INTERLINK Curriculum Guide
Course Details RW2
Paragraph development is the main focus of the writing component of this class. Students learn how to structure their paragraphs with adequate introductory, supporting and concluding sentences and to write paragraphs based on a central idea and that contain no irrelevant details. Through use of appropriate transitions and more sophisticated sentence structure, their writing grows more cohesive. By means of extended reading of J type books, students learn how to read in larger chunks and form schemata to improve their comprehension. Skimming and scanning skills are also developed. Use of basic reference books including dictionary and thesaurus is expected in this level. Students also learn basic functions on the word processor, improve their keyboarding skills, use e-mail, and become familiar with the Internet.
Benchmarks of Completion of Level 2:
Demonstrate ability
to:
a. read simple prose
b.
write a multi-paragraph essay (in class)
Core Projects for RW 2
RW 2 Portfolio Project: Narrative Composition
Project Summary: Narratives were chosen for this level because it is generally easier to tell a story than to express an opinion or deal with more abstract issues. Narratives bridge the gap between the informal writing of the previous level and the more formal writing required in later levels. Narratives are a good vehicle for students to learn about beginning-middle-end which later become formalized as introduction-body-conclusion. Sentence and paragraph structure continue to be a major focus and transitions and sequencing become more important. The portfolio would contain the whole collection of narratives produced during the term as well as revisions.
The development of writing skills is primarily a process of growth rather than addition of new elements. That is to say, students do not so much learn different skills at different levels as continue to improve skills already present albeit in only a rudimentary or underdeveloped form. Skills such as paraphrasing and writing to an audience are not absent in beginning level writing, but become more refined and sophisticated in higher levels. It is important to remember that the teacher's job is not to "teach" skills, but rather to help students acquire them. Some of the skills worked on in the course of this project are listed below (the list is not comprehensive) to help teachers make the best use of this project.
Skills
practiced in this level:
· Planning: Students think about and plan the
narratives they will write, whether they be stories about their past experiences,
fictional tales, or retellings of things they have heard about. Implicit in the
selection is awareness o the purpose or point of the story they are telling.
·
Writing to a specific audience: How a story is told depend on whom it is being
told to. Students may experiment with writing the same narrative for different
audiences.
· Vocabulary development: Students should be looking for
the best language with which to tell their stories and dictionary and thesaurus
use might prove helpful. Caution, however, is needed here, and the student should
not indiscriminately replace small words with big ones. (Stephen King warned,
"Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are
no exceptions to this rule.")
· Grammatical accuracy: Telling stories
generally requires simpler syntax than expressing ideas and because of this, students
have an opportunity to write simple but accurate prose.
· Organization
and transitions: Telling a story well requires logical sequencing of events and
smooth transitions. Sentences need to be clearly, logically and structurally connected
and the pieces of the story also need to fit together well.
· Style
development: Students should become aware that how a story is told can be as important
as the events in the story and that if every sentence has the same basic structure,
the story may not be as interesting as it would be with a more varied pattern
of sentences.
·Summarizing paraphrasing and quoting: When we tell or
re-tell stories we usually summarize some aspects in order to give emphasis to
other parts. We also frequently have need of conveying what people have said,
either by using direct quotes or paraphrasing.
· Proofreading: Students
should be developing the habit of reviewing their writing before submitting it
and teachers may wish to consider refusing to accept work that has obviously not
been proofread.
· Revising: Revision includes but is not limited to
error correction. The emphasis of revision should be on improving the story in
any way it can be improved, including fixing mistakes, using more descriptive
language, re-structuring the story, and otherwise looking for ways to make it
more interesting, suspenseful or humorous.·
·Improvement in
skills listed for the previous level
RW 2 Independent Reading Project
The specific activities and materials for this project are determined by teacher and students, but the description of the parameters and goals of the project should be carefully reviewed.
The specific activities and materials for this
project are determined by teacher and students, but the description
of the parameters and goals of the project should be carefully reviewed.