of writings (Summaries)

Text type: Different summary types, reports.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Process Skills Attitude Values

Research, Logical reasoning Reading & Corporation Individuality
organizing, writing writing Responsible Openness
and editing. Open-minded Justice

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Identify a topic, research and plan & outline – summary.
ii. Write the first draft of the summary.
iii. Edit and write the second draft of your summary.

Content Background:

When you summarize, you use your own words to retell, the main
ideas and most important details of something you’ve read or heard.
Though a summary doesn’t include your own opinions or ideas, you do
need to decide which ideas and information are most important to
include. A summary is generally no more than one-third the length of the
original text using fewer words.

Teaching Strategies:
Teacher provide guide on how to write a well-organized summary.

Learning Strategies:
Follow the guide to write their own summary.

Relevant Resources:
-- Prentice Hall – Literature -Teacher’s Edition Grade 8 (2007)
-- McDougal, Littell “Basic Skills in English – Orange Level
-- Oxford Advance Learner’s Dictionary – 7th Edition

Suggested Resources:
-- [Link]/.../Developing-skill-in-expressing-myself-orally-or-
in-writing

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 English Teacher Guide

Strand 6: English
Strand 6 consists of three units:
1. Conventions of Standard English
2. Knowledge of Language
3. Vocabulary Acquisition and Use

Unit Topic

1. Conventions of Standard • Parallel structure.

English • Semicolons, conjunctive adverbs and independent
clauses
• Colon
• Spelling

2. Knowledge of Language • Reading and comprehension

• Written composition – Personal experience

3. Vocabulary Acquisition • Vocabulary usage

and Use • Using contextual clues to determine meanings
• Parts of speech (and sentence elements)
• Figurative language
• Different types of figures of speech (euphemism,
oxymoron)
• Nuances
• Writing skills

Unit of Work
Unit of work outlines the topics, Text-types to be used, essential KSAVs
to be achieved and the learning objectives that will work towards
achieving the essential KSAVS for each benchmark. It basically presents
what the teacher is expected to teach per the set standard. Teachers are
advised to use the learning objectives to create lesson topics and lesson
objectives in preparing lessons. Brief content background of each topic is
provided to aid teacher’s lesson preparation.

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Unit 1: Conventions of Standard English

Content Standard 9.6.1: Students will be able to demonstrate command

of the conventions of Standard English capitalisation, punctuation and
spelling when writing.

Benchmark [Link]: Demonstrate command of the convention of

Standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking by using
correct Parallel Structure.

Topic: Parallel structure

Text Types: Magazines, newspapers, essays, reports, academic reviews,

articles.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Process Skills Attitude Values

Grammar Logical reasoning, Writing, Individuality, Participatory
convention construction/ Generating ideas Self-discipline, Responsible
deconstruction Making Independence Creativity
inferences
Analysing

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Identify parallel structure in sentences.
ii. Demonstrate understanding of correct usage of parallel structures
in sentences.
iii. Write/speak sentences containing parallel structures.

Content Background:

In grammar, parallelism, also known as parallel structure or parallel

construction, is a balance within one or more sentences of similar
phrases or clauses that have the same grammatical structure. The
application of parallelism affects readability and may make texts easier
to process. Wikipedia

Recognize parallel structure when you see it. Whenever you include a
list of actions or items, you must use equal grammatical units. If the first
item is a noun, all other items in the sentence must be nouns.

These elements should be in the same grammatical form so that they are
parallel.

Parallelism is a similarity of grammatical form for similar elements of

meaning within a sentence or among sentences.

What is an example of parallel structure?

Parallel structure should be used when you connect clauses with a
coordinating conjunction such as: for, and, nor, or, but, so, or yet. Some
examples of this include: Correct: Every morning, we make our bed, eat
breakfast and feed the dog. Incorrect: Every morning, we make our bed,
eating breakfast and feed the dog.

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Here are five parallelism rule

1. Use parallel structure with elements joined by coordinating
conjunctions.
Faulty: Your company and what its potential is are of great value to me.

Correct: Your company and its potential are of great value to me.

2. Use parallel structure with elements in lists or in a series.

Faulty: The tribes emphasized collective survival, mutual aid and
being responsible for one another. parallel parallel
NOT parallel

Correct: The tribes emphasized collective survival, mutual aid and

responsibility for one another. parallel parallel
NOT parallel

3. Use parallel structure with elements being compared.

(X is more than/better than Y)
Faulty: I like swimming better than to dive.

Correct: I like swimming better than diving.

4. Use parallel structure with elements joined by a linking verb or a verb

of being.
Faulty: To succeed better opening a new opportunity.

Correct: To succeed is to open a new opportunity.

5. Use parallel structure with elements joined by a correlative

conjunction.

Faulty: Clara not only wants money but also fame.

Correct: Clara wants not only money but also fame.

Correct: Clara not only wants money but also wants fame.

Sentence elements that are alike in function should also be alike in

construction. These elements should be in the same grammatical form so
that they are parallel.

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Using parallel structure in your writing will help with

1) economy
2) clarity
3) equality
4) delight.
Parallel Structure By: Jaden Aiona & Cierra Thompson

Teaching Strategies:
Define parallel structures and their functions in different sentences.

Learning Strategies:
Identify parallel structures in sentences and demonstrate understanding
by applying rules of parallel structure to construct sentences.

Relevant Resources:
-- Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Basic Skills in English,
-- Advance oxford English 3 & 4

Suggested Resources:
-- Create and Communication Book3.

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Unit 1: Conventions of Standard English

Content Standard 9.6.2: Students will be able to demonstrate command
of the conventions of Standard English capitalisation, punctuation and
spelling when writing.

Benchmark [Link]: Use a semicolon (and perhaps a conjunctive adverb)

to join two or more closely related independent clauses.

Topic: Semicolons, conjunctive adverbs and independent clauses

Text Types: Magazines, newspapers, essays, journals, narratives,

biographies.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Process Skills Attitude Values

Colons and Logical reasoning, Writing, Individuality Participatory,
quotations. Construction/ Generating ideas Self-discipline Responsible,
deconstruction Making inferences, Independence Creativity
Analysing

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Identify semicolons, conjunctive adverbs and independent clauses
in sentences.
ii. Demonstrate understanding of correct usage of semicolon in
sentences.
iii. Write/speak sentences containing semicolons, conjunctive adverbs
and independent clauses in sentences.

Content Background:

Definitions
The semicolon or semi-colon (;) is a punctuation mark that separates
major sentence elements. A semicolon can be used between two closely
related independent clauses, provided they are not already joined by a
coordinating conjunction.

A conjunctive adverb, adverbial conjunction, or subordinating adverb is

an adverb that connects two clauses by converting the clause it
introduces into an adverbial modifier of the verb in the main clause.
For example, in "I told him; thus, he knows" and "I told him. Thus he
knows", "thus" is a conjunctive adverb.

An independent clause is a clause that can stand by itself as a simple

sentence. An independent clause contains a subject and a predicate and
makes sense by itself. Independent clauses can be joined by using a
semicolon or by using a comma followed by a coordinating conjunction.
An independent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and
verb and expresses a complete thought.

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An independent clause is a sentence. Jim studied in the Sweet Shop

for his chemistry quiz.

A dependent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and

verb but does not express a complete thought.

Source: Wikipedia

Teaching Strategies:
Explain and differentiate between colons (:) and semi-colons, and explain
their functions in sentences.

Learning Strategies:
Identify colons in sentences and demonstrate understanding by applying
rules of colons to construct sentences.

Relevant Resources:
-- Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Basic Skills in English, vce
oxford English 3 & 4

Suggested Resources:
-- Create and Communication Book 4.

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Unit 1: Conventions of Standard English

Content Standard 9.6.2: Students will be able to demonstrate command
of the conventions of Standard English capitalisation, punctuation and
spelling when writing.

Benchmark [Link]: Use a colon to introduce a list or quotation.

Topic: The use of colon

Text Types: Magazines, newspapers, essays, reports, reviews, short

stories.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Process Skills Attitude Values

Colons and Logical reasoning, Writing, Individuality Participatory,
quotations. Construction/ Generating ideas Self-discipline Responsible,
deconstruction Making inferences, Independence Creativity
Analysing

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Identify colons in sentences.
ii. Identify instances of correct usage of colon in sentences.
iii. Write/speak sentences containing colons.

Content Background:

Colons can be confusing, that's true, but their function is actually quite
straightforward: they introduce related information. Learning how to use
colons correctly, along with other punctuation rules, can give your
writing more clarity.

