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Reforming Our Vision of English Language Arts: 
Classroom Stories from Elementary and Middle School 

Each story connects directly with the English Language Arts curriculum of the Québec Education Programm.

Select a story to learn about the connections to the Québec Education Program

Math Talk: Using Language to Develop Numeracy in Cycle 1  - Dorothy Shaw

Dear Vincent…Linking Art and Writing in Cycle Two - Elizabeth Ford-Makarow

I’m a Possibility: Creating an Inclusive Middle-School Classroom - Jennifer Goodall

Middle Ages Mania:  Igniting Reluctant Writers in Cycle 3 - Joan Crossley

Snap!  Crackle!  Pop!  Deconstructing and Reconstructing Cereal Boxes in Cycle One - Josie Salavatore

Bringing Shakespeare to Life: Creating Video Clips in the Classroom - (Elem. Cycle 3) - Karen Rye

Reading Readers:  Developing a Response Process in Elementary and Middle School - Myrna Hynes

Teaching Students to Teach Themselves: Building a Learning Community that Fosters Reflection - (Sec. Cycle 1) - Stephanie Vucko

The Sooner The Better:  Developing Literacy in Kindergarten - (1.2MB) Tanya Paradis

Looking Beyond the Classroom: Going Cross-curricular Through English Language Arts - (Elem. Cycle 3) - Trudy Williams

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Math Talk: Using Language to Develop Numeracy
Dorothy Shaw
Broad Area of Learning Cross Curricular Competency
Focus: Citizenship and Community Life Focus: To communicate appropriately
Culture of peace -
As students talked about their understanding and learning in math within their classroom community, they learned to be accepting of the varied backgrounds that students brought to the situation.		 In using talk and discussion as the mode for developing math concepts students explored ideas and had to keep in mind the purpose and context of their explanations. As well, they had to consider the reactions of their fellow students and make adjustments as necessary.
  Language Arts Competencies
To use language to communicate and learn -
As a means to learning math concepts students participated in listening and talking activities. They talked through ideas, developed new vocabulary and reshaped their ideas orally as they built on prior and developing knowledge.

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Dear Vincent...Linking Art and Writing in Cycle 2
Elizabeth Ford-Makarow
Broad Area of Learning Cross Curricular Competency
Focus: Media Literacy Focus: To use creativity
Awareness of the place and influence of the media in his/her daily life and in society -
Students became aware of the positive effects of the world of art in their lives

Understanding of the way the media portray reality -
Students learned about the elements of media language, the esthetic qualities of media productions and forms of artistic expression as they created sketch journals that portrayed the parallels between producing visual and written texts.		 Students became receptive to new ideas and ways of doing things. They found new ways to express their ideas, thoughts and feelings as they created their visual texts and reflected on their new understanding.  
Language Arts Competencies
To write self-expressive, narrative and information-based texts -
Students used writing as a system for communication and constructing meaning as they created their sketch journals. Their interaction with pieces of art and their art creations motivated them to write clearly, creatively and insightfully.
To represent her/his literacy in different media -
Students responded to artwork and constructed representations that reflected their own views as they explored and interpreted the work of van Gogh and other artists.

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 I'm a Possibility: Creating an Inclusive Middle-School Classroom
Jennifer Goodall
Broad Area of Learning
Cross Curricular Competency
Focus: Health and Well-Being
Focus: Achieves his/her potential
Self-awareness and awareness of his/her basic needs -
Being in a class that validated process over product, child over the curriculum and the individual over the standard enabled students to recognize their talents, strengths and interests and take on a sense of personal responsibility.
In being recognized as unique individuals, students were able to recognize their own frames of reference, options, strengths, weaknesses and, appropriateness and impact of personal choices. They recognized themselves as members of a classroom community and developed respect for others. 
Language Arts Competencies
Uses langauge/talk to communicate and learn -
Students had broad opportunities to explore the democratic use of language for learning and representing ideas within a secure classroom community. They took an active role in their own learning and evaluation by organizing and maintaining an integrated profile that was discussed with the teacher.


