Journalism Studies

Credits: 1

Journalism Studies is concerned with the role of journalism in a democracy and with helping students grow in their language skills–particularly writing. The course will help students learn to gather, write, edit, publish, and produce news and other information for print and electronic media. In this course, students will also become knowledgeable about journalism and learn to organize their time, meet deadlines, think objectively, develop original styles, and gain experience in communicating clearly and effectively.

Secondary Level journalism experiences can help students write, speak, and represent more precisely, more clearly, and more persuasively. Students can become better listeners, readers, viewers, and thinkers, as well as consumers of oral, print, and other media texts. A course in journalism allows students opportunities to communicate important information to others. It encourages them to use creativity and imagination while demanding discipline, responsibility, and ethical behavior.

Several principles underlie this course:

This course places language and, in particular, journalism in the context of communication. Throughout each module, students are encouraged to apply the “5W+H” questioning process to each communication situation:

• Who is communicating?
• What is being communicated?
• To whom is it communicated?
• What medium is used?
• What is the purpose of the communication? To inform and instruct? To persuade? To entertain?
• How effective is the communication?

This course places an emphasis on writing in a range of formats, for a variety of purposes and audiences. Regardless of the medium, students will have an opportunity to practice the writing process, including:

1. Prewriting–collecting and generating ideas and opinions
2. Drafting–shaping and exploring the various forms and styles of journalistic expression
3. Revising–critically evaluating, editing, and proofreading their own and others’ work
4. Publishing or producing–finding a forum for their polished works.

In this course, students also learn how the particular mode of publication affects the presentation of an event or issue. A particular issue or story may be written in a variety of ways, depending on whether its publication or production will be in a print medium or in an electronic broadcast medium. Students should also understand the relationships between various types of media and the effects of technological innovations upon the traditional styles of presentation.

Throughout this course, students will have the opportunity to explore the principles governing the publication or production of each medium. They should understand the social, ethical, and legal obligations of a journalist, including:

• The duty of journalists to serve the truth
• The public’s right to know of events of public importance and interest
• The foundations of journalism–truth, accuracy, and objectivity
• The legal obligations and restraints on the press
• The ethical considerations of journalism.

This course is activity-based. Students learn by doing. Language learning thrives when students are engaged in meaningful use of language. Students should be given many opportunities to experiment and explore the various media used by journalists and the issues associated with these media. Students should be invited and encouraged to become involved in analysis, inquiry, and hands-on activities related to journalism.

Fantasy Writing

In this course, students explore science fiction and fantasy authors and writing styles and then create a 3D fantasy world of their own. After an introduction to the sub-genres of science fiction and fantasy, students learn how to research ideas to make their 3D virtual fictional worlds viable. Developing characters, plotting, constructing a scene and narrative voice are part of any good fantasy novel or short story. Students complete exercises that enhance their understanding of these essentials. In the last part of the course, students concentrate on symbolism and how to develop it.
This course focuses on two distinct literacy types of imaginative literature; science fiction, fantasy. The special characteristics of each group will be defined and applied to specific literary works. As a culminating project, students create a 3D Fantasy virtual world  and give others a chance to read and travel through the 3D story.

Books read include:

• The Enchanted Forest Chronicles
• Science Fact and Fiction, The Science Fiction Hall of Fame 
• The Last Unicorn
• The Hobbit
• We Have Always Lived in the Castle

English 9

Credits: 1

This is the first course in a four-year program designed to ensure that students will develop the highest degree of personal literacy necessary to succeed in college. Each student is expected to build an extensive portfolio of self-initiated as well as teacher-assigned reading and writing. The study of assigned literature will be primarily by genre, but students will have ample opportunity for self-selected reading as well. Personal management skills are essential to success in this course as in college. This course also consists of basic aspects of grammar, usage, and diction; interest-creating literature, including mythology, short stories, and contemporary young adult novels; composition; and an introduction to public speaking.

Objectives

The student will:

•  Understand and appreciate some of the literature of our culture.
• Explore the varied kinds of literature and the value of each.
• Understand that through literature one can explore his own growth, his relationship to his family and peer groups, and his search for values to live by.
• Expand one’s vocabulary.
• Understand the structure of the language.
• Use English effectively in communication.
• Express oneself and in effect gain insight into one’s own feelings and beliefs.

