Grade 9 English Language Arts: how to help at home
What your child learns in Grade 9 english language arts in the Saskatchewan Curriculum, and simple things to try at home.
The Big Ideas this year
- Comprehend and Respond (CR9.1a–CR9.8b): View, listen to, read, comprehend, and respond to a variety of texts that address identity (e.g., The Search for… View, listen to, read, comprehend, and respond to a variety of texts that address identity, social responsibility… Select and use appropriate strategies to construct meaning before (e.g., formulating focus questions), during, and… (and 13 more outcomes)
- Compose and Create (CC9.1a–CC9.9b): Create various visual, multimedia, oral, and written texts that explore identity (e.g., The Search for Self)… Create various visual, multimedia, oral, and written texts that explore identity, social responsibility… Create and present an individual researched inquiry project related to a topic, theme, or issue studied in English… (and 15 more outcomes)
- Assess and Reflect on Language Abilities (AR9.1a–AR9.2b): Assess personal strengths and needs as a viewer, listener, reader, representer, speaker, and writer and… Assess personal strengths and needs as a viewer, listener, reader, representer, speaker, and writer and… Assess own and others' work for clarity, correctness, and impact. (and 1 more outcome)
Easy ways to practise english language arts at home
- Read what they are interested in: graphic novels, sports pages, series. Then talk about it.
- Ask for the main idea and one piece of evidence from the text.
- Have them write real messages: a thank-you note, a short review, a note to a relative.
- Read their writing aloud to them; they often spot their own mistakes by ear.
What each unit covers
Close Reading
Reading original short passages and answering questions about theme, tone, word choice, structure and the author's purpose, using evidence from the text.
Literary Elements
Recognizing devices such as irony, symbolism, motif, allusion and foils in short excerpts, and describing tone and mood.
Literary Devices
Spotting allusion (a reference to something well known), analogy, juxtaposition (contrasts side by side) and flashback in short original excerpts, and explaining why a writer chooses them.
Voices & Perspectives
How point of view and background shape a text, why oral traditions and the protocols around them matter, and asking whose voices are present or missing. This unit introduces ideas only; teachers and local First Peoples communities lead deeper learning.
Argument & Rhetoric
Spotting ethos, pathos and logos, common fallacies such as straw man and false dilemma, loaded language and bias, and judging whether a source or media message can be trusted.
Forms & Features
Knowing what each text form does, how features such as an index, footnote or caption help readers, how signal words show a text's pattern, and how images, colour and design shape meaning.
Word Detective
Using prefixes, suffixes and Latin and Greek bases to work out new words, choosing a meaning from the sentence around a word, and subject words like product, mass and scale.
Grammar & Style
Semicolons, colons, dashes, commas and apostrophes, subject-verb agreement, pronoun case, misplaced modifiers, run-ons and fragments, and choosing a formal or informal register.
Language & Style
How word choice shapes feeling (connotation and denotation), how English changes and borrows words, formal and informal register, concise and varied sentences, and devices such as anaphora and rhetorical questions.
Revise & Edit
Making sentences more concise, choosing transitions, fixing unclear pronouns and tense shifts, catching errors a spell-checker misses, and Canadian spelling such as colour, centre, practise and licence.
What the report card levels look like at home
- Beginning
- Just getting started with this idea. Short, regular practice with lots of support helps most.
- Approaching
- Understands parts of it and is building confidence. Keep practising the tricky parts.
- Meeting
- Has it! Meeting is the goal for every outcome. Mixed review now and then keeps it strong.
- Exemplary
- Applies it confidently, even in new or harder situations. Try challenge mode and real-life problems.
Your child’s teacher decides the level on the report card. Read the Saskatchewan report card guide.
Common questions
How can I help my Grade 9 child with english language arts?
Read what they are interested in: graphic novels, sports pages, series. Then talk about it. Ask for the main idea and one piece of evidence from the text. Keep sessions short, about 10 to 15 minutes, and stop on a success.
What does my child learn in Grade 9 english language arts in Saskatchewan?
The Saskatchewan Curriculum Grade 9 english language arts units include close reading, literary elements, literary devices, voices & perspectives, argument & rhetoric, forms & features.
Free printable Grade 9 english language arts practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.