Course

English I

Pre-Requisites:
Credits: 1.0
Estimated Completion Time: 32-36 weeks

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Description

In English I students build active reading skills, analyze literature and informational texts, and develop listening and writing skills. Students use texts of high complexity while integrating language arts study in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language for college and career preparation and readiness.

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Major Topics and Concepts

Segment One

 

Module One: Reading and Writing Narratives

Readings Excerpts from Little Brother

·       Students choose one short story:

·       “Condensed Milk” by Varlam Shalamov

·       “Hamadi” by Naomi Shihab Nye

·       “Rules of the Game” by Amy Tan.

Concepts and Skills

·       Brainstorming

·       Characterization

·       Compare / contrast a subject conveyed in different mediums

·       Complex sentences

·       Conflict

·       Connotation

·       Denotation

·       Dialogue

·       Diction

·       Editing

·       Elements of plot: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution

·       Formatting of dialogue

·       Imagery

·       Inferences

·       Literal, interpretive, and evaluative questions

·       Mood

·       Pacing techniques: repetition, short sentences, long sentences, punctuation to make reader pause or stop, formal diction

·       Plot techniques: flashback, flash-forward, and dream sequence

·       Revision

·       Semicolons

·       Subordinating conjunctions

·       Theme

·       Tone

·       Writing a complete narrative: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution

 

Module Two: Analyzing Language and Structure

 

Readings

·       “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Concepts and Skills

·       Allusion

·       Audience

·       Author’s purpose

·       Claim

·       Developing ideas

·       Directly quoting

·       Evidence to support ideas

·       Explanation of evidence

·       Figurative, literal, and connotative language

·       Hyperbole

·       Irony

·       Main idea

·       Metaphor

·       Organizing ideas

·       Paradox

·       Paraphrasing

·       Personification

·       Quotation punctuation rules

·       Rhetorical questions

·       Signaling phrase

·       Simile

·       Structure (placement of claim, evidence, call to action, etc.)

·       Summarizing

·       Supporting details

·       Symbolism

·       Thesis statement

·       Topic sentences

·       Transitions

 

Honors Lessons: Segment One

Readings

·       Excerpts of Romeo and Juliet Acts I & II

·       Concepts and Skills

·       Analyzing Shakespearean-inspired art

·       Characterization

·       Compare and contrast

·       Diction

·       Historical context

·       Reading Shakespeare

·       Synthesis

·       Universal themes and language

 

Segment Two

 

Module Three: Crafting a Winning Argument

Readings

·       Excerpts of various political speeches from Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Obama

Research articles on one of the following topics:

·       Should there be real world consequences for what someone posts on social media?

·       Should college athletes be paid to play?

·       Should America have taxpayer-funded college education?

·       Should doctors or pharmaceutical companies be held accountable for patients who develop opioid addictions?

Concepts and Skills

·       Argument

·       Author’s purpose

·       Claim, Counterclaim

·       Credible sources

·       Developing ideas

·       Directly quoting

Editing

·       Ethos, Pathos, Logos

·       Evidence

·       Introduction paragraphs, Hook, Bridge

·       Logical fallacies: hasty generalization, post hoc, slippery slope, authority, popularity, fear, false dichotomy

·       Multimedia aids

·       Opposition

·       Outlining

·       Paraphrasing

·       Research

·       Revising

·       Rhetorical devices and appeals: repetition, figurative language, rhetorical questioning, quotations, appeals to logic, emotion, and ethics

·       Setting

·       Signaling phrase

·       Speaking / presentation skills

·       Structure and support

·       Summarizing

·       Tone

·       Transitions

·       Works cited

 

Module Four: Exploring Elements of Style

Readings

·       "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wordsworth

·       "The Calypso Borealis" by John Muir

Concepts and Skills

·       Body paragraph

·       Colon

·       Common grammar and usage errors

·       Compare / contrast

·       Conclusion

·       Connotation

·       Dialect

·       Diction

·       Direct quotations

·       Drawing conclusions

·       Editing

·       Effect of language techniques

·       Evidence

·       Introduction paragraph, Hook, Bridge

·       Language techniques: simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, repetition

·       Mood

·       Outlining

·       Parallel structure

·       Paraphrasing

·       Poem

·       Revising

·       Semicolon

·       Signaling phrase

·       Stanzas

·       Thesis

·       Tone

·       Topic sentence

·       Transitions

·       Unfamiliar words / context clues

 

Honors Lessons: Segment Two

Readings

·       Excerpts of Romeo and Juliet Acts III, IV, and V

·       Excerpt from Huckleberry Finn

Concepts and Skills

·       Comparing and contrasting characters

·       Conflict

·       Foreshadowing

·       Inference

·       Interpreting an author’s message

·       Reading Shakespeare

·       Theme

·     Understanding universality of literature

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Grading Policy