English Language Arts

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

Mission Statement

The English program at Seymour High School prepares its students to use Standard English to write purposefully, read critically, and to speak and listen effectively.  Students will use the language arts to explore and respond to classical and contemporary works from many cultures and literary periods.  Students will develop interpretive and evaluative skills while making connections among their reading, their writing, and their lives.

English I – 111, 115

1.0 Credit

Required of all grade 9 students

115 Honors is open to recommended students who meet the Honors course criteria.

The main objective of English I is to provide students with a comprehensive background in literature and composition. The course will entail the study of world literature, grammar, and composition. As writers, students will create well-constructed paragraphs, sequence ideas with support from the text, and create multi-paragraph essays that clearly represent a topic.

English II – 121, 125

1.0 Credit 

Required of all grade 10 students 

125 Honors is open to recommended students who meet the Honors course criteria.

Prerequisite: Successful completion of English I

English II students continue to study world literature both fiction and non-fiction, to increase their vocabulary through word study, and to expand their knowledge of grammar as it applies to writing skills.  Significant time will be spent developing stronger interpretive and analytical skills.  As writers, students will continue to improve on the skills needed to create well-constructed paragraphs, sequence their ideas with support from the text, and create multi-paragraph essays that clearly represent a topic.

English III – 131, 135

1.0 Credit 

Required of all grade 11 students not enrolled in an AP or ECE level course.

135 Honors is open to recommended students who meet the Honors course criteria.

Prerequisite: Successful completion of English II

English III is a combination of American and multicultural literature.  Through the study of American literature, students will explore literary periods, major authors, and important literary works that influenced America’s culture and customs.  Through multicultural literary studies, students will increase their understanding of the multicultural nature of our world. Topics to be addressed will include special gender-related concerns, age-related concerns, and the needs of people with disabilities. Students will read critically and demonstrate understanding both orally and in writing. These units will be comprised of the novels, essays, short stories, drama, art, and/or poetry of any cultures that co-exist in the United States.

For senior year, students must choose one of the full-year courses listed in the elective section, or two semester electives. 

English Electives

UCONN English ECE – 137 

Honors

1.0 Credit

Offered to grade 12

This course is designed for students with an interest in literature and for those who have demonstrated more than rudimentary writing skills.  These students are typically skilled readers of a variety of literary genres.  The concentration of content in this course is the study of literature of increasing complexity and analyzing such literature in writing. 

UCONN Early College Experience (ECE) provides academically motivated students with the opportunity to take university courses while in high school. UCONN ECE instructors are high school teachers certified as adjunct professors by the University. UCONN ECE faculty fosters independent learning, creativity, and critical thinking - all important for success in college. To support rigorous learning, University of Connecticut academic resources, including library and online classroom access, are available to all UCONN ECE students. UCONN ECE students must successfully complete the course with a grade of C or above in order to receive University credit. UCONN credits are transferable to many colleges and universities. Students are charged a credit processing fee. 

In order to earn credit in these courses, the students must complete the proper registration packets including UCONN fees and meet the standard of the college level assessments integrated into the courses. All students who take any of the UCONN ECE Courses are required to apply to the ECE program and will incur an application cost payable to UCONN.

AP Language and Composition – 136  

1.0 Credit 

Recommended to grade 11 students who meet the following criteria:

1. Subject teacher recommendation.

2. The final decision of acceptance into the course will be made by the classroom teacher.

This course prepares students to take the Advanced Placement English Language and Composition exam.  Prospective students should realize, however, that every college and university has its own guidelines to granting college credit.

The AP Language and Composition course trains students to become skilled readers and writers in diverse genres and modes of composition.  As stated in the Advanced Placement Course Description for the English exams, the AP Language and Composition course purpose is “to enable students to read complex texts with understanding and to write prose of sufficient richness and complexity to communicate effectively with mature readers.”  These skills will allow the student to read critically and write effectively in different modes in the college classroom and beyond.  The main text for the course is The Bedford Reader as well as various American novels both fiction and non-fiction.  Students should be prepared to write essays on a weekly basis.

AP Literature and Composition – 146 

1.0 Credit

Recommended to grade 12 students who meet the following criteria:

1. Subject teacher recommendation.

2. The final decision of acceptance into the course will be made by the classroom teacher.

This course prepares students to take the Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition exam.  Prospective students should realize, however, that every college and university has its own guidelines to granting college credit.

This course is designed for students with an interest in literature, and for those who have demonstrated considerably more than rudimentary analytical writing skills. Through discussions, conferences, readings, and writings the class will explore the multiple levels of discourse. Students will be expected to write essays on a regular basis. 

Students (seniors) must choose two of the following classes during senior year unless taking a full-year course. 

Film Narrative and Techniques - 104

0.5 Credit – Semester Course

Offered to grades 11 and 12

Film appreciation will introduce students to the elements of cinema through analysis of key films. Students will critically view film as a literary work with respect to authorship, setting, character, plot, theme, symbolism and cultural significances. The course focuses on teaching movies as visual narratives, but students analyze and study all of the language systems of film (e.g. photography, editing, sound, acting, story, writing, ideology, etc.) through course readings, class discussions, and short essays. By the end of the class, students should be able to look at any given film critically, understand its formal structure, and place it within its broader institutional, economic, and cultural context. 

Early British Literature – 151

0.5 Credit – Semester Course

Offered to grades 11-12

This course provides a study of selected early major works in British Literature and their relationship to the  present-day.  Students will be encouraged to search for essential ideas which connect their lives with the past lives of warriors, villains, knights, leaders, thinkers, and reformers as they struggle in the battle between good and evil. The focus will continue on the development of analytical and interpretative skills and effective writing skills.

