English

This course offers students advanced reading and writing instruction and study of American discourse with a focus on nonfiction texts. Students engage in rhetorical analysis, argument, debate, and synthesis of primary documents and visual texts. Included in each unit are writing activities and presentation opportunities. Students in AP courses are expected to meet rigorous writing and reading expectations, including additional summer reading and writing assignments.

All candidates for AP may be required to complete additional summer reading and writing

requirements and complete the AP exam in the spring. There is a fee for this test. The test focuses on reading comprehension and writing arguments, rhetorical analysis, and synthesis essays. 

Junior students who wish to take Advanced Placement courses in their senior year must receive teacher recommendation based on current English performance to be recommended for future Honors/AP English classes

Advanced Placement Literature and Composition is a literary analysis course. The course engages students in the close reading and critical analysis of imaginative literature to deepen their understanding of the ways in which 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.  This course emphasizes extensive independent literature study and composition. Students in AP courses are expected to meet rigorous writing and reading expectations, including additional summer reading and writing assignments.

All candidates for AP may be required to complete additional summer reading and writing

requirements and complete the AP exam in the spring. There is a fee for this test. The test focuses on reading comprehension and analysis of prose, poetry, and drama. 

Junior students who wish to take Advanced Placement courses in their senior year must receive teacher recommendation based on current English performance to be recommended for future Honors/AP English classes.

American Literature is the study of American works of fiction, poetry, drama, nonfiction, art, and film with a focus on the Common Core State Standards. By experiencing a variety of significant pieces of American Literature, students will not only develop their critical thinking and analytical skills, but also develop a better understanding of themselves and their relationship with America. Students read various texts from the 1700s to modern times. Development of the human heart, spirit and psyche also receive emphasis. 

Students who elect to take this course for Honors credit are expected to meet more rigorous expectations. American Literature Honors students complete assigned supplementary reading and produce enrichment projects.  Junior students who take American Literature Honors who wish to take Honors or Advanced Placement courses in their senior year must receive teacher recommendation based on current English performance to be recommended for future Honors English.

Course instruction emphasizes writing and reading with a focus on the Common Core State Standards. In writing, exercises range from sentence styling and paragraph building to developing expository and persuasive pieces. Reading instruction centers on strategies to improve comprehension and build skills in literary analysis. Selections include classic, modern, and contemporary selections of drama, novel, short story, poetry, and nonfiction. Much of the curriculum focuses on analyzing arguments in non-fiction and analyzing characters in fiction. 

Students in Honors courses are expected to meet rigorous expectations of additional depth and breadth in their work. Students in English 9 Honors complete additional enrichment projects and analyze supplemental literary selections. All candidates for Honors are required to maintain an 85 for the year to be recommended for future Honors English.

This course includes numerous writings, reading, discussion, and public speaking activities, all designed to help students develop language proficiency with a focus on the Common Core State Standards. Students write expository and argumentative texts; writing instruction emphasizes skills such as focusing and organizing essays, tailoring writing to a specific audience, and revising to improve clarity. Students read literature from around the world, including novels, plays, poems, short stories, and essays. Through these readings, students develop skills in close literary analysis while exploring how literary texts exemplify the human condition and social injustice. 

Students who elect to take this course for Honors credit are expected to meet more rigorous expectations. English 10 Honors students complete assigned supplementary reading and produce enrichment projects. Students who wish to take Honors or Advanced Placement courses in their junior year must receive teacher recommendation based on current English performance to be recommended for future Honors English.

English in Action is a community-based class that asks students to learn about topics in their community they find urgent or interesting, investigate these topics through service experience and research, complete projects aimed at making improvements within their topic area, and communicate with a range of audiences. Throughout this class, students make interdisciplinary connections between reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills and disciplines including (but not limited to) science, business, social sciences, and government. Furthermore, throughout the class students reflect on and refine their understanding of themselves as learners and as members of their greater community.

During English in Action, students can develop and complete a Community Action Project. The Community Action Project can fulfill the OSHS Capstone Graduation requirement. This project is focused on an issue in our community, and students take steps to help solve the problem. This course focuses on time and task management and developing perseverance and grit.

Students in Honors courses are expected to sustain high standards and exhibit work ethic that meets this challenge. Junior students who take English in Action Honors who wish to take Honors or Advanced Placement courses in their senior year must receive teacher recommendation based on current English performance to be recommended for future Honors English.

News Media Now, is a new course focused on the consumption and creation of media, operates on the assumption that more and more people (60% of world population in October, ‘20) are using the internet (and media forms within) to figure out what’s happening in the world (consumer) and inform others (creator). The course: 

• helps students explore, define, and monitor their individual participation (social media platforms, etc.) and consider larger implications in society. 

• pays special attention to news, staying as close to the “now” as possible in helping students define, read/view, evaluate, and produce news. 

• offers various opportunities to produce, share, revise and submit work for publication and engage with professionals in the classroom and in the field, and construct a portfolio of products, knowledge, and experiences.  

• offers those pursuing CCR credit and other interested students' opportunities to write in different genres related to news media, as well as develop skills in news-related fields such as writing, reporting, editing, photography/digital images, and layout. 

This course can partially fulfill the OSHS CCR Graduation requirement and may fulfill the OSHS Capstone Graduation requirement. Students who enroll in News Media Now can choose to develop a portfolio for College and Career Readiness credit and/or complete a project for Capstone credit.

In addition to English class, this course offers explicit skill and strategy instruction in English Language Arts.  Students work in a small group setting to develop skills necessary for success in comprehending complex texts.  Because of this small group setting, this course offers a unique opportunity for students to improve the reading, writing, and study skills necessary for success in all academic areas.  This support includes skills needed for standardized tests.  This course adds to students’ total course credits but is not a substitute for an English course in fulfilling graduation requirements.   NOTE: Although this course does not fulfill the English graduation requirement, it does apply to the Elective requirements.