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Academic Sequencing: English

English Department
Daniel Dorogusker, Assistant Principal
DDorogu@schools.nyc.gov

The English Department is committed to developing and enhancing our students' ability to think critically and express themselves effectively. The critical and aesthetic examination and analysis of classic and contemporary literature serve as a context for students' development as critical thinkers and writers with their own creative voice. All students must complete four years of English. The English Language Arts (ELA) Regents examination is generally taken after the junior year, but English honors students do so after the sophomore year (i.e. English 4H).

Close textual reading, process writing, and critical thinking skills drive the curriculum. A balanced literacy approach is also utilized.

The ELA curriculum includes the following components each term:

• Studying three or four major works (novels, dramas, and memoirs) in addition to short stories, poetry, and non-fiction essays.
• Producing a variety of writing products, including: reading responses, expository essays, reflective essays, literary essays, research papers, poetry, monologues, and dialogues.
• Writing a minimum of three essays, two specifically written in class to give students practice writing an organized, thoughtful essay in a forty-minute period of time.
• Building vocabulary, with a minimum of 100 new words pulled from the texts studied and/or SAT lists.
• Employing literary terms, with a minimum of 5-10 specific terms assigned each term according to grade level to ensure the scaffolding of skills and knowledge.
• Employing grammar devices, with a minimum of 5-10 specific devices assigned each term according to grade level to ensure the scaffolding of skills and knowledge.
• Mastering specific skills needed for success on the ELA Regents including modeling of essay prompts. Skills covered include: listening, reading and producing reports, reading graph material, comparing/contrasting two pieces of literature, interpreting texts through a critical lens, and firmly taking a position or point of view in writing an essay.
• Utilizing skills needed for success on the SAT 2400; models of the SAT essay prompts are utilized to help students prepare for the writing portion of the exam.

Special note: If you are currently in E2PS, please see your guidance counselor ASAP to choose a foreign language class for next year.

            Students at LaGuardia take English courses for four years.  Each English class is annualized, which means students are expected to remain in the same class with the same teacher for the duration of the year.
            English Honors:  The level of teaching and learning in honors classes requires students to make use of strong analytical reading and writing skills and exercise great discipline.  Request enrollment in honors only if you are prepared for a significant workload and challenging grading policies.  Placement in honors classes is based on a rubric whose criteria follow:  subject grade average on the eighth-grade report card, the score on the standardized ELA examination, and attendance in seventh and eighth grade.

Every student in a regular class is programmed for the next course in the departmental sequence automatically. No action on your part is required on Daedalus.
For honors, AP, and elective classes, please carefully read the information below to see if registration is required.
If a student were to fail a class, that student would be programmed for Summer/PM school. These classes are compulsory and ensure timely graduation!

Current Ninth Grade Students

Any student currently in the English Honors Program who maintains an average of 85 or above on the second marking period report card will be programmed automatically for the next honors class in the sequence. English 2 Honors students should not apply for English 3 Honors on Daedalus: We will program them for this class automatically.

If a student would like to join the honors program, he or she will need to apply online through the Daedalus system.  Any student whose cumulative subject average is 90 or above will be automatically be accepted into the pool of students who are qualified to take the class.  If the student does not meet this criterion, Daedalus will direct the student to add his or her name to a list that will be given to the department for evaluation.

Current Tenth Grade Students

Any student who would like to register for AP classes will do so online using Daedalus.  Any applicant with a cumulative average of 90 or above in a subject will automatically be accepted into the appropriate AP English class. If the student does not meet this criterion, Daedalus will add the student's name to a list that will be given to the department chair for evaluation.

Current Eleventh Grade Students

Any student who would like to register for AP classes will do so online using Daedalus. Any applicant with a cumulative average of 90 or above in a subject will automatically be accepted into the appropriate AP English class.  If the student does not meet this criterion, Daedalus will add the student's name to a list that will be given to the department chair for evaluation.
A number of electives are available for seniors. Please choose an English elective online using Daedalus. This will be your English class. You may neither choose two electives nor count AP English as an English elective.

Grade 9

English 1 and 2 - The grammar and composition component is focused on the study of grammar components, literary texts, vocabulary, and other related skills with the main objective to hone written and verbal communication. Types of writing produced include: reading responses, reflective essays, personal narratives, literary essays, and creative assignments. Literature studied includes: plays by Sophocles, Shakespeare, and Wilson; novels by Salinger, Kingsolver, and Morrison; and a variety of non-fiction essays, short stories, myths, and poems.

English 1 Honors and English 2 Honors - Freshman Honors follows the freshman English curriculum at an accelerated pace with higher expectations and more required independent reading and writing.

