Harwich Public Schools

English Language Arts Curriculum

(10 February 2005)

Grade:    Nine

GENERAL STANDARD 1: Discussion

Students will use agreed-upon rules for informal and formal discussions in small and large groups.

Group discussion is effective when students listen actively, stay on topic, consider the ideas of others, avoid sarcasm and personal remarks, take turns, and gain the floor in appropriate ways. Following agreed-upon rules promotes self-discipline and reflects respect for others.

1.5 Identify and practice techniques such as setting time limits for speakers and deadlines for decision-making to improve productivity of group discussions.

Student Learning Outcomes	Instructional Strategies	Texts/ Materials	Assessment
Identify and practice techniques such as setting time limits for speakers and deadlines for decision-making to improve productivity of group discussions	For example, in preparation for a class debate, students plan an agenda for discussion, including how long they will allow each speaker to present a case or argument. They build into their agenda time for making decisions and taking votes on key issues.	Selected Current Issues  provided by teacher, selected by students, or generated from reading materials; minute timer; rules of debate	Discussion Rubric Socratic Method

GENERAL STANDARD 2: Questioning, Listening, and Contributing

Students will pose questions, listen to the ideas of others, and contribute their own information or ideas in group discussions or interviews in order to acquire new knowledge. Group discussions may lead students to greater complexity of thought as they expand on the ideas of others, refine initial ideas, pose  hypotheses, and work toward solutions to intellectual problems. Group work helps students gain a deeper understanding of themselves as they reflect upon and express orally their own thinking in relation to that of others.

2.5 Summarize in a coherent and organized way information and ideas learned from a focused discussion.

Student Learning Outcomes	Instructional Strategies	Texts/ Materials	Assessment
Summarize in a coherent and organized way information and ideas learned from a focused discussion	For example, students discuss similarities and differences in the presentation of adolescent issues, coming of age, and prejudice in society by authors such as John  Steinbeck and Harper Lee. Then they summarize what they learned from the discussion, noting those similarities and differences	Literature Anthology The Pearl To Kill A Mockingbird Farewell To Manzanar Mama Flora’s Family	Skits/Presentations Discussion Rubric Journals/Diaries Compare/Contrast Essay Written Quiz/Test

GENERAL STANDARD 3: Oral Presentation

Students will make oral presentations that demonstrate appropriate consideration of audience, purpose, and the information to be conveyed.

Planning an effective presentation requires students to make an appropriate match between their intended audience and the choice of presentation style, level of formality, and format. Frequent opportunities to plan presentations for various purposes and to speak before different groups help students learn how to gain and keep an audience’s attention, interest, and respect.

3.14 Give formal and informal talks to various audiences and for various purposes using appropriate level of formality and rhetorical devices.

Student Learning Outcomes	Instructional Strategies	Texts/ Materials	Assessment
Give formal and informal talks to various audiences and for various purposes using appropriate level of formality and rhetorical devices	Upon completion of research paper, students will make a formal presentation of newly acquired knowledge. Students will also develop dialogue relative to their age group for skits.	Written guidelines for oral presentation. Teacher generated scenarios	Presentation Rubric

3.15 Analyze effective speeches made for a variety of purposes and prepare and deliver a speech containing some of these features.

Student Learning Outcomes	Instructional Strategies	Texts/ Materials	Assessment
Analyze effective speeches made for a variety of purposes and prepare and deliver a speech containing some of these features	For example, students study the rhetoric of formal speaking by reading or listening to such memorable speeches as Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have A Dream”. And current material gleaned from mass media After analyzing several of these models, students write and deliver a short persuasive speech on a current topic of interest.	Literature Anthology Newspaper Television Internet	Oral Presentation Rubric

3.16 Create an appropriate scoring guide to prepare, improve, and assess presentations.

Student Learning Outcomes	Instructional Strategies	Texts/ Materials	Assessment
Create an appropriate scoring guide to prepare, improve, and assess presentations.	Students analyze presentations and then collaborate and agree upon criteria for a scoring guide, or rubric. Then create template for scoring guide.	Computer generated template	Collaboration rubric Usability rubric

GENERAL STANDARD 4: Vocabulary and Concept Development

Students will understand and acquire new vocabulary and use it correctly in reading and writing. Our ability to think clearly and communicate with precision depends on our individual store of words. A rich vocabulary enables students to understand what they read, and to speak and write with flexibility and control. As students employ a variety of strategies for acquiring new vocabulary, the delight in finding and using that perfect word can heighten interest in vocabulary itself.

