Introduction
Our courses provide students with opportunities to explore various forms of texts—literary, oral, and media. Students will read and read widely, with the opportunity to experience writing from authors of diverse backgrounds. The work students engage in will be designed to give them opportunities to develop their voice as a writer and become an effective communicator. When planning our courses, some questions we ask ourselves are:
- How can we develop thinkers who can analyse complex texts and extract meaning from them?
- How can we create media literate individuals who understand the various ways media can influence audiences?
- How can we create speakers who can confidently articulate and share their ideas?
- How can we writers who can employ voice to write expressively for a variety of purposes?
Course Structures
All classes have a course outline that will be provided to students at the beginning of the semester. The class teacher will organize their course, assignments, and class activities around the units in these outlines in the manner that best fits the class. This includes decisions about which texts to use in the course. The teacher will make the decision on class texts after getting to know the students. Parents and guardians are encouraged to review and discuss course outlines with students once the semester begins.
Reading
Reading, both of class texts and independent reading, is the number one area where support at home can have the most impact on students' success in high school and beyond. This is due to the following:
- Simply, reading makes you smarter.
- Reading builds a mature vocabulary. Research has shown that the larger
your vocabulary bank is upon graduating from high school, the more likely
it is you’ll be successful.
- Reading makes you a better writer. Students who read the most write the
best.
- Reading opens the door to post-secondary and beyond. The reading
demands of college and university are significantly harder than high school. Constant and continuous reading builds the stamina needed in post-secondary.
And the most important reason to read:
- Reading is rewarding. Reading takes us to different worlds. Reading builds empathy. Reading helps us to look in the mirror, to find ourselves. In short, reading is fun.
When creating a reading schedule at home, the goal should be 20 minutes a day or two hours a week. Students should be encouraged to pick books they like, fiction or nonfiction, young adult or more mature, and to abandon books that aren't working for them. As long as they hit the reading times, they will benefit from the impact reading will have on their academic and personal growth.
Pierre Berton Writing Contest
We are excited to annually offer the opportunity for our students to participate in the Pierre Berton Writing Contest. Every year, students from across the school submit pieces they have created in the following categories:
- Dramatic Excerpt
- Short Story
- Essay
- Poetry
- Informal Writing
Winners and finalists are selected by our judging panel in both the junior (Grades 9 and 10) and senior (Grades 11 and 12) streams for each category. Our external adjudicator, often an Earl Haig alumnus, selects an overall junior and senior writer of the year. These awards are announced in our awards ceremony that takes place in May.
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Poetry in Voice Recitation Competition
Our local Poetry in Voice competition allows students from across the school the opportunity to perform recitations for the opportunity to be crowned our school champion. Students interested in this opportunity need only speak to their English teacher to learn more about how to get involved in the competition.