Competency 2:
Exemplars
Primary and Secondary
2014
Table of Contents
Introduction
The Scales
Purpose of the exemplars
The text samples
Aspects to consider when selecting a text for students
Understanding the ‘Teachers’ Notes’
The Response Process
p. 3
p. 3-5
p. 5
p.5
p.6
p.6
p.7
TEXT SAMPLES
Level 1: Example 1
Level 1: Example 2
Level 2: Example 1
Level 2: Example 2
Level 3: Example 1
Level 3: Example 2
Level 4: Example 1
Level 4: Example 2
Level 5: Example 1
Level 5: Example 2
Level 6: Example 1
Level 6: Example 2
Level 7: Example 1
Level 7: Example 2
Level 8: Example 1
Level 8: Example 2
Level 9: Example 1
Level 9: Example 2
Level 10: Example 1
Level 10: Example 2
Level 11: Example 1
Level 11: Example 2
Level 12: Example 1
Level 12: Example 2
p.8
p.9
p.10
p.11
p. 12
p.13
p. 14
p. 15
p.16
p.17
p.18
p.19
p.20
p.21
p. 22
p. 23
p. 24
p. 25
p. 26
p. 27
p.28
p. 29
p.30
p. 31
2
Introduction
In the fall of 2006, Kativik School Board (KSB) introduced a new competency-based
ESL program to the secondary English sector. As part of the implementation process,
secondary ESL teachers were trained and consulted throughout the 2006-2007
academic year. The program was initially implemented without the scales of
competency, the main evaluation tool. The scales of competency, from levels 6 to 12,
were introduced in winter 2007. At that time, secondary teachers were, for a second
time, brought together for a consultation session where they were provided with the
opportunity to ask for clarification, provide feedback, voice concerns, etc. on the newly
developed program and scales.
In winter 2008, the primary ESL program was released with a finalized version of the
scales of competency (pre-level - level 12). From this point forward, all ESL teachers
were expected to use the scales of competency as their reference point for evaluation.
Over the years, it became evident that the ESL scales of competency lacked some
clarity, creating obstacles for teachers. The team at Education Services felt that creating
a booklet of text exemplars that are indicative of the types of texts (complexity,
vocabulary, syntactic structure, etc.) that students should be able to read at each level
of the competency two (Understands and Responds to Texts) scales of competency
would help teachers and students solidify their understanding of the levels of texts that
students should be reading. It is important to remember that ESL competency two is
more than reading. Teachers should refer to the KSB ESL Program of Study to see the
other aspects of the competency (e.g. decoding and reading skills for written texts,
understanding of written and audio or visual texts, etc.). Teachers should teach and
encourage the use of reading strategies. For each level of the scales, only two samples
have been provided. It is important for teachers to keep in mind that there are many
different genres of texts which could be used at each level. Teachers can refer to the
KSB ESL Scales of Competency (C2 Scales) for suggestions of genres. Teachers
should also be sure to expose students to a variety of different text types throughout
students’ academic careers (e.g audio recordings, video texts, novels, poetry,
environmental texts, etc.).
The Scales
The ESL scales of competency are inclusive continuums of development that provide a
portrait of the student’s progress in each of the competencies (C1: Interacts Orally, C2:
Understands and Responds to Texts and C3: Writes Texts). The scales can be used for
assessment and evaluation during an academic year but teachers must keep in mind
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that the descriptions found at each level are end-of-year expectations. As such, using
the scales as a reference for assessment or evaluation during the course of an
academic year, the teacher must make the proper adjustments to ensure that the
student is receiving a fair assessment that accounts for where they should at the time of
the evaluation.
When selecting a text, the teacher should use this document, the scales and the
program of study. Each document contains items that will guide them in selecting an
appropriate text. The scales list many items related to vocabulary and syntax. It should
be noted that the level that these are indicated at are where students should have
mastered the use of the listed vocabulary items or syntactic structure this does not
mean that teachers should limit their students’ access to text that contain these items.