4.23 Identify and use correctly idioms, cognates, words with literal and figurative meanings, and patterns of word changes that indicate different meanings or functions.

Student Learning Outcomes	Instructional Strategies	Texts/ Materials	Assessment
Identify and use correctly       idioms      cognates       words with literal and         figurative meanings      patterns of word changes that           indicate different meanings or          functions.	For example, students read The House On Mango Street and identify examples of idioms, cognates, and words with literal and figurative meanings in the text. Students then use the examples in a literary essay that focuses on patterns of word changes and how they indicate different meanings or functions in the writing. Also, students read and do exercises from chapter 13 of the Elements of Writing, Third Course text that help them to understand the multiple layers and meanings of words and then write and advertisement applying what they learned.	The House on Mango Street Chapter 13 of the Elements of Writing, Third Course, pages 455-460.	Expository writing Writing Rubric Student-produced advertisement Ad Rubric

4.24 Use knowledge of Greek, Latin, and Norse mythology, the Bible, and other works often alluded to in British and American literature to understand the meanings of new words.

Student Learning Outcomes	Instructional Strategies	Texts/ Materials	Assessment
Use knowledge of      Greek      Latin      Norse mythology      the Bible      and other works often alluded        to in British and American       literature to understand the         meanings of new words	For example, students come across the word narcissistic in a literary work and reread the myth of Narcissus and Echo to understand the meaning of narcissistic. After they encounter the words genetic or mercury in their readings for science, they read a portion of Genesis to understand genetic, or the myth about the god Mercury to understand the meaning of mercury or mercurial.	Greek Mythology The Bible	Test/Quiz Whole-class Discussion

4.25 Use general dictionaries, specialized dictionaries, thesauruses, or related references as needed to increase learning.

Student Learning Outcomes	Instructional Strategies	Texts/ Materials	Assessment
Use      general dictionaries      specialized dictionaries      thesauruses      related references as needed to increase learning.	For example, students are given a list of vocabulary words from a text such as To Kill A Mockingbird.  They must look up the definition, word origin, and at least one synonym for each word using a standard dictionary, etymological dictionary, and/or thesaurus. Students must then use each word correctly in a piece of writing.	Collegiate Dictionary Thesaurus Etymological Dictionary Dictionary.com	Test/Quiz Creative/Expository writing Short response writing

GENERAL STANDARD 5: Structure and Origins of Modern English

Students will analyze standard English grammar and usage and recognize how its vocabulary has developed and been influenced by other languages.

The English language has changed through time and through contact with other languages. An understanding of its history helps students appreciate the extraordinary richness of its vocabulary, which continues to grow. The study of its grammar and usage gives students more control over the meaning they intend in their writing and speaking.

5.23 Identify simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences.

Student Learning Outcomes	Instructional Strategies	Texts/ Materials	Assessment
Identify simple      compound      complex      compound-complex sentences	For example, students write an imaginative or expository piece and use peer editing to identify compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences, or lack of sentence variety in the writing.	Student-generated imaginative or expository writing Peer editing form/checklist	Peer editing feedback form

5.24 Identify nominalized, adjectival, and adverbial clauses.

Student Learning Outcomes	Instructional Strategies	Texts/ Materials	Assessment
Identify      nominalized clauses      adjectival clauses      adverbial clauses	For example, students read and do exercises from chapter 17 of the Elements of Writing, Third Course text that help them to identify the three types of clauses.	Chapter 17 of the Elements of Writing, Third Course	Test/Quiz Exercises from textbook

5.25 Recognize the functions of verbals: participles, gerunds, and infinitives.

Student Learning Outcomes	Instructional Strategies	Texts/ Materials	Assessment
Recognize the functions of verbals:      participles      gerunds      infinitives	For example, students read and do exercises from chapter 16 of the Elements of Writing, Third Course text that help them to identify the three types of verbals.	Chapter 16 of the Elements of Writing, Third Course	Test/Quiz Exercises from textbook

