Everybody in Grade 10 in Ontario writes the provincial literacy test, and passing it is a requirement for the diploma. This page is what it actually asks and how this course prepares for it.
What is on it
| Section | What it asks |
|---|---|
| Reading | Several passages — informational, narrative, graphic — with multiple-choice and short written answers |
| Writing: news report | Write a news report from a headline and a picture |
| Writing: opinion piece | Take a position on a given question and defend it in a series of paragraphs |
| Short writing tasks | A few sentences, several times, in response to what you read |
The reading is what most people find harder, and it is not because the passages are difficult. It is because the questions ask for evidence and students answer with impressions.
What actually helps
- Answer the question that was asked. Underline the question’s verb: explain, identify, support. Each one asks for a different shape.
- Use evidence from the passage, every time. For a short-answer question, a sentence with a quoted phrase in it will nearly always outperform a longer sentence without one.
- In the news report, answer the five W’s in the first paragraph, invent plausible detail, and keep it neutral. It is not a story about your feelings.
- In the opinion piece, take a position in the first sentence. Three reasons, one paragraph each, with an example in each. A clear ordinary position beats a clever unfinished one.
- Write legibly and leave two minutes to reread. Half the errors people make are caught by a single reread.
How this course prepares
Not by drilling. The forms appear inside real work: news reports in the media unit, opinion writing in The Media Deconstruction and in Whose Reading Counts, and evidence-based short answers in every close reading period. Two periods in the spring are spent on the test’s own formats, with a full practice under timed conditions.
If you are worried about it
Come and tell me in September rather than in March. Accommodations, extra practice, and a plan are all straightforward when there is time, and this is a test that rewards preparation more than talent.
Curriculum connection
B1.4
make and explain inferences about texts,
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C1.1
identify the topic, purpose, and audience for a variety of writing tasks (e.g., an academic essay examining a theme in one of Shakespeare’s plays for the teacher; a speech about an Aboriginal leader or role model for peers; a rite-of-passage narrative relating the experience of a fictional character for peers and adults; a narrative about a significant personal moment in their own Grade 9 experience for new Grade 9 students; an article on a local issue for a community newspaper)
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C2.2
establish a distinctive voice in their writing, modifying language and tone skilfully to suit the form, audience, and purpose for writing (e.g., rewrite a story by a favourite author, adopting the point of view and voice of a character other than the original narrator, or of an entirely new character; use a formal, impersonal voice in an essay to communicate their intention to maintain objectivity; use imagery that reveals or reflects their mood or attitude in a lyrical free verse poem)
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C2.5
explain how their own beliefs, values, and experiences are revealed in their writing (e.g., compare their writing on a topic with a piece written from a different viewpoint and identify and explain the differences; write in-role to support an opinion with which they personally disagree and use feedback from a partner to assess whether they have represented the position fairly)
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C3.2
build vocabulary for writing by confirming word meaning(s) and reviewing and refining word choice, using a variety of resources and strategies, as appropriate for the purpose (e.g., find specialized or academic vocabulary in reference resource materials to replace vague or inaccurately used words; maintain a list of examples of technical terms and media phrases with their uses in various contexts; maintain a list of homonyms, with their different meanings and uses in context; use a dictionary to find the etymology of unfamiliar words in a history or science article)
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