Students can be introduced to these items earlier. These items from the scales are not
intended to be lists of vocabulary words to teach and test, they are words that are
important to the general vocabulary development of the students and will contribute to
the improvement of their C1, C2 and C3. They must be presented when appropriate and
in a contextualized way. They should not be thought of as words for students to
memorize and be able to define but rather as tools to help students communicate and
construct meaning in their second language.
1
2
Minimum expectancy
for end of grade 4
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4
5
Minimum expectancy
for end of grade 6
7
6
Minimum expectancy
for end of secondary
1.2
8
9
10
11
12
Minimum expectancy for end
of secondary 2.3
IMPORTANT NOTE: In the scales of competency development, certain reading
genres are specified at each level. It is important to note that the genres named at each
level should be mastered for independent reading by the students at that level. This
does not mean that teachers should limit their students’ exposure to texts exclusively to
these genres. On the contrary, teachers are encouraged to expose their students to a
multitude of genres. Also, it is definitely appropriate for teachers to read texts to
students or with students that are of genres beyond where they are on the scales and
that are more complex than what the student could actually read on their own. Teachers
can use these opportunities to help students develop their reading and listening skills, to
model effective reading and to have students work on the second C2 evaluation criteria
‘evidence of understanding of written and audio or visual texts’.
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The scales are inclusive. This means that students at a level 9 or 10 should be able to
successfully and independently read all of the genres that are named in the previous
levels on the scales of competency development.
Purpose of the Exemplars
This booklet of reading exemplars has been created to:
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provide teachers concrete examples of the complexity of C2 reading texts at
each level of the scales of competency;
provide teachers with a better understanding of end-of-year expectations;
promote fair and consistent assessment and evaluation throughout Nunavik;
provide concrete examples that can be shown to students to help them
understand the scales and improve achievement;
facilitate communication with parents (exemplars can be used to show parents
where their child is and where they need to go);
help teachers select appropriate reading texts for students;
facilitate communication among teachers in a school and throughout Nunavik.
The Text Samples
The reading text samples in this document were pulled from a variety of sources. This
included:
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Texts used in previous evaluation situations;
Texts from the primary reading package;
Novel excerpts;
Newspaper articles;
Online education resources;
PM Nelson leveled reader;
Rigby readers;
Texts for KSB secondary social studies LESs;
Comic strips
The reading texts were read, graded and discussed by a team at Education Services. A
consensus was reached before leveling each text.
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Aspects to consider when selecting a text for students
When selecting a text, the teacher should consider:
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The KSB ESL Scales of Competency;
The KSB ESL Program of Study (Competencies and key features to be covered);
The KSB Progression of Learning;
The students’ needs and interests;
Vocabulary (word difficulty, frequency of vocabulary, quantity of known vs.
unknown vocabulary, use of idiomatic expressions, abstractness of the
vocabulary used, etc.);
Sentence complexity (sentence length, syntactic complexity, syntactic features
(e.g. use of negatives, passive voice, embedding, nominalization, etc.);
Context variables (e.g. student interest in the topic, purpose of reading the text,
students’ background knowledge, concrete or abstract nature of the subject
matter, etc.);
Discourse and rhetorical features (e.g. organization of the text, inter-paragraph
and inter-sentence connections).
Understanding the Teachers’ Notes
Under each reading text there is a section labelled ‘Teachers’ Notes’. In this section a
description of why the provided text is indicative of the C2 reading level is provided. It is
important to note that these notes focus heavily on the composition of the text. When
selecting a text, the classroom teacher must select a text at an appropriate level when
asking students to read independently. He or she must also select texts that are
appropriate for the reinvestment tasks that he or she will ask his or her students to do.
For example, if teachers are asking students to work on making a personal connection
with a text, the text that he or she selects should be something that students can relate
to and make connections with.
