10th Grade Curriculum:
All content for English 10 is based on the Common Core curriculum adopted by New Jersey. To learn more about the Common Core and to see the English/Language Arts standards, please visit www.corestandards.org.
- Writing – Writing is one of the most valuable skills you can develop while in high school. We will practice multiple types of writing throughout the semester to prepare you for many future situations in which the ability to write well is essential.
- Literature – We will read, analyze, and respond to various texts written by authors of many different nationalities throughout the course of history.
- Vocabulary –We will have vocabulary quizzes each week. Our vocabulary is from a list of words most often seen on the SAT and ACT.
- Grammar – Good communication is greatly enhanced by an understanding of complex grammatical concepts. We will learn how to apply these concepts not just to questions from the grammar book, but more importantly, to your speaking and writing.
- Projects – Each unit will culminate with an engaging scenario: a project designed to allow you to show off what you learned in a relevant, real world context.
Required Reading:
- Students will read at least one play or novel each Marking Period
- At least one Shakespeare play is required
- Holocaust Selection Forgotten Fire or Night
Course Description:
English 10CP is a required course for all in The American Experience English proficient sophomore students. The study of literature includes the works contained , extended readings and recreational reading wherever possible. Students will deepen their understanding of various literary genres, including short story, novel, essay, and drama. Students will give oral presentations and practice active listening strategies. Students will use a variety of writing types for various purposes and audiences using the writing process. Students will respond to literature by writing, narrative, description, persuasive paragraphs, essays, and research papers, using technology when appropriate.
Selections should include all genres: Autobiography, Biography, Drama, Essay, Novel, Poem and Short Story.
Depending on the edition of The American Experience used, the following titles are suggested.
Beginnings to 1750
John Smith: from the General History of Virginia
William Bradford: from Of Plymouth Plantation
Jonathan Edwards: from Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
The Revolutionary Period
Benjamin Franklin from The Autobiography
From Poor Richard’s Almanack
Thomas Jefferson: The Declaration of Independence
A Growing Nation:
Washing Irving: The Devil and Tom Walker
Edgar Allen Poe: The Fall of the House of Usher
New England Renaissance:
Ralph Waldo Emerson: from Nature
From Self Reliance
Nathaniel Hawthorne: The Minister’s Black Veil
Suggested Novel/Play: The Scarlet Letter/The Crucible
Division, Reconciliation, and Expansion
Frederick Douglass: from My Bondage and My Freedom
Poetry Selections may be taken from the authors below:
Emily Dickenson
Edgar Allan Poe
Robert Frost
Walt Whitman
Additional selections may be added if time.
Realism/New Frontiers
Mark Twain: The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
Jack London: To Build a Fire
Ambrose Bierce: An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
Modern Age/Disillusion, Defiance, and Discontent
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby
Contemporary Writers/Present
Choose a selection from your anthology or a novel/play from the English Office.
Novel/Play Selections: Highlighted in red
Catcher in the Rye
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant- Short Stories
Ethan Frome
Forgotten Fire- Holocaust Selection- Required
Franny and Zooey
Huckleberry Finn
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Member of the Wedding
Nine Stories- Short Stories
Our Town- Play
Rabbit Run
The American Dream and The Zoo Story
The Celestial Railroad- Short Stories
The Cruicible- Play
The Five People you’ll meet in Heaven
The Great Gatsby
The Lovely Bones
The Old Man and the Sea.
The Raisin in the Sun- Play
The Red Badge of Courage
The Scarlet Letter
The Separate Peace
To Kill A Mockingbird
Shakespeare Selection- Choose One
Julius Caesar-Post Testing
Midsummer Night’s Dream-Post Testing
Required Writing:
Students will follow the State Standards for writing with particular emphasis on interpretive and persuasive essays.
Writing:
Using the reading selections throughout the year, the students will be instructed in the strategies to respond to:
- Picture Prompts
- Multiple-Choice Questions
- Open-Ended Questions
- Argumentive Essays
- Summaries
- Journals
Reading:
Active Reading strategies should be employed on a regular basis. Students should be asked to mark text whenever possible. The students should also continue to make use of graphic organizers and become increasingly familiar with using rubrics to self access.