Pre-AP English 1 focuses on reading, writing, and language skills that are relevant to students’ current work and essential for students' future to future high school and college coursework.

Texts take center stage, preparing students for close, critical reading and analytical writing. The course trains readers to observe small details in a text to arrive at a deeper understanding of the whole. It also trains writers to create complex sentences—building this foundational skill en route to sophisticated, longer-form analyses.


Areas of Focus

The Pre-AP English areas of focus are vertically aligned to the practices embedded in high school and college English courses, including AP. This gives students multiple opportunities to prioritize and strengthen key literacy skills throughout their course of study.

  • Reading closely: Students read closely and analyze a range of complex literary and informational texts.

  • Valuing evidence: Students evaluate textual evidence and incorporate it effectively in writing and speaking.

  • Noticing language choices: Students understand how writers and speakers use specific words and sentences to move the thoughts, emotions, and actions of readers and listeners.



Unit Foundations

These big ideas are integrated across all units:

  • Engaging with texts

  • Constructing texts

  • Focusing on language

  • Investigating through research

  • Entering the conversation




Course at a Glance

Pre-AP English 1 has four main units. Their key topics and recommended length are outlined here:

  • Unit 1: Telling Details (~7 weeks)

  • Unit 2: Pivotal Words and Phrases (~7 weeks)

  • Unit 3: Compelling Evidence (~7 weeks)

  • Unit 4: Powerful Openings (~7 weeks)


Assessments for Learning

Each unit contains:

  • In-lesson formatives: short writing tasks in which students demonstrate understanding of a text or concept discussed in class (scored by teachers).

  • 2 learning checkpoints: short online assessments in which students apply learning to texts not studied in class (automated scoring and reporting).

  • 1 performance task: a written response to a text not studied in class (scored by teachers, with provided scoring guidelines).