Grade 9 Courses

English 1                                                                                                                                           

Suggested Course Preparation: First semester, students will begin with numerous short stories from The Language of Literature published by McDougal Littell, as well as nonfiction articles.  Additional reading will include works such as John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. In the spring, they will also read works such as Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens’s Hard Times; novels are selected by the course teacher and meet district requirements. Second semester, students will continue to develop reading comprehension, writing, listening, and speaking skills. Throughout the year, a strong emphasis is placed on participation in class, discussion and public speaking. There is also an outside reading component for all students.

Course Description:   Students will engage in a variety of activities, including writing, reading comprehension, research, literary response and analysis, and academic vocabulary development. Students will complete formative and summative assessments, such as reading logs, reading comprehension quizzes, and timed and process writing assignments.

Major Projects/Assignments:

Literary analysis essays, projects, and structured classroom discussions

Approximate homework assigned daily:  30 minutes to 1 hour