Outcome Chart - Alberta - English Language Arts 8

This outcome chart contains media-related learning outcomes from the Alberta, Grade 8 English Language Arts curriculum, with links to supporting resources on the MediaSmarts site.

It is expected that students will:

Listen, speak, read, write, view, and represent to explore thoughts, ideas, feelings, and experiences

Discover and Explore

review, reread and reflect on oral, print and other media texts to explore, confirm or revise understanding
discuss and respond to ways that forms of oral, print and other media texts enhance or constrain the development and communication of ideas, information and experiences
pursue personal interest in specific genres by particular writers, artists, storytellers and filmmakers

Lessons

Selling Obesity

Violence and Video Games

Cop Shows

Images of Learning: Elementary

Comic Book Characters

Video Games

Thinking Like a Tobacco Company: Grades 7-9

The True Story

Freedom to Smoke

Selling Tobacco

The Price of Happiness: On Advertising, Image, and Self Esteem

Bias

Educational Game

The Target is You!: Alcohol Advertising Quiz

Student Tutorial (Licensed Resource)

MyWorld: A digital literacy tutorial for secondary students

Listen, speak, read, write, view, and represent to comprehend and respond personally and critically to oral, print, and other media texts

Respond to Texts

experience oral, print and other media texts from a variety of cultural traditions and genres
expect that there is more than one interpretation for oral, print and other media texts, and discuss other points of view
make connections between biographical information about authors, illustrators, storytellers and filmmakers and their texts
interpret the choices and motives of characters portrayed in oral, print and other media texts, and examine how they relate to self and others
compare two similar oral, print or other media texts by considering the characters, plot, conflicts and main ideas
discuss how techniques, such as word choice, balance, camera angles, line and framing, communicate meaning and enhance effects in oral, print and other media texts

Understand Forms and Techniques

discuss how the choice of form or genre of oral, print and other media texts is appropriate to purpose and audience
summarize the content of media texts, and discuss the choices made in planning and producing them
identify creative uses of language and visuals in popular culture, such as commercials, rock videos and magazines; explain how imagery and figurative language, such as hyperbole, create tone and mood

Create Original Text

create oral, print and other media texts related to issues encountered in texts and in own life
retell oral, print and other media texts from different points of view create oral, print and other media texts with both main and minor characters
choose forms or genres of oral, print or other media texts for the particular effects they will have on audiences and purposes

Lessons

Listen, speak, read, write, view, and represent to manage ideas and information

Select and Focus

develop and use criteria for evaluating the usefulness, currency and reliability of information for a particular research project

Lessons

Deconstructing Web Pages

ICYouSee: A Lesson in Critical Thinking

Student Handouts/Activities

Fact Versus Opinion

Backgrounders

Evaluating Internet Research Sources

Evaluating Internet-Based Information: A Goals-Based Approach

How to Search the Internet Effectively

Quick Tips for Authenticating Online Information

Student Tutorial (Licensed Resource)

Passport to the Internet: Student tutorial for Internet literacy (Grades 4-8)

MyWorld: A digital literacy tutorial for secondary students

Listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to respect, support and collaborate with others

Respect Others and Strengthen Community

compare own with others' understanding of people, cultural traditions and values portrayed in oral, print and other media texts
clarify and broaden perspectives and opinions, by examining the ideas of others
compare ways in which oral, print and other media texts reflect specific elements of cultures or periods in history

Lessons

Bias

Bias in the News

The Price of Happiness: On Advertising, Image, and Self Esteem

The Girl in the Mirror