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New Utrecht High School

English Department

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NEW UTRECHT HIGH SCHOOL

Svetlana Litvin, Principal

1601 80th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11214
www.newutrechthighschoolnyc.com
  

(718) 232-2500 (VOICE)
(718) 259-5526 (FAX)
ncomo@schools.nyc.gov

Nicholas R. Como
Assistant Principal
English


  
 

2016-2017 English Department Curriculum

MISSION STATEMENT
The English Department here at New Utrecht High School is committed to developing and enhancing our students’ ability to think critically and express themselves effectively.  It is the intention of the English Department to provide all students with opportunities to become better acquainted with a wide range of literary and critical works in all the genres; e.g. poetry, drama, short stories, novels, literary criticism, nonfiction, biography, autobiography, essays, etc.  Students will also be trained in the writing, listening and viewing skills they will need to succeed in high school, college and beyond.  The ultimate goals are to foster in students the ability to independently use their learning to:  1. Comprehend and evaluate complex texts across a range of types and disciplines; 2. Be a critical consumer of text and other media to recognize, understand, and appreciate multiple perspectives and cultures; 3. Produce writing to address task, purpose, perspective, and intended audience; research and gather evidence to create a clear and coherent message; 4. Communicate effectively for varied purposes and audiences; 5. Listen actively to engage in a range of conversations, to analyze and synthesize idea and positions, and to evaluate accuracy in order to learn, reflect, and respond.   

English Language Arts Curriculum-Grades 9-12
(Curriculum Maps for grades 9-12 will follow)

Grade 9-“How do we form and shape our identities?”
The ninth grade course is an overview of excellent literature across the major forms and genres:  short story, novel, poetry, drama, epic poetry, literary nonfiction, etc.  Students will study three to four major works in addition to short stories, poetry and non-fiction essays.  Types of writing produced include:  reading responses, reflective essays, personal narratives, literary analysis essays, informative essays, argumentative essays and creative assignments.  Students will build upon their existing vocabulary by familiarizing themselves with words pulled from the texts they are studying and from PSAT/SAT word lists.  Grammar, punctuation and other related skilled will be practiced in order to improve the written and verbal communications skills of our students.  Freshman honor classes follow the freshman curriculum at an accelerated pace with higher expectations and more required independent reading and writing. 

Grade 10-“Is humankind inherently good or evil?” 
The tenth grade course introduces students to literature from around the world with a focus on the idea that the world can be a dark place—a treacherous, dehumanizing, lawless and unjust place where dystopia prevails, civilization crumbles, apathy reigns and evil exists for its own sake.  Students will study three to four major works in addition to short stories, poetry and non-fiction essays.  Types of writing produced include:  reading responses, reflective essays, personal narratives, literary analysis essays, informative essays, argumentative essays and creative assignments.  Special emphasis will be put on developing effective literary analysis essays and argumentative essays in preparation for the Common Core ELA Regents Examination all sophomores will take in June.  Students will build upon their existing vocabulary by familiarizing themselves with words pulled from the texts they are studying and from PSAT/SAT word lists.  Grammar, punctuation and other related skilled will be practiced in order to improve the written and verbal communications skills of our students.  Sophomore honor classes follow the sophomore curriculum at an accelerated pace with higher expectations and more required independent reading and writing. 

 

Grade 11-How has the concept of the American dream/journey shaped our literature and culture?”
American literature is the focus of the eleventh grade with a theme that explores what it means to be American, the role of literature in shaping the American identity and the power of the American Dream.  Students will study three to four major works in addition to short stories, poetry and non-fiction essays. Types of writing produced include:  reading responses, reflective essays, personal narratives, literary analysis essays, informative essays, argumentative essays and creative assignments.  Students will also be exposed to research skills and develop deeper analytic thinking and writing skills.   Students will build upon their existing vocabulary by familiarizing themselves with words pulled from the texts they are studying and from SAT word lists.  Grammar, punctuation and other related skilled will be practiced in order to improve the written and verbal communications skills of our students.  Junior honor classes follow the junior curriculum at an accelerated pace with higher expectations and more required independent reading and writing. 

Advanced Placement English Language and Composition
     This course engages students in becoming skilled readers of non-fiction essays and texts from a variety of periods, disciplines, and rhetorical contexts, and in beaming skilled writers for a variety of purposes.  Students are prepared for the AP Language and Composition Exam, in which all students enrolled in these classes, will be mandated to take in May.  The writing focus for this class will be on preparing students to successfully write each of the following types of essays:  synthesis essay (sources are used to argue your point of view on a given issue), analytical essay (examines, interprets, and explains the meaning and structure of a prose passage), and an argumentative essay (supports, refutes, or qualifies an opinion expressed in a statement or brief passage).  Students must be recommended for placement in this class.    

