English

Classes offered at various grade levels may require a prerequisite. Refer to the course catalog for detailed information. (*) Requires approval to take before recommended grade level.

The English curriculum is based on Pennsylvania Core Standards.  Students in the high school prepare to take the Keystone Literature Exam at the end of their tenth-grade year.  The various courses have been structured to provide the needs of a broad spectrum of student abilities.

In addition to the required English courses of English 1, 2, and 3, certain electives are available to broaden the scope of students who have an interest in language arts and to receive their fourth required English credit.  These electives are available to eleventh and twelfth grade students: they may not, however, be taken in place of the three required English courses.

COMPREHENSIVE LEVEL - WEIGHT 1.0 CREDIT 1

Students electing a comprehensive English class can expect an emphasis on skills, which can help the students who are not entering an academic area, such as a four-year college, after graduation to be productive.

COLLEGE PREP LEVEL - WEIGHT 1.1 CREDIT 1    

Students electing college preparatory classes can expect training towards academic thinking, speaking, and writing.  They too will have significant out-of-class assignments.

HONORS LEVEL - WEIGHT 1.2 CREDIT 1 

Students electing honors level courses can expect to move at a fast pace, have a significant amount of “out of class” readings, write analytical essays, timed in-class essays to prepare for AP testing and participate in higher-level thinking discussions and presentations.

EN110 COMPREHENSIVE ENGLISH 1 (Grade 9)  

Weight 1.0 Credit 1/year

English 1 is a course built around the units of Craft & Structure and Key Ideas & Details for both literature and informational texts.  As a result of these units, students will develop a greater understanding of the following concepts:  

• Authors make choices to support their claims

• Authors use different techniques and structure in fiction

• Informational text is enriched with key ideas and details

• Looking deeper into a text for its use of character and theme helps to reveal the author’s purpose

Students electing a comprehensive English class can expect an emphasis on skills, which can help the students who are not entering an academic area after graduation to be productive.

EN120 COLLEGE PREP ENGLISH 1 (Grade 9) 

Weight 1.1 Credit 1/year

English 1 is a course built around the units of Craft & Structure and Key Ideas & Details for both literature and informational texts.  As a result of these units, students will develop a greater understanding of the following concepts:  

• Authors make choices to support their claims

• Authors use different techniques and structure in fiction

• Informational text is enriched with key ideas and details

• Looking deeper into a text for its use of character and theme helps to reveal the author’s purpose

Students electing college preparatory classes can expect training towards academic thinking, speaking, and writing.  They too will have significant out-of-class assignments.

EN130 HONORS ENGLISH 1 (Grade 9) 

Weight 1.2 Credit 1/year

English 1 is a course built around the units of Craft & Structure and Key Ideas & Details for both literature and informational texts.  As a result of these units, students will develop a greater understanding of the following concepts:  

• Authors make choices to support their claims

• Authors use different techniques and structure in fiction

• Informational text is enriched with key ideas and details

• Looking deeper into a text for its use of character and theme helps to reveal the author’s purpose

Students electing honors level courses can expect to move at a fast pace, have a significant amount of out-of-class readings, write analytical essays, and participate in higher-level thinking discussions and presentations.

EN210 COMPREHENSIVE ENGLISH 2 (Grade 10)  

Weight 1.0 Credit 1/year

Prerequisite:  Successful completion of English 1

As a continuation of English 1, this course focuses on techniques and structures authors use as well as choices an author makes to support a claim.  Students will examine key ideas and details to find the author's purpose and the choices which authors make.  A study of the theme will also be completed.  The state-mandated Keystone Literature Exam will be taken at the end of this course.

Students electing a comprehensive English class can expect an emphasis on skills, which can help the students who are not entering an academic area after graduation to be productive.

