Course Introduction
Completion requirements
Welcome to English Language Arts 20-4!
In this course, you will work to continue to develop the language arts skills of listening, speaking, reading, writing, viewing, and representing by completing a variety of lessons based on five themes:
- Communicating with Others
- Constructing Meaning in Literature
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The Marvelous Media
- The World of Work
- The Novel Study with the Big Burn
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A Novel Study with a Choice of Novels to Read
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There is no textbook required
for the course and you will work both online and with your teacher to
complete the lessons and activities that are a part of each
theme. There
will also be opportunities for you to think about and show what you've
learned.
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There is a pop-up dictionary you can use throughout the course. Double click on any word and you will be taken to the definition for it.
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There is also a glossary for
this course. You will notice that important words have been highlighted
in orange. When you put your cursor over any of these words and click
on it, you will be able to read a definition for the word.
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You also have access to the content at the links
at the top of this page. For more information on Content, Resources,
Communication, Assessments, and My Teacher, please click here to watch the Moodle
Videos.
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If you need technical support, please talk to your teacher.
Novel Studies
In this course, Themes 5 and 6 are novel studies where you will choose to complete either theme.
If you choose to complete Theme 5, you will study the novel Big Burn by Lesley Choyce.
Big Burn is about a boy named Chris who lives in Rocky Harbour in the West Coast of Canada. Chris is looking for people who are willing to help him close down the incinerator in his town to save their harbour, animals, and people from dying. Chris meets a girl named Marina, who joins his fight. Together, they attempt to ban the dumping of toxic waste in a landfill in their community. The novel integrates the environmental dilemmas with the individual problems of the teenagers who must battle the big companies while wrestling with their own insecurities.
If you choose to complete Theme 6, you will have a choice of novels to study.
To make sure that you will have your novel when you reach that part of the course, read the information below now. You can review the list of novels and work with your teacher to choose one.
Crabbe by William Bell
Crabbe captures the wilderness adventure of a mixed-up adolescent. Franklin Crabbe is a chatty, funny, but troubled 18 year old. Feeling like an outsider and fed up with what he sees as adult hypocrisy, Crabbe runs away from home and goes off to seek freedom. As he learns to survive in the Algonquin Park wilderness, he meets and falls in love with Mary Pallas, a kind woman who has her own secrets to hide.
The Lady at Batoche by David Richards
The Lady at Batoche chronicles the MĂ©tis rebellion in a tale of high adventure, combining numerous battle scenes with important historical details. Both the Canadian and the MĂ©tis sides of this struggle are explored through the different viewpoints of the main characters.
The Lie that Had to Be by Sharon Palermo
The Lie that Had to Be is centred around a 10-year-old Canadian–Italian girl living in Nova Scotia during WWII. The story explores the prejudice and discrimination that can be prompted by war, as the girl’s community turns against her because of her Italian heritage.
Offside by Cathy Beveridge
Offside is a Canadian novel about a 15-year-old boy who inadvertently gets his hockey team hooked on a cold remedy drug, and then must decide how to fix the problem. The novel combines a sports theme with important issues of performance-enhancing drugs, peer pressure, family relationships, and responsible decision making.
A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park
A Single Shard portrays the loyalty and courage of a young potter’s apprentice in a small Korean village in the 12th century. For years, Tree-ear, an orphan, has lived without a home. While scavenging meals for his friend and protector, Crane-man, Tree-ear discovers the master potter, Min, plying his craft. Of all the ceramics in Ch’ulp’o, Min’s reveal the finest craftsmanship and showcase the exquisite grey-green colour of celadon. Tree-ear cannot help but dream of one day becoming such a craftsman himself.
Skellig by David Almond
Skellig is a strange and wonderful story about a boy who finds a mysterious, sarcastic birdlike man living under a pile of cobwebs in the garage of his family’s dilapidated new house.
Sports Stories by Jacqueline Guest
Sports Stories includes: Free Throw, A Goal in Sight, Hat Trick, Rink Rivals, Rookie Season, Soccer Star! Triple Threat
Characters in the novels face many challenges; e.g., divorce and remarriage, moving to a new school, creating new friendships, and coping with bullying. The novels’ themes include the need to be true to yourself and follow your dreams, sportsmanship, dealing with bullies, facing discrimination, young romance, and jealousy.
The Tomorrow Tunnel by Kristin Butcher
This Canadian novel recounts the adventures of two sisters who purchase a magical book. As the sisters discover, the book gives powers of extra-sensory perception (ESP) to anyone who places a personal possession inside.
Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen
Touching Spirit Bear is a high-action adventure story about a troubled teenager learning to survive in the wilderness while dealing with his anger. After a brutal assault on a grade 9 classmate, Cole Matthews must spend a year by himself on an isolated island off the BC coast. The idea is developed by a Native program — Circle Justice — in which those concerned devise a healing path for the offender. But Cole is not interested in healing; his plan is to play along and stay out of jail.
The Tuesday Café by Don Trembath
The Tuesday Café is a warmly humorous coming-of-age story about a troubled teenager who learns about himself and connects with others through an unlikely writing group.
Virtual War by Gloria Skurzynski
Virtual War is set in 2080 when the world is on the on the brink of a “virtual” war to be fought through simulations. World federations will battle for 20 volcanic islands in the south seas that were once contaminated, as most of the earth was, but now, finally, are cleansed.
Willa's New World by Barbara Demers
Willa’s New World begins in London, 1795, with recently-orphaned 15-year-old Willa Thompson boarding a merchant ship going to a Hudson’s Bay post in the New World. Willa endures the cramped, difficult journey and makes her way to York Factory. During her journey, she suffers a vicious attack by one of the townspeople, but ultimately begins to appreciate the beauty of the New World and its people.
