Competency 2 Prototype Examination: Echoes From the Past English as a Second Language, Core Program Secondary V June 2010 Working Document Photos: MELS

Should the Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine House, an abandoned building in downtown Montréal, be preserved or demolished? Overview Students examine whether or not old historic buildings should be preserved. Reinvestment Task: Students write an opinion column in answer to the following question: Working Document MELS

Students listen to and read a series of texts that provide them with the information they need to carry out the task. Students have 3 hrs. 15 min. to do the examination:  Listening (45 min.)  Reading and reinvestment (2 hrs. 30 min.) Overview (cont.) Working Document

Text componentsText components of an opinion column InformationInformation on the Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine House and on Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine InformationInformation (criteria) on preserving or demolishing buildings LanguageLanguage related to the topic What do students need to carry out the reinvestment task? Overview (cont.) Working Document

The exam begins as usual: a narrator provides students with the necessary instructions. Students read along in their booklet. Students are then given 10 minutes to read all the information in their booklet. This is information they need before the actual beginning of the exam:  Introduction  Information about the reinvestment task  A text about the Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine House  Instructions for each part of the listening section Listening Working Document

Part 1 The hosts give guidelines on how to write an opinion column. Part 2 The hosts read an opinion column aloud as an example. Part 3 The hosts give criteria for preserving or for demolishing old buildings. Listening (cont.) Working Document

Part 1—Writing an Opinion Column The five basic guidelines are listed in Preparation Booklet A (in black). Students add details as they listen to the text (in orange). 1Present the topic. Audience should not have to guess what the topic of your text is. 2Express your opinion. Express a clear opinion early in your opinion column. 3Support your opinion. Select relevant facts/ideas and include them in your column. 4Ask a question. To make people think. To make an impact. Raise a question that is relevant. 5 Address one opposing argument. Address one of the main opposing arguments, but refute it. This gives your opinion column more credibility. Listening (cont.) Working Document

Part 2—Example of an Opinion Column One of the hosts reads an opinion column on a Montréal landmark: the Guaranteed Pure Milk Bottle, a 10-metre former water reservoir atop a 1930 building that was once a dairy plant. Students take notes if they wish. The goal is to identify the guidelines mentioned in Part I and to better understand the structure of an opinion column. Listening (cont.) Working Document MELS

Part 3—Criteria for Preserving and for Demolishing Buildings Students write down criteria for preserving or for demolishing buildings. Students have to decide in which column to note each criterion. Criteria for Preserving a Building Criteria for Demolishing a Building Listening (cont.) Working Document

After the listening section, students are given Preparation Booklet B, which consists of the reading section. Students read the instructions in Preparation Booklet B. Reading Remove the Final Task Booklet from the centre of this booklet. Read the instructions in the Final Task Booklet. Read the texts in this booklet, which will provide you with more criteria for preserving or for demolishing buildings. Respond to the texts. You may: - highlight information - annotate the texts - answer the guiding questions - take notes on page 7 Once you have completed this part of the examination, carry out the final task. Working Document

Students read the instructions in the Final Task Booklet. Write an opinion column in response to the following question: Should the Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine House, an abandoned building in downtown Montréal, be preserved or demolished? Refer to the task requirements in the rubric on page 8. Write your outline on page 8 of Preparation Booklet B. Write the draft copy on pages 4 and 5 of this booklet. Write the final version of your opinion column on pages 6 and 7. Reading (cont.) Working Document

In Preparation Booklet B, students read three pages of text, which provide them with more criteria for preserving or for demolishing buildings.  Newspaper articles  Literary text (excerpt from a novel)  Chart Reading (cont.) Lamzah

Students carry out the reinvestment task. They are expected to:  build a solid case around the central exam question by: Reinvestment Task Working Document  selecting from the texts information and language that are sufficient, relevant to the task and true to the texts  effectively organizing and adapting these internal features as well as the text components MELS

Read students’ opinion columns to evaluate Competency 2, using the rubric. BCD Crafts an effective case, clearly built around the central question.  Opinion column shows a thorough understanding of the main issue. Information and language reinvested are relevant, true to the texts and, along with the text components, are used to create an effective opinion column. Develops an uneven case around the central question. Information reinvested is true to the texts, but the opinion column displays one or more of the following:  It sometimes strays from the central question.  It has limited substance.  Some information reinvested is not relevant.  Some internal features are not used effectively. Internal features refer to information, language and text components. Presents a weak case. Opinion column displays one or several of the following:  It shows some misunderstanding of the purpose, main issue and/or texts.  It lacks substance; information reinvested is too generic or is insufficient.  Internal features are presented randomly or information is not relevant to the central question.  Many internal features are not used effectively.  Position is not clearly supported with information from texts. Rubric Working Document

Suggestions... Working Document Since colour photographs are clearer and more detailed than black-and-white, it is suggested to either:  make a master series of the colour handout, i.e. 40 photocopies that can be used with all groups OR  using a multimedia projector, project the photo slideshow for the duration of the

The exam has been designed so that the Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine House can easily be replaced with a local landmark that is threatened. Suggestions... Winter Street Prison in Sherbrooke Winter Street Prison in Sherbrooke Québec City’s Franciscan Sisters Missionaries of Mary Monastery and Chapel Québec City’s Franciscan Sisters Missionaries of Mary Monastery and Chapel The Grenville Canal, in Grenville, Québec The Grenville Canal, in Grenville, Québec Simply replace the text on the Louis- Hippolyte La Fontaine House and the exam question in the booklets. Working Document

Suggestions... If you choose to also evaluate Competency 3, Writes and produces texts, do not evaluate the criterion Content of the message, as it is already evaluated via Competency 2. Working Document Competency 2: Use of knowledge from texts in a reinvestment task Competency 3: Content of the message

Observations From Field-Testing Working Document Students are able to select information in the texts but they have difficulty using this information to answer the central question. Few students take notes and plan. Students have difficulty organizing the information in order to build a coherent opinion column.

Collection of facts without links Information that is relevant but simply listed; it is not adapted to the central exam question or it is not expanded on Accurate but irrelevant information Inaccurate information Generic information that can apply to many buildings Mostly claims and opinions; very little factual support Only one idea is developed; a weak case Observations From Field-Testing Working Document