Without knowing how to effectively use colons, a writer can end up just
putting colons everywhere, nowhere at all, or interchanging the colon
with a semicolon or comma. To avoid precisely that, let's take a look at
these 5 rules of colon usage.

5 Rules of Colon Usage

There are five key rules for colon usage that should always be followed:
1. Use a colon to introduce an item or list, if the list comes after a
complete sentence or independent clause. For example:
There are three things every dog needs: food, water, and healthcare.
This year I want to visit four amazing cities: Paris, London, New
York, and Barcelona.

2. Use colons between two sentences if the second sentence

emphasizes or illustrates the first. For example:
Thinking back, our trip to Ireland was the best: we saw some of the
most beautiful terrain this earth has to offer.
Traditionally, you had to capitalize the first word after a colon when
the colon introduced a complete sentence, but that has become a
style choice more than a rule.

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3. Use a colon to introduce a bulleted or numbered list. For

example:
The English language is spectacular. There are 14 different types of
punctuation marks:
Periods, Question Marks, Exclamation Points, Commas, Semicolons,
Colons, Dashes, Hyphens, Brackets, Braces, Parentheses,
Apostrophes, Quotation Marks, Ellipses’

Note: Capitalization and ending punctuation are optional for single

words or short phrases in bullet points or numbered lists.

4. Use a colon to introduce extended quotations. You should not use

quotation marks and you should single space the quotation and
indent from the left margin. For example:
Dyer's philosophy can be summed up in his belief that our thoughts
manifest our reality:
Act as if what you intend to manifest in life is already a reality.
Eliminate thoughts of conditions, limitations, or the possibility of it
not manifesting. If left undisturbed in your mind and in the mind of
intention simultaneously, it will germinate in the physical world.

5. Use a colon following a greeting (also known as a salutation) in a

formal or business letter. It does not matter if you are using the
person's first name, both first and last name, or their title, you
should always use a colon if the letter is formal. If the letter is
personal, then either a colon or comma is appropriate.
To Whom It May Concern:
Dear Mr. Wilson:

Teaching Strategies:
Explain and differentiate between colons (:) and semi-colons(;), and
explain their functions in sentences.

Learning Strategies:
Identify colons in sentences and demonstrate understanding by applying
rules of colons to construct sentences.

Relevant Resources:
-- Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Basic Skills in English,
Advance oxford English 3 & 4

Suggested Resources:
-- Create and Communication Book 3

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Unit 1: Conventions of Standard English

Content Standard 9.6.2: Students will be able to demonstrate command
of the conventions of Standard English capitalisation, punctuation and
spelling when writing.

Benchmark [Link]: Spell words correctly.

Topic: Spelling

Text Types: Jumbled words, newspaper, etc.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Process Skills Attitude Values

Grammar - Logical reasoning, Writing and Individuality, Participatory
spelling construction/ speaking, Self-discipline Responsible
words deconstruction Identifying, Independence Creativity
correctly Generating ideas,
Making inferences,
Analysing

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Spell given words correctly using the Conventions of Standard
English spelling rules.
ii. Identify words that do not follow the floss rule for spelling.
iii. Explore words that are commonly miss spelt.

Content Background:

Spelling
The process or activity of writing or naming the letters of a word;
The forming of words from letters according to accepted usage;
orthography (orthography is the conventional spelling system of a
language; it is the art of writing words with the proper letters,
according to accepted usage).

English Spelling Rules

The first spelling rules that students must know:
1. Every word has at least one vowel.
2. Every syllable has a vowel.
3. C can say /k/ or /s/. C says /s/ before an e, a, or y (cent, city,
cycle).
It says /k/ before everything else (cat, clip).
4. G can say /g/ or /j/. G may say /j/ before an e, i, or y (gem, giant,
gym). It says /g/ before everything else (garden, glad).
5. Q is always followed by a u (queen)
6. Double the consonants f, l, and s at the end of one-syllable word
that has just one vowel (stiff, spell, pass).
7. To spell the sound of /k/ at the end of a word, we use ck or k. Use
ck after a short vowel (sick). After everything else, use a k (milk).
8. Capitalise names.

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The Floss Rule for Spelling

If a word has only one vowel and ends in F, L, or S, double the last
letters (glass, kiss, stuff, fill). If the final s makes the /z/ sound, don’t
double it. (as, is,was, has, his)

Teaching Strategies:
Oral presentation – spell aloud words and put up jumbled words on
blackboard.

Learning Strategies:
Orally spell words and written exercise – undo jumbled words

Relevant Resources:
-- Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Basic Skills in English,
Advance oxford English 3 & 4

Suggested Resources:
-- All About Learning Press, 2020, Spelling Rules, [Link]
[Link]/category/spelling-rules/

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Unit 2: Knowledge of Language

Content Standard 9.6.3: Students will be able to apply knowledge of

language to make sense of how language functions in different contexts
to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more
fully when reading or speaking.

Benchmark [Link]: Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and

multiple-meaning words based on Grade 9. reading and content,
choosing from a range of strategies.

Topic: Critical reading

Text Types: News articles, selected paragraphs from books/novels,

research Papers, journals.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Process Skills Attitude Values

Language Logical reasoning Writing and Individuality, Participatory,
functions and Construction/ speaking, Self-discipline, Responsible,
contexts to deconstruction Generating ideas, Independence Creativity,
aid meaning Making Reflection
and style to inferences,
listening and Analysing
reading.

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Identify and define unknown words and homonyms in grade-level
readings.
ii. Read effectively for comprehension and meaning.

Content Background:

Homonyms/Multiple-meaning words
Homonyms, or multiple-meaning words are words that have the same
spelling and usually sound alike, but have different meanings (e.g. dog
bark, tree bark).

Teaching Strategies:
Prepare/give out reading material and students be grouped into 4-5
members.

Learning Objectives:
-- Students must read text and answer questions that follow.
Secondly, they are to summarise text in one paragraph.

Relevant Resources:
-- Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Basic Skills in English,
Advance oxford English 3 & 4

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 Grade 9

Suggested Resources
-- Vocabulary Spelling City, 2020, How Do You Learn Homonym
Spelling Lists?,
-- https//[Link]/[Link]

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 English Teacher Guide

Unit 2: Knowledge of Language

Content Standard 9.6.3: Students will be able to apply knowledge of
language to make sense of how language functions in different contexts
to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more
fully when reading or speaking.

Benchmark [Link]: Compose written accounts of personal experiences

using a variety of genres.

Topic: Written composition – (Personal experience)

Text Types: Autobiographies of famous people, personal dairies, journals,

biographies.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Process Skills Attitude Values

Personal Logical reasoning, Writing and reading, Individuality, Participatory,
experience Construction/ Generating ideas, Self-discipline, Responsible,
accounts deconstruction Making inferences, Independence Creativity
Analysing

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Construct well-structured sentences.
ii. Develop sentences into paragraphs.
iii. Write about self on any genre (school holiday, fishing/hunting
experience).

Content Background:

When someone writes about his/her own life story, it is called

autobiography.

Teaching Strategies:
Instruct students to collect information from reference books about
famous people and exemplify a 4 paragraph personal story (can be
fictitious). Provide criteria.

Learning Strategies:
Use criteria as guide to writing an autobiography.

Relevant Resources:
-- Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Basic Skills in English,
-- Advance oxford English 3 & 4

Suggested Resources:
-- Move into English 3 by Rex Sadler & Sandra Sadler.

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 Grade 9

Unit 3: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use.

Content Standard 9.6.4: Students will be able to determine or clarify the

meaning of unknown and multiple meaning words and phrases by using
context clues, analysing meaningful word parts, and consulting general
and specialised reference materials, as appropriate.

Benchmark [Link]: Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and

multiple meaning words and phrases based on Grade 9 reading and
content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.

Topic: Defining vocabulary in context

Text Types: News articles, books and passages, cross-word puzzles

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Process Skills Attitude Values

Meaning of Logical reasoning, Writing, speaking Individuality, Participatory,
unknown construction/ and listening, Self-discipline, Responsible,
and multiple deconstruction, Generating ideas, Independence Creativity
meaning words Correct usage of Making inferences,
and phrases, vocabularies in Analysing
context clues, simple and
meaningful complex
word parts.
sentences.

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Use learned vocabularies construct simple sentences.
ii. Construct well-structured sentences using learned vocabularies.
iii. Other vocabulary building exercises.
iv. Solve puzzles using vocabulary in context.

