This course concentrates on the fundamentals of oral and written communication through public speaking, required composition, specific projects in vocabulary building, and grammatical usage, spelling and punctuation. Students will be introduced to several literary genres within works of fiction and non-fiction: the short story, novel, drama, essay, biography, and poetry. In addition, an analysis of what constitutes adequate research and techniques for accomplishing such research will begin at this level.
Class reads will include:
Select short stories such as "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Weekly Requirements
Each week, students will have a series of assignments that are to be completed at home; however, they can be completed in class when daily assignments are completed. (Please note, 1-2 times per week, students will likely receive a chunk of class time to work on these). These include:
Achieve 3000 text (4 with a 75 or better on the first attempt are due each month)
No Red Ink module – weekly grammar and writing modules to enhance skills
Article of the Week – locating a nonfiction text, annotating, and writing a summary and paragraph response.
Students will be assigned independent reading in the form of novels and nonfiction articles. Both are designed to give students autonomy in selecting reading materials relating to topics of interest to each student.
As educators of young adults, Cumberland Regional High School is sensitive to having appropriate reading material in our classroom libraries. That said, what is considered “appropriate” may vary from parent to parent. Please be aware that the selections in the classroom libraries, just like any public library, range from elementary-level to university-level reading material. We ask that you, as a parent and your student’s champion in reading for pleasure, remain aware of and assist in gauging the appropriateness of the books your child chooses to read
Should you have questions or need more clarification, please email myself (Ward@crhsd.org) and CRHS Assistant Principal/Supervisor of English Joe Spoltore (Spoltore@crhsd.org).