The Curriculum
PART TWO: CURRICULUM DESIGN
Chapter 3: The Interaction Between Design and Planning
• The Vision and the Challenge PART THREE: CURRICULUM CONTENT
Chapter 4: The Relationship Between Concepts
• Goal of Level 3 Communications PART FOUR: CURRICULUM APPLICATIONS
Chapter 5: Integrated Theme-Based Instruction
• Summarizing the Rationale |
Appendix B:
The Common Conventions of English
When reviewing learners’ writing, the instructor and learner will identify those conventions that need further development. Instruction, through mini-lessons and practise exercises, is provided to those who require it. The learner then applies this knowledge to her writing. The goal is to transfer use of the conventions of English to all writing activities. Therefore, development of these skills is integrated throughout all units of study and through other subjects.
In general, learners in Level 1 focus on developing effective sentences, learners in Level 2 use sentences to develop effective paragraphs, and learners in Level 3 use paragraphs to develop effective multi-paragraph compositions. If learners are entering Adult Basic Education at Level 3, they may need a review of Level 2 skills.
The checklist on the following pages is intended to be a form for tracking individual needs with respect to the conventions of English. Learners will be assigned only those areas for which they have demonstrated a need. Some learners will only need a review of the concepts. Expectations and standards for assessing writing assignments will vary according to the contexts and purposes for writing.
Sample Form
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Introduce |
Instruct |
Review (if required) |
Spelling Rules |
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Forming the plural of most nouns |
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The “ie/ei” rule |
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The “silent e” rule |
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The “final Y” rule |
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“Doubling the final consonant” rule |
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Apostrophe: |
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Contractions |
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The possessive form of nouns and pronouns |
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Plural forms of letters, numbers, certain words, and symbols |
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Capital Letters: |
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Days, Months, and Time Periods |
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Proper names, titles, holidays, and religious terms, |
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Geographical terms, nationalities and ethnicities, and languages |
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Titles and subjects |
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Sentence Improvement: |
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Subjects and predicates |
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Prepositional phrases |
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Sentences with more than one subject and predicate |
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Imperative, Declarative, Expository, and Interrogative sentence types |
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The simple sentence |
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The compound sentence |
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The complex sentence |
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The compound-complex sentence |
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Correcting run-on sentences |
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Eliminating sentence fragments |
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Misplaced and dangling modifiers |
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Correcting shifts in tense |
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Correcting faulty parallel structure |
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Sentence Agreement: |
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Subject-verb agreement |
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d> |
Pronoun-antecedent agreement |
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Pronoun as vague reference |
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Punctuation: |
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Period for completion |
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Period for abbreviation |
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Question mark |
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Exclamation mark |
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Comma in a Series |
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Comma with introductory words or phrases |
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Comma with coordinating conjunction |
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Comma with parenthetical expressions and appositives |
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Comma with dates, addresses, and geographical locations |
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Colon to introduce lists |
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Colon to separate parts |
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Semi-colon with main clauses |
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Semi-colon with a long series |
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Quotation marks for direct speech |
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Quotation marks to show special words or phrases |
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Quotation marks for titles of articles, stories, and poems |
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The Paragraph Process: |
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Finding a topic |
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Writing the topic sentence |
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Organizing ideas |
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Writing the closing sentence |
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Paragraph coherence |
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Paragraph unity |
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Multi-paragraph compositions |
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Paragraph transitions |
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Parts of speech: |
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Nouns as persons, places, or things |
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Nouns as ideas or qualities |
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Personal pronouns |
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Demonstrative pronouns |
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Possessive pronouns |
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Indefinite pronouns |
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Relative pronouns |
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Action verbs |
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Non-action verbs |
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Verb tenses |
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Adjectives that describe nouns |
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Nouns that act as adjectives |
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Pronouns that act as adjectives |
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Adjectives to show degrees of comparison |
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Adverbs that describe verbs |
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Adverbs that describe adjectives |
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Adverbs that describe other adverbs |
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Prepositions |
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Conjunctions |
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Interjections |
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