Academic English 11 Course Map
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Course Description: Students focus on vocabulary development and engage in specific reading, writing, and thinking skills to prepare for testing and college-level
experiences. Students learn to evaluate critically what they read and write: they explore representative works of American literature and respond to readings
through discussion and writing. Emphasis is placed on the writing process; modes include narratives, informational papers, persuasive essays, comparison/contrast
compositions, and literary analyses. The research process is also explored.
Enduring Understandings
Content
Skills/Competencies
Summative Assessments
Students will understand that:
Students will know:
Students will be able to:
Methods for students to
demonstrate their levels of
 Print, phonological and
Overarching Concepts:
Unit 1: The American Dream
proficiency:
phonemic awareness, word
recognition, and fluency are
 Literary terms and devices
 Develop a working definition of The
Unit 1: The American Dream
foundational skills necessary to
American Dream
 Grammar and usage
the development of effective
 Embedded Assessment 1:
 Identify the philosophical, religious,
 Academic vocabulary
readers.
Survey Findings
ethical, and social influences that
 The writing process
 Deep understanding of
shaped
the
literature
of
a
period

Embedded Assessment 2:
 Reading strategies
informational text can be
Argumentative Essay
 Recognize purpose and historical
 Research
accomplished through the
context
in
varied
sources

Writing Workshop 6:
 Journaling
acquisition of a vast vocabulary,
Expository Writing
 Examine a single topic from
 Portfolio production
use of comprehension strategies
multiple
points
of
view

End-of-Unit Assessment
 Fiction
when reading, and development
 Develop an expository text that
 Non-fiction
of the skills needed for using
Unit 2: American Forums: The
defines an abstract concept
 Poetry
textual evidence to make
Marketplace of Ideas
 Drama
connections among ideas and
Unit 2: American Forums: The
 Embedded Assessment 1:
 Biography
between texts.
Marketplace of Ideas
Op-Ed page
 Deep understanding of

Make
text-to-text
connections

Embedded Assessment 2:
Unit 1: The American Dream
literature can be accomplished
Satirical Piece
 Use textual evidence as the basis
 American Philosophy
through the acquisition of a vast
for
inferences

Writing Workshop 8:
 American Virtues
vocabulary, use of
Persuasive Writing
 Identify the elements of
 Survey techniques
comprehension strategies when
argumentation

End-of-Unit Assessment
 Expository writing
reading, and development of
 Develop a working hypothesis
 Perspectives of the American
the skills needed for using
Unit 3: Power of Persuasion
when researching and writing
Dream
textual evidence to make
 Embedded Assessment 1:
 Use varied reading strategies to
 Elements of argumentation
connections among ideas and
Persuasive Speech
understand multiple genres
between texts.

Embedded Assessment 2:

Research
and
collect
topical
Unit 2: American Forums: The
 Writing includes the ability to
Dramatic Scene
information to generate and
Marketplace of Ideas
share information, support an
develop
focused
positions

Writing Workshop 5:
 Fallacies
argument, and tell a story as
Script Writing
 Debate
well as the ability to engage in
Unit 3: Power of Persuasion
 End-of-Unit Assessment
 Satire
evidence-based analysis of text
 Utilize elements of persuasion
 Editorials
and research.
Unit 4: An American Journey
 Read and interpret a historical
 Rhetorical devices
 Acquisition of effective
document
 Embedded Assessment 1:
 Writing
communication skills permits
Analytical Essay
 Make predictions
-Editorial
individuals to speak
 Embedded Assessment 2:
appropriately with and respond
intelligently to others.

-Op Ed
-Satire
Types of evidence
Unit 3: Power of Persuasion
 Rhetorical devices
 Rhetorical appeals
 Inaugural addresses
 Puritan history
 Visualization techniques
 Oral speeches
 Script writing
Unit 4: An American Journey
 Oral tradition
 Harlem Renaissance history
 Tal tales
 Frame story
 Film productions
 Verbal communication skills
 Non-verbal communication skills
 Writing
-Resume
-Cover letter
-Analytical
-Reflective
Unit 5: The Pursuit of Happiness
 Elements of style
 Transcendentalism
 Credo
 Rhetorical devices
 Biography
 Cartoons
 Characterization
 Writing
-Personal essay
-Research paper


Identify characteristics of setting
and time period
Analyze a writing prompt and plan
a response
Unit 4: An American Journey
 Make a connection between
elements of style and/or literary
elements and the identified theme
 Use the writing process to produce
an organized and coherent essay
 Analyze an author’s
characterization
 Discuss how symbols, images,
diction, and figurative language
affect tone and theme in a story
 Analyze the structural and stylistic
features of texts
Unit 5: The Pursuit of Happiness
 Write using conventions of a genre
 Identify an author’s purpose and
bias
 Conduct an syntactical analysis of a
portion of text
 Cite sources correctly


Self Presentation
Writing Workshop 7:
College Application
End-of-Unit Assessment
Unit 5:The Pursuit of Happiness
 Embedded Assessment 1:
Personal Essay
 Embedded Assessment 2:
Research Project
 Writing Workshop 10:
Research
 End-of-Unit Assessment