West Windsor‐Plainsboro Regional School District Language Art I College Prep (CP) July 2021 West Windsor‐Plainsboro RSD Page 1 of 49 Language Arts I: College Prep (CP) Introduction Language Arts I is a disciplined curricula intended for the college‐bound ninth grade student interested in the critical examination of informational and literary texts. As students embark on their high school journey, they will begin by examining their own identity and how it affects the way they view literature, humanity, and society. Once grounded in their own personal identities, students will begin to examine texts that shed light on inequities in society. With a careful study of texts that reflect diverse voices and perspectives, students will build knowledge and empathy for non‐ dominant, and often marginalized, people and groups. Building on their middle school Language Arts experience, they will continue to explore issues of classism, sexism, heterosexism, ableism, and racism in core and choice texts. The incorporation of “Girl Rising” into the LA I curricula will enable students to make real world connections to the curriculum and gain beyond‐the‐classroom experiences about the relevance of Language Arts personally and globally. Students will bring a greater understanding to an analysis of the classics such as Homer’s The Odyssey and William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Students’ application of critical lenses to these texts will help determine how these texts have endured and express components of a universal human experience. This course will offer students the opportunity to grow not only in their proficiency as readers, writers, speakers, and listeners but as informed, critically aware citizens effecting change in the world. The main units of the course are: 1) Identity and Agency, a narrative unit that will help students reflect on who they are and how their individual backgrounds, biases, and beliefs affect how they see the world and comprehend text. This unit will also help students begin to see how they may, in turn, be agents of positive change. 2) Society and Structures: Past, Present, and Future focuses on the role of the writer as social critic through fictional and informational texts to enable students to cultivate a global awareness of social issues both in the past and in contemporary society. 3) Empathy, Change, and Transformation will challenge students' assumptions and expand their capacity for empathy as they continue to recognize systems of power and privilege. In this unit, students will engage in activities and assessments designed to foster the skills and dispositions necessary to become agents of change. 4) The Classics Reimagined focuses on the analysis of various classic and contemporary texts and will provide students points of entry to trace how themes take different forms and renditions indicative of changing cultural and institutional dynamics. 5)The “Floating” Poetry unit will enable students to learn about the conventions of poetry and make poetic connections to texts, themes, and ideas studied throughout the school year. West Windsor‐Plainsboro RSD Page 2 of 49 Integrated Units: The two units at the end of this guide are “integrated” units, meaning the concepts and skills in these units are embedded in the other units. The “Choice Reading” Integrated Unit emphasizes the importance of choice in building an authentic and meaningful reading life. The “Language Skills” Integrated Unit focuses on the power of grammar and vocabulary. In all of the units, students will learn to read, write, listen, and speak with a purpose and to construct meaning based on the lenses they bring to any given “text” ‐ ones they read, hear, view, write, and speak themselves. West Windsor‐Plainsboro RSD Page 3 of 49 Unit 1: Identity and Agency Content Area: Language Arts Course & Grade Level: Language Arts I 9th Summary and Rationale Unit One builds on the notion that, in order to move toward a more inclusive, equitable, and empathetic future, students must first reflect on their individual backgrounds, biases, and beliefs. One of the most powerful vehicles for such reflection is, and always has been, the art of storytelling. Short stories, selected media, and a novel, each representing different cultures, will present students with templates of self‐expression, illustrating the variety of ways “story” and “narrative” provide nourishment and healing. Students’ self‐reflections will serve as a foundation for recognizing their agency to effect positive change in their immediate realms of interaction, their community, and in the larger world. Recommended Pacing 45 days, approximately New Jersey Student Learning Standards for English Language Arts Standard: Standards for Reading Literature CPI # Cumulative Progress Indicator (CPI) RL.9‐10.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence and make relevant connections to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferentially, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain. RL.9‐10.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details and provide an objective summary of the text. RL.9‐10.3 Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme. RL.9‐10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone). RL.9‐10.5 Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing, flashbacks) create specific effects (e.g. mystery, tension, or surprise). RL.9‐10.6 Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature. RL.9‐10.7 Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each work (e.g., Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts” and Breughel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus). West Windsor‐Plainsboro RSD Page 4 of 49 RL.9‐10.9 Analyze and reflect on (e.g. practical knowledge, historical/cultural context, and background knowledge) how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work (e.g., how Shakespeare treats a theme or topic from mythology or the Bible or how a later author draws on a play by Shakespeare). RL.9‐ By the end of grade 9, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and 10.10 poems at grade level text‐complexity or above with scaffolding as needed. Standard: Writing CPI # Cumulative Progress Indicator (CPI) W.9‐10.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well‐chosen details, and well‐structured event sequences. A. Engage and orient the reader by setting out a problem, situation, or observation, establishing one or multiple point(s) of view, and introducing a narrator and/or characters; create a smooth progression of experiences or events. B. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, reflection, and multiple plot lines, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters. C. Use a variety of techniques to sequence events so that they build on one another to create a coherent whole. D. Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters. E. Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on what is experienced, observed, or resolved over the course of the narrative. W.9‐10.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade‐specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.) W.9‐10.5 Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, trying a new approach, or consulting a style manual (such as MLA or APA Style), focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience. W.9‐10.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, share, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically. Standard: Speaking and Listening CPI # Cumulative Progress Indicator (CPI) SL.9‐10.1 Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one‐on‐one, in groups, and teacher‐led) with peers on grades 9–10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. West Windsor‐Plainsboro RSD Page 5 of 49 A. Come to discussions prepared, having read and researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from texts and other research on the topic or issue to stimulate a thoughtful, well‐reasoned exchange of ideas. B. Collaborate with peers to set rules for discussions (e.g. informal consensus, taking votes on key issues, presentation of alternate views); develop clear goals and assessment criteria (e.g. student developed rubric) and assign individual roles as needed. C. Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that relate the current discussion to broader themes or larger ideas; actively incorporate others into the discussion; and clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions. D. Respond thoughtfully to various perspectives, summarize points of agreement and disagreement, and justify own views. Make new connections in light of the evidence and reasoning presented.