Reading List

• Pharaoh’s Daughter: A Novel of Ancient Egypt (Paperback) by Julius Lester
• The Scribes from Alexandria by Caroline Lawrence
• The Golden Goblet (Newbery Library, Puffin) (Paperback) by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
• Inside the Walls of Troy (Laurel-Leaf Books) (Mass Market Paperback) by Clemence Mclaren
• Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
• Non-Fiction Book of Student’s Choice
• The Odyssey
• Self-Selected novels for reading workshop

English 10

Credits: 1

This course builds upon the basic framework of our English 9 course with a particular emphasis on the historical periods of from the Renaissance and Reformation in Europe. This academic English course stresses the comprehension and appreciation of literature by reading short stories, modern plays, Shakespeare, and novels. Writing  concentrates on development techniques, literary analysis, and personal writing. Vocabulary, grammar, and 3D virtual world play production is aimed at improving oral and written expression. This English course is designed to complement our World History 2 course but may be taken individually.

This English course gives students:

1) A recognition that certain universal human concerns appear at all times and places and that an understanding of the past and the unfamiliar is a necessary part of a valid concept of what it means to be human.

2) An aesthetic appreciation of the forms and styles of literature that are the products of diverse cultures.

3) An ability to communicate their perceptions effectively and creatively. In this course, students study works written from the Renaissance and Reformation in Europe, as well as participate in a reading and writing workshop with a focus on the genre of historical fiction to supplement English skills. Studying these works will increase awareness of the diversity of human cultures and of their underlying similarities.

Objectives

• To develop your ability to read literature with understanding and enjoyment.
•  To help you gain an understanding of diverse cultures and their literature.
• To become familiar with several important works and genres of world literature.
• To use writing to explore, develop, and communicate your responses to the reading assignments.
• Know the historical terms and characters of The European Reformation.
• Describe the major thinkers of the Enlightenment and their achievements.
• Describe the development of England and France in 17th and 18th centuries.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the people and events that influenced the economics, politics, and culture of the Middle Ages.

Reading List

• The Canterbury Tales: Geoffrey Chaucer
• Selected readings from Project Gutenburg
• Shakespeare Study
• Romeo and Juliet

Historical Fiction

• Beowulf- graphic novel by Gareth Hinds

• Mary Bloody Mary: Carolyn Myer
• The Midwife’s Apprentice
• Adam of the Road

English 11

Credits: 1

Objectives

By the end of this course, students will be able to understand:

•  The nature of literature and approaches to its study, with particular attention to the concept of world literature.
•  The nature of aesthetics and ideas about literary art, including the meaning of being human.
• How major ideas, issues, values, and institutions in world societies have shaped cultures, and the effect these have on individuals.
•  The evolution of literary forms and genres, including examples of scriptural-ethical treatises, myths, epics, dramas, narrative prose, and poetry.
• The ways in which literature reflects the ideas and views of human nature and the relation of human society to the cosmos, i.e., the ways in which different world societies view themselves.
• The particular expression of human emotions and their reflection, in the overall human context, of the individual’s relationship to him/herself, society, and environment.
• How the literature reflects the major social, political, and individual concerns of world societies.
• How the arts reflect the major social, political, and individual concerns of world civilizations.
• Evaluate and identify the scientific, industrial and philosophical changes of the 19th century.

Reading List

• Short Stories and Poems of Poe
• Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
• The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
• The Pigman by Paul Zindel
• The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
• Choose ONE of Charlotte or Emily Bronte’s novels
• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
• Huckleberry Finn by Samuel Clemens
• Franz Kafka’s short novel The Metamorphosis

English 12

Credits: 1

This course is designed to expose students to an eclectic approach to literature and is comprised of a diverse set of topics. These units include:

• Film History and Criticism
• Comparative Literature Studies
• Poetry
• American Humor in Literature
• Drama; and Faith,
• Philosophy
•  Psychology in Literature

In addition to the core literature studies, students will  prepare and present a final 3D virtual world culminating project focused on an additional area covered in English 12.

Objectives

Students will:

• Compare and contrast motivations and reactions of literary characters confronting similar conflicts (e.g., individual vs. nature, freedom vs. responsibility, individual vs. society), using specific examples of characters’ thoughts, words and actions.
•  Analyze the historical, social and cultural context of setting.
•  Explain how voice and narrator affect the characterization, plot and credibility.
• Evaluate the authors use of point of view in a literary text.
•  Analyze variations of universal themes in literary texts.
•  Recognize characteristics of subgenres, including satire, parody and allegory, and explain how choice of genre affects the expression of a theme or topic.
• Analyze the characteristics of various literary periods and how the issues influenced the writers of those periods.
• Evaluate ways authors develop point of view and style to achieve specific rhetorical and aesthetic purposes (e.g., through the use of figurative language, irony, tone, diction, imagery, symbolism and sounds of language), citing specific examples from texts to support analysis.