The Wreckers by Iain Lawrence
This fast-paced, suspenseful story is about a village off the Cornwall coast where people are luring ships to crash on the rocks so they can take their goods. The story is written from the perspective of 14-year-old John Spencer, who is taking his first ocean voyage, when the ship is lured to a dangerous part of the Cornwall coast and wrecked during a fierce storm. This casts John into the hands of the Wreckers, who would rather have no survivors to tell the tale of false beacons flashing along the cliffs. John finds safety with a family that has flourished from the spoils awarded through legitimate salvage rights, but he suspects the master of the house may be in league with the Wreckers.
Crabbe captures the wilderness adventure of a mixed-up adolescent. Franklin Crabbe is a chatty, funny, but troubled 18 year old. Feeling like an outsider and fed up with what he sees as adult hypocrisy, Crabbe runs away from home and goes off to seek freedom. As he learns to survive in the Algonquin Park wilderness, he meets and falls in love with Mary Pallas, a kind woman who has her own secrets to hide.
The Lady at Batoche by David Richards
The Lady at Batoche chronicles the MĂ©tis rebellion in a tale of high adventure, combining numerous battle scenes with important historical details. Both the Canadian and the MĂ©tis sides of this struggle are explored through the different viewpoints of the main characters.
The Lie that Had to Be by Sharon Palermo
The Lie that Had to Be is centred around a 10-year-old Canadian–Italian girl living in Nova Scotia during WWII. The story explores the prejudice and discrimination that can be prompted by war, as the girl’s community turns against her because of her Italian heritage.
Offside by Cathy Beveridge
Offside is a Canadian novel about a 15-year-old boy who inadvertently gets his hockey team hooked on a cold remedy drug, and then must decide how to fix the problem. The novel combines a sports theme with important issues of performance-enhancing drugs, peer pressure, family relationships, and responsible decision making.
A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park
A Single Shard portrays the loyalty and courage of a young potter’s apprentice in a small Korean village in the 12th century. For years, Tree-ear, an orphan, has lived without a home. While scavenging meals for his friend and protector, Crane-man, Tree-ear discovers the master potter, Min, plying his craft. Of all the ceramics in Ch’ulp’o, Min’s reveal the finest craftsmanship and showcase the exquisite grey-green colour of celadon. Tree-ear cannot help but dream of one day becoming such a craftsman himself.
Skellig by David Almond
Skellig is a strange and wonderful story about a boy who finds a mysterious, sarcastic birdlike man living under a pile of cobwebs in the garage of his family’s dilapidated new house.
Sports Stories by Jacqueline Guest
Sports Stories includes: Free Throw, A Goal in Sight, Hat Trick, Rink Rivals, Rookie Season, Soccer Star! Triple Threat
Characters in the novels face many challenges; e.g., divorce and remarriage, moving to a new school, creating new friendships, and coping with bullying. The novels’ themes include the need to be true to yourself and follow your dreams, sportsmanship, dealing with bullies, facing discrimination, young romance, and jealousy.
The Tomorrow Tunnel by Kristin Butcher
This Canadian novel recounts the adventures of two sisters who purchase a magical book. As the sisters discover, the book gives powers of extra-sensory perception (ESP) to anyone who places a personal possession inside.
Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen
Touching Spirit Bear is a high-action adventure story about a troubled teenager learning to survive in the wilderness while dealing with his anger. After a brutal assault on a grade 9 classmate, Cole Matthews must spend a year by himself on an isolated island off the BC coast. The idea is developed by a Native program — Circle Justice — in which those concerned devise a healing path for the offender. But Cole is not interested in healing; his plan is to play along and stay out of jail.
The Tuesday Café by Don Trembath
The Tuesday Café is a warmly humorous coming-of-age story about a troubled teenager who learns about himself and connects with others through an unlikely writing group.
Virtual War by Gloria Skurzynski
Virtual War is set in 2080 when the world is on the on the brink of a “virtual” war to be fought through simulations. World federations will battle for 20 volcanic islands in the south seas that were once contaminated, as most of the earth was, but now, finally, are cleansed.
Willa's New World by Barbara Demers
Willa’s New World begins in London, 1795, with recently-orphaned 15-year-old Willa Thompson boarding a merchant ship going to a Hudson’s Bay post in the New World. Willa endures the cramped, difficult journey and makes her way to York Factory. During her journey, she suffers a vicious attack by one of the townspeople, but ultimately begins to appreciate the beauty of the New World and its people.
The Wreckers by Iain Lawrence
This fast-paced, suspenseful story is about a village off the Cornwall coast where people are luring ships to crash on the rocks so they can take their goods. The story is written from the perspective of 14-year-old John Spencer, who is taking his first ocean voyage, when the ship is lured to a dangerous part of the Cornwall coast and wrecked during a fierce storm. This casts John into the hands of the Wreckers, who would rather have no survivors to tell the tale of false beacons flashing along the cliffs. John finds safety with a family that has flourished from the spoils awarded through legitimate salvage rights, but he suspects the master of the house may be in league with the Wreckers.
- Look through the list and pay particular attention to the information about each book. You can also go online to find out more information about each book, and see a picture of the cover of the novel.
- Talk to your teacher and see what can be arranged so that you have a copy of the novel you would like to read in Theme 6. Your school may already have some of the novels on this list, so you may be expected to use one of them. Your school will be able to order any of the books off of the list if they are not available at your school.
- You may want to print out the list and check off the novels that are of interest to you. You will be able to read them on your own time.