This course is designed to introduce students to a variety of classic and contemporary literature appropriate for adolescents. With literature as the driving force, the course will include grammar, spelling, vocabulary, and writing, instructed in an inter-disciplinary manner. Listening skills, reading skills and strategies, as well as public speaking skills will also be integrated into the curriculum.
Objectives:
A. The students will learn English language skills so that they may use language to learn.
B. The students will use language to communicate effectively in various domains.
C. The students will use appropriate conventions and forms of language.
D. The students will increase their appreciation of language and literature.
E. The students will expand their abilities to write effectively.
TEXTBOOK: Language of Literature, McDougal Littell, PRICE $57.18, books are signed out to students and must be returned in equal condition. Book Card # , signed by student, must match Book # when returned.
SUPPLIES NEEDED FOR CLASS AND IN CLASS DAILY:
2 pencils
2 pens (no RED!)
Highlighters
Loose leaf paper (no torn paper from spiral notebooks accepted
Sturdy two pocket folder
One file folder for student portfolio
RULES: RIGHTS, RESPECT, RESPONSIBILITY
Be here on time, prepared, ready to participate in your learning process.
Be alert, attentive, and active in your learning process.
Be respectful, responsible, and recognize your rights and the rights of others.
Unit One INSIGHTS
Part One: RELATIONSHIPS
Genre focus: FICTION
Selections:
Checkouts, by Cynthia Rylant, Short Story, p.22
Raymond's Run, Toni Cade Bambera, Short Story, p. 32
Stop the Sun, Gary Paulsen, Short Story, p. 48
from Dear America, Collected by George Robinson, letters, p. 55
A Mother in Mannville, by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Short Story, p. 59
The Ransom of Read Chief (performance video)
Born Worker, by Gary Soto, Short Story, p. 84
Reading and Writing Skills Reading for Information/Outlining Building Vocabulary/Idioms and Slang Writing Workshop: Response to Literature
Part Two Making Discoveries Genre Focus: NON FICTION Selections:
The Great Rat Hunt, by Laurence Yap, Memoir, p. 106
Flying, by Reeve Lindbergh, Memoir, p. 118
Diary Entry, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Memoir, p. 126
High Tide in Tucson, by Barbara Kingsolver, Essay, p. 134
The King of Mazy May (performance video)
The Story of an Eyewitness, by Jack London, Informative Nonfiction, p. 159
Reading and Writing Skills Reading for Information/Drawing Conclusions Building Vocabulary/Specialized Vocabulary Writing Workshop: Personal and Reflective Writing
Unit Two: RISING TO THE CHALLENGE Part One SHOWING DETERMINATION Genre Focus: POETRY Selections:
Mother to Son, Langston Hughes, Poetry, p. 192
Speech to the Young,by Gwendolyn Brooks, Poetry, p. 192
The Charge of the Light Brigade, Poetry,by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, p. 197
What is Success? Poetry, by Ralph Waldo Emerson, p. 207
Simile: Willow and Ginkgo, Poetry, by Eve Merriam, p. 215
A Loaf of Poetry, Poetry, by Naoshi Koriyama, p. 215
the lesson of the moth, by Don Marquis, p, 250
Reading and Writing Skills Reading for Information/Text Organizers Building Vocabulary/Figurative Language Writing Workshop/Poems
Part Two TAKING CHANCES Genre Focus: DRAMA/POETRY Selections:
The Million Pound Bank Note, by Mark Twain, Radio Play, p. 263
We Alone, POetry, by Alice Walker, p. 279
The Bet, Short Story, by Anton Chekhov, p. 285
I Stepped from Plank to Plank, Poetry, by Emily Dickinson, p. 296
from Something to Declare, by Julia Alvarez, Memoir, p. 302
Reading and Writing Skills Reading for Information/Summarizing Building Vocabulary/Context Clues Writing Workshop/Character Sketch
Unit Three THE HUMAN SPIRIT Part One MOMENTS THAT MATTER Literary Focus: CHARACTER AND SETTING Selections:
The Treasure of Lemon Brown, by Walter Dean Meyers, Short Story, p. 334
