Weekly Schedule Coming Soon...

Within the first grading period, students will complete a series of baseline assignments to assess experiences in high school English classes. The unit will begin with a general discussion of literary elements, literary theory, rhetorical appeals, modes of writing, and conversational ettiquite. Students will complete two timed writes. The first is a sample narrative reflecting a personal reminiscence, or a college application topic. Students will read several samples of anecdotal writing, and mini-lessons will be presented regarding voice, apostrophe, and other conventions of personal essays. The other an analysis of an excerpt from a text, which we will have worked with in class. Students will complete an Analysis Paragraph, which focuses their attention on setting, characterization, conflict, symbolism, and irony.

Mini-lessons may focus on sentence structure, diction, and style. Students will also focus on an effective use of rhetoric, including controlling consistent tone and establishing and maintaining voice. Informal in-class writing topics may also be assigned based on short texts introduced.

Week 1: August 10-12

Getting to Know You / A Reflection on High School English / Netiquette

Week 2: August 15-19

Week 3: August 22-26

Week 4: August 29-September 2

Week5: September 5- September 9

Week 6: September 12-September 16

During the second grading period, students will begin with an examination of their ideal post-high school career, and the role of reading/writing in that profession. Students will create a list of career and scholarship interests, which we will work on throughout the remainder of the semester, and the semester research project will be introduced. Personal development texts will be incorporated, as students begin to conduct research, interviews, and reflection of "success habits" as presented in our anchor text, Atomic Habits by James Clear.

Students will focus on professional correspondance and conflict resolution. They will write to members of their proposed profession via email and letter writing, and will participate in class debates. Students will also work on professional resume building, interview skills, and presentation. During this unit, students will respond to a variety of media excerpts, interviews, and creative literature which may focus on allusions to literature and historical arguments surrounding the topic; some suggested reading may be provided as an extension to offer literary background, where appropriate. Incorporation of responses to public forum (news, media, social), and representation of one's best self when synthesizing from a variety of sources to form an opinion will occur. Approximately four weeks into the unit, students will engage in a discussion of Social Contract Theory, and what it means in relation to being an active member of society. Students will also complete an Analysis Paragraph on one of their texts. A final draft of students' college admissions essay, scholarship essay, or personal reminiscence paper will be due during the fifth week of this unit.

In the third grading period, students will continue focusing on researching their ideal post-high school career; a creative presentation of research will be delivered to the class at the end of the semester. Students will focus on media literacy, as they are introduced to podcasts and as film is incorporated into the course. We will watch Gattaca as an assessment of what a person can achieve if they have the drive to do so. They will select a podcast "channel" of personal interest, and complete dialect responses to their chosen episodes, focusing on the "lesson" characters learn through their journeys of personal struggle and triumph.

Approximately five weeks into the unit, students will present their chosen research topic, and mock-interviews will be conducted. Students will also complete an Analysis Paragraph on one podcast episode. A final draft of students' Research Project, along with Works Cited will be due.

In the fourth grading period, students will explore how fear impacts decision making, and the limits a person can impose on themselves. Students will be responsible for reflecting on how society overcomes trials, and comes out better for it. Students will question how the experiences of others can impact the beliefs - and thus the experiences - of an individual, and will challenge the author's use of source material (allusions) in Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist as it is interpreted from different points of view.

By the end of the unit, students will discuss the importance of fully researching a "problem" before dismissing it, why point of view is important, and how heard mentality and fear can impose limits on a person's future. They will identify one personal triumph over adversity for which they have become stronger/better humans, and discuss how that event has changed their point of view on a subject. Students will be introduced to guidelines for their final portfolio, and should begin collecting data to support their personal philiosophy portfolio. Students will also complete an Analysis Paragraph on one source alluded in the novel from the novel.

The last unit will span the last nine weeks of the year. Students will continue exploring their personal philosophy, and will illustrate their belief about their lives post-high school through their portfolio assignment. They will explore what it means to encounter adult challenges, such as integrating into the work force, what it means to love, and maintaining identity while growing in a new one as well. We will read the children's novella, The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery), and watch the film adaptation; we will wrap the year focusing on students' understanding of personal journey, grit, triumph over failure, and letting things go.

Portfolios along with Works Cited will be due NO LATER than May 1, 2023 so they can be graded with fair room for feedback and post conferencing. Students will conduct a five minute presentation narrowing down one significant belief about "The Great Perhaps", and support it using one take away from a text this year.