Language Arts
Course # 1052-English II-Grade Level 9
I. Course Title
English II
II. Entrance Standing
Freshman standing
III. Intended Student Grouping
Freshman standing-required for graduation
IV. Course Description
English II is a required literature-based course designed to give students a strong
foundation in the essential skills of reading, expository/creative writing, listening and
speaking and thinking creatively and independently. These essential skills are practiced
and developed in conjunction with an in-depth examination of the most prominent
elements of fiction-setting, character, conflict, style and theme. Approximately 20-30
short stories and 2-4 novels make up the bulk of the reading material for the class.
VI. Essential Questions
1) What is literature" and "fiction"? Why study fiction? What can fiction do for an
individual and our society/civilization?
2) How do authors use setting, conflicts and characters to form themes?
3) What is "style"? How does author's style add to a story's meaning?
4) What is "theme"?
5) How can one use the major elements of fiction to criticize a story as a piece of art?
6) What tools/strategies can a reader use to dissect fiction?
VI. Course Objectives
1) Understand what literature and fiction can do for our society and our individual lives.
2) Understand what the major literary elements are and how they are used to criticize and
build a story's meaning.
3) Improve written and oral communication skills
4) Improve thinking and active reading skills
VII. Standards & Benchmarks
A.12.1-students will use effective reading strategies to achieve their purposes in reading
B.12.1-students will produce writing to communicate with different audiences for a
variety of purposes
B.12.2-students will plan, revise, and publish clear and effective expository writing
B.12.3-students will understand and apply the forms, structures, and punctuation parks of
standard American English
C.12.1-students will prepare and deliver formal oral presentations appropriate to specific
audiences and purposes
C.12.2-students will listen to, discuss, and comprehend oral communications
C.12.3-student will participate effectively in discussion
D.12.1-students will develop their vocabulary and ability to use words, phrases, idioms,
and various grammatical structures as a means of improving communication
E.12.1-students will use computers to acquire, organize, analyze, and communicate
information
VIII. Materials
1) Elements of Literature, Third Course
2) English (orange text)
3) Reader's Handbook
4) Classroom Instruction that Works by Douglas Buehl (teacher only)
5) supplementary short stories and articles
6) Writer’s Inc.
IX. Grade Breakdown
Summative assignments will form 70% of the class grade (the remaining 30% will be
based on participation-10% on behavior and 20% on formative/daily assessments).
Those summative assignments are broken down as follows:
Unit 1: Exposition & Setting-15%
Unit 2: Rising Action & Character-15%
Unit 3: Climaxes & Conflicts-15%
Unit 4: Style & Theme-15%
Unit 5: Criticism-10%
A final comprehensive exam will test all these major content areas.
Unit #1: Introduction to English II
Length: 1.5 weeks
Standards Addressed: A.12.1, 3, 4; B.12.1-3; C.12.2-3; D.12.1-2
Unit Objectives:
1) Understand the key rubrics to the class and major goals of the semester
2) Identify deficiencies in knowledge of literary elements
3) Understand the six basic reading strategies for active reading
4) Understand (review) the expectations, grading scheme, and policies of the class
Unit Essential Questions:
1) How will Soik assess me in this class?
2) What do I already know about fiction?
3) Why should I read or study fiction?
4) What are some basic tools/strategies I can use throughout the semester to help with
reading comprehension?
Key Vocabulary, Concepts, & Skills
1) Skills: active reading strategies-connect, question, extend, interpret, predict and
challenge
2) Literary: fiction, literature
3) Class: 3T (thoughtful, thorough, truthful)
What You Should Know and Be Able to Do by the End of this Unit'
1) Explain the key rubrics of the semester, most importantly the 3T rubric
2) Explain your current understanding of what fiction is and what it does
3) Describe what you hope to get from the content and skills of the class
Materials Used
Item
"Use of Force" by William
Carlos Williams
"The Colomber" by Dino
Buzzati
"The School" by Donald
Barthelme
"The Sniper" by Liam O'
Flaherty
Excerpts from Soik's favorites
Jonthan Harris-"The Art of
Collecting Stories"
Source
Fiction 100 (Soik)
Note
Elements of Literature
Diagnostic story
American Short Stories
(Soik)
Elements of Literature
Functions of literature
(entertainment) story
Intro to reading strategies
story
TED.com
Intro to beauty and
importance of stories
Assessments
Formative (Practice)
Graphic organizers
a) plot diagram
b) double-entry journal
Log book responses
c) narrative/story map of average day to
show characters, settings, themes, conflicts
in own life
Evaluation Tools
1) 3T rubric
2) Graphic organizers rubric
3) Short response rubric
Summative (Culminating)
1) Why should I study fiction?
2) What do you want to get out of any/all
the class areas-reading strategies, fiction
knowledge and functions of fiction?
Unit #2: Exposition & Settings
Length: 3-4weeks
Standards Addressed: A.12.1, 3, 4; B.12.1-3; C.12.2-3; D.12.1-2
Unit Objectives:
1) Understand how authors use setting to construct a story's meaning and tone
2) Understand the primary functions and key components of a story's exposition
3) Use active reading strategies and graphic organizers to develop reading comprehension
and speed
4) Study a primary function of literature-intense observation
Unit Essential Questions:
1) What is an exposition and what does it do in a story?
