Radnor High School English 0112

9th Grade College Preparatory English: Genre Approach

I. Course DescriptionThis course, designed to be a transition between middle school reading and language arts and the more challenging English classes at Radnor High School, involves the study of literature, writing, vocabulary, and communication skills. Students establish good study skills and appropriate learning behavior. Through the genre approach to literature, students read short stories, novels, drama and poetry, emphasizing the distinct elements of each and the analysis of that literature. Additionally, this course helps students develop research and speaking/listening skills.

II. Resources The textbook is an anthology entitled Adventures in Reading (Pegasus edition). Summer Reading: The students read different works, but each tells a sort of story. Include:

o Non-fiction: The Hot Zone or How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Comingo Fiction: Pride and Prejudice, Matched, The Fault in Our Stars, The Secret Life of Bees, or The Natural

Short Stories: The most American of genres, short fiction provides our entry to the year. We’ll read most if not all of these, working to understand, discuss, connect, and compare them:

o “A Summer’s Reading,” by Bernard Malamudo “The Most Dangerous Game,” by Richard Connello “The Lady or the Tiger?” by Frank Stocktono “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jacksono “Split Cherry Tree,” by Jesse Stuarto “The Necklace,” by Guy de Maupassanto “The Disappearance,” by Chitra Banerjee Divakarunio “Survivor Type,” by Stephen Kingo “Harrison Bergeron,” by Kurt Vonneguto “Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe o Time permitting, the students may be able to exercise some choice about one outside-reading story

as well. Novels: We read a variety of works that differ in complexity and theme, looking at the story that unravels,

considering how the book’s effects develop, and analyzing what literature can say about human nature.o Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbecko Great Expectations or A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens (the class text is the abridged version

found in the text book; students may opt for the full novel – which the Honors class reads – or the adapted version)

o Ellen Foster, by Kaye Gibbons Drama: We read William Shakespeare’s classic Romeo and Juliet.

o Supplemental resources include a movie version, of which we will watch at least some, and, if needed, a modern-language version, which can be helpful for students as they try to become used to the English language as it was written in the 1590s.

The anthology provides many good poems, which will be studied in a comprehensive unit. o Epic poetry: The Odyssey, by Homero Other forms of poetry, both old and modern

Vocabulary-building is an essential component of any language-based course; the class will study vocabulary

entirely from literary context.o Vocabulary lists will be posted on the website

Class website on Schoolwires (go to schoolwires.radnortsd.com/radnorhs, or start at www.rtsd.org and follow the links to Radnor HS; then find Mr. Spear under the “Teacher Web Pages” tab and select this class). Homework, essay assignments, vocabulary lists, and more will be posted there.

A valuable resource we will try to use often is the Literacy Coach, who will work with Mr. Spear in developing lessons and also visit the class to work with the students in person. The Literacy Coach, Dr. Swinehart, is a great resource available to RHS students of every grade, in every course.

We will also be working with the Writing Center, which is located in the back-right corner of the RHS Library/Media Center. The Writing Center teachers are resources who can help individual students on specific or general writing tasks; any RHS student can make an appointment to see the Writing Center teacher, and all are encouraged to do so.

The Library/Media Center cooperates with the English department in helping students find and make use of the vast supply of materials available in the LMC. We will do a library orientation during the first semester.

The course is designed so as to make frequent glances over into the Western Civilization curriculum that all 9th

graders follow in their social studies classes. Our work on background material and research/documentation skills will help the students do better in their Western Civ classes as well as English!

A final resource we will rely on in developing ourselves into effective scholars is the Academic Honor Code. While it is important to do well in school, it is more important to be true to yourself, your parents, and your school.

III. Goals & Objectives: Each Student Will… improve his or her abilities and self-confidence (because the basis of real self-confidence is ability of which to

be confident) improve writing skills, in the narrative/descriptive and persuasive and analytical/expository modes gain familiarity with the major literary genres, toward understanding the nature and essential components of

each, along with some important examples from each understand major works of literature that have made profound statements on humanity and society improve reading comprehension skills expand both a functional vocabulary and an understanding of word forms and structures, so as to facilitate

further language development at a greater pace improve command of research and documentation skills, to be able to progress toward the expectations

expected for accountability with college-level academic work; this includes being introduced to MLA format and citations

experience public speaking in a variety of modes (e.g., discourse, presentation) and refine skills in all these modes

develop study and test-taking skills and work habits that will provide a strong basis for future study and work understand how to use the myriad resources available in this building become a more self-directed learner who is more knowledgeable about himself or herself as a learner (a.k.a.,

develop maturity and metacognitive abilities) have fun learning

IV. Course Topics (Summary Outline of Units and Skills)READING COMPREHENSION AND LITERARY THEME The short stories cover the following areas of literature:

o conflict, suspense, foreshadowing, plot, irony, dramatic ironyo direct and indirect characterization, static and dynamic characters, complex characterization, flat

and round characterso point of view, figurative language (metaphor, simile, personification, symbol, etc.), point-of-view

