Wilmington 6-12 English Department

    Beliefs and Direction Statement

                          Adopted by Wilmington Middle School and Wilmington High School English teachers on May 28, 2008

Our English department believes the following:

The Wilmington 6-12 English department believes we can stimulate our students by providing them with the opportunities to read and analyze diverse literature and to use language creatively and powerfully when writing and speaking. With an emphasis on helping students develop strengths as critical thinkers and effective communicators and on providing a strong foundation of reading and writing skills, the 6-12 English curriculums will prepare students to meet their next level of challenges.

Our English department would like to move in the following direction:

6-12 Goals:

Examine literature’s relationship to its intellectual and artistic traditions, as well as to history, philosophy, culture, and related fields.

Establish a teaching strategy with a universal language that can be used across the curriculum. Develop a writing assessment tool (beyond a rubric) that will follow a scope and sequence along grades and levels, give teachers a common vocabulary when developing young writers , and eventually create a more cohesive and focused model for writing.

Raise MCAS English scores.

6-8 Goals:

Explain the difference between paraphrasing and plagiarizing. Teach strategies to avoid plagiarism. Introduce citation rules.

Grade 6 Specific Goals:

To introduce and make familiar, descriptive language and terminology from the MCAS Reading/ Language Arts Tests.

To consistently integrate this terminology into lessons when analyzing each excerpt, short story, novel, etc., (when appropriate) throughout the school year.

        9-12 Goals:

Pilot texts with the goal to purchase the best text as classroom sets.

Integrate more technology in every English classroom including PowerPoint presentations (student and teacher created) and integration of SMART board.

Explain plagiarism and paraphrasing and teach MLA citations rules.

Become more aware colleague’s assignments and work (i.e. time to share lesson plans and success/failure stories) in order for each teacher to better envision the “big picture” of high school English.

Incorporate nonfiction into each grade level curriculum.