Course Outcomes:

Students will develop an understanding of . . .

·        ethical conflicts and boundaries as explored in literature;

·        ethical models of decision-making;

·        the structure and components of the expository/thesis-driven essay;

·        the vocabulary of literary analysis and the application of these terms as we arrive at an understanding of the work as a whole;

·        grammatical structures appropriate to grade level and writing ability;

·        a variety of literary genres, including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and drama;

·        the writing process in order to compose well-organized and coherent writing for specific purposes and audiences;

·        the writing process in order to communicate ideas in writing to accomplish a variety of purposes;

·        rhetorical terms as tools for the understanding of the processes of reading and writing;

Skills being addressed:

Reading

Students will . . .

·        read age-appropriate material with fluency and accuracy;

·        use questions and predictions to guide reading;

·        explain and justify an interpretation of a text;

·        cite specific passages from their readings to support interpretive and evaluative claims;

·        read, analyze, interpret, and compare a variety of texts for purpose, structure, content, detail and effect;

·        summarize and make generalizations from content and relate them to the purpose of the material;

·        consider different interpretations;

·        recall details;

·        understand cause and effect;

·        analyze authorial tone and purpose;

·        comprehend through context;

·        understand metaphors and figures of speech;

·        analyze how authors and illustrators use text and art to express and emphasize their ideas (e.g., imagery, multiple points of view);

·        analyze the fictional characters and their problems;

·        analyze the meaning of a poem by identifying the literary techniques that the poet uses to convey meaning;

·        draw relationships between what they read in literature and their own experiences.

Writing

Students will . . .

·        follow the steps of the composing process, including prewriting, first draft, revision, and editing;

·        compose analytical essays with organization and style that enhance the quality of ideas;

·        use standard English to edit documents for clarity, subject/verb agreement, adverb and adjective agreement and verb tense; proofread for spelling, capitalization and punctuation; and ensure that documents are formatted in final form for submission and/or publication;

·        produce documents that exhibit a range of writing techniques appropriate to purpose and audience, with clarity of focus, logic of organization, appropriate elaboration and support and overall coherence;

·        compose a personal essay in the narrative mode;

·        respond to essay questions in expository mode;

·        correct grammatical errors in all writing;

·        evaluate written work for its effectiveness and make recommendations for its improvement;

·        take notes;

·        write persuasively;

·        relate personal experience to ideas;

·        use story themes in writing;

·        use available technology, produce compositions and multimedia works for specified audiences;

·        write creatively;

·        generate and support ideas by:

o       identifying a problem;

o       clarifying an argument;

o       supporting an argument with reasoning and evidence; and

o       using inference;

·        evaluate and revise ideas by:

o       considering more than one side;

o       weighing evidence;

o       questioning and testing an argument;

o       drawing conclusions;

o       revising and improving an argument.

Vocabulary

Students will...

·        practice the appropriate application of literary terms to the appropriate components of the various genres;

·        study prefixes, suffixes, and roots of new general vocabulary as introduced by the teacher;

·        incorporate new vocabulary in discussion and writing;

·        understand multiple-meaning words;

·        expand knowledge of word origins and derivations and use idioms, analogies, metaphors and similes to extend vocabulary development;

·        compare the meaning of words and phrases and use analogies to explain the relationships among them.

Grammar

·        Review subject–verb agreement

·        Review verb tenses

·        Introduce parallel structure

·        Reinforce in depth the use of various introductory elements and the writing of complex sentences (longer prepositional phrases, adverb clauses, participial phrases), and work with the proper punctuation of these elements

·        Review the types and functions of clauses

·        Introduce the types of sentences (declarative, imperative, interrogative)

·        Introduce students to the common idioms of the language and work on correcting the misuse of them in writing; also direct students’ attention to the appropriate and stylistic effects of diction, and informal usage and slang

·        Work with sentence beginnings not only for generating variety in sentence structure, but also to introduce adverbial transitions, subordinate conjunctions, and coherency in a line of thought (making use of prepositional phrasing, adverbial clauses, and participial phrasing and the proper punctuation for these elements)

·        Review the identification and analysis of various sentence patterns

·        Reinforce in depth the verb forms (present and past participles, gerunds, infinitives, and main verbs); reinforce in depth the simple past, present, and future verb tenses; introduce perfect tenses

·        Introduce the distinction between transitive and intransitive verbs (not only in the students’ writing, but also in their vocabulary study and their growing familiarity with dictionary definitions and formats)

·        Introduce concept of restrictive and non-restrictive elements (especially in regard to appositives and their proper punctuation)

·        Review proper pronoun usage (objective vs. nominative, possessive case without apostrophe and before a gerund, and agreement in number between antecedent and pronoun)

·        Introduce the identification and function of relative pronouns, calling attention to the use of “This,” “That,” “Which,” and “What” as a tool of general pronoun reference, a device to introduce clauses, and as a subordinate conjunction

·        Introduce the many uses of the dash and parentheses

Research

Students will...

·        demonstrate a knowledge of strategies needed to prepare a credible research report (e.g., notes, planning sheets);

·        design and present a project (e.g., research report, scientific study, career/higher education opportunities) using various formats from multiple sources;

·        choose and evaluate primary and secondary sources (print and nonprint) for a variety of purposes;

·        use multiple sources and multiple formats; cite according to standard style manuals;

·        Produce oral presentations and written documents using supportive research and incorporating contemporary technology.

Oral Communication

Students will...

·        state ideas clearly and fully;

·        explain and defending concepts;

·        agree and disagreeing constructively;

·        maintain purposeful discussions.