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  Middle Ages Mania: Igniting Reluctant Writers in Cycle 3
Joan Crossley
Broad Area of Learning
Cross Curricular Competency
Focus: Citizenship and Community Life Focus: To adopt effective work methods
As the students developed a learning community and supported each other’s growth they learned about the rules, strategies and relationships of teamwork. Students interacted with each other in a spirit of mutual help. Through immersion in literature, heroes and films centering on life in the Middle Ages, students developed an enthusiasm for learning. As a result of their interest students developed an understanding of their tasks, adapted their approaches to the context and used their imaginations. They learned to manage their materials, improve their rate of task completion and discover satisfaction in their accomplishments. 
  Language Arts Competencies
To and listen to literary, popular and information-based texts -
Students listened and responded to literature based in the Middle Ages.
To write self-expressive, narrative and information-based texts -
Students constructed self-expressive and narratives texts while working at writing stations. They followed a writing process to construct meaning, began to self-evaluate and integrated their knowledge of texts into their own writing.
To represent her/his literacy in different media -
Students responded to music and films as they explored life in the Middle Ages.
To use language to communicate and learn -
Students used language to communicate and learn as they interacted while supporting each other. They collaborated in pairs and groups during the research process and at their writing stations.

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  Snap! Crackle! Pop! Deconstructing Cereal Boxes in Cycle One
Josie Salvatore
Broad Area of Learning
Cross Curricular Competency
Focus: Media Literacy
Focus: To exercise critical judgment
Awareness of the place and influence of the media in his/her daily life and in society -
Students learned about the function of media as they analyzed the messages portrayed on cereal boxes.

Use of media-related materials and communication codes -
Students learned about producing media messages as they produced their own cereal boxes.		 Students considered the issues involved, various points of view, compared and formed opinions and considered reason, emotion and bias as they deconstructed cereal boxes. They justified their own opinions, adopted a position and articulated their own points of view as they created their own cereal boxes.
 
  Language Arts Competencies
To represent her/his literacy in different media -
Students responded and used strategies to make meaning as they deconstructed the messages they read on the cereal boxes.
They followed a production process for a specific purpose and audience as they constructed their own cereal boxes.
To use language to communicate and learn -
Students discussed and explored their ideas in whole class and collaborative groups as they deconstructed cereal boxes. Their discussions led to further learning and development of thinking skills as they planned the construction of their own cereal boxes.

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  Bringing Shakespeare to Life: Creating Video Clips in the Classroom
Karen Rye
Broad Area of Learning
Cross Curricular Competency
Focus: Citizenship and Community Life Focus: To cooperate with others
Participation, cooperation and solidarity -
Students learned respect for the rules and strategies of teamwork and for complementary roles in the classroom and respect for a decision-making process based on compromise and mutual help, as they collaborated to organize and plan their projects. They coordinated research in teams and each took on the responsibility of a specific role in the production of their video clips.		 Students interacted with open minds, contributed to team efforts and used teamwork effectively to research the world of Shakespeare and to create their own video clips of Shakespearean plays. They compiled their research, reflected on their work in teams and recognized the positive effects of working cooperatively to achieve a purpose. 
  Language Arts Competencies
To and listen to literary, popular and information-based texts -
Students constructed meaning by applying appropriate reading strategies and used a response process to read and interpret Shakespeare’s plays.
To write self-expressive, narrative and information-based texts -
Students applied appropriate strategies and followed a production process when they planned and created their video clips of Shakespeare’s plays.
To represent her/his literacy in different media -
Students applied meaning making strategies and a production process as the organized and planned their video clips of their selected Shakespeare plays.
To use language to communicate and learn -
Students used talk as they learned the skills and art of questioning necessary for their research and organization of their video productions.