Content Background:

Definition and usage: Vocabulary is commonly defined as "all the words

known and used by a particular person". Knowing a word,
however, is not as simple as merely being able to recognize or use it.
There are several aspects of word knowledge that are used to measure
word knowledge.

This article reviews seven easy ways to improve your vocabulary and learn
new words.
Read, read, and read. ...
Keep a dictionary and thesaurus handy. ...
Use a journal. ...
Learn a word a day. ...
Go back to your roots. ...
Play some games. ...
Engage in conversations.

Source: [Link] › improve-expand-vocabulary

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 English Teacher Guide
Teaching Strategies:
Put up vocabularies on blackboard

Learning Strategies:
Define vocabularies and use each correctly in sentences (verbally/written)

Relevant Resources:
-- Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Basic Skills in English,
Advance oxford English 3 & 4

Suggested Resources:
-- [Link] › improve-expand-vocabulary

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 Grade 9

Unit 3: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use

Content Standard 9.6.4: Students will be able to determine or clarify the
meaning of unknown and multiple meaning words and phrases by using
context clues, analysing meaningful word parts, and consulting general
and specialised reference materials, as appropriate.

Benchmark [Link]: Use context (e.g. the overall meaning of a sentence,

paragraph, or text, (a word’s position or function in a sentence) as a clue
to the meaning of a word or phrase.

Topic: Using contextual clues to determine meanings.

Text Types: Newspaper articles, short stories, dairies/journals, narratives,

essays, reports.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Process Skills Attitude Values

Contextual Logical reasoning, Writing, Individuality, Participatory,
meanings and construction/ Generating ideas, Self-discipline, Responsible,
word functions deconstruction, Application of Independence Creativity
in word knowledge,
phrases, Making inferences,
sentences and Analysing
paragraphs

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Evaluate contextual clues for word and phrase meanings.
ii. Define words and phrases as used in the text using contextual
clues.
iii. Compare dictionary meanings of words used in the text to its
meaning as it is used in the text.

Content Background:

Context clues are more commonly found in nonfiction texts than in

fiction, although they are sometimes found in children's literature, often
with the goal of building readers' vocabulary. Words can have multiple
meanings, so being able to infer the correct definition from context is a
valuable reading comprehension skill.

What are context clues? Context clues are hints that an author gives to
help define a difficult or unusual word within a book. The clue may
appear within the same sentence as the word to which it refers or it may
follow in the next sentence. Because most of our vocabulary is gained
through reading, it is important that we are able to recognize and take
note of unknown or unfamiliar words.

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 English Teacher Guide

The most basic, and perhaps helpful type of context clues are
synonyms. If you can't decipher a meaning, adding a few synonyms,
or words with similar meanings, is a sure fire way to point to a word's
meaning. Let's take a look at a few examples: 1. It was an idyllic day -
sunny, warm, and perfect for a walk in the park. 2. She hums
continuously, or all the time, and it annoys me. 3. The crime he
committed was egregious; he'll never recover from this horrendous
scandal.

An explanation for an unknown word is given (a definition context clue)

within the sentence or in the sentence immediately after; specific
examples (an example context clue) used to define the term; There may
also be word-part context clues in which a common prefix, suffix, or root
will suggest at least part of the meaning of a word.

Teaching Strategies:
Give examples of word/phrase clues and use examples in sentences

Learning Strategies:
Identify word/phrase clues and use appropriately in sentences

Relevant Resources:
-- Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Basic Skills in English,
Advance oxford English 3 & 4

Suggested Resources:
-- Create and Communication book 3
-- English Basics 4 by Rex Sadler & Sandra Sadler

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 Grade 9

Unit 3: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use.

Content Standard 9.6.4: Students will be able to determine or clarify the

meaning of unknown and multiple meaning words and phrases by using
context clues, analysing meaningful word parts, and consulting general
and specialised reference materials, as appropriate.

Benchmark [Link]: Identify and correctly use patterns of word changes

that indicate different meanings or parts of speech (e.g. Analyse, analysis,
analytical/advocate, advocacy).

Topic: Word patterns

Text Types: Newspaper articles, short stories, dairies/journals

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Process Skills Attitude Values

Word patterns Logical reasoning, Writing, Individuality, Participatory,
and parts of construction/ Generating ideas, Self-discipline, Responsible,
speech. deconstruction, Identifying, Independence Creativity
Making inferences,
Analysing

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Identify elements of sentences and parts of speech in simple
sentences.
ii. Analyse sentences according to parts of speech and sentence
element.
iii. Break up sentences in appropriate parts of speech and sentence
elements.
iv. Construct well-structured sentences using correct parts of speech
and sentence elements.

Content Background:

Definitions
Parts of speech
Refers to word groupings according to the functions they perform in
sentences. The 8 parts of speech are: noun, verb, adjective, adverb,
pronoun, preposition, conjunction, and interjection. Every word in a
sentence can be defined as one of the 8 parts of speech. Generally, in a
sentence, someone/something does something. The subject (actor) in a
sentence is a noun or noun phrase.

Sentence elements
The subject and predicate make up the two basic structural parts of any
complete sentence. In addition, there are other elements, contained
within the subject or predicate, that add meaning or detail.

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 English Teacher Guide

These elements include the direct object, indirect object, and subject
complement.
For example:
He / ate/ an / apple. b. The/ thief/ stole/ the/ wallet
Prn/vb /art /noun art / n /vb / art / n (parts of speech)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

s v o s v o (sentence elements)
These elements include the direct object, indirect object, and subject
complement. All of these elements can be expanded and further
combined into simple, compound, complex, or compound/complex
sentences.

A complete sentence has three characteristics:

First, it begins with a capital letter.
In addition, it includes an end mark—either a period [ . ], question mark
[ ? ], or exclamation point [ ! ].
Most importantly, the complete sentence must contain at least one main
clause.

What are the 7 sentence patterns?

There are six basic or simple sentence patterns: Subject/Predicate,
Action Verb. Subject/Predicate, Action Verb/Direct Object. Subject/
Predicate, Action Verb/Adverb.

What are the 4 types of sentence structures?

There are four types of sentences: simple, compound, complex, and
compound-complex. Each sentence is defined by the use of
independent and dependent clauses, conjunctions, and subordinators.
Simple sentences: A simple sentence is an independent clause with no
conjunction or dependent clause.
A sentence may be composed of five different elements. – Subjects –
Verbs – Objects – Complements – Adverbials
What are the elements of sentence structure?
Subject, verb (also called predicate in structural grammar approach),
object (direct or indirect), adverbial modifier (of time, place or manner).
Then you can manipulate their order if you want to make questions or to
add emphasis.
When you ask questions, you replace one of them with a relevant
question word.

Teaching Strategies
Define parts of speech and sentence elements, identify parts of speech in
sentences and identify sentence elements in sentences.
Learning Strategies
Define parts of speech and sentence elements, use different parts of
speech in sentences and use different sentence elements in sentences.
Relevant Resources
-- Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Basic Skills in English,
Advance oxford English 3 & 4
Suggested Resources:
-- Create and Communicate Book 3

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 Grade 9

Unit 3: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use.

Content Standard 9.6.5: Students will be able to analyse and interpret
figurative language, word relationships and nuances in word meanings.

Benchmark [Link]: Demonstrate understanding of figurative language in

word meanings.

Topic: Figurative language

Text Types: Newspaper articles, short stories, dairies/journals.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Process Skills Attitude Values

Word Logical reasoning, Writing/speaking for Individuality, Participatory,
meanings construction/ clarity, Self-discipline, Responsible,
and figurative deconstruction, Interpretation, Independence Creativity
language. Generating ideas,
Making inferences,
Analysing

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Analyse and interpret figurative language, word relationships and
nuances in word meanings.
ii. Identify and analyse word relationships and nuances in word
meanings.
iii. Determine how different words express/denote different figurative
meanings when used in different contexts.
iv. Identify words/phrase that denote figurative language.
v. Understand how different words affect and change the meaning(s)
of sentences.

Content Background:

Alliteration is derived from Latin’s “Latira”. It means “letters of alpha-

bet”. It is a stylistic device in which a number of words, having the same
first consonant sound, occur close together in a series.

Consider the following examples:

But a better butter makes abutter better.
A big bully beats a baby boy.
Both sentences are alliterative because the same first letter of words (B)
occurs close together and produces alliteration in the sentence.

Alliteration is a term to describe a literary device in which a series of

words begin with the same consonant sound. A classic example is; “She
sells seashells by the sea-shore.” Another fan-favourite is;
“Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.”

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 English Teacher Guide

Alliteration is meant to be more than a tongue twister, though.

