Parent Corner: ELA Department Instruction
Here’s what your child is learning in English Class this month: English I (with Mr. Domiano and Ms. Pies): Currently, English I scholars are analyzing the choices that writers make in order to develop central ideas. Scholars completed a close read of Poe’s story, “The Tell-Tale Heart” and discussed Poe’s use of time, point of view, punctuation, and repetition in order to develop the central ideas of madness and obsession. We will also analyze how these and additional literary elements are used in various poems to develop similar central ideas. In the New Year we will be delving into romance and tackling the turbulent relationship of Romeo & Juliet. English II (with Mr. Fitta, Mrs. Price, and Mr. Appleby): English II is beginning module II, unit 1 of the NYS Common Core curriculum. This unit focuses on Human Rights through various non-fiction texts. We are starting with Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” This will be followed by “A Genetics of Justice” by Julia Alvarez. This unit helps prepare students for Part II of the ELA Regents exam. English III (with Mrs. Conroy, Ms. Beasley, Mr. Morris, and Ms. Schiano): The English III scholars just finished reading Hamlet and are now preparing for their Regents exam in January. Next quarter, we will be reading “The Souls of Black Folk” by W.E.B. DuBois, “Atlanta Compromise” by Booker T. Washington, and “An Address by Elizabeth Cady Stanton.” English IV (with Mr. Avino and Mr. Meade): English IV students are currently wrapping up NYS ELA Module 2 with a formal source-based argument paper using evidence/analysis from Benazir Bhutto’s speech, “Ideas Live On” and Henry David Thoreau’s, “On Civil Disobedience.” In the coming weeks the students will be focusing on preparation for ELA CC Regents examination focusing on multiple choice strategies and argument development. Pre-AP (with Ms. Collins): Pre-AP is reading Poe right now and then will be starting the novel Copper Sun by Sharon Draper. AP Literature (with Mr. Morris): AP Lit is delving into the glory that is William Shakespeare. Our study of Richard III is allowing us to explore the depth and richness of a “subtle, false and treacherous” character as we attempt to discover how Shakespeare still speaks to us as learners today. AP Language is exploring the concept of being a scholar as related to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “The American Scholar” address. If we want to be called ‘scholars” we should understand the role of education and intellectual thought in our school. Emerson challenges us not to be the parrot of others’ thinking and we are addressing that challenge in class to become better engaged learners. Journalism (with Mrs. Conroy): Journalism scholars are continuing to hone their skills as independent writers and thinkers. They are working to gather news and construct effective, meaningful stories for the student body. They are also learning about bias in the media and how to become more savvy navigators of all the information they encounter through the news media.
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