Reading Workshop - A supplementary English course for students who need to build literacy skills. The course follows the workshop model and supports student reading and writing across the disciplines. Class size is reduced.

Grade 10

English 3 and 4 - British literature is the focus of the sophomore curriculum, with a heavy emphasis on works by William Shakespeare. Students continue their progress as critical readers, writers, and thinkers. The stress is on writing analytic literary essays, but students also practice expository and persuasive strategies in preparation for the ELA Regents. In addition to Shakespeare’s tragedies and comedies, students read works by Chaucer, Swift, Austen, Emily and Charlotte Bronte, Dickens, Hardy, Joyce, Wilde, Woolf, Huxley, Orwell, and various poets.

English 3 Honors and English 4 Honors - Sophomore Honors follows the sophomore English curriculum at an accelerated pace with higher expectations and more required independent reading and writing. Students are also prepared for the ELA Regents exam in June.

Grade 11

English 5 and 6 - American literature is the focus of the junior curriculum with a theme that explores what it means to be American, the role of literature in shaping the American identity, and the power of the American dream. Students are exposed to research skills and develop deeper analytic thinking and writing skills. In addition to analytic literary essays, students produce reading responses and creative assignments. Literature studied includes: plays by Miller and Williams; novels by Hawthorne, Chopin, Twain, Wharton, James, Hurston, Wright, Fitzgerald, Steinbeck, and Ellison; and a variety of poems.

English Language and Composition, Advanced Placement-This course engages students in becoming skilled readers of non-fiction essays and texts from a variety of periods, disciplines, and rhetorical contexts, and in becoming skilled writers for a variety of purposes. Students are prepared for the AP Language and Composition exam. The course also incorporates some of the American literature covered in the junior year curriculum.

Writing Workshop - The Writing Workshop (EWWP) is for 10th and 11th graders who need a classroom environment that lays greater emphasis on the writing process. Students in EWWP follow a curriculum that mirrors the requirements of E3/4 and E5/6, both in terms of reading and writing. Students read classics of English and American literature, and write analytical, persuasive, and expository essays. Pre-writing exercises, drafting, and revising skills are built in to prepare students for the ELA Regents. Students in EWWP take the ELA with their cohort in June of their junior year.

Grade 12

English 7 - World literature is the focus of the senior fall term and covers literature from all continents, including writers like Aristotle, Sophocles, Flaubert, Marquez, Dostoyevsky, Ibsen, Saikaku, Kafka, Sartre, Hesse, Allende, and Yoshimoto. Students work on their college application essay, write a research paper, and produce comparative literary essays.

English 8 - The spring term offers seniors a variety of electives, including: Asian Literature, Black Literature, Creative Writing, Film and Literature, Psychology and Literature, and Science Fiction. In each course, students are required to make formal presentations, write analytic and creative essays, and read a book independently in preparation for collaborative work in book groups.

Creative Writing - This course is designed to hone students’ creative voices while they study different genres and styles. Students produce a portfolio of creative poetry, essays, and short stories. Students in the class are also involved in writing for and helping produce the school’s literary magazine, The Lively Arts. In addition to creative writing, students work on the college application essay and the analytic literary essay.

English Literature and Composition, Advanced Placement-This course involves close and critical reading of outstanding works of literature from ancient to present times. Students analyze the writers’ craft and use of language to both better appreciate literature and to prepare for the AP examination. Literature studied includes work by Aristotle, Shakespeare, Balzac, Ibsen, Shaw, Joyce, Kafka, Hesse, Faulkner, Hemingway, and Marquez, and poets like Donne, Keats, Eliot, and Plath. Students also work on their college application essay, write an extensive research paper, and produce a variety of analytic literary essays.

Writing Workshop - This course is designed to assist students who have demonstrated writing challenges and need to focus on writing skills. Students read literature, but the emphasis of the course is on improving writing skills. Writing in the computer lab is scheduled weekly, and students work on the various tasks and skills required on the ELA Regents.

Library and Media Center

The Library is open to all members of the school community throughout the day. Students are welcome whenever they have no scheduled class, providing they present their program card or official school pass. Students may borrow circulating materials using their school photo identification card.

The Library has a large collection separated into various areas: Art, Music, Dance, Drama, cds, and videos. In addition, there is an assortment of material related to literature and the social sciences that support the curricula. Numerous databases (accessible at school and home) are available to students as well. As students attending a New York City public high school, LaGuardia students are entitled to a New York City Public Library card -- which gives them borrowing privileges and access to hundreds of additional database resources.