Warwick School District

Course Description

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English 300 focuses on organizing the three modes of writing--persuasive, informative, and narrative--and on understanding how grammatical instruction can improve both the conventions and style of writing. This course includes literature-based units that enhance thinking skills through intentional interaction between reader and text. Additionally, the course includes vocabulary development as it relates to literature and writing. Instructors help students improve writing by reading and analyzing author's craft in both fiction and nonfiction literary works. English 300 is aligned to the Pennsylvania Common Core Standards, the Keystone Exam anchors, and the Pennsylvania English Language Development Standards.

Core Curriculum Content Standards

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PA Common Core: English Language Arts (2013)

• Reading Informational Text: Students read, understand, and respond to informational text – with emphasis on comprehension, making connections among ideas and between texts with focus on textual evidence.

• GRADES 9-10

• Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.(1.2.9-10.A)
• Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences and conclusions based on an author’s explicit assumptions and beliefs about a subject.(1.2.9-10.B)
• Apply appropriate strategies to analyze, interpret, and evaluate how an author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events, including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and developed, and the connections that are drawn between them.(1.2.9-10.C)
• Determine an author’s particular point of view and analyze how rhetoric advances the point of view.(1.2.9-10.D)
• Analyze in detail how an author’s ideas or claims are developed and refined by particular sentences, paragraphs, or larger portions of a text.(1.2.9-10.E)
• Analyze how words and phrases shape meaning and tone in texts.(1.2.9-10.F)
• Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums (e.g., a person’s life story in both print and multimedia), determining which details are emphasized in each account.(1.2.9-10.G)
• Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing the validity of reasoning and relevance of evidence.(1.2.9-10.H)
• Analyze seminal U.S. documents of historical and literary significance, including how they address related themes and concepts.(1.2.9-10.I)
• Acquire and use accurately general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.(1.2.9-10.J)
• Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade level reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies and tools.(1.2.9-10.K)
• Read and comprehend literary non-fiction and informational text on grade level, reading independently and proficiently.(1.2.9-10.L)

• Reading Literature: Students read and respond to works of literature - with emphasis on comprehension, making connections among ideas and between texts with focus on textual evidence.

• GRADES 9-10

• Analyze how complex characters develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.(1.3.9-10.A)
• Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.(1.3.9-10.B)
• Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences and conclusions based on an author’s explicit assumptions and beliefs about a subject.(1.3.9-10.C)
• Determine an author’s particular point of view and analyze how rhetoric advances the point of view.(1.3.9-10.D)
• Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it and manipulate time create an effect.(1.3.9-10.E)
• Analyze how words and phrases shape meaning and tone in texts.(1.3.9-10.F)
• Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment.(1.3.9-10.G)
• Analyze how an author draws on and transforms themes, topics, character types, and/or other text elements from source material in a specific work.(1.3.9-10.H)
• Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 9-10 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies and tools.(1.3.9-10.I)
• Read and comprehend literary fiction on grade level, reading independently and proficiently.(1.3.9-10.K)

• Writing: Students write for different purposes and audiences. Students write clear and focused text to convey a well-defined perspective and appropriate content.

• GRADES 9-10

• Write informative/ explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately.(1.4.9-10.A)
• Write with a sharp distinct focus identifying topic, task, and audience.(1.4.9-10.B)
• Develop and analyze the topic with relevant, well-chosen, and sufficient facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic; include graphics and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.(1.4.9-10.C)
• Organize ideas, concepts, and information to make important connections and distinctions; use appropriate and varied transitions to link the major sections of the text; include formatting when useful to aiding comprehension; provide a concluding statement or section.(1.4.9-10.D)
• Demonstrate a grade appropriate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and spelling.(1.4.9-10.E)
• Write with an awareness of the stylistic aspects of composition.-Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to manage the complexity of the topic.-Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms of the discipline in which they are writing.-Establish and maintain a formal style.(1.4.9-10.F)
• Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics.(1.4.9-10.G)
• Write with a sharp distinct focus identifying topic, task, and audience.-Introduce the precise claim.(1.4.9-10.H)
• Distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims; develop claim(s) fairly, supplying evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both in a manner that anticipates the audience’s knowledge level and concerns.(1.4.9-10.I)
• Create organization that establishes clear relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence; Use words, phrases, and clauses to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships between claim(s) and reasons, between reasons and evidence, and between claim(s) and counterclaims; provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented.(1.4.9-10.J)
• Write with an awareness of the stylistic aspects of composition.-Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to manage the complexity of the topic.-Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms of the discipline in which they are writing.-Establish and maintain a formal style.(1.4.9-10.K)
• Demonstrate a grade appropriate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and spelling.(1.4.9-10.L)
• Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research, applying grade level reading standards for literature and literary non-fiction.(1.4.9-10.S)
• Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience.(1.4.9-10.T)
• Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.(1.4.9-10.U)
• Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.(1.4.9-10.V)
• Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the usefulness of each source in answering the research question; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.(1.4.9-10.W)

