English
TEACHERS:
Kyle McGilligan-Bentin - English 9-12, AP Literature
William Harvill - English 9-12
English Authors - An inside look into some of the most prolific writers of the last 100 years. Students read a variety of authors ranging from George Orwell to Langston Hughes. Students then explore themes, issues, literary styles, writing techniques and also get an in depth look into recognizing and analyzing various literary elements. A discussion based course, English Authors teaches students how to properly respond to literature through oral and written expression. Chinua Achebe, J.D. Salinger, and F. Scott Fitzgerald are also covered. No prerequisites are required.
Thinking and Writing about Literature - A survey course where students are introduced to the basic elements of literature and writing. The course focuses on responding to literature, writing literature responses, and basic writing skills. Students will read three novels, write three term papers, and do two presentations over the course of the semester. Lord of the Flies, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and various short stories are used to teach the six traits of writing and rudimentary grammar skills. Students will begin to build the foundation for further study in literary theory and advanced writing techniques. No prerequisites required.
Journalism - Students explore different aspects of journalistic writing and get a chance to be published in the student newspaper. A writing emphasis class, students will be required to learn the intricacies of writing for a working school newspaper. Focus is put on following journalistic patterns, writing strong leads, and finding interesting and compelling topics. Students will use social justice themes as starting points for issues and articles. No prerequisites required.
Senior Literature - An in-depth look into literary theory, literary elements, and literary style. Students will read five college-level novels, discussing and writing about each one and focusing on the aspects that they will need to be successful in college. both a reading and writing intensive course, Senior Literature is meant for juniors and seniors only who have completed Reading 180 and at least one other English credit. Books of study include: On The Road (Kerouac), The Sun Also Rises (Hemingway), Brave New World (Huxley), The Divine Comedy (Alighieri), and Anna Karenina (Tolstoy). Students will be required to write five essays and complete a midterm and a final.
Modern English Grammar - Building the foundation for good writing starts with learning grammar. A semester long, one credit class, Modern English Grammar studies all aspects related to becoming a better grammarian. focus will be put on learning grammar through writing, sentence dissection, treeing parsing, and editing. No prerequisites required.
READ 180 - Read 180 is a reading intervention class for students reading well-below grade level. This class is taught in a 90 or 120 minute block. Students practice research supported reading strategies in large group. They then rotate through 3 stations is small groups. The stations include 20-30 minutes of silent reading time, 20-30 minutes of interaction with a reading software, and 20-30 minutes of small group instruction.
Writing Portfolio - In this class students develop a portfolio of writing assignments written for a variety of purposes. Students will complete a narrative, expository, persuasive, descriptive, and many other essays. Students will then choose their best pieces to revise and edit until all essays are proficient. In this class we utilize a revision tool entitled MyAccess. It is an on-line writing tutor which gives students timely feedback and motivates them to revise their papers. This class is a pass/ fail class. Students must turn in each essay in order to pass the first 9 week grade. Students must revise 5 of these essays to score a 6 on a 6 point rubric to pass the 2nd 9 week grade of the course. Students must pass timed writing test to pass the final exam.