COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

English 6

In this full-year sixth-grade course, students develop a mastery of reading, writing, and language arts skills. Students grow as readers and writers as they read critically, analyze texts, and cite evidence through a vast range of engaging literary and informational reading selections. Students explore a full unit on Lewis Carroll’s classic novel Through the Looking Glass and read essential parts of other fictional texts including Holes, Esperanza Rising, and The Number Devil. Students also evaluate poetry and drama, such as a poem by Langston Hughes and an excerpt from Brighton Beach Memoirs. In order to help students comprehend text structure, author’s purpose, and argumentative claims, the course delves into nonfiction, from a biography of Frida Kahlo to a historic speech about the Brooklyn Bridge. Students sharpen their vocabulary, grammar, and listening skills through explicit modeling and ample practice. Students also engage in routine, responsive writing based on an examination of the variety of texts they have read. In more extensive process-based writing lessons, students write topical essays in narrative, informative, analytical, and argumentative formats.

English 7

In this full-year seventh-grade course, students develop a mastery of reading, writing, and language arts skills. Engaging literary and informational reading selections prompt students to read critically, analyze texts, and cite evidence. Students explore fictional texts, including The Outsiders, Dragonwings, and a short story by Walter Dean Meyers. In the course, students explore the drama The Miracle Worker, paired with Helen Keller’s autobiography. They also read the poetry of Langston Hughes and William Butler Yeats. To help students comprehend text structure, author’s purpose, and argument, the course delves into nonfiction, from the informational text Exploring the Titanic to a speech by Cesar Chavez. Students sharpen their vocabulary, grammar, and listening skills through explicit modeling and ample practice. Students also take part in routine, responsive writing based on texts they have read. In more extensive, process-based writing lessons, students write topical essays in narrative, informative, analytical, and argumentative formats.

English 8

In this full-year eighth-grade course, students develop a mastery of reading, writing, and language arts skills. Engaging literary and informational reading selections inspire students to read critically, analyze texts, and cite evidence. Students explore units on Jack London’s classic novel The Call of the Wild and the contemporary novel The Land by Mildred Taylor. They also read essential parts of other fictional texts, including Monster, “Raymond’s Run,” and “The Lottery.” Students are exposed to a thoughtful look at the Anne Frank diary and play, and they venture into author’s purpose, text structure, and argumentative claims in informational texts such as The Great Fire, the narrative of Frederick Douglass, and a speech by Randy Pausch. Students sharpen their vocabulary, grammar, and listening skills through explicit modeling and ample practice. Students also take part in routine, responsive writing based on texts they have read. In more extensive, process-based writing lessons, students write topical essays in narrative, informative, analytical, and argumentative formats.

English 9

This freshman-year English course invites students to explore diverse texts across 12 unit topics. Students will engage in literary analysis and inferential evaluation of great texts both classic and contemporary. While critically reading fiction, poetry, drama, and expository nonfiction, students will master comprehension and literary-analysis strategies. Interwoven in the lessons across two semesters are tasks that encourage students to strengthen their oral language skills and produce creative, coherent writing. Students will read a range of classic texts including Homer’s The Odyssey, Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game.” They study short but complex texts, including influential speeches by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan. Contemporary texts by Richard Preston, Julia Alvarez, and Maya Angelou round out the course.

English 10

This sophomore-year English course invites students to explore a diverse selection of world literature organized into thematic units. While critically reading fiction, poetry, drama, and expository nonfiction, students learn essential reading comprehension strategies and engage in literary analysis and evaluation of both classic and contemporary works. Interwoven in the lessons across two semesters are activities that encourage students to strengthen their listening and speaking skills and produce clear, coherent writing. Throughout the course, students read a range of classic and contemporary literary texts including William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, George Orwell’s Animal Farm, and Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis. In addition to reading a wide range of literary texts, students read and analyze complex informational and argumentative texts including Sonia Sotomayor’s "A Latina Judge's Voice," Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince, and the contemporary informational text Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science.

English 11

This junior-year English course invites students to delve into American literature from early American Indian voices through contemporary works. Students will engage in literary analysis and inferential evaluation of great texts, the centerpieces of this course. While critically reading fiction, poetry, drama, and expository nonfiction, students will master the comprehension and literary analysis strategies that the Common Core State Standards require. Interwoven in the lessons across two semesters are tasks that encourage students to strengthen their oral language skills and produce creative, coherent writing. Students will read a range of short but complex texts, including works by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emily Dickinson, Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mark Twain, Langston Hughes, Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King, Jr., F. Scott Fitzgerald, Amy Tan, and Dave Eggers. This course is aligned with the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts.

AP English 11-AP English Language and Composition

Students in AP® English Language and Composition study how writers use language to create meaning. Students will read and analyze a variety of nonfiction genres including essays, journalism articles, political writings, science writings, nature writings, autobiographies, biographies, diaries, speeches, history writings, and criticisms. The main focus is on writing expository, analytical, and argumentative essays and analyzing the works of writers who are listed in the AP English Course Description. In addition to writing, students will also study visual rhetoric such as photographs, advertisements, and political cartoons. As suggested in the AP English Course Description, students learn to “read primary and secondary sources carefully, to synthesize material from these texts in their own compositions, and to cite sources using conventions recommended by the Modern Language Association (MLA).” The class is structured around teaching reading and writing skills, honed by the close reading and writing of original student essays, many of which result from several revisions. This content is presented in an online course through which students view lectures from experienced, highly qualified instructors, access nonfiction rhetoric (written and visual), and practice close reading and writing skills with continual feedback from instructors via phone, instant messages, e-mails, discussion threads, and live chats.

AP English 11 Student Guide

English 12

This senior-year English Language Arts course invites students to explore a diverse collection of texts across 12 units. Students will engage in literary analysis and inferential evaluation of both classic and contemporary literature. While critically reading fiction, poetry, drama, and expository nonfiction, students will learn and apply comprehension and literary-analysis strategies. Tasks will encourage students to strengthen their oral language skills and produce creative, coherent writing. Students will read a range of classic texts, including the ancient epic Gilgamesh, William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. They will also study short but complex texts, including essays by Jonathan Swift and Mary Wollstonecraft, and influential speeches by Queen Elizabeth I and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Contemporary texts by Seamus Heaney, Derek Walcott, and Chinua Achebe round out the course.

AP English 12-AP English Literature and Composition

AP English Literature and Composition is designed to be a college/university-level course. This course equips students to critically analyze all forms of literature to comment insightfully about an author or genre’s use of style or literary device. Students will also interpret meaning based on form; examine the trademark characteristics of literary genres and periods; and critique literary works through expository, analytical, and argumentative essays. As students consider styles and devices, they will apply them to their creative writing. In addition to exposing students to college-level English coursework, this course prepares them for the AP exam.

AP English 12 Student Guide