English 9 & 10

Course Description: In grade 9, the Ohio New Learning Standards challenge students to investigate a wide range of literary genres as well as delve deeply into substantive, complex works so that they can “read like a detective” and uncover critical clues for building analyses of texts. Entering high school, students become increasingly aware of the choices authors make and how writers emphasize particular examples or details and stitch them together into a coherent whole. At this stage of their academic careers, students provide objective summaries that incorporate both inferences drawn from the text and citations extracted directly from what they have read. Furthermore, students will be introduced to classic texts, such as Romeo and Juliet, and be expected to translate and analyze them.

The grade 9 Writing Standards specify that students should express themselves in multiple writing formats, including informative, argumentative and narrative writing. Across all writing formats, students are able to develop a central idea, maintain a coherent focus in their writing, and elaborate the points they make with well-documented and relevant examples, facts, and details. Through writing and conversation, students internalize the expectations of academic written and spoken English and resolve issues regarding usage. Students will also demonstrate application of varied skills, including, but not limited to, online writing, writing, and literary terms.

Course Description: In grade 10, the Ohio New Learning Standards require students to analyze more abstract concepts of character and theme by using inferential skills learned in Grade 9. Students will be able to read a variety of genres in both literary and informational texts as well as critically analyze a text and provide sufficient evidence to support the analysis. Topics will include evaluating an author’s use of plot, character, point of view, and theme, as well as rhetorical strategies employed by authors of informational texts.

Throughout the year, students will participate in a variety of formal and informal research inquiry to synthesize context and meaning of a variety of issues. In some instances, students will use class time to synthesize meaning in formal writing covering several genres including informational, argumentative, and literary analysis.