The Cherokee County School District’s English and Language Arts curriculum is based on the integration of teaching listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. Teaching concepts in literature as they relate to students’ lives and future career choices, teaching problem solving skills and instructing in the application of technology in the teaching of language arts is also stressed.
There is a required core curriculum of four English units for all students. Success in the English program will prepare students for a wide variety of career and life opportunities.
Core Requirements
9th Grade Literature and Composition
Integrates writing, grammar usage, literature, speaking and listening. Covers the writing process: planning, drafting, revising, editing and proofreading. The mastery of formal writing: personal narratives, descriptive writing, and expository writing in addition to grammar, will be emphasized.
10th Grade Literature and Composition World Literature/Composition
Includes literary selections from a diverse collection of writers to promote literacy proficiency through a variety of writing styles. This course stresses organization and development of written thought, as well as grammar, mechanics, usage, research skills, and activities designed to enhance speaking and listening abilities.
11th Literature and Composition American Literature/Composition
Offers opportunities to improve reading, writing, speaking/listening, and critical thinking skills through the study of American literature. This course teaches a variety of literary genres and multicultural writers in a chronological or thematic pattern.
12th Advanced Composition/Honors Advanced Composition
This course focuses on the writing process (planning, drafting, and revising). The students will focus on different writing genres and organizational structures: expository, persuasive, narrative, descriptive, comparison-contrast, exemplification, process analysis, classification, cause and effect, and definition. Advanced grammar skills will be a major component of this class. An emphasis on research is also required.
English ESOL I-IV
I. Offers a basic English grammar and vocabulary practice for speakers of other languages. Emphasizes comprehension and production of spoken and written English and focuses on interpersonal communication skills and United States culture.
III. Emphasizes descriptive, personal narrative, and expository writing and includes grammar, mechanics, and usage in written assignments for speakers of other languages. Covers authors and selections from world literature such as poetry, short stories, novels, drama, and mythology. Stresses vocabulary development and requires writing assignments on academic topics as well as personal narratives.
IV. Provides thorough review and further development of writing and speaking of English as an additional language. Emphasizes the processes of speaking and writing, including planning, drafting, and revising. Focuses on different modes of discourse: expository, persuasive, narrative and descriptive. Covers grammar, mechanics, usage, and spelling and develops vocabulary and comprehension skills necessary for advanced communication.
AP English Language & Composition/ American Literature
Focus on content, purpose, and audience to organize in writing; become skilled readers of prose written in a variety of periods, disciplines, and rhetorical contexts; compose for a variety of purposes with a clear understanding of purpose, audience expectations, subjects and the way conventions and resources of language contribute to writing effectiveness; examine primary and secondary sources to synthesize materials for their writing.
Advanced Placement Literature/Composition
Advanced Placement Literature and Composition course conforms to the College Board recommendations for the Advanced Placement Literature and Composition Examination. This course covers the study and practice of writing and reading of literature. It stresses modes of discourse, assumptions underlying rhetorical strategies, connotation, metaphor, irony, syntax, and tone. It places an emphasis on writing critical analysis of literature and includes essays in exposition and argument, poetry, drama, prose, fiction, and expository literature.
Journalism I-IV
Explore journalistic writing through analysis of newspapers, yearbooks, literary magazines and broadcast journalism publications. Concentration on purpose, influence, and structure, and language arts.