• Speaking and Listening: Students present appropriately in formal speaking situations, listen critically, and respond intelligently as individuals or in group discussions.

• GRADES 9-10

• Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions on grades level topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.(1.5.9-10.A)
• Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse media or formats (e.g. visually, quantitatively, orally) evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source.(1.5.9-10.B)
• Evaluate a speaker’s perspective, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, identifying any fallacious reasoning or exaggerated or distorted evidence.(1.5.9-10.C)
• Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning; ensure that the presentation is appropriate to purpose, audience, and task.(1.5.9-10.D)
• Make strategic use of digital media in presentations to add interest and enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence.(1.5.9-10.E)
• Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks.(1.5.9-10.F)
• Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English when speaking based on grade 9-10 level and content.(1.5.9-10.G)

Keystone Literature (2012)

• Literature - Fiction

• Reading for meaning—Fiction

• Use appropriate strategies to analyze an author’s purpose and how it is achieved in literature(L.F.1.1)
• Identify and/or analyze the author’s intended purpose of a text.(L.F.1.1.1)
• Explain, describe, and/or analyze examples of a text that support the author’s intended purpose.(L.F.1.1.2)
• Analyze, interpret, and evaluate how authors use techniques and elements of fiction to effectively communicate an idea or concept.(L.F.1.1.3)
• Use appropriate strategies to determine and clarify meaning of vocabulary in literature.(L.F.1.2)
• Identify and/or apply a synonym or antonym of a word used in a text.(L.F.1.2.1)
• Identify how the meaning of a word is changed when an affix is added; identify the meaning of a word with an affix from a text.(L.F.1.2.2)
• Use context clues to determine or clarify the meaning of unfamiliar, multiple- meaning, or ambiguous words.(L.F.1.2.3)
• Draw conclusions about connotations of words(L.F.1.2.4)
• Use appropriate strategies to comprehend literature during the reading process.(L.F.1.3)
• Identify and/or explain stated or implied main ideas and relevant supporting details from a text. Note: Items may target specific paragraphs.(L.F.1.3.1)
• Summarize the key details and events of a fictional text, in part or as a whole.(L.F.1.3.2)

