Course Descriptions
01001 ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS I (5 Credits)
Grade 9 (G, H) Full Year Course
English I provides an academic atmosphere that expands students’ reading and writing experiences by building a foundation for their high school and post- secondary academic careers. The course will allow students to improve their reading, writing, and communication skills through various effective strategies found in the common instructional framework including accountable talk, collaborative group work, writing to learn, literacy groups, questioning, and scaffolding. Students will encounter various genres of literary and informational texts and several styles of writing, with a particular common core emphasis placed on nonfiction texts as well as evidence-based
writing. Students will also be encouraged and expected to integrate technology into several project-based learning assignments in order to practice solving real world problems. These projects and the course as a whole will allow students to
showcase their communication and critical thinking skills.
01002 ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS II (5 Credits)
Grade 10 (G, H) Full Year Course
English II (10th grade) courses offer a balanced focus on literature and composition. In an effort to ensure students are college and career ready, approximately 65% of the texts read by students are informational; consisting of essays, speeches, articles, advertisements, publications, and primary source documents. Students learn about the alternate aims and audiences of written compositions. Through the study of various genres of literature, students will improve their reading rate, accuracy and comprehension, and develop the skills to determine the author’s intent and theme, and to recognize the techniques used by the author to deliver his or her message.
01003 ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS III (5 Credits)
Prerequisite: ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS II
Grade 11 (G, H) Full Year Course
English III (11th grade) courses continue to develop students' writing skills, emphasizing clear, logical writing patterns, word choice, and usage, as students write essays and begin to learn the techniques of writing research papers. Students continue to read works of literature, which often form the backbone of the writing assignments. Literary conventions and stylistic devices may receive greater emphasis than in previous courses.
01004 ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS IV (5 Credits)
Prerequisite: ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS III
Grade 12 (G, H) Full Year Course
English IV (12th grade) courses blend composition and literature into a cohesive whole as students write critical and comparative analyses of selected literature, continuing to develop and strengthen their skills. Students primarily write multi-paragraph essays and write one or more major research papers.
01005 AP ENGLISH LANGUAGE & COMPOSITION (5 Credits)
Prerequisite: ENGLISH II
Grades 11, 12 (X) Full Year Course
Following the College Board's suggested curriculum designed to parallel college-level English courses, AP English Language and Composition courses expose students to prose written in a variety of periods, disciplines, and rhetorical contexts. These courses emphasize the interaction of authorial purpose, intended audience, and the subject at hand, and through them, students learn to develop stylistic flexibility as they write compositions covering a variety of subjects that are intended for various purposes.
Requirements: B+ Average &/or PARCC Score of 740 or higher
01006 AP ENGLISH LITERATURE & COMPOSITION (5 Credits)
Prerequisite: ENGLISH II
Grades 11, 12 (X) Full Year Course
Following the College Board's suggested curriculum designed to parallel college-level English courses, AP English Literature and Composition courses enable students to develop critical standards for evaluating literature. Students study the language, character, action, and theme in works of recognized literary merit; enrich their understanding of connotation, metaphor, irony, syntax, and tone; and write compositions of their own (including literary analysis, exposition, argument, narrative, and creative writing).
Requirements: B+ Average &/or PARCC Score of 740 or higher
01104 CREATIVE WRITING 2.5 Credits
Prerequisite: ENGLISH I
Grades 10, 11, 12 (G) Semester Course
The Creative Writing course offers students the opportunity to develop and improve their technique and individual style in poetry, short story, drama, essays and other forms of prose. The emphasis of the course is on writing, however, the student may study exemplary representations and authors to obtain a fuller appreciation of form and craft.
01060 SHAKESPEAREAN STUDY (2.5 Credits)
Prerequisite: ENGLISH I
Grades 10, 11, 12 (G) Semester Course
The Shakespearean Study course will provide grade 11 and 12 students with a general, yet concise foundation in the literal aspects and analytical dynamics of Shakespeare’s writings. This class will provide a new approach to studying Shakespeare’s classics by having student’s work on abiding current issues that are addressed through Shakespeare’s plays and novels. The course is designed to provide students with a literature-based knowledge that will have them reading, discussing, debating and drawing conclusions on the various Shakespearean themes. The exposure to the various writings will enable students to use Shakespeare as a spearhead for critical thinking skills.
01065 WOMEN IN LITERATURE (2.5 Credits)
Prerequisite: ENGLISH II
Grades 10, 11, 12 (G) Semester Course
This course introduces the student to representative works by and about women from historical, social, and literary perspectives, and informs students about gendered identities. The student will learn how gender roles develop and change, and how women’s views of themselves are reflected in their writing. The student will read different literary forms, and be able to identify motifs, themes, and stereotypical patterns in that literature. The student will learn historical, philosophical, religious, and cultural information to help increase your understanding and appreciation of the works. By the end of the course, the student should be able to demonstrate knowledge of the texts, the authors and literary and social movements that produced them, and the elements of those texts, such as symbols, themes, and points of view.
01151 PUBLIC SPEAKING (2.5 Credits)
Prerequisite: LANGUAGE ARTS 8
Grades 9, 10, 11, 12 (G) Semester Course
This course enables students, through practice, to develop communication skills that can be used in a variety of speaking situations (such as small and large group discussions, delivery of lectures or speeches in front of audiences, and so on). Course topics may include (but are not limited to) research and organization, writing for verbal delivery, stylistic choices, visual and presentation skills, analysis and critique, and development of self-confidence.
01064 AMERICAN MULTICULTURAL STUDIES (2.5 Credits)
Prerequisite: LANGUAGE ARTS 8
Grades 9, 10, 11, 12 (G) Semester Course
This course has the same aim as general literature courses (to improve students’ language arts and critical-thinking skills), but uses literature by authors who focuses on the complex and diverse cultural and social realities of contemporary American Society. Students will explore multicultural perspectives through various poems, short stories, non-fictional accounts, plays, film, music and videos. Mediums used will be geared towards a common theme: the creation, acceptance, and pursuit of one’s identity. Students will also determine the underlying assumptions and values within the selected works, reflect upon the influence of a common characteristic, and compare the points of view of various authors.
01067 ASSISTED READING 0 Credits
Prerequisite: GRADES 9, 10, 11, 12 (INTERVENTION)
Grades 10, 11, 12 (B) Full Year Course
This course offers students the opportunity to focus on their reading skills. Assistance is targeted to students’ particular weaknesses and is designed to bring students’ reading comprehension to grade level or to develop strategies to read more efficiently.