This course emphasizes the consolidation of the literacy, communication, and critical and
creative thinking skills necessary for success in academic and daily life. Students will
analyse a range of challenging literary texts from various periods, countries, and cultures;
interpret and evaluate informational and graphic texts; and create oral, written, and media
texts in a variety of forms. An important focus will be on using academic language coherently
and confidently, selecting the reading strategies best suited to particular texts and particular
purposes for reading, and developing greater control in writing. The course is intended
to prepare students for university, college, or the workplace.
This course is designed to help students acquire and demonstrate the cross-curricular literacy skills that are evaluated by the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT). Students who complete the course successfully will meet the provincial literacy requirement for graduation. Students will read a variety of informational, narrative, and graphic texts and will produce a variety of forms of writing, including summaries, information paragraphs, opinion pieces, and news reports. Students will also maintain and manage a portfolio containing a record of their reading experiences and samples of their writing.
Eligibility requirement: Students who have been eligible to write the OSSLT at least twice
and who have been unsuccessful at least once are eligible to take the course. (Students who
have already met the literacy requirement for graduation may be eligible to take the course
under special circumstances, at the discretion of the principal.)