School Administrative District #4

Unity of purpose

CORE CURRICULUM: SCOPE AND SEQUENCE

Department: English Language Arts

CONTENT STANDARD: LANGUAGE STUDY

Language study is understood to include grammar, usage, and the mechanics of writing; as well as the history and sociology of language itself. All students are expected to use the conventions of standard written and spoken English to write and to speak correctly.

 

Performance Indicators: The learner will·

Grade 12

1.        Review and extend prior learning

2.        Eliminate deadwood and redundancy from oral and written communication

3.        Demonstrate an understanding of the importance of word economy in clear communication

4.        Manipulate language to develop style

5.        Demonstrate an understanding that language is fluid and ever-changing

CONTENT STANDARD: ORAL AND VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS

Oral communication includes skills traditionally referred to as speaking and listening. All students are expected to demonstrate the ability to speak and to listen in order to explore ideas; to present lines of thought; to represent and reflect upon human experience; and to communicate feelings, knowledge, and opinions. Visual communication includes critical viewing skills needed to make sense of the information presented in the media. All students are expected to demonstrate the ability to analyze, interpret, and evaluate what they see and hear in the media.

Performance Indicators: The learner will·

Grades 9-12

1.        Review and extend prior learning

2.        Listen and view effectively by overcoming factors that contribute to defective listening and viewing

á        Speed of reception

á         Hasty judgments

á         Physical conditions

á         Psychological factors

á         Experiential background

á         Emotional filters

á         Listening anxiety

3.        Use verbal and non-verbal communication skills to speak effectively in a variety of contexts

á         Memorized

á         Oral interpretation

á         Mock trials

á         Informal debates

á         Multi-media presentation of the results of a research project

4.        Deliver oral presentations that

á         Hold together so that the organization follows from the purpose

á         Exhibit a personal style with a discernible voice and effective wording

á         Reliably support and provide details for explicitly stated generalizations

á         Make effective use of a variety of techniques to provide supporting detail

á         Make effective use of a variety of techniques for introducing and representing ideas and for communicating substantive insights

5.        Demonstrate ever-increasing ease in delivering formal speeches

á         Job interview

á         Round-table discussions

á         Panel discussions

á         Forums

á         Organizational meetings

6.        Evaluate the remarks and oral/visual presentations of others to find the key ideas, and explain the ways these ideas were developed

7.        Demonstrate an understanding of when oral or visual language is being used to persuade and/or coerce and develop strategies for responding appropriately to such language

8.        Demonstrate an understanding that medium and persons making decisions about a particular medium affect the message

CONTENT STANDARD: PROCESS WRITING

Process writing includes those steps through which writers move regardless of audience, purpose, focus, or particular mode of writing. All students are expected to use the skills and strategies of the writing process to explore ideas; to present lines of thought; to represent and reflect on human experience; and to communicate feelings, knowledge, and opinions.

Performance Indicators: The learner will·

Grade 12

1.        Review and extend prior learning

2.        Recognize that language is fluid and that conscious rule-breaking can be effective

3.        Develop a personal style of writing

CONTENT STANDARD: CREATIVE WRITING

Creative writing is expressive and imaginative writing. All students are expected to use the techniques of creative writing to explore ideas; to represent and reflect on human experience; and to communicate feelings.

Performance Indicators: The learner will·

Grade 12

1.        Review and extend prior learning

2.        Write original

á        Fables, myths, folk tales, fairy tales, tall tales, and/or legends

á         Tragedies and/or comedies

á         Humorous and/or dramatic monologues

CONTENT STANDARD: PRACTICAL WRITING

Practical writing is formulaic writing. All students are expected to be able to use writing skills to conduct personal and career-related business .

Performance Indicators: The learner will·

 

Grade 12

1.        Review and extend prior learning

2.        Complete a variety of forms properly

á         College application

3.        Compile a résumé 

CONTENT STANDARD: EXPOSITORY WRITING

Expository writing includes informative and persuasive writing. All students are expected to use the techniques of exposition to explore ideas; to present lines of thought; to represent and reflect on human experience; to communicate feelings, knowledge, and opinions; and to present information gleaned from research.

