ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS RESOURCES

INTRODUCTION

Purpose:
This document is designed to illustrate correlation between high school courses and the new Grade 10 writing assessment (scheduled to be piloted in 2002-2003).

Background:
The Grade 10 writing assessment will be given once a year in the spring semester to all tenth-grade students. This change from an English II End-of-Course Test to a grade-specific test emphasizes the need for writing across the curriculum. Additionally, the test has changed from literary analysis to information-based writing, including definition (English I, 2.02), problem-solution (English II, 2.01) and cause-effect (English II, 2.02). While informational writing is the focus in English II, the assessment clearly relates to concepts and writing in other courses.

As the NC English Language Arts Standard Course of Study emphasizes, students should write for "different purposes, to different audiences, and in different contexts." (p. 71) A good writing program extends beyond the English Language Arts classroom, and the writing assessment should be based on students' experiences up to the day of the assessment, as well as relate to students' future writing. Therefore, courses normally taken in Grades 9, 11 and 12 have been included in the matrix.

Organization of Matrix:
Correlation to goals and objectives has been identified for high school courses in each discipline area. These connections may relate to developing skills and features of good writing (such as supporting ideas or organization) or to the tasks of defining concepts, explaining problems and proposing solutions, and/or analyzing cause-effect relationships.

Below the course objectives, one or more related assignments have been given. These assignments address the types of writing in the specific context of the course. Some discipline areas (such as Healthful Living) include the most popular (or required courses) with several examples of assignments. Other areas (such as Dance) include several courses, with one example for each. In either case, the examples are designed to illustrate how all areas can and do ask students to define concepts, explain problems and propose solutions, and analyze cause-effect relationships.

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