English

Course Title: English I (P)/English l FA (P)

Course Number:1002/1003

Grade Level: 9

Elective /Required: Required

Length/Credits: 1 year/10 credits

Course Description:

English 1 is a college preparation course aimed at reinforcing and further developing the critical reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language abilities of 9th graders. The course offers instruction in a variety of literary genres, expository and informational text, and composition (including the writing process and various writing domains – narrative, critical analysis of literature, informational and analytical essays, research papers, and argumentative and persuasive essays). Course content focuses on developing independent and proficient readers and writers through the use of a variety of increasingly complex text, opportunities for academic classroom discourse and the integration of academic vocabulary and Standard English conventions (syntax and diction). Emphasis is placed on the development of college and career readiness skills - communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity. This course is aligned to California Content Standards for 9th grade English/Language Arts.

Course Title: English I H (P)

Course Number: 1006/1007

Grade Level: 9

Elective /Required: Required

Length/Credits: 1 year/10 credits

Course Description:

This challenging course provides content similar to a college preparatory English I course, but differs in depth, complexity and pacing as an aligned pre-AP class. Emphasis is placed on the development of college and career readiness skills - communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity. A focus on the higher level thinking skills requires students to exhibit responsibility and maturity in their approaches to learning. This course allows students to read complex texts with understanding and to write in a variety of forms in order to communicate effectively. Students will also be responsible for oral presentations, MLA research projects, and extensive outside reading. The course is aligned with the California Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.

Course Title: English II (P)

Course Number: 1022/1023

Grade Level: 10

Elective/Required: Required

Length/Credits: 1 year /10 credits

Course Description:

English 2 is an integrated English/language arts program emphasizing reading, writing, listening, speaking, and researching for a variety of purposes in a variety of settings. The course of study explores ideas, considers strategies, and broadens student perspectives via a thorough exploration of narrative and expository literature. Poetry, novel, short story, drama, speech, memoir, and essay are the principal genres used as vehicles of study. Course content focuses on developing independent and proficient readers and writers through the use of a variety of increasingly complex text, opportunities for academic classroom discourse and the integration of academic vocabulary and standard English conventions (syntax and diction). Emphasis is on analyzing literature in greater depth, analyzing career-related and other informational discourse, and completing increasingly complex writing assignments. This course is aligned to California Content Standards for 9th grade English/Language Arts.

Course Title: English II (H)*

Course Number: 1026/1027

Grade Level: 10

Elective/Required: Required

Length/Credits: 1 year /10 credits

Course Description:

English 2 Honors is an integrated English/language arts program emphasizing reading, writing, listening, speaking, and researching for a variety of purposes in a variety of settings. The course of study explores ideas, considers strategies, and broadens student perspectives via a thorough exploration of narrative and expository literature. Poetry, novel, short story, drama, speech, memoir, and essay are the principal genres used as vehicles of study. Emphasis is on analyzing literature in greater depth, analyzing career-related and other informational discourse, and completing increasingly complex writing assignments.

Course Title: American Literature and Composition (P)

Course Number: 1118/1119

Grade Level: 11

Elective/Required: Elective

Length/Credits: year/10 credits

Prerequisites: Grade of C or better in English II

Course Description:

This course is a survey of American Literature. Content explores how American literature reflects different aspects of the American dream and how it has shaped our cultural identity. Writing styles and literary analysis are emphasized. Instruction requires that students compare and contrast ideas and themes as they learn to interpret and analyze literature and informational text within a variety of topics, themes and genres. Symbolism, tone, and reflection of the historical significance of any given work are explored. Academic language and explicit vocabulary enrichment is an important component of the course. The Standard English/Language Arts conventions (grammar) studied will encompass and go beyond that covered in English 1 and 2 courses. The study of conventions is connected directly to the production of a variety of text types with a focus on written analysis and the improvement of communication skills.

