Hi! I'm Holly!
ELA 1-2 Course Description
English class provides essential skills in reading comprehension and reading strategies, literary
analysis, grammar (usage and mechanics), and formal and informal writing. Elements of fiction and non-fiction will be covered through a variety of sources, including short stories, novels, plays, poems, articles, videos, internet, etc. Writing will cover fundamental grammar usage as we explore several writing styles, including a number of essay assignments.
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Blackout Poetry Students used pages from To Kill a Mockingbird to isolate then piece together single words or short phrases from these pages to create lyrical masterpieces that illuminate some kind of larger idea, message, or theme. Then, they added an illustration or design that connects to their poem. Finally, they wrote a literary analysis paragraph that explain how the them of their poem was developed and how it directly connects to big ideas and themes from To Kill a Mockingbird. | Socratic SeminarsThe Socratic Seminar is named after the Greek philosopher Socrates, who believed in the power of social learning and deliberate discussion. Socrates believed that humans learned best from questioning and discussion. He believed discussion helped individuals critically think through complex ideas and learn better than they could on their own. You can think of a Socratic Seminar as an “intellectual discussion,” but you can also see it as a conversation where you “think out loud” and “talk it out.” Essentially, it is a student-led discussion over a text or big idea. | Speed Debating To practice our study of rhetorical appeals (ethos, pathos, and logos), students engaged in a variety of mini-debates with both silly and serious topics. Each main argument was allotted 30 seconds and each rebuttal was 15 seconds. Students used their knowledge of rhetoric (the art of persuasion) to challenge their peers. |
Blackout Poetry
Socratic Seminars
The Socratic Seminar is named after the Greek philosopher Socrates, who believed in the power of social learning and deliberate discussion. Socrates believed that humans learned best from questioning and discussion. He believed discussion helped individuals critically think through complex ideas and learn better than they could on their own. You can think of a Socratic Seminar as an “intellectual discussion,” but you can also see it as a conversation where you “think out loud” and “talk it out.” Essentially, it is a student-led discussion over a text or big idea.
Speed Debating
Required Materials
- Fully charged iPad
- Writing Utensil
- English Notebook
- Highlighters
- Ear buds/headphones
- A positive attitude :)
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Language (20%)
| Reading (35%)
| Writing (35%)
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Language (20%)
- Vocabulary instruction and tests
Reading (35%)
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
- Various short stories, selections of poetry, and non-fiction articles
- Independent reading selection
Writing (35%)
- Creative Writing/Narrative Essay
- Explanatory/Informative Essay
- Argumentative Essay
- Literary Analysis Essays
Speaking and Listening (10%)
- Socratic Seminars
- Small group/whole class discussion
- Literature Circles
- Formal Debate
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