Alliteration occurs when words that start with the same sound (not just
the same letter) are used repeatedly in a phrase or sentence.
Alliteration occurs when words that start with the same sound (not just
the same letter) are used repeatedly in a phrase or sentence.

In literature, alliteration is the conspicuous repetition of identical initial

consonant sounds in successive or closely associated syllables within
a group of words, even those spelled differently. As a method of linking
words for effect, alliteration is also called head rhyme or initial rhyme.
For example, "humble house," or "potential power play." A familiar
example is "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers".

Teaching Strategies:
Define figurative language or speech.
Give examples figures of speech in sentences.

Learning Strategies:
Define figurative language or speech.
Use figures of speech in sentences.

Relevant Resources:
-- Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Basic Skills in English,
Advance oxford English 3 & 4

Suggested Resources:
-- Create and communicate Book 3.

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 Grade 9

Unit 3: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use

Content Standard 9.6.5: Students will be able to analyse and interpret
figurative language, word relationships and nuances in word meanings.

Benchmark [Link]. Identify and interpret figures of speech

(e.g. euphemism, oxymoron) in context and analyse their role in the text.

Topic: Different types of figures of speech (euphemism, oxymoron)

Text Types: Newspaper articles, short stories, dairies/journals

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Process Skills Attitude Values

Contextual Logical reasoning, Writing, Reading, Individuality, Participatory,
identification, construction/ Listening, Self-discipline, Responsible,
interpretation deconstruction, Generating ideas, Independence Creativity
and analysis of Making
figures of inferences,
speech. Analysing

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Define what euphuism and oxymoron is.
ii. Determine how different words express/denote different figurative.
iii. meanings when used in different contexts.
iv. Identify words/phrase that denote figurative language.
v. Analyse how different words affect and change the meaning(s) of
sentences.

Content Background:

oxymoron [ˌɒksɪˈmɔːrɒn]
NOUN
oxymorons (plural noun)
a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in
conjunction (e.g. faith unfaithful kept him falsely true).

There are two oxymorons in this sentence: "minor crisis" and "only
choice." If you're learning English as a second language, you might be
confused by these figures of speech. Read literally, they contradict
themselves. A crisis is defined as a time of serious difficulty or
importance. By that measure, no crisis is unimportant or minor. Similarly,
"choice" implies more than one option, which is contradicted by "only,"
which implies the opposite.

contradiction · contradiction in terms · self-contradiction · inconsistency

· incongruity · anomaly · conflict · absurdity · oddity · enigma · puzzle ·
mystery · conundrum · antinomy

Oxymorons have been used since the days of the ancient Greek poets,
and William Shakespeare sprinkled them throughout his plays, poems,
and sonnets. Oxymorons also feature in modern comedy and politics.
The conservative political writer William Buckley, for instance, became
famous for quotes like "an intelligent liberal is an oxymoron."

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Like other kinds of figurative language, oxymorons (or oxymora) are

often found in literature. As shown by this list of 100 awfully good
examples, oxymorons are also part of our everyday speech. You'll find
common figures of speech, plus references to works of classic and pop
culture. Further examples include;
absent presence, alone together, awful good, beggarly riches,
bittersweet, "brisk vacancy", cheerful pessimist, civil war, clearly
misunderstood, comfortable misery, conspicuous absence, cool
passion, crash landing, cruel kindness, darkness visible, deafening
silence, deceptively honest, definite maybe, deliberate speed, devout
atheist, dull roar, eloquent silence, even odds, exact estimate, extinct
life, falsely true, festive tranquillity, found missing, freezer burn, friendly
takeover, genuine imitation, good grief, growing smaller, guest host,
historical present, humane slaughter, icy hot, idiot savant, ill health,
impossible solution, intense apathy, joyful sadness, jumbo shrimp, larger
half, lascivious grace, lead balloon, liquid marble, living dead, living end,
living sacrifices, loosely sealed, loud whisper, loyal opposition, magic
realism, melancholy merriment, militant pacifist.
euphemism [ˈjuːfəmɪz(ə)m]
NOUN
euphemisms (plural noun)
a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to
be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or
embarrassing .The opposite of dysphemism. "the jargon has given us
‘downsizing’ as a euphemism for cuts"

synonyms:
polite term · substitute · mild alternative · indirect term · understatement
· underplaying · softening · politeness · genteelism · coy term

A euphemism/ˈjuːfəmɪzəm/is an innocuous word or expression used in

place of one that may be found offensive or suggest something
unpleasant. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use
bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the user wishes to downplay.
Euphemisms may be used to mask profanity or refer to taboo topics
such as disability, sex, excretion, or death in a polite way.
Source: Adapted from: Wikipedia

Teaching Strategies:
Define Figurative Language/Speech and give examples figures of speech
in sentences.

Learning Strategies:
Define Figurative Language/Speech and use figures of speech in
sentences.

Relevant Resources:
-- Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Basic Skills in English, vce
oxford English 3 & 4

Suggested Resources:
-- Create and communication Book 3

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 Grade 9

Unit 3: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use.

Content Standard 9.6.5: Students will be able to analyse and interpret
figurative language, word relationships and nuances in word meanings.

Benchmark [Link]: Identify nuances in the meaning of words with similar

denotations

Topic: Nuances

Text Types: Newspaper articles, short stories, dairies/journals, novels,

poems.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Logical Process Skills Attitude Values

Nuances, Logical reasoning, Writing/speaking Individuality, Participatory,
meaning construction/ for clarity, Self-discipline, Responsible,
of words with deconstruction, Generating ideas, Independence Creativity
similar Making inferences,
denotations. Analysing,
Identifying
different nuances

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Identify nuances in the meaning of words with similar denotations.
ii. Examine how different nuances contrast in meaning of words with
similar denotations.

Content Background:

nuacne [njuːɑːns]
NOUN
nuances (plural noun)
a subtle difference in or shade of meaning, expression, or sound.
"he was familiar with the nuances of the local dialect"
synonyms:
fine distinction · subtle distinction/difference · shade · shading ·
gradation · variation · modulation · degree · subtlety · nicety · refinement
· overtone

VERB
nuances (third person present) · nuanced (past tense) · nuanced (past
participle) · nuancing (present participle)
give nuances to.
"the effect of the music is nuanced by the social situation of listeners"

ORIGIN
late 18th century: from French, ‘shade, subtlety’, from nuer‘to shade’,
based on Latinnubes‘cloud’.
nuance Sentence

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 English Teacher Guide

Examples
• All this detective work and attention to linguistic nuance slows our
pace
• Because she is a chef, she notices every nuance of flavor in the
meal
• I don't want to miss a nuance from the great man, not even a flicker
of an eyelid.
• He was aware of every nuance in her voice.
• Look closely, and you will notice the nuance of color in the fall
leaves.
• Collin loves to analyze every little nuance of our conversation.
Adapted from: Wikipedia

Teaching Strategies:
Define Nuances and give examples of nuances sentences.

Learning Strategies:
Define Nuances and write 10 nuance sentences.

Relevant Resources:
-- Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Basic Skills in English, vce
oxford English 3 & 4

Suggested Resources:
-- Create and Communication Book 3

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 Grade 9

Unit 3: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use.

Content Standard 9.6.6: Students will be able to acquire and use

accurately general academic and domain-specific words and phrases
sufficient for reading, writing, speaking and listening at the college and
career readiness levels.

Benchmark [Link]: Acquire and use accurately general academic and

domain-specific words and phrases, sufficient for reading, writing and
speaking and listening at the college and career readiness level.

Topic: Writing skills – Essays (Argumentative)

Text Types: Letters to Editors, old essays, stories, novels, reports,

biographies.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, Attitudes:

Knowledge Process Skills Attitude Values

General academic Logical reasoning, Writing, Individuality, Participatory,
and specific-domain Construction/ Reading, Self-discipline, Responsible,
words and phrases deconstruction Speaking and Independence Creativity
Listening.

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

i. Identify and apply appropriate reading/writing skills on given topics
of interest for argumentative essay.
ii. Use all skills in preparation for essay writing.
iii. Use appropriate reading, listening and writing skills to select
appropriate vocabulary for the argumentative essay writing.