2) What is setting and what does it do in a story?
3) Why is tone important to a story? How is it created?
4) How do we critically evaluate a story's setting and exposition?
6) How does fiction "see" the world differently than our everyday experiences?
What you should know and/or be able to do at the end of this unit:
1) Define exposition, find it in a story, and evaluate it.
2) Define setting, analyze it in a story, and evaluate it.
3) Define tone and analyze it in a story.
4) Explain the "intense observation" function of fiction and art
Key Vocabulary, Concepts, & Skills
setting, exposition, sensory details, imagery, narrative hook, tone/mood, flashback,
scene/summary (setting time context), linear, non-linear, foreshadow
Materials
Item
Finding Nemo excerpt
"Marigolds"
Carver Country excerpts
"The Most Dangerous
Game
"The Gift"
"A & P" by John Updike
"Poison" by Roald Dahl
"The Ghost of Tom Joad"
by Bruce Springsteen/Rage
Against the Machine
"A World of Night" by PS
Mueller
"Gray Matter" by Stephen
King
"The Birds" by Daphne du
Maurier
"Shaving" by
American Beauty clip
"Car Crash While
Hitchhiking" by Denis
Johnson
"And Summer is Gone"
"Last Ride" by CSS
"Cathedral" by R. Carver
Assessments
Formative (Practice)
Graphic organizers
a) plot diagram
b) double-entry journal
c) classification chart
d) concept map/web
Log book responses (3T)
Evaluation Tools
1) 3T
2) Graphic organizer rubrics
Source
Film
Elements of Literature
Elements of Literature
Note
Exposition intro
Setting function intro
Setting functions
Elements of Literature
American Short Stories
(Soik)
Elements of Literature
Songs
Example of setting notes
Sensory details example
Audio story/Soik
Tone story
Copies from Skeleton Crew
Tone/setting/imagery story
Review story
Review game story
Elements of Literature
Copies
Film
Copies
Sensory detail practice
Intro to tone/mood
Test story
Intense observation function
of literature
Exposition definition
practice, good example of
scene
Copies
Copies
Copies
Summative (Culminating)
1) Dissection of a story's setting
2) Scantron term/notes based
Unit #3: Rising Action & Characters
Length: 3 weeks
Standards Addressed: A.12.1, 3, 4; B.12.1-3; C.12.2-3; D.12.1-2, E.12.1, F.12.1
Unit Objectives:
1) Learn how authors develop and use characters to establish themes
2) Learn the different types of characters in a piece of fiction
3) Examine and understand how rising action functions with in a plot
4) Evaluate a story's quality through its characters
5) Examine a primary function of literature-point of view shifting and widened
perspectives
Unit Essential Questions:
1) How are characters developed? How do characters help make a story's meaning?
2) What are the different types of characters in all stories?
3) What is rising action and what does it do for a story?
4) How can we examine characters to determine a story's artistic worth?
5) What is a the "widening perspectives" function of fiction?
Key Vocabulary, Concepts, & Skills
Rising action, character, characterization, antagonist, protagonist, traits, motivation,
credible, consistent, flat/static, dynamic/round, foil, motif, minor character, catalyst,
direct characterization, indirect characterization
Materials
Item
"I Go Along"
"The Scarlet Ibis"
"The Delicious"
"Harrison Bergeron"
Source
Copies
Elements of Literature
Film (Soik)
Elements of Literature
"Sidewalkers"
"Thank You M'am"
Film (Soik)
Elements of Literature
"Poison"
"Eleven"
"A Private Talk with Holly"
Elements of Literature
Copies
Copies
Wholphin crying contest
"Glory at Sea"
Film (Soik)
Wholphin #7
"Salvador Late or Early" by
Cisneros
Elements
Note
Test story
Function/POV story
Intro to unit
Direct/indirect
characterization
Character type intro
Characterization/type
practice
Character eval story
Review story
Review story
Characterization intro
Characterization through
action and item
Characterization sample
Assessments
Formative (Practice)
Graphic organizers
a) plot diagram
b) double-entry journal
c) concept maps
Log book responses (3T)
Summative (Culminating)
Objective (scantron) test and application of
terms/notes to a story for analysis
Evaluation Tools
1) Graphic organizer rubric***
2) Logbook entry rubric***
3) NHS oral communication rubric
4) 8 traits of effective writing rubric adapted for career project***
Unit #4: Theme & Conflict in the Novel
Length: 3 weeks
Standards Addressed: A.12.1, 3, 4; B.12.1-3; C.12.2-3; D.12.1-2
Unit Objectives:
1)
Unit Essential Questions:
1)
Key Vocabulary, Concepts, & Skills
1)
Materials
Item
Old Man and the Sea by
Ernest Hemingway
The Pearl by John
Steinbeck
To Kill a Mockingbird by
Harper Lee
Lord of the Flies by
William Golding
Source
Note
Assessments
Formative (Practice)
Graphic organizers
a) plot diagram
b) double-entry journal
Log book responses (3T)
Assessments
1)
Summative (Culminating)
Best paragraph/200 word responses to
1) Why should I study fiction?
2) What do you want to get out of any/all
the class areas-reading strategies, fiction
knowledge and functions of fiction?
Final Exam