English Language Arts

This course teaches language arts skills and strategies that assist students in reading, writing and speaking effectively. Students will engage in the following writing applications: narrative, expository, persuasive, creative, research, descriptive and on-demand writing. Special focus will be placed on written language conventions, grammar, vocabulary development, and revision. In this course, students learn the basic literary elements such as theme, symbol, and conflict, while reading classic novels that exhibit these elements. Following the simple model of 'define and apply,' students demonstrate through writing assignments, quizzes, discussions, projects, and tests that they are comprehending the material. This course is designed to start out at a lower level, and get progressively harder throughout, demanding higher order thinking and analysis from the students as the year goes on.

This course builds on the foundation from Grade 9 and help the students more fully understand their writing process and to make changes for improvement to that process if needed. The students will write informatively and persuasively. They will narrate a story in a more personal essay. One unit will be dedicated to writing about literature, and how this is different from writing for more formal situations. This class explores archetypal themes in World Literature. The focus of this class will be to recognize literature as a record of human experience and to identify recurring themes in literature. Discussions, presentations, Socratic seminars, writing, peer editing and revision will be some of the academic tools used in this course.

This course is a two-year sequence composed of 4 semesters. Students may take all 4 semesters starting in Grade 11 or opt in or out in Grade 12.

Grade 11 English is an American Literature/Language Course. It includes language/writing foundation, reading from text, reading from novels, writing, both formal and informal and speaking, both formal and informal. Students will improve their reading, writing, speaking, listening, and thinking skills. Emphasis will be placed on expanding vocabulary and writing and reading strategies. Literary terminology will be used to discuss, analyze and write about literature. Students will research and organize material in order to make oral/multi-media presentations in front of the group. All students will write every day in a writing portfolio, and all students will be expected to read for a minimum of twenty minutes each evening as homework. The six plus one writing rubric will be used to assess all writing. Peer evaluation and self-evaluation will be utilized, in addition to teacher evaluation. A research paper will be an integral part of this course.

British Literature is a year long core course for high school students. This course explores the canon of British Literature beginning with the twentieth century dystopian novels, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and 1984 by George Orwell. The Victorian Era, Romantic Era, Elizabethan Era, Medieval Era and Anglo Saxon Era will also be studied in this comprehensive survey course. Special attention will focus on reading,writing, research and speaking. Class discussions, Socratic seminars, presentations, writing in a variety of genres, peer editing, and revisions are some of the academic strategies used in this course. A research paper will be an integral part of this course.

The AP English Language and Composition course focuses on the development and revision of evidence-based analytical and argumentative writing, the rhetorical analysis of nonfiction texts, and the decisions writers make as they compose and revise. Students will evaluate, synthesize, and cite research to support their arguments. Additionally, they will read and analyze rhetorical elements and their effects in nonfiction texts--including images--from a range of disciplines and historical periods.

The AP English Literature and Composition course aligns to an introductory college-level literary analysis course. The course engages students in the close reading and critical analysis of imaginative literature to deepen their understanding of the ways writers use language to provide both meaning and pleasure. As they read, students consider a work’s structure, style, and themes, as well as its use of figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone. Writing assignments include expository, analytical, and argumentative essays that require students to analyze and interpret literary works.