Content Background:

To find a good topic for an argumentative essay, consider several is-

sues and choose a few that spark at least two solid, conflicting points
of view. As you look over a list of topics, find one that really piques your
interest, as you'll be more successful if you're passionate about your
topic.
Preparing an Argument Essay · List of Topics · Thesis Statement · Cite
Your Sources
1. Speaking about the organisation and structure of the argumentative
essay, we offer a five-paragraph paper outline. Let your original
ideas flow in this manner: A conclusion is, no doubt, the most
important part of the argumentative essay as you can either support
the good impression or destroy it entirely.
2. An argumentative essay requires you to decide on a topic and take a
position on it. You'll need to back up your viewpoint with
well-researched facts and information as well. One of the
hardest parts is deciding which topic to write about, but there are
plenty of ideas available to get you started.

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 English Teacher Guide

3. The argumentative essay is a genre of writing that requires the

student to investigate a topic; collect, generate, and evaluate
evidence; and establish a position on the topic in a concise manner.
Please note: Some confusion may occur between the argumentative
essay and the expository essay. These two genres are similar, but
the argumentative essay differs from the expository essay in the
amount of pre-writing (invention) and research involved. The
argumentative essay is commonly opted for.

There Must Be Clear Transitions Between The Introduction, Body, and

Conclusion.

Body Paragraphs Must Include Supporting Evidence (Whether Factual,

Logical, Statistical, Or Anecdotal).

Transitions. A phrase or a set of words that allow the smooth flowing of

one thought to the next without an abrupt and sudden interruption to the
train of thought. How does one proceed from point A to point B as the
speaker tries his or her best to connect the two ideas together? Without
logical progression of thought, the reader is unable to follow the essay’s
argument, and the structure will collapse. You may also see short essay.

One idea per paragraph. This is the general rule of thumb in writing a
story, a speech or even writing the news. In doing so, this will not only
grant clarity and a sense of direction throughout the process of essay
writing, the conciseness and orderly fashion of the arrangement of
thoughts will also give the an easier time for the audience to keep track
of where your essay is going. Each paragraph found in the body must
have a connection to the thesis (main) statement in the introductory
paragraph.

Teaching Strategies:
Define argumentative essay as compared to other essay types and do a
sample argumentative essay with students in class.

Learning Strategies:
Do research to collect information on given topic and identify and apply
appropriate reading and writing skills on given topics of interest.
Secondly, use appropriate reading, listening skills to select appropriate
vocabulary for essay writing. Then apply and use all skills in preparation
for essay writing to write a 5 paragraph argumentative essay.

Relevant Resources:
-- Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Basic Skills in English,
Advance oxford English 3 & 4

Suggested Resources:
-- Create and Communication Book 3

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 Grade 9

Standards-Based Lesson Planning

In SBC, standards-based planning is very important if we are to achieve
the state standards that are rigorous, independent, and applicable in the
real world. Teachers need to be able to and need to plan instructions that
will help their students meet these state standards.

Lesson plans are important part of teaching. They are, best put, the
bones of a lesson. They state clearly;
i. what the students are expected to learn,
ii. how the students are going to learn them, and
iii. the expected outcomes.

In a standards-based lesson plan, the state standards (Content standards

and Benchmarks) are clearly stated along with the areas the lesson will
cover in that lesson. Each day’s lesson builds onto the following day’s
lesson so there is a progression of learning. Any reader, when looking at
lesson plans for a month, should be able to see the goal of the teacher
and how the students learn what they are taught.

Elements of SBC lesson plans

In SBC, the daily lesson plan is the most detailed standards-based plan. It
outlines the purpose and activities of what will be done on a specific day.

The standards-based daily lesson plan allows the teacher to make

academic learning relevant to students by intertwining;
i. content knowledge,
ii. information processing skills, and
iii. life experiences.

The lesson plan consists of:

1. Lesson information
This includes the strand and unit from which the standards to be
addressed fall under, and also the topic that addresses the
benchmark.

2. Lesson topic
This relates to the specific information the teacher would impart to
students. The lesson topic should come from the bigger topic
addressing the stated benchmark.

3. Standards
This is the most important section of the standards-based lesson
plan. This is where the standards being addressed, both content
standards and benchmarks, are clearly stated.

4. Materials
It is important that the teacher include materials that the teacher
and the students will use during the lesson.

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 English Teacher Guide
5. Learning objectives
These are the specific outcomes that the teacher wants students
to achieve at the end of the lesson. The objectives should be based
on whichever benchmark the teacher is using to design the lesson.

6. Instructional activities (Lesson Procedure)

This is where everything the teacher and the students will be doing
throughout the lesson is listed, beginning with the introduction,
followed by the body and conclusion. This section should be
thorough, so whoever is reading the lesson plan knows exactly what
will be happening. When writing this section, make sure that each of
the activities ties back to both the learning objective and the
standards (content standard and benchmark)the lesson is
addressing.

Standards–Based Instruction
The key distinction when talking about standards-based instruction is that
in a standards-based classroom, students are expected to meet a defined
standard for proficiency. In other words, teachers ensure that the content
they are teaching and their methods of teaching it enable students to
learn both the skills and concepts defined in the standard for the grade
level and to demonstrate evidence of their learning.

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 Grade 9

Samples of Standards-based Lesson Plans

Here are samples of SBC lesson plans that teachers can use to guide
them in planning their lessons. Each lesson has a formative assessment
(a checklist) as teachers are expected to assess their students learning
progression during learning.

Sample 1: (integrating STEAM)

Strand 2: Writing
Unit 1: Text Types and Purposes
Topic: Writing
Lesson Topic: Informative Essay Writing
Grade: 9
Length of Lesson: 80 Minutes (x2 lessons)
__________________________________________________________________
National Content Standard 9.2.2: Students will be able to write
informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey ideas and
information clearly and accurately through the effective selection,
organisation and analysis of content.

Grade Level Benchmark [Link]: Write informative/explanatory texts to

examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts and information through
selection, organisation and analysis of relevant content.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values and Attitude:

Knowledge: Informative Essay
Skill: Informative Essay writing
Value: Rationality
Attitude: Optimistic
__________________________________________________________________
STEAM Knowledge and Skill
Knowledge: Causes of object disappearances at Bermuda triangle
Skill: Analysis
__________________________________________________________________
Performance Indicator: Compose an informative essay

STEAM Performance Indicator: Persuasive explanations supported by

facts and relevant examples.
__________________________________________________________________
Materials: Instructions sheet, charts, mobile phones/computer - modem,
reference books - library
__________________________________________________________________
Lesson Objectives: Students will be able to:
i. Write informative essays on any given topic.

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 English Teacher Guide
Essential Questions:
i. What is an informative essay?
ii. What is the purpose of an informative essay?
iii. How is an informative essay structured?
iv. What is stated in the introduction of an informative essay?
v. How do I find information for my informative essay?

Figure 1: Bermuda Triangle

Lesson Procedure
Teacher Activities Student Activities

Introduction
• Show the class the pictures of the Bermuda • Take a good look at the pictures and guess what it is.
Triangle and ask them what they think it is.
• Ask the student(s) who answers correctly how • Student(s) who answered correctly to respond.
he/she knows the answer and take note of the
respond(s) accordingly.
• Ask the class what they know about the Bermuda • Respond accordingly.
triangle.
• Ask the class how they know these things about the • Respond accordingly.
Bermuda triangle.
• Ask the students who have not heard about the • Respond accordingly and take note of what’s being
Bermuda triangle if information shared by the said – being informed.
students in class is/are new information and if it is
then they have just been informed of something they
perhaps heard very little about or none at all.
• Introduce the topic • Take note of the topic.

Body
Modelling

• Explain the main purpose of an informative essay • Listen attentively and take note mentally.
and how it is structured.
• Provide a step by step guide for writing an • Listen and follow through using notes provided.
informative essay: Introduction, body and
conclusion.
• Allow for questions • Ask questions.

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 Grade 9

Guided Practice

• Provide a sample of an informative essay and allow • Study the essay sample and ask questions for
students to ask questions for further clarification. clarification accordingly.
• Get students to research about the famous Bermuda • Do a research on the topic and write the essay per
Triangle and write an informative essay on it using the set guide lines given.
a set guideline as set by the teacher- Write only the
introduction for this lesson.
• Move around and assist as students get to work. • Get to work, beginning with research on the topic.
(Note: teacher can already provide the information from
various sources if research via internet is impossible for
the students, otherwise it would be better if students
researched themselves to help build on their
researching skills).

Independent Practice

• Get students into groups of 4 to make a list of • In respective groups, make a list of all the possible
possible causes for the disappearances of objects causes.
mysteriously when they hit the Bermuda triangle and
justify which possible cause is genuine with realistic • Choose the best possible genuine cause and explain
proof. Students can support their explanations with in clear, precise terms why it may be so with relevant,
scientific proofs/explanations. realistic proof and scientific explanations.
• Write a paragraph with diagrams and/or pictures, on
a chart for display.
• Display the group chart for all to see.

