This course is designed to help students acquire and demonstrate the cross-curricular literacy skills that are evaluated by the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT). Students who complete the course successfully will meet the provincial literacy requirement for graduation.
Courses Type: Open
Prerequisite: Students who have been eligible to write the OSSLT at least twice and who have been unsuccessful at least once are eligible to take the course.
To participate fully in the society and workplace of the twenty-first century, today’s students will need to be able to use language skillfully and confidently. The Ontario curriculum recognizes the central importance of reading and writing skills in learning across the curriculum and in everyday life, and prepares students for the literary demands they will face in their post – secondary endeavors. To ensure that they have the essential competencies in reading and writing that they will need to succeed at school, at work, and in daily life, students in Ontario must demonstrate those skills as a requirement for graduation.
The Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OSSLC) is a full-credit Grade 12 course that is offered as a part of the English program to provide students with intensive support in achieving the required reading and writing competencies. The reading and writing competencies required by the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) form the instructional assessment core of the course.
OLC4O Online Course Outline and Timeline
Below is the suggested sequence of course unit delivery as well as the recommended number of hours to complete the respective unit. For complete details of targeted expectations within each unit and activity, please see each Unit Overview found in the OLC4O course profile.
| Unit Order | Unit Name | Suggested Time |
|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | Introduction to Literacy | 26 Hours |
| Unit 2 | Developing our Reading Skills | 26 Hours |
| MID SEMESTER POINT | ||
| Unit 3 | Developing our Writing Skills | 26 Hours |
| Unit 4 | Enhancing our Oral Literacy Skills | 26 Hours |
| FINAL | Final Culminating Assignment | 6 Hours |
| View Sample GradebookTotal | 110 Hours |
Please note, as per Ministry guidelines, OVS has a mandatory 14 day minimum requirement for student enrollment to be eligible for a midterm report card and 28 days enrollment to be eligible for a final report card.
Fundamental Concepts Covered in Grade 12 Literacy Online Course
The expectations in the compulsory courses of the English curriculum are organized in four strands, or broad areas of learning: Oral Communication, Reading and Literature Studies, Writing, and Media Studies. The program in this course is designed to develop a range of essential skills in these four interrelated areas, built on a solid foundation of knowledge of the conventions of standard English and incorporating the use of analytical, critical, and meta-cognitive thinking skills. Students learn best when they are encouraged to consciously monitor their thinking as they learn, and each strand includes expectations that call for such reflection. The knowledge and skills described in the expectations in the four strands of the language curriculum will enable students to understand, respond to, create, and appreciate a full range of literary, informational, and media texts. The areas of learning are closely interrelated, and the knowledge and skills described in the four strands are interdependent and complementary. Teachers plan activities that blend expectations from the four strands in order to provide students with the kinds of experiences that promote meaningful learning and that help them recognize how literacy skills in the four areas reinforce and strengthen one another.