English I: Mixed Genres
English I (grades 9 & 10) is designed for High School students who have not yet participated in North Fork School classes. It is a "jump start" into our process, incorporating elements of NFS 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Year curricula, and introducing development of essay forms. English I starts with paragraphs using citations (descriptive, evaluative, interpretive, opinion), and timed essays (using citations, as in short exam essays, and SAT timed essays without revision), and leads into a gradual knowledge of clear, focused, essay-writing skills. Students must complete at least 36 revisions and 12 peer edits each Quarter.
Novels in English I (Mixed Genres) include: The Outsiders, The Awakening, The Alchemist, and Fahrenheit 451 or Wuthering Heights. Short Stories are taken from two anthologies: Perrine’s Story and Structure, and Wayside Publishing’s Little Worlds. Students also interpret various American historical documents and speeches such as The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution of the United States, and The Gettysburg Address.
Typical English I students will complete 31 pieces, each comprising 5-10 drafts, for a total of 155-310 pieces of writing, just in English class, during the school year.
Required written pieces include:
1st Person Narratives
Fiction piece
Five timed essays, some SAT format, and some using quotations from a text or a poem (short exam essays)
Six different analytical paragraphs using quotes from a text (short stories and novels)
Three five-paragraph essays on:
The Outsiders & Nothing Gold Can Stay (essay citing a novel and a poem)
The Declaration of Independence & The Constitution of the United States (essay citing two non-fiction documents) OR
The Gettysburg Address (essay citing only one 250 word speech)
Fahrenheit 451 and a selection of short stories (essay citing a novel and two short stories)
An Independent Research (I-SEARCH) project on a topic of personal significance to their lives, which includes:
selecting valid sources, both from print media and from the internet
interview techniques to use as they pursue their search for information from primary and expert sources
cover, citation, and bibliography pages
weekly progress reports and updates as the project unfolds
a public presentation of their report/findings
Pink poetry: figurative language >>> four free verse poems, including:
a poem of feeling, painting pictures with words, general to specific, and the right words, as well as work on onomatopoeia, alliteration, similes & metaphors, homophones
Green poetry: figurative language, rhythm, rhyme, meter >>> six metered poems, including: Haiku, Tanka, Tercets, Quatrains, Cinquain, Limericks
Blue poetry: uniting meter with free verse or other verse structures >>> five metered poems, including: Interpreting poetry; two nature poems; Ballad; Narrative
A personal SKILLS LIST, which contains 40-65 stylistic and grammatical writing skills by the end of the 3rd Year
See both:
Middle School Curriculum Map
High School Curriculum Map
to understand how our programs work together.
