English

Course Descriptions

Comp Lit 1AB

Comp Lit I AB is designed to prepare students to engage a diverse array of classic and contemporary works in mediums ranging from text, video, audio, and other multimedia formats. Based on the Common Core Standards, this course provides students with the skills and knowledge to become critical readers and writers by analyzing key ideas and details, craft and structure, and the integration of knowledge and ideas in literature and informational text. Students will develop their writing skills by examining various text types and their functions and by crafting arguments, explanatory/informational texts, and narratives. Using the full writing process, students will learn how to produce and distribute quality writing using technology's capacity to produce, publish, and share writing products. Students will conduct short research projects and will participate in a range of collaborative discussions integrating multiple sources of information. This course will advance students' knowledge of the conventions of Standard English and will strengthen vocabulary acquisition and use.

Credit: 10.00

Graduation Requirement: English 9

A-G College Requirement: B

PreAP Comp Lit 1AB

This accelerated course is designed to prepare the student to function as an informed and effective citizen in a democratic society, to function effectively in the world, and to realize personal fulfillment through reading the language of great literature. The student will become actively involved in an integrated literature-based program designed to increase his/her proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking to meet the expectations for entry into Composition-Literature IIAB Honors. The student will delve into the core literature, work through the selection to gain understanding, and go beyond the literature to discover its relevance to his/her life experiences. In reading the core literary selections, the student will explore universal themes which connect human beings across cultures and experience a clearly communicated sense of traditional values as well as common goals including respect for diversity. It is assumed that the students enrolled in IAB Honors have a strong command of the conventions of the English language and reading abilities significantly above grade level

Credit: 10.00

Graduation Requirement: English 9

A-G College Requirement: B

Comp Lit 2AB

Comp Lit II AB is designed to prepare students to engage a diverse array of classic and contemporary works in mediums ranging from text, video, audio, and other multimedia formats. Based on the Common Core Standards, this course provides students with the skills and knowledge to become critical readers and writers by analyzing key ideas and details, craft and structure, and the integration of knowledge and ideas in literature and informational text. Students will develop their writing skills by examining various text types and their functions and by crafting arguments, explanatory/informational texts, and narratives. Using the full writing process, students will learn how to produce and distribute quality writing using technology's capacity to produce, publish, and share writing products. Students will conduct short research projects and will participate in a range of collaborative discussions integrating multiple sources of information. This course will advance students' knowledge of the conventions of Standard English and will strengthen vocabulary acquisition and use to prepare students for real life experiences.

Credit: 10.00

Graduation Requirement: English 10

A-G College Requirement: B

PreAP Comp Lit 2AB

This course provides the student with an advanced study of various genres: poetry, novels, drama, short stories, and essays. This survey course will continue the high level thinking skills, superior listening skills, independent reading, analytical written, and creative expression that are the hallmarks of an Honors English Program. The reading shall be very extensive (as many as 12 major texts per year) and of college level difficulty. The writing requirements for the course are rigorous including as many as 12 major writing assignments for the year. Also, preparation for vocabulary enrichment and test taking strategies will be addressed both to prepare the student for the College Boards and for the AP English Exam to be taken in the senior year. Each site may determine the structure of the course, i.e., some sites will integrate with the Honors World History class. In addition, students will be expected to complete projects, and to participate in field trips and other extra-curricular activities throughout the school term.

Credit: 10.00

Graduation Requirement: English 10

A-G College Requirement: B

Comp Lit 3AB

Comp Lit III AB is designed to prepare students to engage a diverse array of classic and contemporary works in mediums ranging from text, video, audio, and other multimedia formats. Based on the Common Core Standards, this course provides students with the skills and knowledge to become critical readers and writers by analyzing key ideas and details, craft and structure, and the integration of knowledge and ideas in literature and informational text. Using an integrated approach, students will explore literary criticism and study literature that represents great articulation in human communication, whether the thoughts and feelings come from ancient Greece or modern Japan, from Puritan New England or tribal Africa, or from Renaissance England or contemporary Mexico.Students will develop their writing skills by examining various text types, functions, and rhetorical structure. They will also improve their writing skills by crafting arguments, explanatory/informational texts, and narratives. Using the full writing process, students will learn how to produce and distribute quality writing using technology's capacity to produce, publish, and share writing products. Students will conduct short research projects and will participate in a range of collaborative discussions integrating multiple sources of information to develop ones own style and voice. This course will advance students' knowledge of the conventions of Standard English and will strengthen vocabulary acquisition and use to prepare students for real life experiences.

