English 9

FALL 230107  SPRING  230108

Grade Level: 09

Length: 2 semesters

Credit: 5.0 per semester

Postsecondary: Meets UC/CSU B requirement

Prerequisites: none

This course is designed to offer the student a balanced language arts program that explores interdisciplinary themes with the courses linked to each student's Small Learning Community or Dolphin Pod courses. A series of activities will provide students with the opportunity to speak, think, and

write about literature and make real-world connections. Students will learn the fundamentals of the writing process with an emphasis on argumentation, literary analysis, and web-based research and complete Common Core-style performance tasks.

Honors English 10

FALL 230109H    SPRING 230110H

Grade Level: 10

Length: 2 semesters

Credit: 5.0 per semester

Postsecondary: Meets UC/CSU B requirement

Prerequisites: none

This course is designed to offer the student a balanced language arts program that explores literary themes and genres. A series of language activities will enable students to listen, speak, think, and write about literature and connect literature to their own experiences. Through literature-based units, students focus on central issues, discuss meaning, and argue interpretations. Additionally, in support of the Common Core Standards, students employ the writing process to draft evidence-based compositions in the domains of narration, exposition, and argumentation.

Honors English Latino Literature

FALL 230109HL  SPRING 230110HL

Grade Level: 10

Length: 2 Semesters

Credit: 10.0

Postsecondary: Meets UC/CSU B Requirement

Prerequisites: none

This course develops writing, reading, speaking, and listening skills. These skills and concepts are otherwise known as the ninth and tenth grade English-Language Arts Common Core Standards. An explanation of the standards on the California Department of Education website at www.cde.ca.gov. The course aims to survey and draw voices from Latino/a writers from Haiti, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Brazil, Peru, Mexico,  Colombia, Puerto Rico, Honduras, Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and other Latin American countries in order to discuss narratives and topics of immigration, war, exile, resistance, and assimilation; political presence and identity formation; race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality; and examination of literary modes and genres (autobiography, poetry, novels, film, music). 

Honors English Black Literature

FALL 230109AH   SPRING 230110AH

Grade Level: 10

Length: 2 Semesters

Credit: 10.0

Postsecondary: Meets UC/CSU B Requirement

Prerequisites: none

This course develops writing, reading, speaking, and listening skills while reading literature, prose, poetry, and non-fiction written by black writers. These skills and concepts are otherwise known as the ninth and tenth grade English-Language Arts Common Core Standards. An explanation of the standards on the California Department of Education website at www.cde.ca.gov.

Honors English 11

FALL  231111H    SPRING  231112H 

Grade Level: 11

Length: 2 semesters

Credit: 5.0 per semester

Grade Level: 11

Postsecondary: Meets UC/CSU B requirement

Prerequisites: none

In accordance with state and national Common Core standards and with each student’s present capacities, the student will grow in his/her ability to identify major themes/arguments, literary devices, and rhetorical techniques in the literature of the United States; to use the writing process independently (including prewriting, drafting, evaluating, revising, editing, and publishing) to refine paragraph and essay writing skills while using various modes of writing; and to use vocabulary knowledge to improve reading/writing/listening/speaking skills.

AP English Language and Composition

FALL  230125     SPRING  230126

Grade Level: 11

Length: 2 semesters

Credit: 5.0 per semester

Postsecondary: Meets UC/CSU B requirement

Prerequisites: Summer work requirement. Students must meet department AP criteria in order to enroll in the AP course.

This rigorous course is designed to engage the students in becoming skilled readers of prose written in a variety of periods, disciplines, and rhetorical contexts and in becoming skilled writers who compose for a variety of purposes. The student is required to read and analyze works of literary merit to examine how stylistic effects are achieved by writers’ linguistic choices. Additionally, students prepare to take the Advanced Placement test in Language and Composition. To prepare, students study a vast array of literature and rhetoric and how it relates to an author’s use of language in order to get across specific points or ideas.  Since there are two portions to the AP test, an objective and subjective portion, students practice test taking skills and essay writing skills needed in order to succeed on the test.  

The workload in this class is heavy. Students are expected to study content both in and out of the classroom due to the fact that this is a college-level course.

Honors English 12

FALL 231121H   SPRING  231122H

Grade Level: 12

Length: 2 Semesters

Credit: 5.0 per semester

Postsecondary: Meets UC/CSU B Requirement

Prerequisites: none

This course focuses on senior English writing skills while reading literature, prose, poetry, and non-fiction written with an emphasis on societal beliefs, public opinion, and social ramifications. Students will work on the personal statement, synthesis, research, and literary analysis. 

Honors English Black Literature

FALL 231121AH   SPRING  231122AH

Grade Level: 12

Length: 2 semesters

Credit: 5.0 per semester

Postsecondary: Meets UC/CSU B Requirement

Prerequisites: none

This course focuses on senior English writing skills while reading literature, prose, poetry, and non-fiction written by black writers.