EN220 COLLEGE PREP ENGLISH 2 (Grade 10)  

Weight 1.1 Credit 1/year

Prerequisite:  Successful completion of English 1

As a continuation of English 1, this course focuses on techniques and structures authors use as well as choices an author makes to support a claim.  Students will examine key ideas and details to find the author's purpose and the choices which authors make.  A study of the theme will also be completed.  The state-mandated Keystone Literature Exam will be taken at the end of this course.

Students electing college preparatory classes can expect training towards academic thinking, speaking, and writing.  They too will have significant out-of-class assignments.

EN230 HONORS ENGLISH 2 (Grade 10)  

Weight 1.2 Credit 1/year

Prerequisite:  Successful completion of English 1

As a continuation of English 1, this course focuses on techniques and structures authors use as well as choices an author makes to support a claim.  Students will examine key ideas and details to find the author's purpose and the choices which authors make.  A study of the theme will also be completed.  The state-mandated Keystone Literature Exam will be taken at the end of this course.

Students electing honors level courses can expect to move at a fast pace, have a significant amount of out-of-class readings, write analytical essays, and participate in higher-level thinking discussions and presentations.

EN310 COMPREHENSIVE ENGLISH 3 (Grade 11)

Weight 1.0 Credit 1/year  

Prerequisite:  Successful completion of English 1 and 2; or successful completion of English 1 and taking concurrently with English 2

The goal of this course is for students to show proficiency in all of the state-mandated standards.  Students who did not score proficient on the Keystone exam will be remediated and retake the Keystone exam during the year.  Students will study American Literature in this course.  It will also focus heavily on drama and historical context.  By the end of the course, students will understand that research must be valid and credible to support arguments.  Additionally, literature changes over time and universal themes are interpreted and used differently. 

Students electing a comprehensive English class can expect an emphasis on skills, which can help the students who are not entering an academic area after graduation to be productive.

EN320 COLLEGE PREP ENGLISH 3 (Grade 11)   

Weight 1.1 Credit 1/year

Prerequisite:  Successful completion of English 1 and English 2; or successful completion of English 1 and taking concurrently with English 2

The goal of College Prep English 3 is to prepare students for the SAT exam and college-level reading and writing.  This course focuses on the process and use of research and persuasion in American literature.  It will also focus heavily on drama and historical context.  By the end of the course, students will understand that research must be valid and credible to support arguments.  Additionally, literature changes over time and universal themes are interpreted and used differently.

Students electing college preparatory classes can expect training towards academic thinking, speaking, and writing.  They too will have significant out-of-class assignments.

EN330 HONORS ENGLISH 3 (Grade 11) 

Weight 1.2 Credit 1/year

Prerequisite:  Successful completion of English 1 and 2; or successful completion of English 1 and taking concurrently with English 2

The goal of Honors English 3 is to prepare students for AP English their senior year.  To do this, this course focuses on the process and use of research and persuasion in literature.  It will also focus heavily on drama and historical context.  By the end of the course, students will understand that research must be valid and credible to support arguments.  Additionally, they will learn how literature changes over time and universal themes are interpreted and used differently.

Students electing honors level courses can expect to move at a fast pace, have a significant amount of out-of-class readings, write analytical essays, timed in-class essays to prepare for next year’s AP test and participate in higher-level thinking discussions and presentations.

EN410 COMPREHENSIVE ENGLISH 4 (Grade 12)  

Weight 1.0 Credit 1/year

English 4 is a course structured around real-world reading and writing.  Built with the student not moving on to a traditional college after high school in mind, this class focuses on the types of reading, writing, and speaking that adults use on a regular basis.  Students will develop resume writing skills and interview skills.  They will also improve reading comprehension through mainstream mediums (i.e. magazines, on-line articles and publications, newspapers, etc.)

EN510 COLLEGE PREP ENGLISH 4 - BRITISH LITERATURE 1 (Grades 12) 

Weight 1.1 Credit 1/year  

This course is designed for students who are heading to a four-year college after high school.  Students will work to refine their college-level reading and writing skills.  To do this, this course focuses on the study of British literature including the Anglo Saxon, Medieval, and Renaissance periods.  The course includes the study of historical context related to British literature, independent reading, vocabulary study, written comprehension and oral activities, and literary analysis.  Students electing college preparatory classes can expect training towards academic thinking, speaking, and writing.  They will have significant out-of-class assignments.