• Analyzing and interpreting literature—Fiction

• Use appropriate strategies to make and support interpretations of literature.(L.F.2.1)
• Make inferences and/or draw conclusions based on analysis of a text.(L.F.2.1.1)
• Cite evidence from a text to support generalizations(L.F.2.1.2)
• Use appropriate strategies to compare, analyze, and evaluate literary forms.(L.F.2.2)
• Analyze how literary form relates to and/or influences meaning of a text.(L.F.2.2.1)
• Compare and evaluate the characteristics that distinguish fiction from literary nonfiction.(L.F.2.2.2)
• Explain, interpret, compare, describe, analyze, and/or evaluate connections between texts.(L.F.2.2.3)
• Compare and evaluate the characteristics that distinguish narrative, poetry, and drama.(L.F.2.2.4)
• Use appropriate strategies to compare, analyze, and evaluate literary elements.(L.F.2.3)
• Explain, interpret, compare, describe, analyze, and/or evaluate character in a variety of fiction: Note: Character may also be called narrator or speaker. -the actions, motives, dialogue, emotions/feelings, traits, and relationships among characters within fictional text -the relationship between characters and other components of a text -the development by authors of complex characters and their roles and functions within a text(L.F.2.3.1)
• Explain, interpret, compare, describe, analyze, and/or evaluate setting in a variety of fiction: -the relationship between setting and other components of the text (character, plot, and other key literary elements)(L.F.2.3.2)
• Explain, interpret, compare, describe, analyze, and/or evaluate plot in a variety of fiction: Note: Plot may also be called action. -elements of the plot (e.g. exposition, conflict, rising action, climax, falling action, and/or resolution) -the relationship between elements of the plot and other components of the text -how the author structures plot to advance the action(L.F.2.3.3)
• Explain, interpret, compare, describe, analyze, and/or evaluate theme in a variety of fiction: -the relationship between the theme and other components of the text -comparing and contrasting how major themes are developed across genres -the reflection of traditional and contemporary issues, themes, motifs, universal characters, and genres -the way in which a work of literature is related to the themes and issues of its historical period(L.F.2.3.4)
• Explain, interpret, compare, describe, analyze, and/or evaluate voice, tone, style, and mood in a variety of fiction: -the relationship between the tone, style, and/or mood and other components of the text -how voice and choice of speaker (narrator) affect the mood, tone, and/or meaning of the text -how diction, syntax, figurative language, sentence variety, etc., determine the author’s style(L.F.2.3.5)
• Explain, interpret, compare, describe, analyze, and/or evaluate point of view in a variety of fiction: -the point of view of the narrator as first person or third person point of view -the impact of point of view on the meaning of the text as a whole(L.F.2.3.6)
• Use appropriate strategies to interpret and analyze the universal significance of literary fiction.(L.F.2.4)
• Interpret and analyze works from a variety of genres for literary, historical, and/or cultural significance.(L.F.2.4.1)
• Use appropriate strategies to identify and analyze literary devices and patterns in literary fiction.(L.F.2.5)
• Identify, explain, interpret, describe, and/or analyze the effects of personification, simile, metaphor, hyperbole, satire, foreshadowing, flashback, imagery, allegory, symbolism, and irony in a text.(L.F.2.5.1)
• Identify, explain, and analyze the structure of poems and sound devices.(L.F.2.5.2)
• Identify and analyze how stage directions, monologue, dialogue, soliloquy, and dialect support dramatic script.(L.F.2.5.3)

• Literature - Non-Fiction

• Reading for meaning—Nonfiction

• Use appropriate strategies to analyze an author’s purpose and how it is achieved in literature.(L.N.1.1)
• Identify and/or analyze the author’s intended purpose of a text.(L.N.1.1.1)
• Explain, describe, and/or analyze examples of a text that support the author’s intended purpose.(L.N.1.1.2)
• Analyze, interpret, and evaluate how authors use techniques and elements of nonfiction to effectively communicate an idea or concept.(L.N.1.1.3)
• Use appropriate strategies to determine and clarify meaning of vocabulary in literature.(L.N.1.2)
• Identify and/or apply a synonym or antonym of a word used in a text.(L.N.1.2.1)
• Identify how the meaning of a word is changed when an affix is added; identify the meaning of a word with an affix from a text.(L.N.1.2.2)
• Use context clues to determine or clarify the meaning of unfamiliar, multiple- meaning, or ambiguous words.(L.N.1.2.3)
• Draw conclusions about connotations of words.(L.N.1.2.4)
• Use appropriate strategies to comprehend literature during the reading process.(L.N.1.3)
• Identify and/or explain stated or implied main ideas and relevant supporting details from a text. Note: Items may target specific paragraphs.(L.N.1.3.1)
• Summarize the key details and events of a nonfictional text, in part or as a whole.(L.N.1.3.2)
• Analyze the interrelationships of ideas and events in text to determine how one idea or event may interact and influence another.(L.N.1.3.3)

