Literacy

For any questions related to Literacy instruction, please contact Tanya Carter, Coordinator of Literacy, 902-625-7083.


Please see the literacy resource, Fostering a Love of Reading at Home, for ideas and activities to support the development of students' reading skills.

The Nova Scotia language arts curriculum is shaped by the vision of enabling students to become literate, articulate, and reflective individuals who use language successfully for comprehension and communication in personal and public contexts. 

Grade P-3

English Language Arts Primary–3 is based on the premise that learning experiences in English language arts should:

  • help students develop language fluency not only in the school setting, but also in their lives in the wider world
  • contribute toward students’ achievement of the essential graduation learnings

The recommendations in this guide are aligned with current research that directs teachers to practices that adhere to:

  •   balanced literacy
  •   planned, purposeful, focused instruction
  •   gradual release of responsibility
  •   assessment for and of learning
  •   timely, descriptive feedback 
  •   learner-responsive differentiated instruction

Grade 4-6

English 4-6 has been developed to support teachers in the implementation of the English language arts curriculum. It provides a comprehensive framework on which teachers of English language arts, grades 4 through 6, can base decisions concerning assessment, learning opportunities, instruction, and resources. These guidelines:

  • reflect current research, theory and classroom practice,
  • provide a coherent, integrated view of the learning and teaching of English language arts,
  • place emphasis on the student as a learner and partner in their own learning,
  • provide flexibility for teachers in planning instruction to meet the needs of all learners,
  • suggest experiences and strategies to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the learning and teaching process.

Grade 7-8 Renewed Curricula

Language is a primary instrument of thought and the most powerful tool learners have for developing skills, ideas, and insights; for giving significance to their experiences, and for making sense of the world and the possibilities within it. Language is learned through purposeful and powerful language processes designed around stimulating ideas and issues that are meaningful to learners. Language processes are:

  • listening
  • speaking
  • reading
  • viewing
  • writing
  • representing

The language processes, embedded in the outcomes, are interrelated and interdependent in that the use of one strengthens, supports, and extends the others. These processes are most effective as interdependent rather than discrete processes. The ability to respond to reading, listening, or viewing, is a lifelong process. The complexity, sophistication, and depth of response as well as the type of material to which learners are able to respond changes over time.

Grade 9

It is important that language arts classrooms provide a wide variety of reading resources that address the interests and needs of learners at each grade level. Resources should be available to support developing readers and readers whose fluency is beyond the expectation for the grade.

The program at this level emphasizes:

  • using talk as a tool for thinking and learning
  • writing, reading, and talking about writing and reading
  • using language within the context of drama
  • exploring visual images and ways in which written and spoken language combine with image in visual media

Grade 10-12

High School English Language Arts - a link to each high school course is listed below:

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