Language Arts
Grade 7: Oral and Visual Communication
Overall Expectations
•use instructions and explanations to plan and organize work;
•ask questions and discuss different aspects of ideas in order to clarify their thinking;
•listen to and communicate related ideas, and narrate real and fictional events in a sequence;
•express and respond to a range of ideas and opinions concisely, clearly, and appropriately;
•contribute and work constructively in groups;
•demonstrate the ability to concentrate by identifying main points and staying on topic;
•identify various types of media works and a variety of the techniques used in them;
•analyse and interpret media works;
•create a variety of media works;
•use the conventions (e.g., sentence structure) of oral language, and of the various media, that are appropriate to the grade (see below).
Specific Expectations
Use of Words and Oral Language Structures
•regularly incorporate new vocabulary into discussions and presentations;
•use words and phrases to signal that a new or important point is about to be made (e.g., My central point is. . ., Note that. . ., First. . . Second. . . Third. . .);
•use analogies and comparisons to develop and clarify ideas;
•use repetition for emphasis;
•rehearse and revise their material before making a presentation (e.g., reorder ideas, change the conclusion);
Non-verbal Communication Skills
•identify some of the ways in which non-verbal communication techniques (e.g., tone of voice and body language) can affect audiences, and use these techniques in their own speech to arouse and maintain interest, and convince and persuade their listeners;
•use eye contact, variations in pace, appropriate gestures, and such devices as the "pause for effect" in presentations;
Group Skills 
•listen and respond constructively to alternative ideas or viewpoints;
•express ideas and opinions confidently but without trying to dominate discussion;
•analyse factors that contribute to the success, or lack of success, of a discussion;
Media Communication Skills 
•identify and describe categories of works typical of a particular medium (e.g., television – sitcom, talk show, news broadcast, interview, children's program, commercial);
•describe the function of different elements in magazines and newspapers (e.g., headline, photograph, regular column, feature article, editorial);
•describe and explain how sound and image work together to create an effect (e.g., sound track and film images);
•create a variety of media works (e.g., a class newspaper, a story board, a radio documentary).
 Expectations: Copyright The Queen's Printer for Ontario, 1998.  With thanks to B.Phillips, 1998.
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