Grade 12-“Who am I and who will I become?”       
The focus for twelfth grade will be on helping students develop a better understanding of their true sense of self.  Students will read three to four major works in addition to short stories, poetry, and non-fiction essays.  Students will begin to question their world, their culture and their history in an attempt to better answer the following question, “Who am I?”  Types of writing include:  the college application essay, the research paper, analytical essays, creative essays and argumentative essays.  Students will build upon their existing vocabulary by familiarizing themselves with words pulled from the texts they are studying and from SAT word lists.  Grammar, punctuation and other related skilled will be practiced in order to improve the written and verbal communications skills of our students.  Senior honor classes follow the senior curriculum at an accelerated pace with higher expectations and more required independent reading and writing.

Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition
This course involves close and critical reading of outstanding works of literature from ancient to present times.  Students analyze the writers’ craft and use of language to both better appreciate literature and to prepare for the AP Literature and Composition Exam in which all students enrolled in these classes, will be mandated to take on May.  Students will work on their college application essays and produce a variety of analytical literary essays on poetry, prose fiction and a choice of novel or play they are familiar with.  Students must be recommended for placement in this class.   

 

Activities and Strategies for all English Language Arts Classes:
Reading/Listening Process:

  • Mini lessons on reading comprehension strategies (making predictions, making inferences, visualizing, questioning the author, etc.)
  • Annotating text
  • Note-taking skills (Cornell Notes)
  • Socratic Seminar
  • Jigsaw
  • Guided Reading
  • Explicit Vocabulary Instruction (pre-taught uniform word banks)
  • Four Corners (Frayer model)
  • G.U.M. (grammar, usage and mechanics) taught in context
  • Academic Vocabulary (shift 6)
  • Balancing informational and literary text (shift 1)
  • Staircase of complexity (shift 3)
  • Employing literary terms, with a minimum of 5-10 specific terms assigned each term according to grade level to ensure the scaffolding of skills and knowledge.

Writing/Speaking Process:   (informational, argumentative, personal narrative, research)

  • Evidenced based responses (shift 4,2)
  • Writing from sources (shift 5,2)
  • Essay/paragraph writing
  • Jane Schaffer paragraphs
  • TEAL (topic, evidence, analysis, link)
  • Shared writing templates
  • Shared writing rubrics
  • Shared writing activities
  • Employing grammar devices, with a minimum of 5-10 specific devices assigned each term according to grade level to ensure the scaffolding of skills and knowledge.
  • Jigsaw
  • Socratic Seminar
  • Carefully planned group activities
  • Power point presentations
  • Four corners (Frayer model)
  • Gallery walk
  • Note-taking skills (Cornell Notes)
  • Journal writing
  • Writing for research (citing sources/plagiarism/format/etc.)

Provisions for Multiple Entry Points:

  • Anticipation guides
  • Self-assessments and goal-setting statements
  • Questions/tasks based on “Depth of Knowledge”
  • Graphic organizers for reading and writing tasks
  • Visual aids/multiple media sources
  • Flexible grouping
  • Providing clear expectations/modeling

 

Formative Assessments and Strategies for all English Language Arts Classes:

  • Writing and reading conferencing
  • Exit tickets
  • Turn and talk
  • Stop and jot
  • Fist to five
  • 3-2-1
  • Journal writing
  • Quizzes
  • DOK leveled questions
  • Self-assessment/Peer Assessment
  • Minute papers
  • Rubrics
  • Over the shoulder observations/notes
  • Reject self-report
  • Targeted questioning
  • Standardize the format
  • Tracking, not watching (intentional scanning)
  • Show Me
  • Affirmative Checking
  • Posting learning targets
  • Q and A sessions
  • SOS summary
  • Analyzing frames (templates for students to analyze their work)

Summative Assessments For all English Language Arts Classes: 

  • Unit exams
  • Analytical/informative/argumentative/narrative writing tasks specific to unit of study
  • Presentations
  • Grade Specific Benchmark and Interim Assessments
    • Regents-based (reading comprehension, argumentative essay, text analysis essay)
    • Reading Comprehension (Gates-MacGinitie)
    • SAT/College and Career Readiness

 

             

COMMON CORE ANCHOR STANDARDS FOR READING, WRITING, LISTENING, SPEAKING and LANGUAGE:

Reading

Key Ideas and Details:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.1
Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.2
Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.3
Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.

Craft and Structure:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.4
Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.5
Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.6
Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.7
Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.1
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.8
Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.9
Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.10
Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.

Writing
Text Types and Purposes1:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.1
Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.2
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.3
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details and well-structured event sequences.

Production and Distribution of Writing:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.5
Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.6
Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.
Research to Build and Present Knowledge:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.7
Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.8
Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.9
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Range of Writing:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.10
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.

Speaking and Listening
Comprehension and Collaboration:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.1
Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.2
Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.3
Evaluate a speaker's point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric.
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.4
Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.5
Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information and enhance understanding of presentations.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.6
Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and communicative tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.

Language
Conventions of Standard English:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.L.1
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.L.2
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
Knowledge of Language:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.L.3
Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.

Vocabulary Acquisition and Use:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.L.4
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.L.5
Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.L.6
Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when encountering an unknown term important to comprehension or expression.