LEARNING OBJECTIVES FOR ENGLISH CLASSROOMS

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Reading Objectives:

Students will engage in daily, meaningful reading tasks in English class and/or at home.  The tasks will be based upon the following objectives:

1. Students will be able to use strategies before, during, and after reading to aid in the construction and enhancement of meaning

2. Students will be able to respond in discussions and in writing, using personal, literal, interpretative, and evaluative stances, to works of fiction and/or non-fiction.

3. Students will be able to identify and explain the function of essential short story elements in the writer’s craft (i.e. character, setting, conflict, plot, climax, resolution, theme, tone, point of view).

4. Students will be able to identify types of drama (i.e. comedy, tragedy) and to explain the function of essential dramatic elements and/or devices in the writer’s craft (i.e. soliloquy, dialogue, aside, act, scene, stage cues).

5. Students will be able to identify and explain the significance of the essential literary elements of novels (i.e. character, setting, conflict, plot, climax, resolution, theme, tone, and point of view)

6. Students will be able to identify and explain the significance of the essential elements of the writer’s craft in given poems (i.e. poetic structures such as the lyric, the sonnet, the free verse form; sound devices such as rhyme, rhythm, and alliteration; imagery including the visual, auditory, olfactory, and tactile word images that are created; figures of speech such as simile, metaphor, personification, symbolism).

    

7. Students will be able to participate in discussions and draft writing which demonstrates an understanding of diverse cultural perspectives.

8. Students will be able to participate in discussions and draft writing which demonstrates an understanding of personalities, trends, and beliefs that have shaped American history and culture.

9. Students will be able to demonstrate literal and inferential comprehension of works of non-fiction (i.e. newspaper and magazine articles) through participation in discussion and writing activities.

10. Students will be able to compare and contrast, in writing and through discussion, the literary elements and essential concepts of the works they are presently reading with those they have previously read or viewed.

11. Students will be able to explore, discuss, write about a similar topic or theme in two distinct disciplines (i.e. the hero in literature and the hero in history)

12. Students will be able to read and explore for enrichment works from various genre (novels, plays, poems, essays).

13. Students will be able to effectively access resources in the library/media center to complete at least one of the above objectives.

Writing Objectives:

Students will engage in daily, meaningful formal and/or informal writing tasks in English class and/or at home.  The tasks will be based upon the following objectives:

1. Students will be able to engage in informal writing assignments (i.e. reader response, free writing, focused free writing, prediction, response journals, dialectical notebook entries, and other pieces of writing that they do not take through the entire writing process).

2. Students will be able to engage in formal writing assignments that require utilization of all stages of the writing process.

3. Students will be able to choose and use a relevant pre-writing strategy that will help them to prepare for the assignment.

4. Students will be able to write several rough drafts of a paper to revise clarity and depth of content or to edit style and mechanics.

5. Students will be able to engage in revision in the following areas:

1. language, information, style, voice and structure appropriate to the purpose and selected audience
2. clear, understandable, and accurate language
3. incorporation of sentence variety (simple, compound, complex)
4. incorporation of varied sentence beginnings (introductory prepositional phrases, participial phrases, adverbial clauses, adjectival phrases)
5. fluent and precise transitions between sentences, ideas, and paragraphs
6. appropriate organization and order of words, sentences and paragraphs within an essay

i.              specificity and relevance of topic

ii.                  introduction that conveys the subject and purpose through a precise and well-maintained, tightly focused thesis statement

iii.                unified and coherent body that contains appropriate and adequate detail

iv.                conclusion that summarizes, restates the topic, or goes further to make a final statement on the topic

7. addition of details and support
8. deletion of unnecessary words, phrases, sentences, sections
9. use of teacher and/or peer feedback to improve the piece

6. Students will be able to engage in proofreading in the following areas:

1. individual student’s major goal area(s)
2. complete sentences (avoiding fragments, comma splices, and run-ons)
3. subject verb agreement
4. effective use of active and passive voice
5. parallel structure
6. pronoun antecedent agreement
7. verb tense consistency
8. capitalization
9. proper MLA documentation (in-text citations and works cited)
10. punctuation

i.        end punctuation

ii.                  commas, colons, and semi-colons

iii.                periods in abbreviations

iv.                apostrophes

v.                  quotation marks, commas, and periods in direct quotations

7. Students will be able to engage in teacher and/or peer conferences during any or all stages of the writing process.

8. Students will be able to evaluate their own writing according to established criteria and rubrics.

9. Students will be able to maintain neatly organized writing portfolios for use in tracking their growth as maturing writers.

10. Students will be able to publish their works in various genres and for various audiences and purposes.

Speaking and Listening Objectives:

Throughout their high school years, students will improve their ability to achieve all of the following objectives with increasing ease and sophistication.  In meeting the objectives listed below, students will use language appropriate for the classroom.

1. Students will be able to read orally with expression indicative of comprehension and tone.

2. Students will be able to respond orally to written works, grounding their ideas in the text.

3. Students will be able to ask and answer questions logically and effectively.

4. Students will be able to engage critically and constructively in oral exchanges of ideas (i.e. class discussions, peer group assignments, panel discussions).

5. Students will be able to support a position in discussion or in formal debate.

6. Students will be able to confer with peers about given topics/activities.

7. Students will be able to offer constructive feedback.

8. Students will be able to participate actively and effectively in cooperative groups while assuming the roles of facilitator, recorder, presenter, and motivator.

9. Students will be able to deliver a clear, coherent oral presentation using information and diction suitable for subject, purpose, and audience.

10.  Students will be able to participate in both sides of an interview process.

11. Students will be able to listen attentively.

12. Students will be able to understand spoken instructions and give spoken instructions to others.

13. Students will be able to identify major concepts and ideas in speeches, discussions, audio and video presentations.

14. Students will be able to show respect for the diverse dialects, traditions, and opinions of their classmates.

Media Technology Objectives:

Each year, students will demonstrate their ability to meet at least three of the objectives listed below.

1.                  Students will be able to respond in discussions and in writing to a news report in the electronic or print media.

2.                  Students will be able to cite evidence of personal opinion or propaganda in articles which are presented as factual.

3.                  Students will be able to view and write a critical review of a television show.

4.                  Students will be able to demonstrate understanding of character, conflict, and theme of a film by responding in writing or discussion with support.

5.   Students will be able compare or contrast written text with its cinematic rendering by responding in writing or discussion.

6.      Students will be able cite differences in perspective or content in one specific news event as reported in various forms of media.

7.      Students will be able to view and respond personally in discussion and writing to an educational public television production.

8.      Students will be able to analyze media stereotypes in class discussions and in written reports.

9.      Students will be able to discuss and write about the effects of media devices and techniques (i.e. camera angles, fades, music)

10.  Students will be able to compose a story in various media (i.e. print, video, play)

11.  Students will be able to produce a documentary.

12.  Students will be able to write a report analyzing and evaluating advertising in newspapers, magazines, radio, and/or television.

13.  Students will be able to use computers and all available technology to enhance their communication skills.

14.  Students will be able to effectively utilize the school library media centers resources to meet at least one of the above objectives.