9th Grade English

You will read, write, and speak to appreciate diverse texts, build community, question power, and affirm identity. You will build skills to prepare for upper-level and International Baccalaureate coursework, such as academic writing, presentation skills, and discussion. Your story and life experience will provide an additional core resource. 

This course consists of 20% academic practice grades and 80% assessment grades. Mastering academic practice ensures success on English 9 assessments. English 9 offers 1 required credit toward the 21.5 required for graduation.

We will build upon skills learned in 9th grade English. We will read a variety of texts, ranging from novels, plays, graphic novels, poetry, etc. We will also embark upon the Personal Project, wherein you will create a project about something you are actually interested in.

11th

This course is designed to enhance students' critical thinking, writing, and analytical skills through the exploration of complex texts. Students will engage with a variety of literary genres, including novels, short stories, poetry, and drama, to develop a deeper understanding of the human condition. Through close reading, analysis, and discussion, students will learn to identify and interpret themes, symbols, and literary devices.

This course is designed to radically enhance students' critical thinking, writing, and analytical skills through the exploration of super complex texts. Students will engage with a wide variety of literary genres, including novels, short stories, poetry, and drama, to develop a wicked deep understanding of the human condition. Through intensely close reading, analysis, and discussion, students will learn to identify, interpret, and evaluate themes, symbols, and literary devices. 

IB Language and Literature is a two-year course. During these two years, students will be analyzing and creating connections between literary and non-literary texts through writing, discussion, research, and presentations. Students will be asked to work individually and collaboratively throughout the course.

Students will complete multiple IB assessments including a higher-level essay, two timed and hand-written analysis papers, and the individual oral assessment presentation. 

This course will help you develop writing strategies you will need for college-level courses. You will practice your writing frequently both in class and outside of class, and get regular feedback from the instructor. During class, we will emphasize active learning (discussing readings, writing during class, reading and responding to other students’ writing, and other activities designed to help you think critically about your writing). In this course, you will write papers that describe your personal experience, analyze the experiences of others, critique ideas in readings, and argue for or against recommendations found in your research.

If you successfully complete CIS Writing, you will earn 4 University of MN credits. Please note that you must take College Prep Writing during the first semester in order to qualify for CIS Writing.

This course will focus on expressive writing in many different forms. Students will have the opportunity to explore several different types of prose (stories) styles, as well as respond to literature, art mediums, quotes, films, and music. Originality and writing that shows thought will be emphasized.  Strategies to avoid writer’s block and new ways to uncover ideas for writing will be studied. Peer reviews and sharing ideas are essential elements of this course. Publication will be strongly encouraged as students develop portfolios of their writing. Effort and risk-taking are what matter most. Remember that the primary goal of this course is for you to own your own writing process. 

Students will analyze the dramatic and literary conventions of plays, novels, films, and shorter texts as well as study characterization, plot development, theme, and historical context of various texts and subgenres under the umbrella of Speculative Fiction. Students will produce a literary analysis of Speculative Fiction of their own choosing and are expected to engage in class discussions, collaborations, and independent work. The students will also research an author of their choosing and study their work as it relates to the time it was written focusing on the connections, allusions, references, and other literary devices to deepen connection with readers of that time and into the present.

We will be reading and studying manga (Japanese graphic novels). This class can be repeated one time. It is ONLY open to 11th and 12th graders and fulfils the graduation requirements for English.

We will explore what mental health is and how stigma impacts mental illness. We will also be exploring how mental health is portrayed in literature, how literature and writing can be a tool to help with mental health and exploring texts through a lens focusing on a mental health lens to explore literature. You will not be required to talk about your own mental health, though there are opportunities to share about what you have observed in the world if you feel comfortable. It is not a therapy class, simply a way to look at how others use literature and writing to explore mental health and mental illness.

We will be reading and studying short stories This class can be repeated one time. It is ONLY open to 11th and 12th graders and fulfils the graduation requirements for English.

We will be exploring literature and the world through the lens of Social Justice. This class is a combination of two things, a research project into a social justice issue and reading a book that has the same social justice issue as a theme. It also includes learning about ways that you can make change in the world.