Successful implementation of the current English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum invites a new approach to teacher professional learning (PL). A focus on establishing and renewing relationships must play a role in developing the collaboration necessary for curriculum implementation. This article presents a research-based argument that effective and…

Purpose: In this paper, the authors engage with embodied critical literacies through an exploration of the possibilities provided by the use of improvisational comedy (improv) in the classroom. The purpose of this paper is to extend understandings of critical literacy to consider how embodied critical literacy may be transformative for both…

The present study examined preservice teachers' (PSTs) knowledge of basic language constructs across four different English-speaking teacher preparations programs. A standardized survey was administered to participants from Canada (n = 80), England (n = 55), New Zealand (n = 26), and the USA (n = 118). All participants were enrolled in…

New digital technologies are changing the nature and contexts of work in Canada. It is essential that education policy and practice acknowledge and respond to these changes. The impacts and implications of new and emerging technologies for work can be summarized within two paradigms: technology is replacing work through automation and digital…

Because of the global status of the English language, and the cultural and linguistic qualities of English literature, English teachers are at the fulcrum of educational debate. As global curriculum expands and refocuses the challenges and possibilities of multicultural education, teachers, schools, and communities are challenged to reexamine the…

This article explores language and literacy teachers' classroom experiences in a digital age. Drawing on multi-literacies and new literacy studies frameworks, we use metaphors of classroom as text and teacher as author to build an understanding of the challenges and changes examined in the findings of two separate studies. The teachers were…

Reviews selected English and language arts curriculum guides in use in five provinces--British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Nova Scotia. The discussion focuses on the literature sections of the curriculum guides. (SRT)

This summary paper, the result of an ongoing collaborative process, presents an extended policy statement for English Language Arts K-12 in Saskatchewan, Canada. The paper is in five major sections: (1) Introduction; (2) Foundations and Principles (outlining the value of language--both dynamic and rule-governed--as a foundation for the English…

In this article, the authors explore the ways in which a selection of student teachers from two universities in Canada expressed their feelings of preparedness to teach literacy in elementary classrooms. The student teachers had experienced various approaches to literacy teaching as they progressed through their teacher education program. These…

One of the key requirements of the Common Core State Standards for Reading is that all students must be able to comprehend texts of steadily increasing complexity as they progress through school. By the time they complete the core, students must be able to read and comprehend independently and proficiently the kinds of complex texts commonly found…

Guidelines are provided to assist teachers of grade 3 French immersion pupils in developing a concentrated English language arts program which will enable pupils to attain competency in the essential basic skills. The introduction of English language arts into the early French immersion program represents the pupils' first encounter with formal…

Shows that traditional grammar teaching grew out of nineteenth-century beliefs about language learning and the nature of knowledge that are profoundly different from those that direct the language arts curriculum today. Bases the account on approved textbooks, Alberta Department of Education reports, public examinations, and anecdotal records. (EL)

Designed for students who have experienced difficulty with language arts in the regular program, this curriculum guide outlines the Integrated Occupational English Language Arts Program of Alberta, Canada, a program which focuses on the need of the learner to experience success, and which is designed to enable students to become responsible…

This curriculum support document, for English Language Arts, Senior Years, grades 9-12, in Manitoba, is intended to suggest general strategies along with specific formats and activities for teaching listening, speaking, reading, writing, viewing, and thinking skills, and for the study of literature and language. The document's nine sections are as…

This teacher guide contains teaching and learning activities to accompany "Room for Five," a video series developed by Alberta Learning. The teacher guide is designed to give teachers ideas for using and connecting the videos from the series to the outcomes of the new Alberta curricular programs. It features student activities for the…