Performance Indicators: The learner will·

 

Grade 12

1.        Review and extend prior learning

2.        Write essays (and other pieces) that

á         Use transitional paragraphs

3.        Write fully developed, unified, and coherent multi-paragraph essays

á         Classification

á        Persuasion

á        Literary analysis of poetry and prose

á        Cluster (expository writing students only)

á        Dialectical paper (expository writing students only)

4.        Identify and use a variety of news sources (e.g., newspapers, magazines, broadcast and recorded media, artifacts), informants, and other likely sources for research purposes

5.        Write a formal MLA-style research paper that explores a short-story writer's style and common themes as they are evidenced in at least three short stories and that includes

á        An abstract

á        An outline

á        Text with parenthetical notes (a minimum of ten pages)

á        One or more appendices

á        A works-cited page

CONTENT STANDARD: DEVELOPMENTAL (PROCESS) READING

Just as there are stages through which all effective writers pass to one degree or another, there are stages through which all effective readers pass. Developmental reading is characterized by the reader tackling the written language in order to differentiate among letters, words, sentences, and paragraphs. The reader learns decoding skills for recognizing and determining the meaning of unfamiliar words and learns to recognize various text structures and the organization of informational books. All students are expected to use the reading process to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate what they have read.

Performance Indicators: The learner will·

Grade 12

1.        Review and extend prior learning

2.        Recognize examples of various literary terms and use those terms in discussions of literature

á         Antistrophe

á         Burlesque

á         Catharsis

á         Chorus

á         Fable

á         Fairy tale

á         Farce

á         In media res

á         Myth

á         Ode

á         Parable

á         Parody

á         Strophe

3.        Develop a personal system for enriching vocabulary

CONTENT STANDARD: FUNCTIONAL READING

Functional reading is characterized by the reader tackling diverse texts and purposes for reading. The reader learns to use background knowledge to aid comprehension and to apply some general strategies for remembering information. All students are expected to use reading strategies (1) to experience, understand, and appreciate literature and culture and (2) to extract meaning from, recognize assumptions and implications within, and evaluate ideas presented in informational texts.

Performance Indicators: The learner will·

Grade 12

1.        Review and extend prior learning

2.        Read and comprehend a variety of fiction and non-fiction selections in order to

á         Make inferences and judgments from fictional and non-fictional passages from world literature

á         Identify the philosophical assumptions and basic beliefs underlying a particular text

á         Recognize the characteristics of major chronological eras as those eras are reflected in world literature

á         Identify universal themes prevalent in world literature

á         Relate literary works and authors to major themes and issues of their eras

á         Compare and contrast traditional and contemporary works of authors from many cultures

á         Examine literary works from several critical perspectives

á         Examine, evaluate, and elaborate on universal themes in literature, using reading and viewing to explain how themes are developed and achieved

á         Identify complex, implicit structures in informational texts and relationships between the concepts and details in those structures

á         Articulate an author's ideas while remaining open to new insights/perspectives

á         Begin to probe text using his/her own criteria of effectiveness

3.        Apply mature strategies to the reading and interpretation of lengthy adult non- fiction texts with appropriate complexity of content and sophistication of style

4.        Critically evaluate the accuracy and relevance of the printed word before accepting or rejecting it

5.        Apply mature strategies to respond to emotional appeals evidenced in fallacious reasoning

6.        Develop a personal marking system for reading to learn

á        Highlighting

á         Marginal notation

á         Underlining

CONTENT STANDARD: RECREATIONAL READING

Recreational reading is characterized by the reader reading for pleasure or for personal purposes, not for purposes prescribed by a course of study or a career. All students are expected to use reading to fulfill personal and social needs.

Performance Indicators: The learner will·

Kindergarten-Grade 12

1.        Review and extend prior learning

2.        Read for pleasure

3.        Read for personal purposes

4.        Listen as literature is read aloud

5.        Read to others, especially to children

6.        Select, abandon, and re-read texts according to personal needs and interests