Essential English (27 lessons)
The Essential English program provides 7 lessons of Project-Based Learning per week in addition to the Semi-Essential English program. These lessons will enable you to practice further the 4 core language skills and to apply what you have learned in the classroom to real-world situations. Project-Based Learning brings learning to life, connecting you to the world around them and boosting your confidence to interact with local people.
Core English Highlights
Go beyond the textbook and connect to the world around you with our engaging and up-to-date weekly topics.
Join any conversation and say the right thing at the right time with confidence through consistent personalized feedback.
Track your learning progress using an assessment portfolio.
Take an official English exit test to measure your achievement at the end of the course.
Acquire 21st century skills, such as critical thinking and digital literacy, while improving your English skills.
PBL Lesson Highlights
PBL lessons provide the opportunity to interact with the local community in Toronto and connect to the real world while investigating thought-provoking questions, problems, or challenges by “doing” outside of the classroom.
Teachers set real-world goals with you and provide guidance while you explore the topic related to their English level in creating your projects.
Teachers act as a facilitator in this student-centred approach, scaffolding and providing guidance throughout the process.
The teacher will meet with you, either individually or in groups, twice a week to provide support and guidance with the weekly projects. Meetings will take place in person or online via CIS metaverse platform.
You will take an active role in learning by communicating with others via technology and by making choices in obtaining, displaying, and manipulating information, rather than taking a passive role where the information is provided by a teacher or textbook.
What will you learn?
Critical thinking, creativity, digital literacy, and communication skills
Collaboration with others on group projects and presentations
Application of classroom knowledge to real-world situations
Investigation of authentic, engaging, and complex questions and challenges
Engagement with the culture and community of Toronto
Knowledge of local idioms and everyday language
Confidence in your speaking and daily interactions
Providing Meaningful and Effective Student Feedback
Effective feedback is essential as it provides you with information on what exactly you did well and what may still need improvement rather than a grade that only reflects on the proportion of correct answers.
CIS provides you with meaningful feedback that enhances your learning while giving teachers a better understanding of your progress in order to provide a more beneficial learning environment.
To provide more meaningful and effective you feedback, CIS implemented the Portfolio-Based assessment which is able to reflect the process of learning for each student. Portfolios are collections of your activities, accomplishments and achievements that demonstrate your learning progress over time.
Benefit of Portfolio-Based Assessment
Portfolios demonstrate student learning and achievement more thoroughly than test scores do.
You are motivated to take a more active role in your study by monitoring your own progress.
By capturing your progress in a portfolio, you will be able to perform self-reflection and thus participate in setting realistic goals and developing learning plans.
Teachers can carry out ongoing and individualized assessments with the progress reflected in the portfolio.
Quick Facts
Lessons per week
27 (20 hours)
Lesson length
45 minutes
Start Date
Every Monday
Course Durations
4-44 weeks
Level
1-8 (Beginner to Advanced)
Maximum student
8 (per class)
Average student
6 (per class)