(3rd person omniscient, 3rd person limited, 1st person), dialect, diction, setting, and allusiono theme

WRITING The emphasis in freshman year is on creative writing more than it is in other years at Radnor HS. There is

additional focus on the personal essay and the literary essay. Analytical and persuasive writing – especially, the structure of an essay and construction of support in an essay

– are introduced and practiced.o We build on the essay formats (and terminology) introduced in middle school, including the idea

of a thesis statement, introductory paragraph, the elements of a good body paragraph, transitions, and concluding paragraph

The central common assessment across all RHS English courses revolves around the research paper. During the 9th grade year, the students learn, practice, and refine the integration of evidence – specifically but not exclusively, quotations – into a written argument. (10th grade: the controlled research paper; 11th and 12th grades: the independent research paper.)

o MLA (Modern Language Association) documentation is introduced and experienced. Completion of the baseline common assessment (described above) involves not only the selection and integration of quotations for use in paragraphs, but also the correct citation of those quoted passages. We will consider what plagiarism means – and what it doesn’t mean – so we can effectively avoid it, and work in an upright way.

VOCABULARY pre-learning vocabulary that will be useful in the upcoming texts

o There will be a vocabulary list, review, and quiz (almost) every month.o This class will be participating with Mrs. Swinehart in selecting some of the “Word of the Week”

words for all of RHS! techniques and practices on determining words from context

o “Gimmicks” (sometimes thought of as a negative word, but we know better!) can help students remember new vocabulary.

o Etymology, the study of the origins of words or parts of words to see how they have arrived at their current meaning

STUDY & TEST-TAKING SKILLS Attention is given to study techniques (including maintaining and using a notebook) and test-taking skills.

V. Assignments & GradingGrading Scale used is the RHS standard scale. The assessments in this course are generally not graded on a “curve” (that is, there is no limit to how many students can earn an “A” on a given assessment…and, conversely, there is no guarantee that any student will earn an “A” on a given assessment).

It is often an option to re-write an essay. The re-write will be averaged with the initial grade if the new grade is higher (if the grade somehow goes down, the re-write/re-take won’t count, but the student should expect to conference with Mr. Spear to rewrite and improve the original product).

Cheating as defined in the Academic Honor Code (including plagiarism, cheating, etc.) is never acceptable. If a student is concerned about a text or assessment, he or she is STRONGLY encouraged to come see Mr. Spear for help or advice, which will ALWAYS be given. Choosing to cheat or plagiarize may seem like a solution, but it is always a bad choice – and will have a very negative consequence, grade-wise. Please seek support and help from Mr. Spear and work with him and/or available resources like the Literacy Coach or Writing Center.

Writing assignments include: Creative/narrative pieces

o short creative pieces that build off of our texts (e.g., continuation of “The Lady or the Tiger?”): these rely on creativity but also demand that the students apply comprehension and synthesis

o “My Odyssey” (personal experience, applied in a creative way into a certain historically-significant form); other optional poetry

o descriptive writingo short reflections/reactions (some of the Type 1 writing exercises, as noted below)

literary analysis – use of textual support is always expected!o relatively formal, multi-draft “process” essays: in-school and at-home work, over a period of timeo in-class essays, including essay questions on quizzes and testso synthesis/comparison of two or more texts

personal essayso reader-response and other journal writingo reflective journals, which are less casualo [see “My Odyssey”, above]

small casual pieceso We expect to do at least a few minutes of writing every day in class or at home. Some of these

are simple prompt-responses (sometimes called “Do-Nows” or “Type 1 Writing”).

Tests and quizzes include: vocabulary quizzes, approximately one per month

o We will always review vocabulary lists in class comprehension/reading quizzes (sometimes these will be unannounced to check completion of readings

assigned for homework). midterm and final exams unit exams may be given; projects and/or essays may replace unit exams for many units

Projects and performances include: in-class role-play for the trial of George (from Of Mice and Men) graphics-based projects (e.g., Ellen Foster’s Odyssey) background research and presentation (group or individual, such as: Victorian Era research presentation,

1930s/Depression research/poster) in-class reading and limited performance of Romeo and Juliet Poetry Project

Classwork grades will include occasional notebook checks; homework assignments will mostly be what is listed above (writing, projects, studying, etc.) and reading, but an occasional miscellaneous homework assignment may pop up here and there.