ENG2P_ILC1.1: Why Organize Your Writing?

Press the following tabs to explore the learning goals and success criteria for this learning activity.

Explore the following recording to learn about the land of Ayelsee from the book Harjit and Lou are reading.

Now, check out the following interactive activity to compare the land of Ayelsee before and after it fell into disarray. For a better experience with this interactive activity, use the fullscreen mode.

Suddenly, as Harjit and Lou are reading the book, something unexpected happens. Check out the following images to find out how the adventure begins.

This course is designed to extend the range of oral communication, reading, writing, and media literacy skills that you need for success in both secondary school and daily life. You will study and create a variety of informational, literary, and graphic texts. An important focus will be on the consolidation of strategies and processes that will help you interpret texts and communicate clearly and effectively. This course is intended to prepare you for the compulsory Grade 11 college or workplace preparation course.

You may have noticed that you started this course by exploring the beginning of a story — that’s because your learning on this course will take the shape of a narrative. You will progress in the story as you complete learning activities and assignments. This course will culminate with the writing and recording of a podcast episode.

In this first unit, called “Foundations of a Voice: Crafting Clear Messages,” you will develop your paragraph writing and essay writing skills so you will be prepared for the units to come.

This learning activity is going to be all about paragraph organization. Different kinds of writing need different kinds of organization. So, like making a path in a forest, you’re going to learn how to organize your writing so that it’s clear for the reader to navigate.

Acknowledgements (Opens in a new window)

One of the key characteristics of successful and confident language learners is the ability to set learning goals and be purposeful in monitoring your progress toward achieving them. To set meaningful goals, you’ll need to engage in some self-reflection.

Reflect on the following questions:

• What are your current strengths as a writer?
• What are a few things you could work on?

The quest to reach a new goal is not a straight path. We often hit roadblocks that force us to detour, back up, or try an entirely new route to our destination. Overcoming these obstacles and finding new pathways requires purposeful thinking and motivation. One way to navigate these obstacles is by setting goals.

Setting goals is an aspect of self-directed learning. Like any skill, you need to learn it and then you need practice it to improve.

Respond to the following questions in your notebook.

What are your goals for this course? In other words, what do you want to achieve? Do you want to be a better writer? Or maybe you want to challenge yourself by reading more complex texts?

Next, you'll learn about a few different kinds of writing. There are many genres and styles of writing. This course will focus on four different types of writing: narrative writing, descriptive writing, expository writing, and persuasive writing.

Press the following tabs to learn more about the four types of writing.

Each type of writing serves a distinct purpose, from storytelling to educating to persuading.

These styles of writing are also organized differently, especially when it comes to paragraphs. In this unit, we will focus on expository and persuasive writing, the kind of writing you might do for essays and reports. The goal is to demonstrate simple ways of organizing your thoughts to create clear and easily understood writing.

Now that you know about the four types of writing, check your understanding by answering the following questions. Select the correct answer, then press the Check Answer button to see how you did.

A big part of this unit will be working on paragraphs to make sure they are clear and communicate your point.

Here’s a relevant question: what is a paragraph?

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as follows:

A subdivision of a written composition that consists of one or more sentences, deals with one point or gives the words of one speaker, and begins on a new, usually indented line.

Now, examine the following quote from Steven Pinker, from his 2014 book about writing, The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21^st Century, to learn about the importance of a paragraph break:

In the previous quotation, Pinker says that the paragraph isn’t what writers should be thinking about; instead, he feels the paragraph break is more important. 

Do you agree? Explain your thinking in your notebook.

Pinker lists a few reasons to have a paragraph break: to allow readers to pause, rest, think, and then find their places on the page again.

The paragraph break, then, is something you put in for readers. That makes sense; after all, everything you put in a piece of writing is to help the reader understand and become engaged with the text.

Now that you’ve learned more about paragraph breaks, complete the following activity.

In the following paragraph, a student is putting forward the reasons why teleportation would be a revolutionary technology. Where would you add a paragraph break to make it clearer for the reader?

Once you’ve finished your work, press the Suggested Answer button to examine how paragraph breaks can be used in the previous text.

Fantastic! In this learning activity, you reflected on your strengths as a writer, reviewed some writing styles, and considered your own goals for the course. You also learned about paragraphs and worked on how writing and ideas can be structured through paragraph breaks.

Go back to the goals you set for this course! What are some steps you can take to achieve those goals? Record your ideas in your notebook.

In the next learning activity, you will learn more about organizing your writing. The learning activity will focus on creating a statement, example, explanation, and conclusion.

Complete the following self-check quiz to determine where you are in your learning and what areas you need to focus on.

This quiz is for feedback only, not part of your grade. You have unlimited attempts on this quiz. Take your time, do your best work, and reflect on any feedback provided.

For each question, select the correct answer, then press the Check Answer button to see how you did.

Ontario worked with other provinces in Canada to outline a set of competencies that are important to have to be successful in today’s world. Ontario then developed its Transferable Skills Framework as a set of skills for students to develop over time.

Explore the following video to learn about each of the seven transferable skills.

To learn more about each of the transferable skills, read the following document entitled Transferable Skills Overview (Opens in a new window) to explore the framework and the descriptors for each skill. Download, print, or copy the information in the document into your notes – you'll refer to it in each unit.

Throughout this course, you will be given the opportunity to reflect on the transferable skills you are developing. Keep your notebook up-to-date and be mindful of opportunities to apply and develop transferable skills.