• Analyzing and interpreting literature—Nonfiction

• Use appropriate strategies to make and support interpretations of literature.(L.N.2.1)
• Make inferences and/or draw conclusions based on analysis of a text.(L.N.2.1.1)
• Cite evidence from a text to support generalizations.(L.N.2.1.2)
• Use appropriate strategies to compare, analyze, and evaluate the literary forms.(L.N.2.2)
• Analyze how literary form relates to and/or influences the meaning of a text.(L.N.2.2.1)
• Compare and evaluate the characteristics that distinguish fiction from literary nonfiction(L.N.2.2.2)
• Explain, interpret, compare, describe, analyze, and/or evaluate connections between texts.(L.N.2.2.3)
• Use appropriate strategies to compare, analyze, and evaluate literary elements.(L.N.2.3)
• Explain, interpret, compare, describe, analyze, and/or evaluate character in a variety of nonfiction: Note: Character may also be called narrator, speaker, or subject of a biography. -the actions, motives, dialogue, emotions/feelings, traits, and relationships among characters within nonfictional text -the relationship between characters and other components of a text -the development by authors of complex characters and their roles and functions within a text(L.N.2.3.1)
• Explain, interpret, compare, describe, analyze, and/or evaluate setting in a variety of nonfiction: -the relationship between setting and other components of the text (character, plot, and other key literary elements)(L.N.2.3.2)
• Explain, interpret, compare, describe, analyze, and/or evaluate plot in a variety of nonfiction: Note: Plot may also be called action. -elements of the plot (e.g. exposition, conflict, rising action, climax, falling action, and/or resolution) -the relationship between elements of the plot and other components of the text -how the author structures plot to advance the action(L.N.2.3.3)
• Explain, interpret, compare, describe, analyze, and/or evaluate theme in a variety of nonfiction: -the relationship between the theme and other components of the text -comparing and contrasting how major themes are developed across genres -the reflection of traditional and contemporary issues, themes, motifs, universal characters, and genres -the way in which a work of literature is related to the themes and issues of its historical period(L.N.2.3.4)
• Explain, interpret, compare, describe, analyze, and/or evaluate voice, tone, style, and mood in a variety of nonfiction: -the relationship between the tone, style, and/or mood and other components of the text -how voice and choice of speaker (narrator) affect the mood, tone, and/or meaning of the text -how diction, syntax, figurative language, sentence variety, etc., determine the author’s style(L.N.2.3.5)
• Explain, interpret, compare, describe, analyze, and/or evaluate point of view in a variety of nonfiction: -the point of view of the narrator as first person or third person point of view -the impact of point of view on the meaning of the text as a whole(L.N.2.3.6)
• Use appropriate strategies to identify and analyze text organization and structure in literary nonfiction.(L.N.2.4)
• Identify, analyze and evaluate the structure and format of complex informational texts.(L.N.2.4.1)
• Identify, explain, compare, interpret, describe, and/or analyze the sequence of steps in a list of directions.(L.N.2.4.2)
• Explain, interpret, and/or analyze the effect of text organization, including headings, graphics, and charts.(L.N.2.4.3)
• Use appropriate strategies to identify and analyze essential and nonessential information in literary nonfiction.(L.N.2.5)
• Differentiate between fact and opinion.(L.N.2.5.1)
• Explain, interpret, describe, and/or analyze the use of facts and opinions in the text.(L.N.2.5.2)
• Distinguish essential from nonessential information.(L.N.2.5.3)
• Identify, explain, and/or interpret bias and propaganda techniques in nonfictional text.(L.N.2.5.4)
• Explain, describe, and/or analyze the effectiveness of bias (explicit and implicit) and propaganda techniques in nonfictional text.(L.N.2.5.5)
• Explain, interpret, describe, and/or analyze the author’s defense of a claim to make a point or construct an argument in nonfictional text.(L.N.2.5.6)

Units

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Unit #1 - Literary Element Unit

Unit #2 - Short Fiction: Critical Reading and Analyzing

Unit #3 - Short Drama: Critical Reading and Analyzing

Unit #4 - Required Long Fiction: Critical Reading and Analyzing

Unit #5 - Selected Long Fiction: Critical Reading and Analyzing

Unit #6 - Shakespearean Drama

Unit #7 - Long Non-Fiction: Critical Reading and Analyzing

Unit #8 - Research Paper

Unit #9 - Vocabulary

Unit #10 - Language Study

Unit #11 - Speaking and Listening

Unit #12 - Expository Writing: Single and Multi-Paragraph Writing