FRESHMAN ENGLISH CURRICULUM
LITERATURE
The students read novels, plays, short stories, poetry, and nonfiction. I stress comprehension, vocabulary, techniques of reading for main points and for predicting outcomes, and an appreciation for great literature. My goal is for the students to not only become better readers but also for their lives to be enriched by the literature they read in freshman English.
NOVELS
Shane
A Tale of Two Cities
The
The Odyssey
PLAYS
Romeo and Juliet
A Raisin in the Sun
SHORT STORIES
“The Gift of the Magi”
“The Red-headed League”
“The Quiet Man”
“The Birds”
“The Most Dangerous Game”
“The Necklace”
“The Cask of Amontillado”
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”
“The Lady and the Tiger”
POETRY
The students read a variety of poems from our freshman anthology. I also bring in a large selection of Robert Frost’s poetry because it is easy to understand yet has all the
characteristics of great poetry. The students also write poems of various kinds.
NONFICTION
The students read a variety of essays, articles, speeches, and excerpts from autobiographies and biographies in the freshman anthology. They read for information and also to study the style of the various authors in order to improve their writing and speaking skills.
SUPPLEMENTARY
The freshmen will take part in the Accelerated Reader
program. They will be able to choose
books from thousands of titles to read on their own time. After finishing a book, they take a quiz on
the computer. This program has greatly
increased the number of books students read.
Research has shown that reading more books raises reading levels, and I
have found that the program has also greatly increased the love of reading
among my students.
LITERARY TERMS
mood
suspense
foreshadowing
symbol
irony
internal conflict
external conflict
characters
characterization
protagonist
antagonist
point of view (first person, third person, omniscient)
plot
exposition
rising action
climax
falling action
resolution
theme
metaphor
simile
parallelism
personification
GRAMMAR
The students will study the following grammar concepts using the grammar textbook, worksheets, revising paragraphs, diagramming sentences, and writing.
parts of speech (special emphasis on pronouns and verbs)
pronoun/antecedent agreement
sentence construction (phrases and clauses)
parts of a sentence (subjects and predicates, direct objects, indirect objects, predicate nominatives and predicate adjectives)
subject/verb agreement
simple, compound, complex, and compound/complex sentences and how to punctuate them
sentence fragments and run-on sentences
punctuation including end marks, commas, semicolons, hyphens, dashes, and parentheses
LIBRARY ORIENTATION
The freshmen will spend approximately 10 days spread throughout the year in the library with Mrs. Myers. She will familiarize the students with what is available in our media center including what resources are available for research on our computers.
WRITING
The freshmen will write at least five paragraphs a quarter emphasizing a topic sentence, good support, and a concluding sentence. They will also write one 300-400 word essay per quarter. Paragraphs and essays will be chosen from the following: narrative, exposition, persuasion, analysis, description, simple research, tech writing, response to literature, and comparison/contrast. They will also do journal writing and creative writing.
SPEECH
Although we do not focus on formal speeches in freshman
English, the students have many opportunities to speak in front of the class
including presenting projects, reporting on team discussions, reading poetry,
and various communication activities. We
also study the various ways that people communicate such as spoken words, tone
of voice, and nonverbal communication.
We discuss things that influence our perception and stereotyping. We
conclude our study of communication by analyzing the movie 12 Angry Men.