The American Academy

Sports Literature focuses on various genres of challenging work about sports by a wide variety of great writers, from Wordsworth to Updike and many, many more. Readings and activities will include essays, journalism, poetry, movies, short stories, and books of non-fiction. Students will write analytical essays, personal essays, journalistic pieces, short stories, and poetry. Students will learn to value, appreciate, and demonstrate literacy through expressive and receptive language skills, and to understand and investigate the self, others, the culture, and the environment. Reading continues to be taught, emphasizing literary analysis/criticism, historical commentary, political statements, and culturally and historically significant literary works with the intent of preparing students to enter the world of work or higher education. Writing to learn emphasizes cause and effect, analysis and refutation of opposing opinions, and important text connections as well as investigate the self, others, the culture, and the environment.

The developmental needs of students approaching young adulthood are critical to secondary language arts teachers. The Utah Core focuses on reading and writing experiences that are developmentally appropriate: vocabulary instruction that evaluates connotation in text and compares and identifies word meanings using analogy and antonym context clues. Because human beings are never too old to improve their reading skills, reading instruction focuses on electronic text, using explicit and implicit information to evaluate informational text; on the ways in which character development and connections to politics, history, and culture contribute to great literature; and on more complex figurative language, including simile, metaphor, pun, symbolism and personification. Writing focuses on analysis and interpretation of multiple ideas and perspectives to extend thinking through writing. Persuasive writing is a continued emphasis in preparation for the Utah Basic Skills Test. Skills in analytical evaluation and assessment of writing are further nuanced, and editing skills are specific and clearly delineated. Inquiry skills are focused on synthesizing information in preparation for presenting research results.

The twelfth grade language arts course of study is for young adults who are preparing to enter the world of work, further training, or higher education. Vocabulary study focuses on word etymologies, and the incendiary nature of gender biased and racially/religiously/culturally biased language. The study of roots and affixes centers on Latin-based vocabulary. Reading continues to be taught, emphasizing literary analysis/criticism, historical commentary, political statements, and culturally and historically significant literary works. Writing to learn emphasizes cause and effect, analysis and refutation of opposing opinions, and important text connections. Revision and editing in written work are further refined, and inquiry becomes more meaningful as students approach graduation from school and entrance into the adult phase of their lives.

The needs of ninth grade students transitioning to high school are a fundamental concern to middle-level language arts teachers. The Utah Core focuses on reading and writing experiences that are developmentally appropriate: vocabulary instruction that compares connotation with denotation and identifies word meanings using sentence structure (grammar), reading instruction that focuses on inference and the difference between interesting and important information in informational text, and character development and more complex figurative language in narrative and poetry. Writing focuses on comparing multiple ideas and perspectives to extend thinking through writing, and concentrates on persuasive writing in preparation for the Utah Basic Skills Test. Skills in analytical evaluation and assessment of writing become more nuanced, and editing skills are specific and clearly delineated. Inquiry skills are focused on questioning as a research technique and evaluating sources of information.

Eleventh graders are seeking greater and greater independence. Where they are demanding more autonomy and respect as adults, they are still maturing and reaching for adulthood. The Utah Core focuses on reading and writing experiences that are developmentally appropriate. Vocabulary instruction looks at the cultural and contextual meanings of words. Reading instruction continues to offer young adults opportunities for improvement through growing sophistication in interaction with a variety of texts. Writing moves to analysis and interpretation of multiple ideas and perspectives to extend thinking and demands synthesizing of ideas to form conclusions and recommend actions. Analytical evaluation and assessment of writing are further nuanced, and editing skills are more sophisticated and specifically and clearly delineated. Inquiry skills are focused on synthesizing information in preparation for presenting research results.

Students will learn both the ethical and technical skills required of journalists. They will learn the lingo of journalism, and write headlines, feature stories, editorials, reviews, and columns. Students will be expected to read a newspaper at least twice a week, and stay abreast of current affairs. You will be responsible for creating 4 current events quizzes during the quarter--one every other week. Write 10 questions, and provide the answers. Include questions based on the following: 1 local news question, 3 state news questions, 3 national news and 3 international news questions.