Alberta - English Language Arts 3

Text Forms

Identifying and applying text forms and structures improves understanding of content, literary style, and our rich language traditions.

Guiding question: How can text organization enhance meaning?

Learning outcome: Students relate the form and structure of texts to the communication of ideas and information.

Knowledge

Features that organize, clarify, or enhance messages can be digital or non-digital, including captions and charts.

Understanding

Messages can be organized, clarified, and enhanced using features.

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Skills and Procedures

Examine a variety of features that enhance the meaning of messages.

Include a variety of features to help organize, clarify, and enhance personal messages.

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Knowledge

Text features can be digital or non-digital, including

  • images
  • tables of contents
  • maps
  • graphs

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Skills and Procedures

Examine a variety of text features that provide additional information in a text.

Include a variety of text features to organize, clarify, or enhance personal messages.

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Knowledge

Non-fiction texts include

  • biographies
  • content-area texts
  • interactions with people
  • land

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Content-area texts refer to texts from subjects such as science, social studies, and fine arts.

Non-fiction texts can have structures that include

  • main idea or topic
  • supporting details
  • linear or cyclical sequencing
  • compare and contrast

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Understanding

Non-fiction texts have structures that support the sharing of factual information to explain or describe real people, places, things, or events.

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Skills and Procedures

Compare and contrast ways that non-fiction texts can be organized.

Investigate linear and cyclical sequencing in a variety of non-fiction texts.

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Comprehension

Text comprehension is supported by applying varied strategies and processes and by considering both particular contexts and universal themes.

Guiding Question: How can the development of skills and strategies support comprehension of text?

Learning Outcome: Students analyze text and make connections to personal experiences to support meaning.

Understanding

Critical thinking can be applied to comprehend texts that vary in length or complexity.

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Skills and Procedures

Independently read and demonstrate comprehension of texts that vary in length or complexity.

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Knowledge

Inferencing involves drawing conclusions based on known facts or evidence.

Inferencing can involve

  • making connections
  • questioning
  • predicting
  • Visualizing

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Understanding

Comprehension can be enhanced by inferring meanings that are not stated explicitly in text.

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Skills and Procedures

Make inferences by combining background knowledge with information that is not explicitly stated within a text.

Identify connections between the actions, feelings, or motives of a character and evidence in text.

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Writing

Ideas and information can be articulated accurately and imaginatively through the use of writing processes and an understanding of the author’s craft.

Guiding Question: How can writing craft combined with skills and processes contribute to written expression?

Learning Outcome: Students investigate writing and research processes that support informed written expression.

Knowledge

Questioning can help focus research topics and processes.

Information can be accessed, stored, and shared in a variety of digital and non-digital ways.

Information can be categorized or sequenced to enhance organization.

Organizational tools, such as graphic organizers, can help plan and write about factual information.

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Understanding

Research processes can support accessing and logically organizing information.

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Skills and Procedures

Access information from a variety of sources to answer questions or expand knowledge.

Organize, categorize, or sequence information using a variety of methods or tools.

Use research to create written text that is appropriate for an audience.

List sources of information used to inform research.

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