Course Title: AP English Language and Composition

Course Number 1202/1203

Grade Level: 11

Elective/Required: Elective

Length/Credits: 1 Year/10 Credits

Course Description

This course engages students in becoming skilled readers of prose written ina variety of genres, periods, discipline and rhetorical contexts and in becoming skilled writers who compose for a variety of purposes and audiences. Both their writing and their reading should make students aware of the interactions among a writer's purpose, audience expectations, and subjects as we; as the way conventions and resourceful use of language contribute to effective prose. Students study and develop oral presentations , conduct research and document sources, peer edit, and practice for the verbal sections of the SAT and the Advanced Placement English Language and Composition Exam. The course is aligned with the California Common Core State Standards fo English Language Arts.

Course Title: Expository Reading and Writing

Course Number: 1056/1057

Grade Level: 12

Elective/Required: Required

Length/Credits: 1 year/10 credits

Course Description:

The Expository Reading and Writing Course prepares college bound seniors for the literacy demands of higher education. This yearlong, rhetoric-based course advances proficiencies in expository analytical and argumentative reading and writing. Instruction focuses on providing a process to assist students in reading, comprehending, and responding to nonfiction and literary text. Course content provides instruction in research methods and documentation conventions. Course texts include contemporary essays, newspaper and magazine articles, editorials, reports, biographies, memos, assorted public documents, and other non-fiction texts. Course material includes the study of two full-length works.

Course Title: AP English Literature and Composition

Course Number: 1206/1207

Grade Level: 12

Elective/Required: Elective

Length/Credits: 1 year/10 credits

Course Description:

In order to be aligned with the national Advanced Placement stipulations, this course is a university course and the subject matter will be approached as such. The course includes intensive study of representative works from various genres and periods, concentrating on works of recognized literary merit. Besides considering a work's literary artistry, the social and historical values it reflects and embodies will be studied. This attention to both textual detail and historical context will provide a foundation for oral and written interpretation. The course is designed to provide a broad spectrum of literature so that students might critically evaluate subject matter and themselves.The course is aligned with the California Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.

English Language Development

Course Title: Gateways Literacy

Grade Level: 9-12

Course Number:1221/1222, 1224/1225, 1227/1228, 1230/1231

Elective/Required: Required

Length/Credits: One year/10 credits

Course Description:

The GATEWAYS Literacy course provides an instructional model designed to accelerate reading growth and to provide tactical reading strategies necessary to comprehend increasingly complex text. Placement is based upon diagnostic reading assessments and/or standardized test scores, with target students reading more than two years below grade level. Instruction includes modeled, guided, and shared reading activities and supports writing improvement. Large group, small group, and individual instructional plans support a diverse learning community. Direct instruction and reading activities build phonetic awareness, comprehension, vocabulary, and fluency. Instruction is leveled to best support each individual student’s growth and development as a reader and writer. The course is organized around a balanced approach to literacy for secondary students, incorporating elements of effective instruction in reading, writing, listening and speaking.

Course Title: Gateways Lab 3, and Lab 4

Grade Level: 9-12

Course Number: 1239/1240, 1242/1243

Elective/Required: Required

Length/Credits: One year/10 credits

Course Description:

The GATEWAYS Lab course provides an instructional model designed to accelerate reading growth and to provide tactical reading strategies necessary to comprehend increasingly complex text. Placement is based upon diagnostic reading assessments and/or standardized test scores, with target students reading more than two years below grade level. Instruction includes modeled, guided, and shared reading activities and supports writing improvement. Large group, small group, and individual instructional plans support a diverse learning community. Direct instruction and reading activities build phonetic awareness, comprehension, vocabulary, and fluency. Instruction is leveled to best support each individual student’s growth and development as a reader and writer. The course is organized around a balanced approach to literacy for secondary students, incorporating elements of effective instruction in reading, writing, listening and speaking.

Note: Each GATEWAYS level has distinct, thematic units linked to social studies and science content allowing for students to interact with both narrative and expository text during instruction at any particular level. These thematic units, and the text/readings and writing built into each unit, are unified by an essential question students explore during instruction in a unit. Readings are selected to span genres, text formats, and styles.

Each GATEWAYS level has three units, with each unit containing three chapters. Chapters include three to four readings that cross genres. In addition, each chapter provides specific, explicit vocabulary instruction (vocabulary development and word study skills).