LANGUAGE ARTS

Four credits in English must be earned for graduation including English 9, 10, 11 & 12.

Ninth grade General English - This class is a survey of selected short stories, essays, poetry, drama, epic poetry, and longer pieces of literature including a minimum of two novels, taught as a unit or assigned for independent study. The students will be expected to do some type of research to review library skills, but students do not have to produce a research paper.

Ninth grade Honors English - This class is a survey of selected short stories, essays, poetry, drama, epic poetry, mythology, and longer pieces of literature including a minimum of five novels, assigned for summer reading. The students will be expected to produce a thesis, source cards, an outline, a rough draft, and a 4-6 page typed research paper, including a Words Cited page, on a literary topic.

Tenth grade General English - This class is a survey of selected short stories, essay, biographies, poetry, drama, legends, and a minimum of three novels assigned as a class unit or independent study. The student will be expected to produce a thesis, source cards, an outline, a rough draft, and a 4-6 page typed research paper, including a Works Cited page, on a teacher-approved topic.

Tenth grade Honors English - This class is a survey of selected short stories, essays, biographies, poetry, drama, legends, and a minimum of six novels assigned for summer readings, for a class unit, or for independent study. The students will be expected to produce a thesis, source cards, an outline, a rough draft, and a 4-6 page typed research paper, including a Works Cited page, on a literary topic.

Eleventh grade General English - This class is a survey of diaries, speeches, political documents, short stories, essays, poetry, drama, and a minimum of three novels assigned a s a class unit or for independent study. The students will be expected to produce a thesis, source cards, an outline, a rough draft, and a 4-6 page typed research paper, including a Works Cited page, on an American history or American literary topic.

Eleventh grade Honors English - This class is a survey of diaries, speeches, political documents, short stories, essays, poetry, drama, and a minimum of seven novels assigned for summer reading for a class unit, or for independent study. The students will be expected to produce a thesis, source cards, an outline, a rough draft, and a 4-6 page typed research paper, including a Works Cited page, on a literary topic.

Twelfth grade General English - This class is a survey of poetry and prose, which reflect various periods in British history, a minimum of three books as a class unit for independent study. The students will be expected to produce a thesis, source cards, an outline, a rough draft, and a 4-6 page typed research paper on a literary topic.

Twelfth grade Advanced Placement English - This class follows national guidelines of works commonly tested on the AP exam. This is a college level course, and many of the works cited are of a mature nature. Literature is selected from a variety of historical and modern forms and culture, including twelve novels, six full length dramatic works, eight literature based essays, a full length MLA format research paper, and several other research projects.

 Creative Writing - This class offers dedicated writers the opportunity to produce and showcase their creative works in an environment of peer critique and review. Students will be responsible for a final portfolio consisting of a variety of writings, including poetry, essays, short stories, and one long work decided on by the student and teacher.

No more than two credits may be earned during four years. This is an elective course.

Speech - this class requires students to be active participants in class, forces students to overcome anxiety about speaking in front of a group, and teaches students a discrete set of communication skills. Students will write and present an informative speech, a how-to-speech, and a persuasive speech. Students will work in groups to present a courtroom trial, mock interviews, awards/acceptance speeches, and a storytelling presentation for the students at Gardendale Elementary.