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English III Pre-IB/Honors Course Syllabus
This 12th-grade-level course is designed to develop students’ communication abilities, especially focusing on reading, writing, and speaking. This course incorporates the IB/MYP Areas of Interaction (approaches to learning, community and service, homo faber, environment, and health and social education). The goal of this writing-intensive course will be to begin to prepare students for their future AP and IB exams as well as the IB major essay. In addition to numerous writing assignments, students will complete a chronological study of major British works. Instructional Philosophy Though my goal is to do everything possible to foster my students’ learning, my students will get from this class what they put into it: I cannot make them learn. Success in this class will be determined by the students themselves. If the students work hard, they will greatly develop their reading, writing, and critical thinking skills and will be prepared for the challenging English classes that lay ahead! Course Goals This course will focus on the following sub-topics: 1) Reading --a. Reading fluency --b. Reading comprehension (understanding what one has read) --c. Reading comprehension concepts (i.e. plot, main idea) --d. Literary concepts (i.e. tone, theme, figurative language) 2) Writing --a. Writing fluency (meaningfully communicating one’s ideas) --b. The writing process --c. Mechanics and spelling 3) Literature --a. Major British writers and their works --b. Literary period study --c. Literary analysis (critical writing responding to literature) 4) Vocabulary (especially as SAT preparation) 5) Grammar (especially its function in writing) 6) Research --a. Obtaining and using information from a variety of sources --b. Using a variety of strategies to present such information **All units, assignments, and activities will be based on the South Carolina English IV Curriculum Standards. Major Course Projects and Assignments We will complete the following major units/works during the year: 1) Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (summer reading) 2) Old-English/Anglo-Saxon Period --a) Beowulf 3) Middle English Period --a) Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer --b) Sir Gawain and the Green Knight --c) Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Mallory --d) Poetry 4) Renaissance Period --a) Macbeth by William Shakespeare --b) Poetry 5) Neoclassical Period --a) Poetry, essays, and excerpts --b) Excerpt from Paradise Lost by John Milton 6) Romantic Period --a) Poetry, essays, and excerpts **Major research project to be completed during this unit 7) Victorian Period --a) Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte --b) A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (summer reading) --c) The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (summer reading) --d) Poetry and essays 8) Modern Period --a) Poetry, essays, and excerpts 9) Vocabulary Unit (ongoing throughout the year) 10) Grammar Unit (ongoing throughout the year) 11) Literary Analysis/Critical Writing 12) Major Critical Essay **This list is subject to change based on time and/or material limitations. Course Assessment Plan Though “typical” assignments such as unit tests, quizzes, and writing activities will be completed throughout the semester, the following assignments specific to this English III class will be given: 1) Weekly vocabulary tests 2) Weekly journal writing (completed as homework) 3) Daily Freewriting Notebook writing 4) Major Research Project 5) Major Critical Essay Grade Breakdown Freewriting Notebook 10% Weekly Journal 10% Tests 30% Papers 25% Quizzes/Classwork/Homework 20% Participation/Behavior 5% Required Materials 1) One-subject spiral notebook 2) Two-pocket folder with center clasps 3) Three-ring binder with loose-leaf notebook paper and subject dividers 4) Pencils and pens |