5.26 Analyze the structure of a sentence (traditional diagram, transformational model).

Student Learning Outcomes	Instructional Strategies	Texts/ Materials	Assessment
Analyze the structure of a sentence      traditional diagram       transformational model	For example, students analyze the clauses and phrases in the first two lines of Robert Louis Stevenson’s poem, My Shadow: “I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me, And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.”	Poems of Robert Louis Stevenson	Sentence diagram

5.27 Identify rhetorically functional sentence structure (parallelism, properly placed modifiers).

Student Learning Outcomes	Instructional Strategies	Texts/ Materials	Assessment
Identify rhetorically functional sentence structure     parallelism     properly placed modifiers	For example, students write an imaginative or expository piece and use peer editing to identify parallelism in the writing. For example, students read and do exercises from chapter 21 of the Elements of Writing, Third Course text that help them to identify properly placed modifiers.	Student-generated imaginative or expository writing Peer editing form/checklist Chapter 16 of the Elements of Writing, Third Course	Peer editing feedback form Test/Quiz Exercises from textbook

5.28 Identify correct mechanics (semicolons, colons, hyphens), correct usage (tense consistency), and correct sentence structure (parallel structure).

Student Learning Outcomes	Instructional Strategies	Texts/ Materials	Assessment
Identify correct mechanics semicolons      colons      hyphens correct usage tense consistency correct sentence structure parallel structure	For example, students read and do exercises from chapters 22-28  of the Elements of Writing, Third Course text that help them to identify correct mechanics, punctuation, usage and sentence structure.     Also, students write an imaginative or expository piece and use peer editing to identify parallelism in the writing.	Chapters 22-28 of the Elements of Writing, Third Course Student-generated imaginative or expository writing Peer editing form/checklist	Test/Quiz Exercises from textbook Peer editing feedback form

5.29 Describe the origins and meanings of common words and foreign words or phrases used frequently in written English, and show their relationship to historical events or developments (glasnost, coup d’état).

Student Learning Outcomes	Instructional Strategies	Texts/ Materials	Assessment
Describe the origins and meanings of common words and foreign words or phrases used frequently in written English Show their relationship to historical events or developments (glasnost, coup d’état).	For example, students read and do exercises from chapter 13 of the Elements of Writing, Third Course text that help them to describe the origins and uses of the English language.	Chapter 13 of the Elements of Writing, Third Course	Test/Quiz Exercises from textbook

GENERAL STANDARD 6: Formal and Informal English

Students will describe, analyze, and use appropriately formal and informal English.

Study of different forms of the English language helps students to understand that people use different levels of formality in their writing and speaking as well as a variety of regional and social dialects in their conversational language.

6.8 Identify content-specific vocabulary, terminology, or jargon unique to particular social or professional groups.

Student Learning Outcomes	Instructional Strategies	Texts/ Materials	Assessment
Identify content-specific vocabulary, terminology, or jargon unique to particular social or professional groups	For example, students read To Kill A Mockingbird and identify passages in text that reveal the dialect and jargon of southern culture and craft an essay discussing the importance of the language to understanding the major themes of the text.	To Kill A Mockingbird	Expository writing Writing Rubric

6.9 Identify differences between the voice, tone, diction, and syntax used in media presentations (documentary films, news broadcasts, taped interviews) and these elements in informal speech.

Student Learning Outcomes	Instructional Strategies	Texts/ Materials	Assessment
Identify differences between the        voice      tone      diction      syntax used in media presentations (documentary films, news broadcasts, taped interviews) and these elements in informal speech	For example, students watch and analyze a news broadcast to compare the voice, tone, diction and syntax of the newscaster and the people interviewed for the story.	Compare/Contrast T-chart	T-chart Whole-class discussion

GENERAL STANDARD 8: Understanding a Text

Students will identify the basic facts and main ideas in a text and use them as the basis for interpretation. (For vocabulary and concept development see General Standard 4.) When we read a text closely, we work carefully to discern the author’s main ideas and the particular facts and details that support them. Good readers read thoughtfully and purposefully, constantly checking their understanding of the author’s intent and meaning so that their interpretations will be sound.