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  Reading Readers: Developing a Response Process in Elementary and Middle School
Myrna Hynes
Broad Area of Learning
Cross Curricular Competency
Focus: Citizenship and Community Life Focus: To Exercise Critical Judgment
As students learned through the reader-response process in both Elementary Cycle 2 and Secondary Cycle 1 their involvement was in a spirit of cooperation and a culture of peace. They learned to respect and value opinions other than their own. They made decisions based on consensus and compromise and recognized the rights of individuals to express their differences. As students developed their understanding of texts through the response process they communicated and justified their positions with reasons and arguments. They compared their opinions with those of others and, with increased maturity, evaluated the influences on their positions. 
  Language Arts Competencies
To use language to communicate and learn/Uses language/talk to communicate and to learn -
Students interacted with peers in collaborative groups to communicate information and points of view as they explored their personal reactions to texts.
To read and listen to literary, popular and information-based texts/Reads and listens to written, spoken and media texts -
Students used the response process as they read and interpreted texts. They drew on their reading profiles, strategies and experiences as they constructed meaning and compared their own views of the world with those in the texts.

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 Teaching Students to Teach Themselves: Building a Learning Community that Fosters Reflection
Stephanie Vucko
Broad Area of Learning
Cross Curricular Competency
Focus: Health and Well-Being  Focus: Achieves his/her potential
Self-awareness and awareness of his/her basic needs -
Students developed self-awareness as they designed portfolios that reflected many aspects of their personalities and lives.

Awareness of the impact of is/her choices on health and well-being -
Through goal setting and reflection students became reflective learners and managers of their own learning. These developmental processes, in turn, enabled students to understand the influence of their behaviours and attitudes on their well-being.
Working with a portfolio process, that included goal setting and reflection, led students towards self-autonomy. As students began to recognize and understand their personal characteristics, they were able to use their personal resources and see themselves as valuable members of a learning community. 
  Language Arts Competencies
Uses language/talk to communicate and to learn -
As students organized and maintained a portfolio, or integrated profile, they assumed an active role in their own learning and engaged in a process of self-evaluation and reflection. These factors led to the growing autonomy of each student as a learner.

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  The Sooner the Better: Developing Literacy in Kindergarten
Tanya Paradis
Broad Area of Learning
Cross Curricular Competency
Focus: Health and Well-Being
Focus: To communicate appropriately
Awareness of his/her basic needs -
Students participated in a variety of literacy activities that lead to individual and personal development, confidence and self-fulfillment.		 As students participated in literacy activities modeled by their teacher, they learned to communicate appropriately.
  Preschool Competencies
To communicate using the resources of language –
Through participation in numerous literacy activities that explored the reading, writing, speaking connection, (reading together, following a response process, the message of print, creating class and individual stories) students began to develop their own reading and writing behaviours.
Through word games, they explored vocabulary and the sound aspect of language.
To affirm his/her personality –
In a safe classroom setting that honoured individual progress students had the opportunities to make choices, put forward personal ides and express their own tastes, interests, feelings and emotions.

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  Looking Beyond the Classroom: Going Cross-curricular Through English Language Arts
Trudy Williams
Broad Area of Learning
Cross Curricular Competency
Focus:  Environmental Awareness and Consumer Rights and Responsibilities Focus: To exercise critical judgment
Awareness of his/her environment -
Students became sensitive to, and developed an understanding of, their natural and human environment when they participated in an Eco-pal exchange.

Construction of a viable environment based on sustainable development -
Students’ research during the Eco-pal Exchange helped them to develop an understanding of the relationship between the needs of the members of a community and the need for conservation and improvement of the environment.
Students defined questions and considered facts and various points of view as they were immersed in issues about the environment. They justified and articulated their own positions when they made presentations, wrote poetry and wrote letters for change.
  Language Arts Competencies
To and listen to literary, popular and information-based texts -
Students read information-based texts to learn about a variety of environmental issues.
To write self-expressive, narrative and information-based texts -
Students wrote letters to their Eco-pal partners and to public officials in an effort to effect change.
To represent her/his literacy in different media -
Students both read and produced visual texts as they learned about environmental issues and created multimodal presentations.
To use language to communicate and learn -
Students collaborated in groups to discuss, plan, develop strategies for their projects and evaluate their efforts.