ELA Courses Overview

9th Grade Literature & Composition

This course focuses on a study of literary genres; the students develop an initial understanding of both the structure and the meaning of a literary work. The students explore the effect of the literary form in regards to interpretation. The students will read across the curriculum to develop academic and personal interests in different subjects. While the focus is technical writing in ninth grade literature, the student will also demonstrate competency in a variety of writing genres:  narrative, expository, persuasive, and technical.  The students will engage in research, timed writings, and the writing process. Instruction in language conventions will occur within the context of reading, writing, and speaking, rather than in isolation. The students demonstrate an understanding of listening, speaking, and viewing skills for a variety of purposes. 

AP English Language and Composition

This course focuses on content, purpose, and audience as the guide for the students’ organization in writing.  The course will enable students to become skilled readers of prose written in a variety of periods, disciplines, and rhetorical contexts.  The students will compose for a variety of purposes with a clear understanding of the writer's purpose, audience expectations, and subjects as well as the way conventions and resources of language contribute to writing effectiveness.  Expository, analytical, and argumentative writings support the academic and professional communication required by colleges; personal and reflective writing support the development of writing facility in any context.  Students will examine primary and secondary sources to synthesize materials for their writing.  An AP syllabus will be submitted and approved by College Board.

Journalism

This course focuses on journalistic writing through analysis of newspapers, yearbooks, literary magazines, and broadcast journalism publications.  A concentration on the following components of journalistic writing is critical:  influence, purpose, structure, and diction.  Reading, writing, and critical thinking are key components as students explore the power and influence of journalism.  Students will participate in news gathering, the study of ethics, and the aspects of copywriting, editing, and revising and will study the ethics of journalism.  If a publication is produced, the students will learn the process of publishing. 

Courses are available for Journalism I through IV; course complexity increases throughout the series.

World Literature & Composition

This course focuses on a study of World Literature; the students develop an understanding of chronological context and the relevance of period structures in literature within world cultures. A focus is to explore the ways the work’s place of origin affects its structure and how the chronology of a literary work affects its meaning. The students develop an understanding of literature as both a culture’s product and a culture-bearer. An exploration of commonalities and differences among works of literature from different times and places in the world is a major component. The students will read across the curriculum to develop academic and personal interests in different subjects. Depending on which grade level this course is taught, the teacher will follow strands from the Georgia Performance Standards for that grade level for composition, conventions, and listening, speaking, and viewing. 

10th Grade Literature & Composition

This course focuses on a study of literary genres; the student develops understanding that theme is what relates literature to life and that themes are recurring in the literary world.  The students explore the effect of themes in regard to interpretation. The students will read across the curriculum to develop academic and personal interests in different subjects. While the focus is persuasive writing in tenth grade literature, the student will also demonstrate competency in a variety of writing genres:  narrative, expository, and technical.  The student will engage in research, timed writings, and the writing process. Instruction in language conventions will occur within the context of reading, writing, and speaking, rather than in isolation. The students demonstrate an understanding of listening, speaking, and viewing skills for a variety of purposes. 

American Literature & Composition

This course focuses on the study of American literature, writing modes and genres, and essential conventions for reading, writing, and speaking. The student develops an understanding of chronological context and the relevance of period structures in American literature. The students develop an understanding of the ways the period of literature affects its structure and how the chronology of a work affects its meaning. The students read a variety of informational and literary texts in all genres and modes of discourse. Reading across the curriculum develops students’ academic and personal interests in different subjects. While expository writing is the focus in American literature, the students will also demonstrate competency in a variety of writing genres:  narrative, persuasive, and technical. The student will engage in research, timed writing, and the writing process. Instruction in language conventions will occur within the context of reading, writing, and speaking. The students demonstrate an understanding of listening, speaking, and viewing skills for a variety of purposes.  

British Literature & Composition

This course focuses on the study of British literature and informational texts, writing modes and genres, and essential conventions for reading, writing, and speaking. The students develop an understanding of chronological context and the relevance of period structures in British literature. The students develop an understanding of the ways the period of literature affects its structure and how the chronology of a work affects its meaning. The students encounter a variety of informational and literary texts and read texts in all genres and modes of discourse. Reading across the curriculum develops the students’ academic and personal interests in different subjects. While the continued focus is expository writing in British literature, the student will also demonstrate competency in argumentative and narrative genres. The students will engage in research, the impact that technology has on writing, timed writing, and the writing process. Instruction in language conventions will occur within the context of reading, writing, and speaking, rather than in isolation. The students demonstrate an understanding of speaking and listening skills for a variety of purposes.