English 2 & English 2 Honors
areyessalinas@hearne.k12.tx.us
What we’re learning:
In this unit, students review and strengthen the essential skills they need for success in English—reading, writing, listening, speaking, and working in groups.
Why it matters:
These are the core habits of strong students, thinkers, and communicators. Students learn how to understand texts deeply, respond thoughtfully, and communicate clearly.
Focus skills: Close reading, writing about personal experiences, collaborating with peers, and using strategies to figure out new vocabulary.
What we’re learning:
Students will read and write different kinds of creative texts—like short stories, memoirs, plays, and poetry. They’ll study how authors use literary tools like theme, setting, figurative language, and more.
Why it matters:
Literature teaches us about the world and ourselves. In this unit, students become better readers and use what they’ve learned to write their own creative pieces.
Focus skills: Literary analysis, creative writing, identifying author’s purpose and craft.
What we’re learning:
Students will read nonfiction texts that explain or argue a point, and then write their own informational and argumentative essays using facts and research.
Why it matters:
We use these skills every day—in news articles, job applications, college essays, and more. This unit helps students clearly explain ideas and make logical, persuasive arguments.
Focus skills: Research, summarizing, organizing ideas, and writing with purpose and evidence.
What we’re learning:
Students will choose a topic they care about, research it, and write a formal argumentative essay using evidence, reasoning, and persuasive techniques.
Why it matters:
This unit prepares students to argue a point in a respectful and well-researched way. They’ll also learn how authors use images, videos, and layout to support their message.
Focus skills: Research, rhetorical analysis, persuasive writing, and multimedia literacy.
What we’re learning:
Students will read and compare different types of texts—stories, articles, essays, and more—that share similar topics or messages. Then, they’ll write their own texts in different genres.
Why it matters:
In the real world, messages come in many forms. This unit teaches students how to compare ideas across different genres and formats, and to write flexibly for different audiences.
Focus skills: Comparing texts, analyzing author’s craft, writing in multiple genres.
What we’re learning:
For their final project, students will research a topic they care about and create a multimodal presentation using writing, images, graphics, and/or video.
Why it matters:
This unit helps students bring together all the skills they’ve learned—reading, writing, researching, and creating—to produce a real-world project that shows their voice and critical thinking.
Focus skills: Research, creative expression, multimedia presentation, and communicating effectively to an audience.