Exploring Poetry- 140

0.5 credits- Semester Course

Offered to grades 11-12

This is an introductory poetry course with a focus on the careful study of successful poems, and a series of exercises that will help students approach writing as artisans—with attention to detail, attention to craft, and attention to the process as well as the product. This course will provide students an opportunity to explore poetry, hone their close reading skills in preparation for high stakes testing and provide practice in writing with clarity using figurative language and the proscribed structure that poetry requires.

Science Fiction / Fantasy - 141

0.5 credits- Semester Course

Offered to grades 11-12

Folklore – the traditional, artistic, cultural materials passed down through generations – is one of the chief inspirations behind what is commonly referred to as “speculative literature.” For this course, the focus will be on the ways in which folk narratives – specifically folk and fairy tales, mythology, and legends – serve as starting places for speculative literature. In this course, students will practice analyzing complex sources, understanding the structure of written compositions, and using appropriate conventions and style for a given writing situation. Habits of thought such as valuing complexity, accepting ambiguity, and keeping an open and curious mind will be developed and utilized for powerful writing. 

Writing the Academic Essay – 149 

0.5 Credit – Semester Course

Offered to grades 10, 11 and 12

Articulated with Post University

Cost $300 - Payable by the end of week 2. All students who do not pay by the cutoff date will be removed from this class.

Writing the Academic Essay is one of the most difficult tasks facing high school and college students today.  This course will provide an overview of the ten essay types most frequently requested by instructors.  Students will read model essays as well as create essays of their own that reflect the rhetorical patterns illustrated by the readings.  These patterns include the descriptive, narrative, example, classification and division, cause and effect, and argument essay.  Since the essays reviewed reflect a multicultural mixture, students will experience the world from many different perspectives

Creative Writing – 138 

0.5 Credit – Semester Course

Offered to grades 11 and 12

This course focuses on writing as an art form.  The three major genres of creative writing featured are poetry, short fiction, and nonfiction.  The coursework recognizes that creative endeavors flow from an individual’s knowledge, experience, and cultural background. Students will participate in writing workshops and will produce pieces that may be published in the school literary magazine and/or submitted to creative writing contests after reading exemplar pieces.  It is essential that student writers work in an atmosphere that inspires confidence, knowing that they can take risks without fear of criticism or ridicule.  This is a course for the mature student who wishes to explore the art and form of creative writing.

Public Speaking – 150 

0.5 Credit – Semester Course

Offered to grades 11 and 12

This course is intended for students to develop successful public speaking skills for personal, academic, and social competence.  Students will participate in a variety of activities which include multi-step writing process, presenting informative persuasive speeches, active engagement with the listening process, as well as peer and self-evaluation.  Through involvement in the various class activities, students will be presented with strategies to enhance their skills to become more competent, confident speakers. 

Multicultural Literature and Composition- 142

0.5 credits- Semester Course

Offered to grades 11 and 12

Students will read, discuss, and analyze multicultural literature to expand and deepen their experiences with diverse voices and perspectives. Multicultural literature features works written by African American, Asian American, Native American, and Latino authors as they intersect with issues of race, gender, class, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, and nationality. This course will increase students' understanding of the traditions and values of varied cultures, which is necessary for living and working effectively in a society with great population diversity. Students will analyze cultural issues in literature as expressions of individual and human values within historical periods and apply critical thinking to achieve clarity, accuracy, precision, depth, and fair-mindedness to reading, discussing, writing, and listening skills to the culture-based study of literature.

Support/intervention course

Reading, Writing, and Reasoning – 143

0.5 Credit – Semester Course

SRBI/ administrative placement – the course is to be taken concurrently in addition to English requirements.

Reading, Writing, and Reasoning is designed to help students acquire and practice strategies that will help them become independent learners. The course is designed as a supplementary course for students who have received a poor or failing grade the year prior or who have been identified as a student who requires supplementary services. Special emphasis is placed on higher-level reading skills, vocabulary development, problem-solving, as well as thinking and writing skills. Students will learn to become more reflective and competent readers, to make effective predictions, to interpret a text by making connections to prior experience and knowledge, to draw conclusions, to make inferences, to recognize an author’s purpose, to recognize organizational patterns of a text, and to improve general comprehension skills. There is also a heavy concentration on organization skills such as note-taking, time-management, and test taking skills.

SAT Preparation - 012

.05 Credit - Semester Course

The SAT Prep program is specially designed to help high school juniors and seniors study for the SAT exam. Students will receive one marking period of Math instruction and one period of English instruction. During the English focused marking period, Students will also focus on strategies for the question types (sentence completion, vocabulary, critical reading, and writing – finding errors / revision). The SAT Math Course is broken up into the four main categories: (1) Numbers and Operations, (2) Algebra and Functions, (3) Geometry and Measurements, and (4) Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability.

Digital Voices: Social Media as Communication

1.0 - Credit

Offered to Grades  11, 12

Digital Voices: Social Media as Communication is a project-based learning course designed to empower students to understand the power of social media as a communication tool in our digital age. Students will analyze the influence and impact of social media on modern society, exploring its role in shaping narratives, building connections, and engaging audiences. Through researched trends and forms of communication, students will develop the skills needed to craft effective, ethical, and engaging content.

The primary focus of this course is for students to collaboratively design, develop, and sustain a dynamic social media presence for Seymour High School. They will highlight the school’s positive growth, achievements, and community spirit by creating content that resonates with diverse audiences. Along the way, students will refine their skills in writing, rhetoric, and multimedia storytelling while addressing themes of digital citizenship, identity, and ethical responsibility.