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The Response Process
This document contains sample texts. Obviously as part of C2 students must learn to
decode, read, sequence, construct meaning from a text, etc. but they must also learn to
think beyond a text and make connections to their lives and the world in general. These
aspects are outlined in the C2 competencies and key features in the KSB ESL Program
of Study. Teachers should provide students with opportunities to develop their reading
skills and strategies. They should also encourage the use of the response process and
ensure that students are learning the skills necessary to reinvesting, exploring,
personalizing and generalizing beyond a text. Students must move beyond decoding
and into making connections with texts, critical thinking, establishing well-founded
opinions, using genre to construct meaning or as a means of looking at point-of-view,
etc. More information regarding this can be found in the KSB ESL Program of Study.
Teachers must ensure that throughout their academic careers, students cover all
aspects of competency two and its key features, in addition to the specific points
outlined in the progression of learning.
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Level 1: Example 1
Teachers’ Notes:
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Includes words composed of known phonics (see ESL Scales of Competency)
Very simple sentences (i.e. Subject-verb-object)
Contains only known theme vocabulary, sight words or words previously
studied in class
Has visual support (in the original source, the page beside the text is a photo
of a child eating).
Uses one or two syllable words that can be easily decoded by students who
know the phonics outlined at Level 1 in the ESL Scales of Competency
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Level 1: Example 2
Teachers’ Notes:
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Includes words comprised of known phonics
Very simple sentences (i.e. Subject-verb-object)
Contains only known theme vocabulary, sight words or words previously
studied in class
Has visual support
One or two syllable words that can be easily decoded by students who know
basic phonics (see KSB ESL Scales of Competency)
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Level 2: Example 1
Teachers’ Notes:
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Contains sight words, known, studied or otherwise familiar vocabulary
Contextual cues to help the student construct meaning (e.g. pictures)
Simple sentences.
Several sentences in length.
Repetition of vocabulary or syntactic structure.
Limited use of vocabulary
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Level 2: Example 2
Teachers’ Notes:
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Contains sight words, known, studied or otherwise familiar vocabulary
Contextual cues to help the student construct meaning (e.g. pictures)
Simple sentences.
Limited use of vocabulary
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Level 3: Example 1
Teachers’ Notes:
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Short, simple text
Simple sentences that are organized into short paragraphs
Known or studied vocabulary
Contextualized cutes to give meaning (vocabulary and or genre)
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Level 3: Example 2
Teachers’ Notes:
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Short, simple text
Simple sentences that are organized into short paragraphs
Known or studied vocabulary
Repetition of vocabulary
Contextual cues to help student extract meaning (e.g. images)
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Level 4: Example 1
Teachers’ Notes:
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Short, simple text
Simple sentences that are organized into short paragraphs
Limited vocabulary but some words are unknown to the students (i.e not sight
words and not studied in class)
Occasional use of a more complex sentence (e.g. As a special treat, Dad was
taking Jake to an outdoor concert).
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Level 4: Example 2
Teachers’ Notes:
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Short, simple text
Simple sentences that are organized into short paragraphs
Limited vocabulary but some words are unknown to the students (e.g stream
or picnic)
Occasional use of a more complex sentence or stylistic device (E.g. “Thanks,”
said Yankee and from then on Yankee the pig could fly.)
Occasional and contextualized use of abstract vocabulary (e.g whoosh)
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Level 5: Example 1
Teachers’ Notes:
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More complex vocabulary that is not necessarily known and may require
student to use knowledge of phonics, background knowledge and contextual
cues to decode the unknown word (e.g. shock wave).
Several short paragraphs
Increased sentence length
Contains a blend of known and unknown vocabulary
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Level 5: Example 2
Teachers’ Notes:
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Several short paragraphs
Increased sentence length and complexity (e.g. They gave him some vitamins,
but his parents could not afford to buy them or for him to see a special doctor).
Contains an occasional abstract vocabulary word
Contains a blend of known and unknown vocabulary
Some difficult vocabulary words that will require the student to decode or use
contextual cues to extract meaning
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Level 6: Example 1
Teachers’ Notes:
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Contains complex sentence (E.g. Your ancestors came to North America
almost 4000 years ago from Siberia, an area in Asia).
May be abstract or require background knowledge to extract meaning
Contains several more difficult vocabulary items (E.g. ancestors, Siberia,
adapted, nomadic).