Conclusion
• Arrange a formal debate on the most genuine cause • Debate on which cause is genuinely the possible
of object disappearance in Bermuda Triangle. cause. Groups of the like cause can partner together
to form a formal debate team.
• Arrange for judges – science teachers

Formative Assessment - Checklist

Name: Class: Date:

Performance indicator/Standard: students will be able to write the introduction to an informative essay
correctly.
Criteria 0 1 2 3

Introduction :
- Introduces topic using words from the prompt.
Thesis statement:
– Thesis statement contains all the main ideas writer wants to
write about.

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 English Teacher Guide
Sample 2: (integrating STEAM)

Strand 3: Listening
Unit 1: Oral Instructions comprehension
Topic: Effective Listening
Lesson Topic: Understanding different purposes
Grade: 9
Length of Lesson: 40 minutes
__________________________________________________________________
National Content Standard 9.3.1: Students will be able to develop the
English Listening Skills required both for academic achievement and for
communication in socially and culturally appropriate ways.

Grade Level Benchmark [Link]: Demonstrate listening strategies which

are techniques that contribute to understanding different situations and
serving different purposes.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values, and Attitudes:

Knowledge: Understanding different purposes of oral texts
Skills: Effective listening
Values: Truth
Attitudes: Open-mindedness
__________________________________________________________________
STEAM Knowledge and Skill

Knowledge: Understanding different purposes

Skill: Listening
__________________________________________________________________
Performance Indicator: Evaluate the effectiveness of the oral message in
understanding different situations and serving different purposes.

STEAM Performance Indicator: As above

__________________________________________________________________
Materials: Oral speeches, story-telling, play recording
__________________________________________________________________
Lesson Objective: Students will be able to:
i. listen effectively and understand and identify the purposes of the
oral message/text.

Essential Questions:
• How can situations and purposes of the text be understood
correctly? What are some of the things to consider when listening to
understand purposes of oral texts?
• What STEAM principles and practices can be used to enhance
understanding different purposes?

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 Grade 9

Lesson Procedure

Teacher Activities Student Activities

Introduction
• Go through the effective listening skills. • Pay attention and listen.
• Allow students to reflect on the type of listener • Reflect on their listening skills.
they are.
Body

Modeling

• Play a recording. • Listen to the content.

• Ask questions to ensure understanding. • Give appropriate feedback to show
understanding.
Guided Practice

• Give out worksheet containing comprehension • Receive worksheet.

questions. • Run through and familiarize themselves with the
• Allow 3 minutes or so to run through the questions.
questions and understand key term in • Listen only in the first reading. Start answering
questions. in the second reading. Confirm answers in the
• Read through the text three times. third reading.
• Allow time to polish answers • Finalize answers.
• Collect worksheet to mark and evaluate. • Hand in worksheet for marking.
Independent Practice

• Play a recording on an issue (must be • Listen and develop understanding of the text’s
informative, interesting and exciting) and ask purpose (fun-filled).
students to identify purpose of the text. • Give feedback.
• Go over responses.
Conclusion
• Emphasis the modes for effective listening in • Listen attentively and take note.
enhancing understanding of an oral text.

Formative Assessment - Checklist

Name: Class: Date:

Performance indicator: Students will be able to listen effectively to identify the purposes of the oral
message/text.
Achieved consistently and to a high standard 2
Achieved to an adequate standard, but not yet achieved consistently to a high standard 1
Not yet achieved 0

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 English Teacher Guide
Sample 3: (integrating STEAM)

Strand 4: Speaking

Unit 1: Fluency and Pronunciation

Lesson Topic: Effective Speech

Grade: 9

Length of Lesson: 80 minutes

__________________________________________________________________
National Content Standard 9.4.1: Students will be able to speak fluently,
using clear pronunciation and with appropriate intonation and stress.

Grade-Level Benchmark [Link]: Follow simple oral directions, with

repetition or rephrasing.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values and Attitudes

Knowledge: Effective speech

Skills: Speaking

Values: Betterment of Human Kind

Attitudes: Appreciative

STEAM Knowledge and Skill

Knowledge: Aspects of Effective Speaking

Skill: Listening - Speaking

__________________________________________________________________
Performance Indicator: Improve command of voice usage

Steam Performance Indicator: As above

__________________________________________________________________
Materials: Copies of Speeches (mp3 or mp4 format)
__________________________________________________________________
Lesson Objectives: Students will be able to:
i. Choose appropriate words and type of language depending on the
audience.
ii. Improve command over voice usage.
iii. Evaluate the effectiveness of fluency and pronunciation in spoken
language.

Essential Questions:
• What type of language and word choice can students use to improve
English usage?
• What STEAM Principles can students use to improve effectiveness
of fluency and pronunciation in spoken language?

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 Grade 9

Lesson Procedure

Teacher Activities Student Activities

Introduction
• Introduce the topic and explain the importance of • Listen to the teacher
the lesson.
• Relate the lesson to previous learning or experience.
• Outline the objectives of the lesson clearly.
Body

Modeling

• Provide a sample speech and explain the three main • Listen to the teacher, take notes and
elements of effective speaking; word choice, voice respond when prompted by the teacher.
and non-verbal communication.
Guided Practice

• Play a pre-recorded speech and students listen to • Listen to speech and think about the main
the speech and think about the three main aspects aspects of effective speaking.
of effective speaking.
• Describe the speech.
• Ask students to tell you about the speech.
• Respond to teacher when prompted.
• Ask students to describe the speaker and the words,
• Repeat above process.
type of language used and the overall purpose of the
message.
• Ask students to evaluate the effectiveness of the
speech in terms of fluency and pronunciation.
• Play another sample and ask students to repeat
process above.
Independent Practice

• Ask students to select own speech, listen to and • Listen to speech and think about the main
think about the main aspects of effective speaking aspects of effective speaking.
and the purpose of the message in the speech.
• Ask students to describe the speech in terms of • Describe the speech and respond to
fluency and pronunciation. teacher when prompted.
Conclusion

• Summarize the content of the lesson by restating the • Listen to the teacher
main concepts covered in the lesson.
• Provide students with steam-related task and ask • Take note of the instructions of the steam-
students to perform task as homework. related task for this lesson.

In enhancing students understanding of this topic the following

steam-related task will be assigned as homework:

The teacher will ask students to choose a topic of interest and write
up a 10-minute speech. Then ask the students to present their
prepared speech in class.

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 English Teacher Guide

Formative Assessment - Checklist

Name: Class: Date:

Performance indicator: students will be able to choose appropriate words and type of language
depending on the audience.
Specifics 0 1 2 3
a. Word choice
b. Language type
c. Voice usage
d. Fluency
e. Correct pronunciations

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 Grade 9

Assessment, Monitoring and Reporting

What is standards-based assessment
In the standards-based paradigm, students have the freedom to
demonstrate understanding in diverse ways, including (but not limited
to) selected response (e.g. multiple choice tests), physical constructions,
written responses, and performances. Of course, these are not new types
of assessments, nor is the concept of differentiated assessment. The
teacher uses all available observations and quantitative information to
summarize learning with reference to a specific standard. With these data,
a teacher can formulate the steps or actions that can be taken to gain
mastery of a particular concept. That is, it aids in assessment for learning.

One of the key aspects of standards-based assessment is post-assess-

ment feedback. The feedback a student receives from this type of
assessment does not emphasizes a score, percentage, or statistical
average, but information about the expectations of performance as
compared to the standard. A standards-based approach does not
necessarily dismiss a summative grade, percentage, or a measure of
central tendency (such as a mean, or median). However, an assessment
that does not reference or give feedback with respect to a standard would
not be standards-based. There is a large body of evidence that points to
the effectiveness of appropriate feedback.

Purpose of standards-based assessment

The purpose of standards-based assessment is to connect evidence of

learning to learning outcomes (the standards). When standards are
explicit and clear, the learner becomes aware of his/her achievement with
reference to the standards, and the teacher may use assessment data to
give meaningful feedback to students about this progress. The awareness
of one’s own learning allows students to point to a specific standard of
achievement and so strengthens self-regulation and meta-cognition, two
skills generally understood to be effective learning strategies.

