Graduation Requirements
4 credits of English
COURSES
Freshman
English I - Freshman Survey
Academic Pathway: Honors
Term: Year-long course
Credit: 1 full English credit
Honors English I stimulates incoming ninth graders’ reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. Students will learn to immerse themselves in different forms of texts eagerly, using close-reading skills to seek real-world connections to the material they have read naturally. They will have ample opportunity to scrutinize, convey and impart their thoughts in writing as they respond to various texts. Texts being covered include, but are not limited to, Antigone by Sophocles and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Students will explore a variety of text types, including propaganda posters, informational videos, art interpretations, and essays both persuasive and informative in nature. In a unit dedicated to developing structures for writing, students will produce a five-paragraph literary analysis essay. In addition, the class will build on and hone students’ command of writing mechanics, including basic grammar, sentence-composing skills, and punctuation.
English I - Freshman Survey
Academic Pathway: Advanced College Prep
Term: Year-long course
Credit: 1 full English credit
ACP English I encourages incoming ninth graders’ reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. Students will learn to absorb texts energetically, using close-reading skills and naturally seeing answers to the material they have read. They will have ample opportunity to inspect, communicate, and convey their own thoughts in writing, as they respond to a wide variety of texts. Texts being covered include, but are not limited to, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee and Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Students will view literature using various means, including podcasts, art interpretations, and essays. In addition, the class will build on and hone students’ command of writing mechanics, including basic grammar, sentence-composing skills, and punctuation.
English I - Freshman Survey
Academic Pathway: College Prep
Term: Year-long course
Credit: 1 full English credit
CP English I invigorates incoming ninth graders’ reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. Students will learn to engage texts energetically, using close-reading skills and actively asking questions of what they have read. They will have ample opportunity to explore, express, and develop their own thoughts in writing, as they respond to a wide variety of texts. Texts being covered include, but are not limited to, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee and Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Students will explore literature using various means, including podcasts, art interpretations, and long writing passages. In addition, the class will build on and hone students’ command of writing mechanics, including basic grammar, sentence-composing skills, and punctuation.
Sophomore
English II - Genre Literature
Academic Pathway: Honors, Advanced College Prep
Term: Year-long course
Credit: 1 full English credit
This course will require students to explore and analyze various fiction and non-fiction literary genres -- including graphic memoirs, narratives, novels, poetry, and informational texts such as journals, news articles, and essays -- representing diverse voices and experiences within and across multiple time periods and cultural contexts. These texts include but are not limited to A Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds and Stitches by David Small. Students will further develop their understanding of literary terms and critical analysis techniques through class discussions, note-taking, annotating, short constructed responses, independent book studies, and a research paper. English II aims to apply proficient writing conventions such as sentence composition, appropriate punctuation, parallelism, and proper usage of the different parts of speech through explicit grammar instruction. The course will reinforce vocabulary development, grammatical awareness, close-reading analysis, essay writing, and independent reading.
English II - Genre Literature
Academic Pathway: College Prep
Term: Year-long course
Credit: 1 full English credit
This course will require students to explore and analyze various fiction and non-fiction literary genres -- including graphic memoirs, narratives, novels, poetry, and informational texts such as journals, news articles, and essays -- representing diverse voices and experiences within and across multiple time periods and cultural contexts. These texts include but are not limited to A Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds and The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. Students will further develop their understanding of literary terms and critical analysis techniques through class discussions, note-taking, annotating, short constructed responses, independent book studies, and an argumentative essay. English II aims to apply proficient writing conventions such as sentence composition, appropriate punctuation, parallelism, and proper usage of the different parts of speech through explicit grammar instruction. The course will reinforce vocabulary development, grammatical awareness, close-reading analysis, essay writing, and independent reading.
