Vocabulary/Grammar #1: Parts of Speech

Essential Questions:

• How do elements of language affect our understanding of information?

Learning Targets:

• I can show adequate use of language by employing many of the conventions of grammar.
• I can choose words that are appropriate and use varied sentence structure.

Standards:

• L.11-12.1 - Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
  • a. Apply the understanding that usage is a matter of convention, can change over time, and is sometimes contested.
  • b. Resolve issues of complex or contested usage, consulting references (e.g., Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage, Garner’s Modern American Usage) as needed.
• L.11-12.3 - Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.
  • a. Vary syntax for effect, consulting references (e.g., Tufte’s Artful Sentences) for guidance as needed; apply an understanding of syntax to the study of complex texts when reading.

Assessments:

• Parts of Speech Quizzes

Summer Work Review - "In Cold Blood":

Essential Questions:

• Is character defined by nature or nurture?
• Is capital punishment lawful?

Learning Targets:

• I can read to draw conclusions and support arguments with evidence.
• I can solve complex problems with no obvious answers.
• I can read complex texts.

Standards:

• RI.11-12.1 - Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
• RI.11-12.2 - Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.
• RI.11-12.3 - Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over the course of the text.
• RI.11-12.6 - Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness or beauty of the text.
• W.11-12.1 - Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
  • a. Introduce precise, knowledgeable claim(s), establish the significance of the claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that logically sequences claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.
  • b. Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly and thoroughly, supplying the most relevant evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both in a manner that anticipates the audience's knowledge level, concerns, values, and possible biases.
  • e. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented.

Core Texts:

• In Cold Blood - Truman Capote

Assessments:

• In Cold Blood Practice Essay Writings