I'm planning dd's 1st year of high school level English, for the upcoming year. I want her high school English classes to focus on 2 main things - Grammar/Writing and Literature. So, I think I have this next year planned, but would like some opinions. Literature: Plays & Poetry Plays: Pygmalion A Doll's House Taming of the Shrew Antony & Cleopatra Julius Caesar Death of a Salesman Poetry - works by: Poe Hemingway Jim Morrison Robert Frost Walt Whitman Edward Lear Grammar & Writing: Grammar: Easy Grammar Ultimate Series Gr 9 Writing: 1000 word essay on topic of her choice 2 creative writing assignments (stories or poems) 1 newspaper article 250 words 1 review - book, movie, restaurant, album, etc. For at least one of the Plays, we'll be watching the movie, and she will compare & contrast. Our study of poetry will focus on an appreciation of poetry, not dissecting it & analyzing it to death. I'll ask some questions about the poems, but it won't be an in-depth analysis. I went light on the writing assignments for 2 reasons; 1) writing is her weakest subject & I don't want to overwhelm her, 2) she'll also be writing for other subjects (2 whole books for History). So, how does that sound? Does it sound like enough? Does it sound challenging & complete enough for a high school level English class? Is there anything else I should add?
WOW!!! Maybe I better send my girls to you.... I've not been too worried about great big book lists until this year (Sophmore) when Rachael has one for her World History. Julius Ceasar, Tale of Two Cities, Animal Farm, Heart of Darkness, Mere Chrisitanity..... And next year for American she'll have an equally impressive list. Not sure what I'll do with Faythe, though. She's a freshman in the fall, and I can't see her reading near that much! But ALL my kids are familiar with Shakespeare, because there's free Shakespeare in the Park in Columbus during the summer (not to mention Wishbone, lol!)
Unless writing just is not the child's thing, I think I personally would beef that area up a bit, if you are hoping for college. I recall in my English college prep course in 9th grade that I had to write a 1 to 2 page theme every week and that is when I learned I really like writing. I think I did a book review once a month also and a couple of brief speeches during the year.
One of my kids is in PS Honors English (10th grade)..... she is doing 3 literary works total. "Importance of Being Earnest" - cracked me up once again.... "Julius Caesar" - I think they are beating this one to death "Pride & Prejudice" - haven't started yet They did a study on Mythology for awhile - but no readings just copies of stuff. SO for that I think you are more than fine. Maybe look into some of the IEW writing workbooks? I hear they are awesome and really walk kids through writing well.
Looks great for 9th grade. I was going to suggest more writing until I saw your reasons for fewer writing assignments. I agree with seekingmyLord about writing. College is all about writing, but you can gradually increase her writing load the next few years.
For 9th grade, yes. I was reminicing about my HS English course. It was LA4 and a college credit class. Didn't have the money for the college credit (which was $373) so I did what I wanted in the class since it didn't count towards a grade either. My favorite assignment was a portfolio. We had an intro part,(about me, my likes are..., etc), and then we had to pick a literary writer and compare and contrast ourselves to that writer, and find a literary work that we percieved our lives as, and then another literary work that we would like our lives to be. We also did A book about a famous literary work. My group did Beowulf (by far my fave story). We had to get into costume, and write our interpretation of the story, and include scene by scene pictures of the story. This might be fun for your daughter. Have her pick a literary work that she likes, and get some family or friends around to act it out while someone else takes pictures of it. There can be as much or as little writing as needed, but the story is understood in the end.
Your post made me feel better about what I have planned for my ds next fall. He loathes writing. Your list seems challenging, yet managable.
Looks good. I must say that writing is my weakest thing so I am not the one to comment. All the other peoples ideas sound good. I am going to copy them down. My son is also not a writer. If I had him write a 1000 word report, he would disown me forever. Instead of a 1000 word report, I would have my son write two 500 word report or three 300 word report. Perhaps smaller reports would be easier for your daughter to handle.
My ds gets caught up on the sound of the assignment(i.e. "A THOUSAND WORDS???!!!!) That really isn't difficult if they have prepared the information to include. It can actually be difficult to weed out information to get it down to a thousand words. I have to use the #-of-words method, though, rather than number of pages. If I don't, ds will spend all his time figuring out how to include pics and fonts to cover a 2-page essay in as few a words as possible! :lol:
Thank you all for the responses. I do understand the concern that it isn't enough writing. As I said, writing is her weakest subject. It's due, in large part, to her ADHD. It's difficult to take all that stuff in her head & translate it into something coherent for other people to read. We've been using Writing Strands for the last few years. She's improved a lot and now actually enjoys writing. She has a penpal she writes to regularly (snail mail, not email). DD, ds, and a few friends recently created a writing club. They each write a story every week (at least one a week). Then, they read them aloud to the group when they get together each week. They have a blank book in which they'll be recording the stories. She'll also be writing for other classes. In History, she'll be studying WWI & WWII and writing a book about each. I'm still planning her Geography & Biology classes, so I'm not sure if I'll have her write reports for those or not. Also, I figure I can add more writing assignments as the year goes on, if it won't be too much for her. I just don't want to overwhelm her. I plan to increase the writing next year & each year after that. I just think that a gradual increase will be better for her. Besides, I'd rather have a few good quality assignments, than a lot of mediocre ones (which is what will happen if she gets overwhelmed with the amount of writing expected). Thanks for the suggestions, I'll keep them in mind as I revise & finalize the plans.
WOW! thats awesome I may copy this one down! Actually we did a bit of Shakespear this year with Drama class , enough for me to realise he was a really twisted individual for a while in his life Lol . Our Town is a good one too! by thornton Wilder
OUR TOWN!!! Gosh, I did that my Senior year of high school! HATED it at first, but eventually I learned to...not LOVE it, but at least appreciate it. I guess it just kind of grows on you....
yep, My drama serious student(s) want to do it, we dont have enough people but are looking into it. It seems difficult but not too difficult, I think we could pull it off