Junior
HL IB English: Language & Literature (Year 1)
Academic Pathway: IB
Term: Two-year course
Credit: 2 full English credits
Students will undertake a two-year course to expand and grow their literary analysis and critical thinking skills. Students will analyze works of literature -- both fiction and nonfiction -- as well as non-literary works, such as advertisements, film, and photography. Topics will include Language and Control in Dystopian Literature; The 1950s - New Approaches to Self and Culture; Language and Mass Communication - The Edited Self; and Love and Identity Across Cultures. Texts will include – but are not limited to – Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro, Collected Writings of Martin Luther King Jr., I Was Their American Dream by Malaka Gharib, Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, and the poetry of Pablo Neruda. Throughout the class, students will explore various themes relevant to their own lives and the lives of individuals in other cultures and time periods, all the while honing critical reading, writing, and research skills in preparation for the IB exams.
English III - American Literature
Academic Pathway: Advanced College Prep
Term: Year-long course
Credit: 1 full English credit
ACP Juniors will study authors who will advance their understanding of American culture and history, focusing on drama, poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. They will consider the concept of the American Dream with a critical eye and consider whether the American Dream can become an American Nightmare for some Americans. Among other works, students will read and consider, The Crucible, A Raisin in the Sun, The New Jim Crow, and “The Yellow Wallpaper” as well as shorter works such as the founding documents, nonfiction pieces, and poetry from the Romantic period and the Harlem Renaissance. Students will continue to develop skills in writing researched essays, reflective pieces, and explanatory and narrative essays. They will end their study of American literature by studying the poem from Langston Hughes, “America to Me,” and will create a multi-genre “America to Me” project reflecting on the material studied throughout the year. CP students will often be expected to complete projects and reading assignments independently for homework; CP student projects will also be assessed with a more rigorous rubric. While general students will present a researched persuasive speech, CP students will be required to complete a more fully developed research paper.
English III - American Literature
Academic Pathway: College Prep
Term: Year-long course
Credit: 1 full English credit
CP Juniors will study authors who will advance their understanding of American culture and history, focusing on drama, poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. They will consider the concept of the American Dream with a critical eye and consider whether the American Dream can become an American Nightmare for some Americans. Among other works, students will read and consider, The Great Gatsby, Beneath a Meth Moon, The Crucible, Of Mice and Men, A Raisin in the Sun, and Fences, as well as shorter works such as the founding documents, nonfiction pieces, and poetry from the Romantic period and the Harlem Renaissance. Students will continue to develop skills in writing researched essays, reflective pieces, and explanatory and narrative essays.
Senior
HL IB English: Language & Literature (Year 2)
Academic Pathway: IB
Term: Two-year course
Credit: 2 full English credits
See description above
English IV
Academic Pathway: Advanced College Prep
Term: Year-long course
Credit: 1 full English credit
Students will undertake a two-year course to expand and grow their literary analysis and critical thinking skills. Students will analyze works of literature -- both fiction and nonfiction -- as well as non-literary works, such as comics, films, and filmed interviews. Topics include Language and Mass Communication - The Edited Self; and Love and Identity Across Cultures. Texts will include – but are not limited to –I Was Their American Dream by Malaka Gharib, Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, and the poetry of Pablo Neruda. In a unit dedicated to developing structures for writing, students will produce a five-paragraph literary analysis essay. Throughout the class, students will explore various themes relevant to their own lives and the lives of individuals in other cultures and time periods, all the while honing critical reading, writing, and research skills in preparation for the IB exams.
English IV
Academic Pathway: College Prep
Term: Year-long course
Credit: 1 English credit
English IV is to hone in on the strengths and weaknesses Seniors have to fully prepare them for graduation and entrance into college and the outside world. Students will be further leaning into the skills they have gathered from various years in high school to create overarching reflection and analysis. Students will use close-reading to respond to various texts and points of view. Texts being covered include, but are not limited to, Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, A Streetcar Named Desire by Tenessee Williams, The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, and listening to the podcast SERIAL. Each text is meant to elicit a different response and engage the students in thinking of the plot, author's purpose, word choice, and impact on readers of various creeds and educational statuses. The class will build on command of writing mechanics, including basic grammar, sentence-composing skills, and punctuation.