EN910 ADVANCED PLACEMENT ENGLISH – LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION (Grade 12) 

Weight 1.3 Credit 1/year

Prerequisite recommendation:   Students electing to take AP English must have successfully passed Honors English 3 or have a recommendation from their English 3 teacher.  This is due to the fact that many of the skills needed to be successful on the AP test start to be developed in Honors English 3.

This course will focus on the study of British and World Literature including multiple novels, plays, poems and the following time periods:  The Ancients, Anglo-Saxon, Medieval, The Renaissance, The Restoration from the 18th Century, Romanticism, The Victorians, and Contemporary Literature.  An additional focus will be preparation for the AP exam.  The course will rely heavily on students’ abilities to analyze literature through reading and writing. 

ENGLISH ELECTIVES

EN421 JOURNALISM 1 (Grades 10-12)  

Weight 1.0 Credit 0.5/semester

Guidelines for choosing Journalism 1:

• 80% or better in English classes

• Strong writing, technology, and interpersonal skills

Students learn the basics for writing, editing, photographing, and publishing news in print and online formats.  Curriculum topics include media ethics, news judgment, basic interviewing skills, grammar, writing sports, news, features, and opinion pieces, and publication design.  By using the applications and electronic tools used by professional journalists, students write, design and publish the school newspaper, The Leonid, and its online counterpart, TheLeonid.com.  Students in the class are staff members of The Leonid.  

In the Journalism classes, students become members of the Leonid staff.  Therefore, Journalism classes do so much more than write.  Students are expected to participate in out-of-school fundraising activities including car washes, sandwich sales and advertising sales as part of their grade.  They will be expected to interview administrators, teachers and students for assigned articles.  Often, they will attend after school events including school board meetings and sporting events to write articles or take pictures.  Students will use Facebook and Twitter to publish stories, and stay after school 1-2 times per marking period to work on newspaper design.

EN422 JOURNALISM 2 (Grades 11-12)

Weight 1.0 Credit 1/year

Prerequisite recommendation:  Journalism 1 and instructor approval

Journalism 2 is intended for news enthusiasts who want to gain a more complex understanding of news production for print, web, and broadcast news, and to take on leadership roles on the newspaper staff.  Building on topics such as media ethics, news judgment, basic interviewing skills, grammar, writing sports, news, features and opinion pieces, and publication design, students produce more complex multimedia products for print, online and TV publication.  By using the applications and electronic tools used by professional journalists, students write, design, and publish the school newspaper, The Leonid, and its online counterpart, TheLeonid.com.  Students in the class are staff members of The Leonid, and serve as mentors for the students in Journalism 1.

In the Journalism classes, students become members of the Leonid staff.  Therefore, Journalism classes do so much more than write.  Students are expected to participate in out-of-school fundraising activities including car washes, sandwich sales and advertising sales as part of their grade.  They will be expected to interview administrators, teachers and students for assigned articles.  Often, they will attend after school events including school board meetings and sporting events to write articles or take pictures.  Students will use Facebook and Twitter to publish stories, and stay after school 1-2 times per marking period to work on newspaper design.

EN423 JOURNALISM 3 (Grades 11-12)

Weight 1.1 Credit 1/year

Prerequisite recommendation:  Journalism 2 and Journalism instructor approval required

This full-year course is a continuation of Journalism 2.  In addition to the goals outlined in the Journalism 2 course, Journalism 3 provides students with an opportunity to refine their interviewing, reporting, editing, and writing skills in straight news, editorials, features and investigative pieces for print, web and broadcast news.  Students also have the opportunity for leadership and teaching roles as they function as members of the newspaper staff.