Credit: 10.00

Graduation Requirement: English 11

A-G College Requirement: B

AP English Language

This Advanced Placement English course in Language and Composition provides training for the student to become a skilled reader of prose written in a variety of periods, disciplines, and rhetorical contexts. The course provides opportunities for the student to have the practice and helpful criticism to make him/her a flexible writer who can compose in a variety of modes for a variety of purposes. All the writing assignments will contribute to the aim of making the student a mature writer, capable of writing to meet and/or exceed course expectations. Reading, thinking, and writing will make the student aware of the interaction between authorial purpose, audience needs, the subject itself, generic conventions, and the resources of language: syntax, word choice, tone. The student will successfully study the various modes of discourse from a historical overview of the language of prose by focusing on a variety of works related to a particular topic, periods, or theme. By making a connection between reading and writing, the student will create mature prose of many kinds. It is assumed that the student has a mastery of the conventions of the English Language and demonstrates fluency in writing, thus enabling him/her to develop an awareness of the different stylistic effects created by different syntactical choices and by different levels of diction. The student will read literature to facilitate this scrutiny of linguistic and rhetorical choices, not primarily to study the conventions of the sonnet, for example, or subtleties of point of view.

Credit: 10.00

Graduation Requirement: English 11

A-G College Requirement: B

Comp Lit 4AB

Comp Lit IVAB AB is designed to prepare students to engage a diverse array of classic and contemporary works in mediums ranging from text, video, audio, and other multimedia formats. Based on the Common Core Standards, this course provides students with the skills and knowledge to become critical readers and writers by analyzing key ideas and details, craft and structure, and the integration of knowledge and ideas in literature and informational text. This course is an integrated, literature-based program that focuses on exploration of issues relevant to students' lives as adults and productive citizens. Students will develop their writing skills by examining text types and purposes and by writing arguments, explanatory/informational texts, and narratives. Using the full writing process, students will learn how to produce and distribute quality writing using technology's capacity to produce, publish, and share writing products. Students will conduct short research projects and will participate in a range of collaborative discussions integrating multiple sources of information. This course will advance students' knowledge of the conventions of Standard English and will strengthen vocabulary acquisition and use to prepare students for real life experiences in college and in 21st century careers because their use extends across reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

Credit: 10.00

Graduation Requirement: English 12

A-G College Requirement: B

AP English Literature

This Advanced Placement English course in Literature and Composition emphasizes the development of skills in critical reading of imaginative and discursive literature and in writing about literature and related ideas. It is designed for the student who has a high-level, disciplined reading ability and has mastered the conventions of writing so that he/she can engage in the careful reading of challenging literary works. The student will study several representative works from various genres and periods. He/she will concentrate on works of recognized literary merit, worthy of scrutiny because their richness of thought and language challenges the reader. The student will develop critical standards for the independent appreciation of a literary work and increase his/her sensitivity to literature as shared experience. The student will study the individual work, its language, characters, action, and themes. He/she will consider its structure, meaning, and value, and its relationship to contemporary experience as well as to the historical time in which it was written. The student will be involved in both the study and practice of writing and the study of literature. Through speaking, listening, and reading, but chiefly through the experience of his/her own writing, the student will develop a greater appreciation of the resources of the English language: connotation, metaphor, irony, syntax, and tone, to mention a few. Writing assignments will focus on the critical analysis of literature and will also include essays in exposition and argument. The student will develop an honest and effective use of language and cultivate habits of reading, writing, and thinking that characterizes life-long learning and enjoyment.

Credit: 10.00

Graduation Requirement: English 12

A-G College Requirement: B

English Language Development 1,2,3,4AB

This course is designed for English Learners (ELS) who are non-native speakers. Using the State and District-adopted High Point Program (Level C) which correlates to the California State English Language Development Standards, it addresses the domains of listening, speaking, reading and writing for students with CELDT levels of Early Advanced to Advanced. Coursework builds on students' previous education and language knowledge to introduce the English language and help students adjust to their new cultural environment. This course enhances student confidence and promotes language proficiency for personal, social, and educational purposes. Instruction in this skills-based program is designed to develop students' abilities to use English as a means of gaining knowledge, acquiring skills and communicating with others. State-approved ELD texts/programs are used to teach students the skills necessary to listen actively, speak fluently, read efficiently and write effectively. Students will be exposed to the ethics, values, customs and beliefs prevalent in the United States as well as the socio-cultural similarities and differences of other cultures. Instruction is sequential and explicit and is based on a spiraling curriculum leading to higher levels of English Language Development ultimately allowing the student to be reclassified as R-FEP.*

Credit: 10.00

Graduation Requirement: English

A-G College Requirement: None

*For more information about how ELD and ELPAC testing work please see your counselor