Twelfth Grade Standard 1. Oral Expression and Listening 2. Reading for All Purposes 3. Writing and Composition 4. Research and Reasoning Reading, Writing, and Communicating Grade Level Expectations at a Glance Grade Level Expectation 1. Effective speaking in formal and informal settings requires appropriate use of methods and audience awareness 2. Effective collaborative groups accomplish goals 1. Literary criticism of complex texts requires the use of analysis, interpretive, and evaluative strategies 2. Interpreting and evaluating complex informational texts require the understanding of rhetoric, critical reading, and analysis skills 1. Style, detail, expressive language, and genre create a well- crafted statement directed at an intended audience and purpose 2. Ideas, evidence, structure, and style create persuasive, academic, and technical texts for particular audiences and specific purposes 3. Standard English conventions effectively communicate to targeted audiences and purposes 1. Independent research designs articulate and defend information, conclusions, and solutions that address specific contexts and purposes 2. Logical arguments distinguish facts from opinions; and evidence defines reasoned judgment English 7 Course Description: English 7/8 will provide a full year of growth in the standards and skills required for success in college and careers. English 7 will be modeled after Pikes Peak Community College s Composition 090 writing course. The heavy emphasis on nonfiction and writing for college expectations will prepare students to enter two- or four- year colleges with the skills needed to avoid remediation. Students will prepare a portfolio of their writing for assessment. (11/2012)
English 7 Quarter 1 Unit Focus: Argument Recommended Resource: Unit 3 Key Reading Outcomes (Students will understand/demonstrate ) Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the structure an author uses in his or her exposition or argument, including whether the structure makes points clear, convincing, and engaging, and how structure impacts meaning. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves Analyze parts of an argument recognize fallacies Analyze and imitate Synthesize Evidence Overview: Students will explore important views from a variety of writers, through a sermon, a biography, poetry, philosophy, a foundational document, a Supreme Court decision, narrative nonfiction, and satire. The unit begins with a sermon by John Winthrop, the Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, in which he declares that the eyes of the world are on the city upon a hill of the New World. Other selections include an excerpt from John Locke s Second Treatise of Government and the American document it influenced, the Declaration of Independence. The unit also includes Puritan poetry by Anne Bradstreet and revolutionary poetry by Phillis Wheatley and Thomas Paine. Throughout this unit, students will explore the ideas that built the country they inhabit today. Informational Text Structure Rhetoric Informational Text Elements Argument and Claim Figurative Language Reasons and Evidence Connotation and Denotation Media Tone Central or Main Idea Compare and Contrast Author s Purpose and Point of View
Key Writing Pre- search Extended Writing Standards Focus Thesis Statement Organize Argumentative Writing Introductions Reasons and Relevant Evidence Sources and Citations Cohesion and Clarification Style Conclusions Audience and Purpose In order to better understand how ideas are exchanged around the world, students will research how the ideas of the Enlightenment in Europe influenced thinkers in the American colonies. If introduced in the first half of the unit, this research project can serve as a resource for the Extended Writing piece students will produce at the unit s close. Think about the key ideals of the United States today, such as equality, self- sufficiency, individuality, and so on. Focus on one ideal and choose a text from the unit that best embodies the ideal. Argue why your chosen text is the best embodiment of the ideal, and explain why the text matters today. Support your statements about contemporary American society with outside research. Cite evidence from your chosen text in your response. RL.11-12.1, RL.11-12.4, RL.11-12.6, RL.11-12.9-10 RI.11-12.1-10 W.11-12.1, 11-12.4-10 SL.11-12.1-6 L.11-12.1-5
English 7 Quarter 2 Unit Focus: Narrative Recommended Resource: Unit 1 Key Reading Key Writing Pre- search Extended Writing Standards Focus Outcomes (Students will understand/demonstrate ) Understand characteristics of narrative fiction Understand the impact of literary devices Understand how syntax impacts meaning Analyze and imitate Cite effective evidence Write literary arguments Overview: This unit explores epics and legends from the Anglo- Saxon period of England through today. The unit begins with an excerpt from the oldest written Old English poem, Beowulf, which presents the archetype of the epic hero. Beowulf is followed by an excerpt from Grendel, a novel that shows the monster s side of Beowulf s story. Other selections include texts by the Venerable Bede, Geoffrey Chaucer, T. H. White, Sir Thomas Malory, J. R. R. Tolkien, as well as contemporary analyses of the legends. Students will explore the impact of legends on our view of history and on national identities today. Story Elements Theme Media Organize Narrative Writing Introductions Narrative Techniques Narrative Sequencing Informational Text Elements Textual Evidence Rhetoric Descriptive Details Precise Language Conclusions Audience and Purpose In order to better understand the cultural impact of heroes and heroines across cultures, students will research examples and impacts of heroes and heroines in media such as video, audio recordings, graphics, and books. If introduced in the first half of the unit, this research project will serve as a resource for the Extended Writing piece students will produce at the unit s close. Think about the heroes in the selections you have read. What qualities define a hero, and how does a legendary hero help shape the history of a nation? Your extended writing assignment will be to write a narrative about a hero (or heroine) modeled on the style of Le Morte d Arthur or Beowulf. You can write about a real, heroic person you know, or you can write about a fictional character. You can set your narrative in a real or imagined world. RL.11-12.2, RL.11-12.3, RL.11-12.4, RL.11-12.6, RL.11-12.7 RI.11-12.1, RI.11-12.3, L.11-12.4, L.11-12.4.B, L.11-12.5.A
