First Nine Weeks: The first quarter of a freshmen English class should be built in such a way that enables teachers to identify gaps in learning as well as introduce them to the rigor of a high school course. I have spent much of the last two years building such a program. With this map, students begin the year with an in depth annotation unit followed by a quick research project and jumping right into a short story unit that focuses on significance in literature. The whole of the nine week program pairs fiction with non-fiction and informational readings!
Second Nine Weeks: The second quarter focuses on fiction through short stories, poetry and drama. The projects within both ask students to dive deeper into literary analysis and produce both literary analysis essays, creative projects and a poetry. While the activities within the first quarter center around cooperative reading, activities within this unit center strongly collaborative learning. Instead of leading students toward their end product, the teacher role during this quarter is more of facilitator than leader. Students are given the materials and tasked with working together to create the end product.
Third Nine Weeks: The first half of the third quarter focuses heavily on a variety of non-fiction texts (persuasion, informational and memoir) before turning the attention to longer texts. I have designed the first half of the school year to delve deeply into the TEKS. this allows the second semester to be more student directed. With a majority of the required skills and standards mastered, the goal is for students to show what they’ve learned.
Fourth Nine Weeks: By this time, my students are working on review for state testing after which we jump into the Odyssey. It is important to remember that by the last month of school, students are burnt out (and so are the teachers!!!). The Odyssey is a huge undertaking with low level readers. The curriculum map gives suggestions for how to shorten the unit and alternatives to put in place.
Tori Allred 