English Curriculum Topics

Ms. Ahern 2009-2010

English Curriculum Topics

Juniors: NEXT: Study Skills/Literature/Written Expression

With senior year approaching, the junior English class will be exploring note-taking, scanning, test taking and vocabulary building exercises as an ongoing unit. Some topics to be covered are lecture notes, highlighting, study skills, comprehension and inferential questioning.

Currently, this class is working on deciphering testing language to maximize their chances of scoring higher on true/false and multiple choice tests.

Seniors

NEXT: Act 1 of "Fences" by August Wilson

Come prepared for class with discussion topics in mind and your reflections/reactions to the current reading selection.

Try to picture the opening scene by sketching a set from the descriptions listed on the first page of the play.

List all characters with short descriptions in your notes as they enter the play. For example, you should have a list that includes Troy, Rose, Bono and Lyons from Act 1 Scene 1.

This month:

JR: Make sure you have all required notes and materials in the index of your English notebook. Keeping track of notes now will help you prepare for a notebook check to be completed at the end of term one.

SR: To boost your class participation grade in English take an opportunity to read a part during class discussion time. Also, be thinking about important scenes that can be related to your personal experiences.

It is important to pick up on the clues that your teacher gives you. If there are notes on the board, write them down! Look for transitional words such as first, second, furthermore and make notes on the concepts that follow. Go over notes from the previous day as you arrive in class and spend 5 minutes rewriting and reading your notes from class each night.