In the Journalism classes, students become members of the Leonid staff.  Therefore, Journalism classes do so much more than write.  Students are expected to participate in out-of-school fundraising activities including car washes, sandwich sales and advertising sales as part of their grade.  They will be expected to interview administrators, teachers and students for assigned articles.  Often, they will attend after school events including school board meetings and sporting events to write articles or take pictures.  Students will use Facebook and Twitter to publish stories, and stay after school 1-2 times per marking period to work on newspaper design.

EN430 CREATIVE WRITING (Grade 11-12)  

Weight 1.0 Credit 0.5/semester

This course is designed to provide students with the opportunity to go beyond the elementary principles of composition that are taught in the required courses.  Students will write every day.  Emphasis will be placed on the style in various forms of writing from short stories to poetry.  Students will read and analyze various genres of literature, including poetry, short stories, and other descriptive writing, for the purpose of developing their skills as a writer.  Students will be involved not only with independent writing, but also with self, peer, and teacher evaluation techniques. 

In this class, students will be exposed to lessons on writing skills specific to the genre of writing they will be executing.  Students will write multi-page memoirs, complete an original poetry portfolio, write a children’s book and write their own multi-page narrative, in addition to other assignments.  The expectation is that students are aware of basic mechanics and sentence structure.

EN440 COMMUNICATIONS (Grades 11-12)    

Weight 1.0 Credit 0.5/semester

Communication skills impact every part of your life.  From personal relationships to professional success, the way you communicate shows the world who you are and what you are capable of. In communications class, students learn the basic process of communication, and then learn effective verbal and nonverbal communication skills at the individual, small group and public levels.  Topics of study include ethics, perception and self-concept, technology-enhanced communication, listening and responding, respect for cultural diversity, presenting and public speaking. If you are seeking to increase success in careers, enhance personal relationships and just become more at ease with connecting to others, communications class can help build the bridge to success.

EN450 PUBLIC SPEAKING (Grades 11-12)  

Weight 1.05 Credit 0.5/semester

This course is designed to prepare the student to present themselves orally to an audience.  The course should help to mature the student in public speaking situations by making them aware of his/her responsibilities as a speaker.  Content consists of a number of informative and persuasive speeches as well as designated group discussion in the areas of building confidence, preparation, choosing effective language, and delivery.

EN520 COLLEGE PREP AFRICAN-AMERICAN LITERATURE (Grade 12) 

Weight 1.1 Credit 0.5/semester

African-American Literature is a college preparatory level course that serves as an augmentation to English 3 (American Literature).  This course is designed for the college-bound senior who is anticipating attending a four-year college.  In addition to the traditional canon of American Literature that the students are exposed to in English 3, they will have an opportunity to read a variety of additional works from the African-American genre.  Students will read numerous plays, novels, essays, poems, and short stories that have not been included in the traditional American Literature curriculum due to time constraints.  Students will write analytical essays regarding the influence of the time period on literature and refine college-readiness skills.

EN470 MYSTERY ANALYSIS (Grades 11-12)  

Weight 1.0 Credit 0.5/semester

This comprehensive level course will use classic and modern mystery novels, graphic novels and short stories to evaluate and analyze literature.  While reading mystery masters such as Edgar Allen Poe, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes, anyone?), Agatha Christie, Dan Brown and other Grand Masters of the genre, students will build inductive reasoning skills as they figure out “Who done it?” throughout the course.  Students will hone their writing skills as they analyze the mystery genre.

EN480 FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION IN LITERATURE (Grades 11-12)  

Weight 1.0 Credit 0.5/semester

This comprehensive level course will cover the origin and development of science fiction and fantasy literature.  We will evaluate prevalent themes and ideas in the literature by reading short stories and novels from the traditional format of high fantasy, science fiction, dark fantasy and others.  Writing assignments will require students to identify, analyze and discuss major themes, with an emphasis on completing analytical reviews examining the genre’s various forms in our society.