For imaginative/literary texts:

8.29  Identify and analyze patterns of imagery and symbolism.

Student Learning Outcomes	Instructional Strategies	Texts/ Materials	Assessment
Identify and analyze patterns of imagery and symbolism	Students will read texts, such as, The Pearl, The House On Mango Street, selected poems and identify passages using imagery and symbolism to convey a message, emotion, or theme. Students then craft a piece of writing that mimics or emulates the writing style and uses imagery or symbolism.	The Pearl, The House On Mango Street, Every Time A Rainbow Dies, I heard the Owl Call My Name	Writing simulation/emulation of authors style and language use. Written Test or Quiz

8.30 Identify and interpret themes and give supporting evidence from a text.

Student Learning Outcomes	Instructional Strategies	Texts/ Materials	Assessment
Identify and interpret themes and give supporting evidence from a text	Students will read texts, such as, To Kill A Mockingbird and Romeo and Juliet and identify passages that convey the major themes of the work.	To Kill A Mockingbird and Romeo and Juliet, Seed Folks	Expository writing Writing Rubrics

For informational/expository texts:

8.31 Analyze the logic and use of evidence in an author’s argument

Student Learning Outcomes	Instructional Strategies	Texts/ Materials	Assessment
Analyze the logic and use of evidence in an author’s argument	For example, students read and analyze a persuasive essay such as Calling Arthur Murray, paying particular attention to the logic and use of evidence in the author’s argument.	The Elements of Writing; pages 305-306	Persuasive essay Writing Rubric

GENERAL STANDARD 9: Making Connections

Students will deepen their understanding of a literary or non-literary work by relating it to its contemporary context or historical background.

By including supplementary reading selections that provide relevant historical and artistic background, teachers deepen students’ understanding of individual literary works and broaden their capacity to connect literature to other manifestations of the creative impulse.

9.6 Relate a literary work to primary source documents of its literary period or historical setting.

Student Learning Outcomes	Instructional Strategies	Texts/ Materials	Assessment
Relate a literary work to primary source documents of its literary period or historical setting.	For example, students read To Kill A Mockingbird and then research newspaper articles related to the Great Depression to deepen their understanding of the historical context in which the book was written.	To Kill A Mockingbird Romeo and Juliet Oedipus Rex Antigone	Expository Essay Research Paper Rubric

GENERAL STANDARD 10: Genre

Students will identify, analyze, and apply knowledge of the characteristics of different genres. We become better readers by understanding both the structure and the conventions of different genres. A student who knows the formal qualities of a genre is able to anticipate how the text will evolve, appreciate the nuances that make a given text unique, and rely on this knowledge to make a deeper and subtler interpretation of the meaning of the text.

10.5 Compare and contrast the presentation of a theme or topic across genres to explain how the selection of genre shapes the message.

Student Learning Outcomes	Instructional Strategies	Texts/ Materials	Assessment
Compare and contrast the presentation of a theme or topic across genres to explain how the selection of genre shapes the message	For example, students compare and contrast the themes of love and alienation in selected poems and contemporary music lyrics.	Poems from the text Popular music choices selected by the students Lyrics from internet sources	Oral Presentation Outlining and identification of similarities through use of essays and checklists

GENERAL STANDARD 11: Theme (Continued)

Students will identify, analyze, and apply knowledge of theme in a literary work and provide evidence from the text to support their understanding.

11.5 Apply knowledge of the concept that the theme or meaning of a selection represents a view or comment on life, and provide support from the text for the identified themes.

Student Learning Outcomes	Instructional Strategies	Texts/ Materials	Assessment
Apply knowledge of the concept that the theme or meaning of a selection represents a view or comment on life  provide support from the text for the identified themes	For example, students analyze and compare selections such as A Day No Pigs Would Die and A Yellow Raft In Blue Water to identify the theme of coming of age. Students then compose a comparison/contrast essay on the theme using specific examples from the texts to support their ideas.	A Day No Pigs Would Die, Yellow Raft in Blue Water, The Pearl, To Kill A Mockingbird, Romeo and Juliet	Unit essays comparing two or more novels that share the same theme through use of evidence (quotes) from the text.

GENERAL STANDARD 12: Fiction

Students will identify, analyze, and apply knowledge of the structure and elements of fiction and provide evidence from the text to support their understanding. We learn from stories. They are vehicles for a student’s development of empathy, of moral sensibility, and of understanding. The identification and analysis of elements of fiction—plot, conflict, setting, character development, and foreshadowing—make it possible for students to think more critically about stories, to respond to them in more complex ways, to reflect on their meanings, and to compare them to each other.

