College Prep English 10 & 11 Course Description

The College Prep English 11 course covers American literature from the Civil War era to the contemporary authors of today. It not only keeps us connected to the past, but it also gives us insights into the events and issues that challenge the nation today. Four major facets are analyzed in the curriculum: Exploring the Big Ideas, Building Cultural Literacy, Connecting History and Literature, and Appreciating a Legacy. 

Using the Holt McDougal Literature Textbook as the main resource for this course, students will explore questions and ideas in many genres. An early American story, a news article, and a poem - despite their differences in form - can all help students explore questions about patriotism or culture, for example. 

Students will also enrich their vocabulary through the Sadlier Vocabulary Workshop online. The program focuses on the words, their meanings, their ranges of application, and their uses in context. The approach is systematic because it begins with and builds upon a word list drawn from vocabulary that students will encounter in their reading. It provides students with the vocabulary skills they will need to achieve higher-level reading proficiency and to succeed at standardized tests. 

Grammar and Writing Skills will be addressed as an ongoing process through daily activities, responses to reading selections and assigned work in projects. By integrating the grammar and writing mechanics with the literary pieces, students will see the purpose and find it meaningful. Six-Trait Writing will be used to aid students in their writing development as well as the Multimodal Composition Framework. This framework will allow students to explore, develop, and create compositions in addition to their written work allowing them to communicate and share projects which can be visual, auditory, or a combination of both in a creative form. This may be expressed as art, music, three-dimensional objects, performance, etc. These ideas could be endless

This course complies with the rigorous standards set by the Kansas State Board of Regents. Students who successfully complete this course (along with other required courses) may be recognized as Kansas State Regent Scholars. In order to comply with these guidelines, students are required to read at least three novels and write papers in various styles and formats in regards to these novels. Some papers may be informative, while others may be persuasive or argumentative. The novels covered in this course includes, but is not all exclusive are: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, and A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry.

Utilizing technology is imperative in this course. Students are provided a device (currently each student has a Chromebook) in which they will access most of the literary pieces, daily activities, review assignments, and even some tests and exams. Writing assignments will also be submitted using their technology. Although some novels and other materials may be required, students will rely heavily upon their devices which must be brought with them to class each day. Students will have many opportunities to use current apps and software to assist in their learning.