English 12 Honors asks students to closely analyze British and world literature and to consider how humans define and interact with the unknown, the monstrous, and the heroic. In the epic poems The Odyssey, Beowulf, and The Inferno, in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, in the satire of Swift, and in the rhetoric of World War II, students examine how the ideas of “heroic” and “monstrous” have been defined across cultures and time periods and how the treatment of the “other” can make monsters or heroes of us all.

Reading Frankenstein and works from the people who experienced the imperialism of the British Empire, students explore the notion of inner monstrosity and consider how a dominant culture can be seen as monstrous in its ostensibly heroic goal of enlightening the world.

Throughout this course, students analyze a wide range of literature, both fiction and nonfiction. They build writing skills by preparing analytical and persuasive essays, personal narratives, and research papers. Opportunities for self-directed study, including outside readings, open-ended journal entries, and free-form projects, challenge Honors students to use their creativity and critical thinking skills to gain independent mastery of reading and writing. Finally, in order to develop speaking and listening skills, students participate in discussions and prepare speeches. Overall, students gain an understanding of the way British and world literature represent the array of voices that contribute to our global identity.

*2 semesters, 1 credit

English 9 Honors is an overview of exemplar selections of literature in fiction and nonfiction genres. Students read short stories, poems, a full-length novel, a full-length Shakespeare play, and two book-length outside readings of their choice. For all readings, students analyze the use of elements of literature in developing character, plot, and theme. For example, in selected stories, students compare the effect of setting on tone and character development. In the poetry unit, students analyze how artists and writers draw from and interpret source material.

Each unit includes informational texts inviting students to consider the historical, social, and literary context of the main texts they study. For example, in the first semester, a Nikolai Gogol story that is offered as an exemplar of magical realism is accompanied by instruction on that genre. Together, the lesson content and reading prompt students to demonstrate their understanding of magical realism by analyzing its qualities in a literary text.

Throughout the course, students respond to others’ claims and support their own claims in essays, discussions, and presentations, consistently using thorough textual evidence. Opportunities for self-directed study, including outside readings, open-ended journal entries, and free-form projects, challenge Honors students to use their creativity and critical thinking skills to gain independent mastery of reading and writing. Finally, the range of texts includes canonical authors such as William Shakespeare, Franz Kafka, and Elie Wiesel, as well as writers from diverse backgrounds, such as Alice Walker, Li-Young Lee, and Robert Lake-Thom (Medicine Grizzly Bear).

*2 semesters, 1 credit

English 6 delivers instruction, practice, and review designed to build students’ communication and reading comprehension skills. Reading comprehension lessons strengthen students’ critical analysis skills as they study how nonfiction and literature can be used to share ideas. Writing lessons combine free-response exercises with drafting strategies and exemplars to help students communicate clearly and credibly in narrative, argumentative, and explanatory styles. To develop skills specific to public discourse, speaking and listening lessons guide students as they evaluate clips and readings from speeches and discussions. In language lessons, students build foundational grammar skills they need to articulate their ideas and understand challenging words.

The two-semester course is arranged in themed units, each with three to six lessons. Each lesson includes a variety of activities such as direct instruction, application of skills, performance tasks, and formative and summative assessments. Students engage with the subject matter in an interactive, feedback-rich environment as they progress through standards-aligned content and demonstrate their learning through computer- and teacher-scored assignments.

*2 semesters

In the English 11 course, students examine the belief systems, events, and literature that have shaped the United States. They begin by studying the language of independence and the system of government developed by Thomas Jefferson and other enlightened thinkers. Next, they explore how the Romantics and Transcendentalists emphasized the power and responsibility of the individual in both supporting and questioning the government. Students consider whether the American Dream is still achievable and examine the Modernists’ disillusionment with the idea that America is a “land of opportunity.”

Reading the words of Frederick Douglass and the text of the Civil Rights Act, students look carefully at the experience of African Americans and their struggle to achieve equal rights. Students explore how individuals cope with the influence of war and cultural tensions while trying to build and secure their own personal identity. Finally, students examine how technology is affecting our contemporary experience of freedom: Will we eventually change our beliefs about what it means to be an independent human being?

In this course, students analyze a wide range of literature, both fiction and nonfiction. They build writing skills by composing analytical essays, persuasive essays, personal narratives, and research papers. In order to develop speaking and listening skills, students participate in discussions and prepare speeches. Overall, students gain an understanding of the way American literature represents the array of voices contributing to our multicultural identity.

*2 semesters, 1 credit

The focus of English 10 Honors is the writing process. Three forms of writing guide the curriculum: persuasive, expository, and narrative writing. A typical lesson culminates in a written assignment that lets students demonstrate their developing skill in one of these forms.

English 10 Honors includes at least one anchor text per lesson focused on a thematic core of the capacity of language to influence others. Readings include poems, stories, speeches, plays, and a graphic novel, as well as a variety of informational texts, and these texts are often presented as models for students to emulate as they practice their own writing. The readings represent a wide variety of purposes and cultural perspectives, ranging from the Indian epic The Ramayana to accounts of Hurricane Katrina told through different media. Audio and video presentations enhance students’ awareness and command of rhetorical techniques and increase their understanding of writing for different audiences.

English 10 Honors provides opportunities for self-directed study, including outside readings, open-ended journal entries, and free-form projects, all of which challenge Honors students to use their creativity and critical thinking skills to gain independent mastery of reading and writing.

*2 semesters, 1 credit

English 8 delivers instruction, practice, and review designed to build students’ communication and reading comprehension skills. Reading comprehension lessons strengthen students’ critical analysis skills as they study how nonfiction and literature can be used to share ideas. Writing lessons combine free-response exercises with drafting strategies and exemplars to help students communicate clearly and credibly in narrative, argumentative, and explanatory styles. To develop skills specific to public discourse, speaking and listening lessons guide students as they evaluate clips and readings from speeches and discussions. In language lessons, students build foundational grammar skills they need to articulate their ideas and understand challenging words.

The two-semester course is arranged in themed units, each with three to six lessons. Each lesson includes a variety of activities such as direct instruction, application of skills, performance tasks, and formative and summative assessments. Students engage with the subject matter in an interactive, feedback-rich environment as they progress through standards-aligned content and demonstrate their learning through computer- and teacher-scored assignments.

*2 semesters

Reading Skills and Strategies is a course is designed to help the struggling reader develop mastery in the areas of reading comprehension, vocabulary building, study skills, and media literacy, which are the course’s primary content strands. Using these strands, the course guides the student through the skills necessary to be successful in the academic world and beyond. The reading comprehension strand focuses on introducing the student to the varied purposes of reading (e.g., for entertainment, for information, to complete a task, or to analyze). In the vocabulary strand, the student learns specific strategies for understanding and remembering new vocabulary. In the study skills strand, the student learns effective study and test-taking strategies. In the media literacy strand, the student learns to recognize and evaluate persuasive techniques, purposes, design choices, and effects of media. The course encourages personal enjoyment in reading with 10 interviews featuring the book choices and reading adventures of students and members of the community.

This course is built to state standards and informed by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) standards.

*1 semester, .5 credit