Framework of the standards-based approach in assessment

A common approach to standards-based assessment (SBA) is:

• Identify a key factor important body of knowledge (e.g. a scientific
theory, a mathematical relationship), the essential content and
concepts.
• Identify the indicators (i.e. evidence) that students will show when
the concept or content has been understood.
• Choose a collection of assessments that will allow students to
demonstrate the indicators.
• Using a scale or rubric, identify the proficiency of the student with
respect to the standard. This progress is made accessible to the
learner in order to provide meaningful feedback. Any feedback
should be able to provide information on how the proficiency can be
improved) and the educator needs to be aware of the effects of

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 English Teacher Guide
praise during feedback.
• Repeat instruction, assessment and feedback until the student
achieves a predetermined level of mastery.

Hallmarks of standards-based assessment

• Standards (i.e. learning outcomes) need to be visible and
understandable by students
• Tasks, activities and assessments should be clear about which
standard is being practiced
• Formative assessment should be used to give feedback to students
about their progress towards a standard
• Assessment in general should be well-designed, accurate and high
in validity to be fair and accessible
• Exemplars should be used to give students an understanding of
how achievement against a standard is measured
• Rubrics should be used to assess performances and constructed
responses
• Selective response (e.g. multiple choice) should be used to assess
basic understanding and knowledge (as in Bloom’s Taxonomy) of a
specific standard (or the underlying pre-requisite concepts
associated with the standard)

Types of Assessment

Students will be assessed using the 3 types of assessment:

1. Formative,
2. Summative, and
3. Authentic also called performance assessment.

1. Formative Assessment (Assessment for and as learning)

Formative assessment is a potentially transformative instructional tool
that, if clearly and effectively used, can benefit both educators and their
students. Formative assessment is a process used by teachers and
students during instruction that provides feedback to adjust ongoing
teaching and learning to improve students’ achievement of intended
instructional outcomes/standards. Formative assessment takes place
during instruction. It is a process and not any particular test.

Examine
student work

Formative Inform teacher

Administer task Assessment knowledge

Inform instruction

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 Grade 9

Formative Assessment - Checklist (for the sample lesson plan 1)

Name:............................... Class: ...................... Date:...............

Performance standards: students will be able to write the introduction

to an informative essay correctly.
Ratings
Criteria 0 1 2 3
Introduction :
- Introduces topic using words from the prompt.
Thesis statement:
- Thesis statement contains all the main ideas
writer wants to write about.

2. Summative Assessment (Assessment of learning)

Unlike formative assessment, the goal of summative assessment is to
evaluate student learning at the end of an instructional unit by
comparing it to some standard or benchmark. Summative assessments
are often high stakes, which means that they have a high point value.

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 English Teacher Guide
Summative Assessment - Rubrics (for benchmark [Link])

Performance Write an informative essay on a selected topic following the correct structure
Standard:
Ratings

Criteria/Component Exceeds Meets Needs Does Not Meet Rating

Expectations Expectations improvement Expectations Awarded
A B C D
Introduction Introduction is Introduction Introduction lacks Introduction is not
-interesting & thesis lively and draws grads the reader’s engagement and engaging and/or
clearly stated. the reader into attention and specificity. The thesis is not clear.
the writing. The contains a clear thesis needs
thesis is precise and specific work.
and smoothly thesis.
integrated.
Body Paragraphs Body paragraphs Body paragraphs Construction and Construction is
MIS clearly stated with are carefully demonstrate organization may unclear, claims
well-constructed constructed, careful feel choppy or are not fully
sentences. State showed fluid construction unclear. Reasons, supported, body
reasons & evidence organization and and use words, details and paragraphs do
clearly. present lively and phrases, and explanations not appear to
engaging clauses to link need sufficiently
information. the main idea and improvement. support the thesis
Words, phrases create cohesion. Additional thesis and is not clearly
and clauses Reasons and support is organized.
work to create evidences are needed.
cohesion. Valid clearly presented
reasoning and to fully support
relevant and the thesis.
sufficient
examples fully
supports the
thesis.
Conclusion Provides a Provides a Provides a Conclusion
Supports the thesis. passionate conclusion that conclusion is missing or
and engaging follows from and that is lacking incomplete. The
conclusion that supports the full support for essay does not
fully follows from thesis presented. the thesis. The feel finished.
and support the The reader is left reader is left
thesis presented. with the feeling with the feeling
The reader is left that the essay is that the essay is
with the complete. incomplete.
satisfaction that
the essay is
complete.
Conventions/Format Grammar, Grammar, Has some errors Mistake imped
Grammar mechanics spelling and spelling and in grammar, the clarity of the
punctuation punctuation spelling and/ writing. Paper
are correct are correct or punctuation. may not be of
and make the and make the May not meet required length.
sentence easy sentence easy requirement.
to read. Paper is to read. Paper is
an appropriate an appropriate
length, double length.
spaced.

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3. Performance assessment/Authentic Assessment

Performance assessment, also known as alternative or authentic

assessment, is a form of testing that requires students to perform a task
rather than select an answer from a ready-made list. In the narrowest
sense, performance assessment is a test in which the test taker actually
demonstrates the skills the test is intended to measure by doing
real-world tasks that require those skills rather than by answering
questions asking how to do them. For example, a student may be asked
to explain historical events, generate scientific hypotheses, solve math
problems, converse in a foreign language, or conduct research on an
assigned topic. Experienced raters, either teachers or other trained staff,
then judge the quality of the student’s work based on an agreed-upon set
of criteria. This new form of assessment is most widely used to directly
assess writing ability based on text produced by students under test
instructions.
Methods that have been used successfully to assess performance
include:
• Open-ended or extended response exercises - questions or
other prompts that require students to explore a topic orally or in
writing. Students might be asked to describe their observations
from a science experiment, or present arguments an historic
character would make concerning a particular proposition. For
example, what would Abraham Lincoln argue about the causes of
the Civil War?

• Extended tasks - assignments that require sustained attention

in a single work area and are carried out over several hours or
longer. Such tasks could include drafting, reviewing, and revising a
poem; conducting and explaining the results of a science
experiment on photosynthesis; or even painting a car in auto shop.

• Portfolios - selected collections of a variety of performance-based

work. A portfolio might include a student’s “best pieces” and
the student’s evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of several
pieces. The portfolio may also contain some “works in progress”
that illustrate the improvements the student has made over time.

These methods, like all types of performance assessments, require that

students actively develop their approaches to the task under defined
conditions, knowing that their work will be evaluated according to
agreed-upon standards. This requirement distinguishes performance
assessment from other forms of testing.

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Sample Performance/Authentic Assessment Rubrics (for the sample lesson
1 STEAM activity)
Performance Students will be able to research possible causes for the disappearances of objects
Standard: mysteriously when they hit the Bermuda triangle and justify which possible cause is/
are genuine, supported with relevant evidences and quotes.
Ratings

Exceeds Meets Needs Does Not Meet

Criteria Expectations Expectations improvement Expectations
4 3 2 1
Purpose Explains the key Explains all key Explains some Does not refer to the
-- purpose of the purpose of paper in purposes of paper. purposes but misses purposes
research clearly detail key purposes
stated.
Content The student is The student has a The student The student show
-- content relevant and extremely good understanding demonstrates some no knowledge or
presented in logical knowledgeable of the topic knowledge and understanding of
order. about the topic understanding of the topic
the topic
Organization Well organized and Good organization Somewhat Not organized at
-- Well organized paper, easy to follow. and fairly easy to organized but hard all and difficult to
logically sequenced follow. to follow in places. follow most of the
using correct layout. time.

The point Reveals profound Reveals insight Doesn’t show a Doesn’t show any
-- causes of object insight about the about the topic central insight about insight about the
disappearances topic the topic subject.
clearly stated with
genuine evidences/
quotes.
Mechanics There are few or no There are some There are numerous Errors are so
-- spelling, punctuation, minor errors. Few minor errors. major and minor numerous and
sentence careless mistakes. Overall, the errors, meaning is serious that they
construction student’s writing is still clear. interfere with
adequate. communication.

Performance Standards

What is performance standard?

Performance Standards are concrete statements of how well students
must learn what is set out in the content standards, often called the “be
able to do” of “what students should know and be able to do.”

Performance standards are the indicators of quality that specify how

competent a students’ demonstration must be. They are explicit
definitions of what students must do to demonstrate proficiency or
competency at a specific level on the content standards.

Performance Standards;
• Measure students’ performance and proficiency (using performance
indicators) in the use of a specific knowledge, skill, value, or attitude
in real life or related situations,

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• Provides the basis (performance indicators) for evaluating, reporting

and monitoring students’ level of proficiency in use of a specific
knowledge, skills, value, or attitude,
• Used to plan for individual instruction to help students not yet
meeting expectations (desired level of mastery and proficiency) to
make adequate progress towards the full attainment of benchmarks
and content standards,

• Used as the basis for measuring students' progress towards

meeting the national benchmarks and content standards.