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Level 6: Example 2
Teachers’ Notes:
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Contains complex sentences (e.g. The one, who got slapped, was hurt, but
without anything to say, he wrote in the sand: “Today, my best friend slapped
me in the face”.
Contains more challenging vocabulary items (e.g. oasis, replied, engraved)
Contains an occasional abstract idea (e.g. “…we should engrave it in the stone
of the memory of the heart, where no wind can erase it.”)
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Level 7: Example 1
Teachers’ Notes:
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Complex vocabulary items (e.g. assimilated)
Contains abstract ideas (e.g. “…have their rights recognized.”)
Increased sentence length
Contains several sentences that are syntactically complex (e.g. with help from
some Aboriginals, it has created a number of legal documents that recognize
the right of Aboriginal peoples to their land and self-determination).
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Level 7: Example 2
Teachers’ Notes:
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Increased sentence length
Contains complex sentences (e.g. she leaned back against the building, trying
to catch her breath.)
Unknown or difficult vocabulary items that will require decoding and or use of
contextual cues to extract meaning
Use of several homophones that could cause confusion if unknown
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Level 8: Example 1
Teachers’ Notes:
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Contains figures of speech (e.g. Who couldn’t help but love her?)
Foreshadowing
Increased sentence length and complexity.
Abstract vocabulary
Complex vocabulary items
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Level 8: Example 2
Teachers’ Notes:
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Increased sentence length and complexity (e.g. This website is designed
specifically for teenagers to learn about the effects of alcohol, and it contains
facts about abusing alcohol at an early age).
Contains some complex vocabulary items (e.g .empower, resist, selfdestructive)
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Level 9: Example 1
Teachers’ Notes:
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Elements of symbolism
Contains several difficult vocabulary items (e.g. ingenious, longing)
Student must use knowledge of the genre to extract meaning
Students need to understand some of the subtitles of the English language in
order to move from decoding the text to understanding the text.
Complex sentences
Uses stylistic devices to enrich the text
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Level 9: Example 2
Teachers’ Notes:
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Contains several complex vocabulary items (e.g. hindered, effective,
simulates)
Contains several complex sentences
Contains several abstract vocabulary items
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Level 10: Example 1
Teachers’ Notes:
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Contains several complex sentences (e.g. Members of a regional prevention
committee, with members from the police, health board, school board and
KRG, want to raise awareness about the problem, improve safety, cut the
number of collisions and, in short, “to convert bad driving practices into
responsible and safe ones”.)
Contains several abstract vocabulary items
Contains several complex vocabulary items (e.g perilous, pedestrians, lethal)
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Level 10: Example 2
Teachers’ Notes:
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Contains several abstract vocabulary items and ideas
Contains several complex sentences
Requires background or content knowledge for a complete understanding of
the text
Abstract thoughts
Level 11: Example 1
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Level 11: Example 1
Teachers’ Notes:
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Require background or content knowledge for a full understanding of the text
Contains complex vocabulary items
Contains increasing complex sentence structures that may use new or
unknown grammatical features (e.g. Canada also has two mobile labs—and
the teams to run them—in Sierra Leone).
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Level 11: Example 2
Teachers’ Notes:
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Includes several abstract thoughts
Includes several complex vocabulary items and concepts
Require some content or background knowledge for a complete reading
Knowledge of the genre is pertinent to a more complete understanding of the
text
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Level 12: Example 1
Teachers’ Notes:
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Contains many complex sentences
Contains many difficult and or abstract vocabulary items
Requires some background or content knowledge for a more complete
understanding of the text
Text contains several stylistic or grammatical features that are pertinent to
understanding, or specific to, the genre
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Level 12: Example 2
Excerpt from “Night” by Elie Wiesel
Teachers’ Notes:
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Contains several difficult vocabulary items
Contains many complex sentences
Stylistic features are used to enrich the text
Requires background or content knowledge for a more complete
understanding of the text (e.g. An SS non-commissioned officer came to meet
us…)
Contains several figures of speech and or idiomatic expressions
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