Rules of the Game, by Amy Tan, Short Story, p. 348
Fear, by Gabriela Mistral, Poetry, p. 367
Identity, by Julio Noboa, Poetry, p. 367
Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening, Poetry, Robert Frost, p. 390
The Moustache, by Robert Cormier, Short Story, p. 395
Old Age Sticks, by e e cummings, Poetry, p. 403
Legacies, by Nikki Giovanni, Poetry, p. 417
The Drum, by Nikki Giovanni, Poetry, p. 417
Choices, by Nikkii Giovanni, Poetry, p. 417
A Journey, by Nikki Giovanni, Poetry, p. 422
Knoxville, Tennessee, by Nikki Giovanni, Poetry, p. 422
Reading and Writing Skills Reading for Information/Using Graphics, Forming, Revising, Raising New Questions Building Vocabulary/Affixes Writing Workshop/Informative Exposition
Unit Four STRANGE GOINGS ON Genre Focus: SCIENCE FICTION Part One TWISTS AND TURNS Selections:
Rain, Rain, Go Away, by Isaac Asimov. Short Story, p. 554
The Dinner Party, by Mona Gardner, p. 565
A Running Brook of Horror, by Daniel Mannix, Nonfiction, p. 574
Southbound on the Freeway, by May Swenson, Poetry, p. 587
who knows if the moon's, by e e cummings, Poetry, p. 587
The Lady or the Tiger, Frank R. Stockton, Short Story, p. 592
The Choice, by Dorothy Parker, Poetry, p. 600
Future Tense, by Robert Lipsyte, Short Story, p. 605
Reading and Writing Skills Reading for Information/Following complex directions Building Vocabulary/Synonyms, Antonyms, Homonyms Writing Workshop/Eyewitness Reports, Observation, Description
Part Two TALES TOLD IN THE DARK Literary Focus: Mood and Tone Selections:
The Tell Tale Heart, by Edgar Allan Poe, short story, p. 624
The Ballad of the Harp Weaver, By Edna St, Vincent Millay, Poetry, p. 647
The Hitchhiker, by Lucille Fletcher, Radio Play, p. 654
The Third Wish, by Joan Aiken, Short Story, p. 672
The Monkey's Paw, by W.W. Jacobs, Short Story, p. 680
Reading and Writing Skills Reading for Information/Newspaper Feature Story Building Vocabulary/Connotation/Denotation Writing Workshop/Responding to Literature (Analysis)
Unit Five AMERICAN VOICES Part One BUILDING A NATION Literary Focus: Reading History Through Literature Selections
Paul Revere's Ride, by Henry Worsworth Longfellow, Narrative Poetry, p. 716
The Flower Fed Buffalo, by Vachel Lindsay, Poetry, p. 729
The Other Pioneers, by Roberto Felix Salazar, Poetry, p. 751
Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad, by Anne Petry, Biography, p. 769
Lincoln: A Photobiography, by Russell Freedman, Biography, p. 769
O Captain! My Captain!, by Walt Whitman, Poetry, p. 779
Civil War Journal, by Louisa May Alcott, Journal Entries, p. 784
The Diary of Anne Frank (play), by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, Drama, p. 447
Reading and Writing Skills Reading for Information/Taking Notes, Paraphrasing Building Vocabulary/Word Origins Writing Workshop/Research Report, Paraphrasing Quotations
Part Two REMEMBERING HERITAGE Literary Focus: Theme Selections
Block Party, Jewell Parker Rhodes, Memoir, p. 830
Who's on First? Unknown, Humor, p. 870
I Was Dreaming of Coming to America, Ellis Island Oral History Project, Memoir, p. 885
Reading and Writing Skills Reading for Information/Making Generalizations Building Vocabulary/Multiple Meanings Writing Workshop/Persuasive Writing
Unit Six TALES FROM THE AMERICAS Storytelling Past and Present Selections
Strawberries, retold by Gayle Ross, Cherokee myth, p. 908
Aunty Misery, retold by Judith Ortiz Cofer, Puerto Rican Folktale, p. 912
Paul Bunyan, retold by Adrien Stoutenberf, United States Folktale, p. 934
The Souls in Purgatory, retold by Guadalupe Baca-Vaughn, Mexican Folktale, p. 938
The Woman in the Snow, retold by Patricia McKissack, Urban Legend, p. 944
The Girl in the Lavender Dress, told by Maureen Scott, Urban Legend, p. 951
John Henry, Traditional, United States Folk Ballad, p. 956
Pecos Bill, retold by Mary Pope Osborne, Southwestern Tall Tale, p. 959
NOVEL: NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH, by AVI
Mrs. Giraldo's Website Tequesta Trace Middle School