Indicators for developing effective performance standards

1. Are clear, measurable, observable, and attainable.
2. Identify performance expectations.
3. Measure what we want them to measure (validity).
4. Clearly show students’ proficiency levels.
5. Clearly show the status of progress of students towards the
attainment of content standards.
6. Written using outcomes language.
7. Provide the basis for measuring students’ performance and
proficiency against the same standard.
8. Can help students to understand clearly the expectations which
would improve their learning.
9. Give a set of clear performance expectations to help students
understand what they need to do to meet the set standards.
10. Can generate reliable data to guide individual instruction to help
students not yet meeting content standards to make adequate
progress towards attaining the content standards.
11. Can be used to report on students’ performance

Defining what proficiency means is key to developing effective

standards-based assessment and assessing students' proficiency levels.

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Glossary
Terms Definitions
Assessment Activities teachers use to help students learn and to measure and monitor
their progress towards the attainment of expected levels of proficiency.
Assessment As Assessment is used to help students understand and reflect on what they
Learning have learnt or are having difficulties with, identify areas of strengths and
weaknesses, and set clear, measurable, and attainable personal goals to
improve their own learning.
Assessment For A common form of assessment. It is an ongoing assessment process that
Learning arises out of the interaction between teaching and learning. Also referred to
as formative assessment.
Assessment Of Provides a summary of students learning over a given period of time and is
Learning generally carried out at the end of a course of study. Also referred to as
summative assessment.
Assessment Different ways or approaches of assessing students' work.
Strategies
Benchmarks Benchmarks are more detailed descriptions of a specific level of performance
expected of students at particular ages, grades, school levels or levels of
development. They are the specific components of the knowledge, process,
skill, concept, principle, or idea identified by a content standard.
Content Standards Content Standards are broadly stated expectations of what (content) students
should know. They describe the knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes that
students should attain.
Evidence Outcomes Evidence outcomes are indicators that indicate students’ mastery of
essential knowledge, skills, values and attitudes at the end of each grade or
school level.
Performance Performance assessment, also known as alternative or authentic assessment,
Assessment is a form of testing that requires students to perform a task rather than select
an answer from a ready-made list.
Performance Performance assessment, also known as alternative or authentic assessment,
Assessment is a form of testing that requires students to perform a task rather than select
an answer from a ready-made list.
Standard A standard is a level of quality or achievement, especially a level that is
thought to be acceptable. It is something used to measure or estimate the
quality or degree of something, for example, how good a piece of work is.

Standards-Based A systematic and ongoing process of collecting and interpreting information

Assessment about students’ achievements.
Standards-Based Describes what all students should know and be able to do at the end of a
Curriculum grade or school level. The main idea behind standards-based curriculum is
standards.

Standards-Based An academic program in which clearly defined academic content and

Education benchmarks are aligned. It spells out what schools and communities need to
do to ensure achievement of expectations. The main idea behind
standards-based education is standards.

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References
Adolescent and School Health, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. (2011). National Health Education Standards. Atlanta:
Adolescent and School Health, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.

Barret, A., Ali, S., Clegg, J., Hinostroza, J., E., Lowe, J., Nikel, J., Novelli,
M., Oduro, G., Pillay, M., Tikly, L., and Yu, G. (2007). Initiatives to Improve
the Quality of Teaching and Learning. A Review of Recent Literature.
Paris: UNESCO.

Council of Chief State School Officers. (2015). 11 Principles of Effective

Character Education. Kansas: Council of Chief State School Officers.

Georgia Department of Education. (1997). Values and Character Education

Implementation Guide. Atlanta: Georgia Department of Education.

Kansas State Board of Education. (2012). Kansas Social, Emotional, and

Character Development Model Standards. Kansas: Kansas State Board of
Education.

National Task Force on the Review of Outcomes-Based Education. (2013).

Review of Outcomes-Based Education in Papua New Guinea. Port
Moresby: Department of Education.

SEAMEO RECSAM. (2017). SEAMEO Basic Education Standards

(SEA-BES): Common Core Regional Learning Standards (CCRLS) in
Mathematics and Science. Penang: SEAMEO.

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 English Teacher Guide

Appendices
Appendix 1: Bloom’s Taxonomy

Retrieved from: [Link]

my&qpvt=bloom%27s+taxonomy&form=IGRE&first=1&cw=1129&ch=873

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Appendix 2: 6 Types of Assessment of Learning

ASSESSMENT TYPES

All of the different assessment types work together to provide a complete

valid, reliable, and fair picture of a student's abilities.

Diagnostic Formative Summative

Assesses a student's Assesses a student's Measure's a student's
strengths, weaknesses, performance during achievement at the
knowledge, and skills instruction, and usually end of instruction.
prior to intsruction. occurs regularly
throughout the
instruction process.

Interim/Benchmark
Norm-Referenced Evaluate student's
Compare's a student's performance at
Criterion-Referenced periodic intervals,
performance against a
Measure's a student's frequently at the end
national or other "norm"
performance against a of a grading period.
group.
goal, specific objective, Can predict student
or standard. performance on
end-of-year
summative tests.

Retrieved from: TeachThought Staff, 2019, 6 Types Of Assessment Of

Learning: Assessment Types, [Link]
types-assessment-learning/

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Appendix 3: Lesson Plan Template (integrating STEAM)

Strand 2:.............................................................................
Unit 1: ................................................................................
Topic: .................................................................................
Lesson Topic: ...................................................................
Grade: ................
Length of Lesson: .........................
__________________________________________________________________
National Content Standard 9.2.2: .............................................................
Grade Level Benchmark [Link]: ...............................................................

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Values and Attitude:

Knowledge: ...................................................................
Skill: ...............................................................................
Value: .............................................................................
Attitude: .........................................................................
STEAM Knowledge and Skill
Knowledge: ..................................................................
Skill: ...............................................................................
__________________________________________________________________
Performance Indicator: .............................................................................
STEAM Performance Indicator: ................................................................
__________________________________________________________________
Lesson Objectives: Students will be able to:
i. ...................................................................
ii. ...................................................................
Essential Questions:
i. ...................................................................
ii. ...................................................................

(Note: if you are planning a lesson that will not integrate STEAM, then
simply remove the STEAM indicator)

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Lesson Procedure

Teacher Activities Student Activities

Introduction
• .................................................................. • ..................................................................
• .................................................................. • ..................................................................
• .................................................................. • ..................................................................
Body

Modeling

• .................................................................. • ..................................................................
• .................................................................. • ..................................................................
• .................................................................. • ..................................................................
• .................................................................. • ..................................................................
Guided Practice

• .................................................................. • ..................................................................
• .................................................................. • ..................................................................
• .................................................................. • ..................................................................
• .................................................................. • ..................................................................
Independent Practice

• .................................................................. • ..................................................................
• .................................................................. • ..................................................................
• .................................................................. • ..................................................................
• .................................................................. • ..................................................................
Conclusion
• .................................................................. • ..................................................................
• .................................................................. • ..................................................................
• .................................................................. • ..................................................................

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Appendix 4: 21St Century Skills

Ways Of Creativity and innovation

Thinking i. Think creatively
ii. Work creatively with others
iii. Implement innovations
Critical thinking, problem solving and decision making
• Reason effectively and evaluate evidence
• Solve problems
• Articulate findings
Learning to learn and meta-cognition
• Self-motivation
• Positive appreciation of learning
• Adaptability and flexibility
Ways Of Working Communication
• Competency in written and oral language
• Open minded and preparedness to listen
• Sensitivity to cultural differences
Collaboration and teamwork
• Interact effectively with others
• Work effectively in diverse teams
• Prioritise, plan and manage projects
Tools For Information literacy
Working • Access and evaluate information
• Use and manage information
• Apply technology effectively
ICT literacy
• Open to new ideas, information, tools and ways of think-
ing
• Use ICT accurately, creatively, ethically and legally
• Be aware of cultural and social differences
• Apply technology appropriately and effectively
Living In The Citizenship – global and local
World • Awareness and understanding of rights and responsibili-
ties
as a global citizen
• Preparedness to participate in community activities
• Respect the values and privacy of others
Personal and social responsibility
• Communicate constructively in different social situations
• Understand different viewpoints and perspectives
Life and career
• Adapt to change
• Manage goals and time
• Be a self-directed learner
• Interact effectively with others

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