English

A literature rich curriculum including: classic short stories, excerpts of The Odyssey and longer works may include: Romeo and Juliet, Fallen Angels, First They Killed My Father, The Joy Luck Club, and The Fault in Our Stars supplemented with thematically related poems, newspaper articles, magazine articles, and related materials. This course will require students to employ reading comprehension skills, critical thinking skills, and to develop the ability to closely and attentively read texts in a way to help them understand and enjoy complex works of literature. Students will be challenged to make connections, analyze complex text, and support responses with text support. Students will compose written responses of varied lengths and complexities in response to readings that require analytical thought. Students will develop cogent reasoning and evidence collection skills, organization, the use of proper mechanics, usage and grammar (all of the proper conventions of the English language). The goal of the course is to help prepare students to be successful on both the New York State Regents exam for graduation and to be literate people prepared for success in college, career and life.
 

A challenging, literature rich curriculum that also includes challenging written assignments. The literature selections include classic short stories, excerpts from The Odyssey, Romeo and Juliet, Wuthering Heights, A Tale of Two Cities, Catcher in the Rye, and I am Malala. Additionally, various thematically related poems, selected myths, newspaper articles, magazine articles, and other related materials are included in the course work. This course will require students to employ reading comprehension skills, critical thinking skills, and to develop the ability to closely and attentively read texts in a way to help them understand and enjoy complex works of literature. Students will be challenged to make connections, analyze complex text, and support responses with text support. Students will compose written responses of varied lengths and complexities in responses to readings that require analytical thought . Students will develop cogent reasoning and evidence collection skills, organization, the use of proper mechanics, usage and grammar (all of the proper conventions of the English language). The goal of the course is to help prepare students to be successful on the New York State English Regents for graduation and to be literate people prepared for success in college, career and life. This course is writing intensive and tests are longer and more involved. Assignments are lengthier and require more time and effort. Homework expectations are heavier. Students who enroll in the course should expect a heavier workload and to be able to work more independently. This is an honors course.
 

This literature-based curriculum is designed to prepare students to be college and career ready through thorough reading and responding to both fiction and non-fiction selections. Special preparation for the reading and writing skills students will need for the Common Core English Regents examination, taken at the end of 11th grade, will be completed. Students will refine close reading and annotation skills, textual analysis that develops a central idea supported with textual evidence, writing from sources to make a well-supported argument, and improve higher order thinking. A review of grammar and vocabulary development, as well as 21st century skills and media literacy are also included in this course. Reading assignments are selected from the following: Frankenstein, Othello, The Glass Castle, Born a Crime, Long Way Down, Life of Pi; along with various short stories, poetry, and non-fiction articles.
 

This course is designed to prepare students for eleventh and twelfth-grade AP English exams. Additional preparation for the Common Core English Regents Examination will also be included. A major focus is placed on literary analysis, which will look through the lenses of structure and style, rhetorical devices, diction, figurative language, imagery, symbolism, tone, and theme. Writing well and with an eye for analysis is a cornerstone of this class. Vocabulary development and a review of grammar will be included. The course will explore challenging, high-quality literature - both fiction and non-fiction - with assessments and writing tasks that are parallel to the Regents and AP exams. Critical thinking skills are further developed through discussion, literary analysis, poetic analysis, and prose analysis. Close reading and annotation skills are refined through reading of major works that are drawn from a selection of World, British, and American literature, including, but not limited to: Frankenstein, Oedipus Rex, Hamlet, Pride and Prejudice, Life of Pi, The Poet X, Long Way Down, and Born a Crime. Additional readings include: various short stories, poetry, and non-fiction texts that examine the social, historical, and literary backgrounds of the major works.
 

English 11 Regents is a challenging literature based course that focuses on critical reading and analytical skills, discussion, and in depth and complex writing skills necessary for assessment on the NYS English Regents, MVCC dual credit in 12th grade, as well as, college and career readiness. In preparation for the English Regents assessment which students will take this year, students are offered a reading and writing program that features close reading, textual analysis and interpretation, argumentative and analytical essays, intensive vocabulary building, and grammar review. This course builds on the progress made in 9th and 10th grade in particular with regard to close reading and analysis. The course also addresses skills that are assessed on college bound testing assessment such as SAT and ACT exams and the NYS Next Generation Standards. Longer works may include: The Crucible, Animal Farm, To Kill a Mockingbird, Dead Poets Society, The Great Gatsby, Tuesdays with Morrie, Fahrenheit 451, Lord of the Flies, Of Mice and Men and other selected short stories, poetry, speeches and nonfiction selections. The study of those selections also includes expository texts that examine the historical and literary background of the works as well as rhetorical devices and strategies found in fiction and non-fiction.