Twelfth Grade Standard 1. Oral Expression and Listening 2. Reading for All Purposes 3. Writing and Composition 4. Research and Reasoning Grade Level Expectation 1. Effective speaking in formal and informal settings requires appropriate use of methods and audience awareness 2. Effective collaborative groups accomplish goals 1. Literary criticism of complex texts requires the use of analysis, interpretive, and evaluative strategies 2. Interpreting and evaluating complex informational texts require the understanding of rhetoric, critical reading, and analysis skills 1. Style, detail, expressive language, and genre create a well- crafted statement directed at an intended audience and purpose 2. Ideas, evidence, structure, and style create persuasive, academic, and technical texts for particular audiences and specific purposes 3. Standard English conventions effectively communicate to targeted audiences and purposes 1. Independent research designs articulate and defend information, conclusions, and solutions that address specific contexts and purposes 2. Logical arguments distinguish facts from opinions; and evidence defines reasoned judgment English 8 Course Description: English 7/8 will provide a full year of growth in the standards and skills required for success in college and careers. English 8 will emphasize the study of literature. The writing emphasis will be on literary analysis and readings must include foundational documents of world and/or British literature. English 8 will also include a capstone project allowing for student choice in a research- oriented project that may culminate in a multi- genre project/presentation on a topic of their individual interest. (11/2012)
English 8 Quarter 3 Unit Focus: Analysis Recommended Resource: Unit 2 Key Reading Key Writing Pre- search Extended Writing Outcomes (Students will understand/demonstrate ) Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the structure an author uses in his or her exposition or argument, including whether the structure makes points clear, convincing, and engaging Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves Analyze and imitate Overview: The unit begins with William Shakespeare s Sonnet 29, followed by an excerpt from his dramatic masterpiece The Tragedy of Hamlet. Other selections include poetry by Elizabeth I, Christopher Marlowe, Sir Walter Ralegh, and John Donne, as well as excerpts from Utopia and Brave New World. Students will explore the impact of the Elizabethan period on our modern language and culture, and how the English language continues to evolve. Poetic Structure Figures of Speech Connotation and Denotation Figurative Language Organize Argumentative Writing Introductions Reasons and Relevant Evidence Media Theme Irony Cohesion and Clarification Style Conclusions Audience and Purpose Sources and Citations In order to better understand the cultural impact of the English Renaissance on our culture today, students will research examples of the impact of writers such as Shakespeare and other authors from this unit in media such as video, audio recordings, graphics, and books. If introduced in the first half of the unit, this research project can serve as a resource for the Extended Writing piece students will produce at the unit s close. Recall the Essential Question: How do we express the complexities of being human? Choose two or three selections from the unit and write a literary analysis focused on how the author uses figurative language and figures of speech to help readers understand a speaker or character's feelings and actions. Explain how each author uses figurative language to reveal aspects of the human condition.
Standards Focus RL.11-12.1, RL.11-12.2, RL.11-12.3, RL.11-12.4, RL.11-12.5, RL.11-12.6, RL.11-12.7 RI.11-12.2, RI.11-12.6 W.11-12.1, W.11-12.5, W.11-12.6, W.11-12.9.A SL.11-12.1, SL.11-12.6 L.11-12.4.A, L.11-12.5.A, L.11-12.6
English 8 Quarter 4 Unit Focus: Research Students as Authentic researchers Recommended Resource: Unit 4 Key Reading Key Writing Pre- search Outcomes (Students will understand/demonstrate ) Discover connections between the community and themselves Conduct meaningful, authentic research and assess collected information and data Identify and organize applicable artifacts Display information in a logical, relevant way, taking into account audience and purpose. Overview: students will explore literary movements from the past two centuries through poetry, short stories, novel excerpts, speeches, and a national anthem. The unit begins with the classic romantic poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, in which a sailor describes his harrowing journey to the ends of the Earth and back. Other selections include excerpts from the realist novels Pride and Prejudice, House of Mirth, and O Pioneers, an excerpt from Virginia Woolf s modernist classic Mrs. Dalloway, and speeches by Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Throughout this unit, students will explore how literary movements are expressed in different genres and by a variety of authors. Tone Setting Irony Compare and Contrast Character Audience, Purpose, and Style Research and Note- Taking Thesis Statement Organize Informative Writing Theme Rhetoric Author s Purpose or Point of View Connotation and Denotation Supporting Details Introductions and Conclusions Body Paragraphs and Transitions Sources and Citations In order to better understand how the literary movements of the past two centuries still affect us today, students will research the movements and their influence on contemporary literature and pop culture. If introduced in the first half of the unit, this research project can serve as a resource for the Extended Writing Project students may produce at the unit s close.
Extended Writing Standards Focus Choose one author from this unit whom you d like to know more about. Conduct a research project and write a formal research paper in which you provide information about the author s life or the time period in which he or she lived, and the literary movement with which he or she is associated. Then explain how the author s text from the unit is representative of the time period and literary movement as a whole. RL.11-12.1-4, RL.11-12.5-6, RL.11-12.9-10 RI.11-12.1, RI.11-12.4-6, RI.11-12.9-10 W.11-12.1, W.11-12.1.A- B, W.11-12.2A- F, W.11-12.3.A, W.11-12.4-10 SL.11-12.1 4 L.11-12.1-1.B, L.11-12.2.A- B, L.11-12.3-3.A, L.11-12.4, L.11-12.6