Honors English California Literature

FALL 231121CAH    SPRING   231122CAH

Grade Level: 12

Length: 2 semesters

Credit: 5.0 per semester

Postsecondary: Meets UC/CSU B Requirement

Prerequisites: none

This course focuses on senior English writing skills while reading literature, prose, poetry, and non-fiction written by writers from California and relating to topics and lives of Californians.

Honors English Chicano Literature

FALL 231121CH     SPRING   231122CH

Grade Level: 12

Length: 2 semesters

Credit: 5.0 per semester

Postsecondary: Meets UC/CSU B Requirement

Prerequisites: none

This course focuses on senior English writing skills while reading literature, prose, poetry, and non-fiction written by Chicano/a writers.

Honors English 12 The Literature of War

FALL 231121WH   SPRING  231122WH

Grade Level: 12

Length: 2 semesters

Credit: 5.0 per semester

Postsecondary: Meets UC/CSU B Requirement

Prerequisites: none

This course offers students the opportunity to explore the literature of war from different perspectives and through different media lenses. Early in the fall semester, students’ complete college personal statements and begin to immerse themselves in the lexicon of war, the principles of leadership and the historical contexts surrounding the highlighted conflicts.

Additionally, over the course of the year, students will further develop their composition skills through written analysis of military literature, including an evaluation of memoirs, articles and accompanying mediums. Students are exposed to books and articles written by military combat veterans, embedded journalists and historians and will investigate the similarities and differences present in the narratives.

Some topics that the course addresses include leadership, the Vietnam war, the “Black Hawk Down” incident in Mogadishu, Somalia, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the evolution of the warrior code, the nature of war and its effects on writing, the ability to infer societal attitudes towards warfare, and the methodical examination of military tactics as seen in literature. Furthermore, students delve into the role played by literature in shaping public opinion even after the conflict has been resolved.

This course relies heavily on class discussions and incorporates feature-length and documentary films as well as guest speakers when possible.

Honor English 12 Creative Writing and Film in Literature 

FALL 231121CWH    SPRING  231122CWH

Grade Level: 12

Length: 2 semesters

Credit: 5.0 per semester

Postsecondary: Meets UC/CSU B Requirement

Prerequisites: none

This course focuses on senior English writing skills while reading literature, prose, poetry, and non-fiction as well as viewing literary film. Students will engage in creative writing, the personal statement, and film analysis. 

AP English Literature and Composition

FALL  230117    SPRING  230118

Grade Level: 12

Length: 2 semesters

Credit: 5.0 per semester

Postsecondary: Meets UC/CSU B requirement

Prerequisites: Summer work requirement. Students must meet department AP criteria in order to enroll in the AP course.

This rigorous high school course is the equivalent of an introductory college-level literature course. Students learn how to understand and evaluate works of fiction, poetry, and drama from various periods and cultures. Students read literary works and write essays to explain and support their analysis of them. This course is designed to develop the students’ ability to read and use language with insight and precision on subjects that challenge thought. The course develops comprehension of literary forms and content through reading, language, literary conventions, and cultural values.

The workload in this class is heavy. Students are expected to study content both in and out of the classroom due to the fact that this is a college-level course.

English Language Development

Grade Level: 9-12

Length: 2 semesters 

Credit: 5.0 per semester

Prerequisite: ELPAC Assessment 

This course provides newcomers and beginning-level English Language Learners with designated English Language Development Time. Designated ELD (dELD) is a protected time during the regular school day when a teacher uses the CA ELD Standards as the focal standards in ways that build into, and from, content instruction to develop the critical English language skills, knowledge, and abilities needed for content learning in English. dELD is an opportunity to support ELs in developing the discourse practices, understanding of grammatical structures, and vocabulary knowledge necessary for successful participation in academic tasks in all content areas. During this protected time, ELs are actively engaged in collaborative discussions in which they build awareness of language and develop skills and abilities to use language. Accordingly, during dELD, there is a strong emphasis on academic oral language development. Students are taught how to use Constructive Conversation skills to engage in close reading and analysis of complex narrative and informational texts. Additionally, students are taught how to engage in collaborative writing projects that use technology to demonstrate their comprehension, research skills, and oral presentation skills. Metacognitive strategies are taught to guide students to independent learning and conscious application of these strategies across the content areas. 

Advanced English Language

Grade Level: 9-12

Length: 2 semesters

Credit: 5.0 per semester

This course accelerates ELD through a strategic and consistent focus on academic conversations to build comprehension and analysis of complex texts and generate new knowledge. Instructional units are taught to advance students’ application of Constructive Conversation skills, learn academic language, and use academic discussions to build new knowledge. Students engage in speaking, listening,reading, and writing activities that help them understand how English works. On a daily basis, students are required to demonstrate their oral language skills by engaging in academic conversations and planning and delivering oral presentations. In this course, students consciously, explicitly and consistently use metacognitive strategies to analyze and discuss oral and written texts.