12.5 Locate and analyze such elements in fiction as point of view, foreshadowing, and irony.

Student Learning Outcomes	Instructional Strategies	Texts/ Materials	Assessment
Locate and analyze such elements in fiction as      point of view      foreshadowing      irony.	For example, after reading a short story such The Open Window, students work in small groups to analyze the story for point of view, foreshadowing and irony. The groups then present evidence supporting their ideas to the class	Short stories from the text, “You need to go Upstairs”, Yellow Raft in Blue Water	Small group discussion rubric Tests and Quizzes Rewrite lines from story so they are from a different point of view essay

GENERAL STANDARD 13: Nonfiction

Students will identify, analyze, and apply knowledge of the purpose, structure, and elements of nonfiction or informational materials and provide evidence from the text to support their understanding. Most students regularly read newspapers, magazines, journals, or textbooks. The identification and understanding of common expository organizational structures help students to read challenging nonfiction material. Knowledge of the textual and graphic features of nonfiction extends a student’s control in reading and writing informational texts.

13.24 Analyze the logic and use of evidence in an author’s argument

Student Learning Outcomes	Instructional Strategies	Texts/ Materials	Assessment
Analyze the logic and use of evidence in an author’s argument	Students will read Kennedy’s Inaugural address and assess the effectiveness of his argument.	Various autobiographies from text, speeches and current newspapers and journals.	Class discussion Persuasive essays Tests/quizzes

13.25 Analyze and explain the structure and elements of nonfiction works.

Student Learning Outcomes	Instructional Strategies	Texts/ Materials	Assessment
Analyze and explain the structure and elements of nonfiction works.	For example, students analyze the structure and element of Russell Baker’s Growing Up to those found in fictional works.	Growing Up, The Dog that Bit People, A Lincoln Preface	Compare/contrast essays of fictional and non-fictional work

GENERAL STANDARD 14: Poetry

Students will identify, analyze, and apply knowledge of the theme, structure, and elements of poetry and provide evidence from the text to support their understanding. (See also Standard 15.) From poetry we learn the language of heart and soul, with particular attention paid to rhythm and sound, compression and precision, the power of images, and the appropriate use of figures of speech. And yet it is also the genre that is most playful in its attention to language, where rhyme, pun, and hidden meanings are constant surprises. The identification and analysis of the elements generally associated with poetry— metaphor, simile, personification, and alliteration—have an enormous impact on student reading and writing not only in poetry, but in other genres as well.

14.5 Identify, respond to, and analyze the effects of sound, form, figurative language, graphics, and dramatic structure of poems:

Student Learning Outcomes	Instructional Strategies	Texts/ Materials	Assessment
Identify, respond to, and analyze the effects of sound, form, figurative language, graphics, and dramatic structure of poems: • sound (alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhyme scheme, consonance, assonance) • form (ballad, sonnet, heroic couplets) • figurative language (personification, metaphor, simile, hyperbole, symbolism) • dramatic structure	For example, students respond to, analyze, and compare a variety of poems that exemplify the range of the poet’s dramatic power—such as In The Plaza We Walk”, The Bells, The Courage My Mother Had, The Centaur and other various poems from the text.	Unit 3 – Anthology of Poetry	Test/quizzes Essay Rubrics for original work incorporating similar literary techniques

GENERAL STANDARD 15: Style and Language

Students will identify and analyze how an author’s words appeal to the senses, create imagery, suggest mood, and set tone and provide evidence from the text to support their understanding. (See also Standard 14.) Above all, authors are wordsmiths, plying their craft at the level of word and sentence—adding, subtracting, and substituting, changing word order, even using punctuation to shift the rhythm and flow of language. Much of a student’s delight in reading can come from identifying and analyzing how an author shapes a text.

15.7 Evaluate how an author’s choice of words advances the theme or purpose of a work.

Student Learning Outcomes	Instructional Strategies	Texts/ Materials	Assessment
Evaluate how an author’s choice of words advances the theme or purpose of a work	For example, while viewing a historical documentary, students analyze how the scripted voice-over narration complements the spoken excerpts from period diaries, letters, and newspaper reports.	Shakespeare In The Classroom video	Quiz/Test

15.8 Identify and describe the importance of sentence variety in the overall effectiveness of an imaginary/literary or informational/expository work.

Student Learning Outcomes	Instructional Strategies	Texts/ Materials	Assessment
Identify and describe the importance of sentence variety in the overall effectiveness of an        imaginary/literary