| Curriculum Map 2006-2007 | |||
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The Dwight School |
| Period | Content | Purpose/ Objectives | Activities & Resources | Areas of Interaction | Assessments | |
| Grammar : | Text: Writing Workshop, Second Course -- Holt, Reinhart & Winston Major areas of study: parts of speech, direct objects, indirect objects, predicate nominatives, predicate adjectives, adjective and adverb phrases, infinitive and participle phrases, gerunds, appositives, adjective, adverb and noun clauses. •Other emphasized chapters: Commas, semi-colons, colons, dashes, words most often confused, sentence starters, consistent tense. |
•To develop and reinforce an understanding of parts of speech and components of a sentence to facilitate discussions concerning usage. •To understand the conventions of written language that help effective communication. •To distinguish between various idioms and types of usage in order to choose the correct language for a particular situation. •To develop correct spelling and grammar through the use of personal checklists. |
• Exercises from Writing Workshop, Second Course -- Holt, Reinhart & Winston •Exercises from Holt Handbook, Second Course -- Holt, Reinhart & Winston •Worksheets and mini-lessons on particular aspects of grammar and usage. •Personal Proofreading Lists—Individualized lists where students record and keep track of frequent errors in their own writing. •Peer editing of student writing. •Personal Spelling Lists—Individualized lists where students keep track of frequent spelling errors in their own writing. |
Homo Faber: How does language help us communicate? Approaches to Learning: Can I choose better words or eliminate unnecessary words to convey meaning more precisely, and to make my sentences more specific and more descriptive? Approaches to Learning: How do conventions such as spelling and punctuation add clarity to sentences? |
•Grammar quizzes and tests. •Weekly Word Study and Partner Quizzes on spelling words compiled from Personal Spelling Lists. •Editing and revision is an assessed component of all written work. |
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| Honors Program : | Texts: The House on Mango Street, Sandra Ciscernos; The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien; The Red Badge of Courage, Stephen Crane. |
The English Department’s Honors Program is designed to inspire our most talented and most highly motivated students to read beyond the English curriculum by exploring additional assigned texts. Program participants gather periodically with their teachers for after-school group discussions and are required to write reports on what they’ve read. Those students who achieve a grade of 85 or above in English for the year, participate in group discussions, and submit reports that meet, in the opinion of the teachers, an acceptable level of accomplishment, earn the distinction of having been enrolled in an Honors English course. |
• Periodic discussions of relevant themes and aspects of the novels. • A three-page analytical essay focusing on a particular aspect of each novel. |
Approaches to Learning: How can students learn to work independently to read and analyze a piece of literature by themselves. Approaches to Learning: How can students make thematic connections between the texts they read for school and texts they read on their own? |
Analytical essays graded according to the MYP Language A Rubric |
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| Reading and Writing Workshop : | • An exploration of various genres of writing through various creative projects such as memoirs, short stories, poetry anthologies, expository essays and speeches. • An opportunity for students to read personal reading books and respond in personal reading journals. |
•To explore a variety of genres including memoir, poetry, essay, fiction, and test writing. •To explore a variety of conventions and techniques within each genre to make student writing more engaging and provocative. •To promote creative writing in all forms – poems, journals, news stories, friendly and thank-you letters, book reviews, essays, etc. |
•In connection with the Camerer Essay, the memoir study allows students to write and revise a personal memoir on a topic of their choosing; in-class lessons during this study include the difference between showing and telling in a narrative, the importance of a narrator’s thoughts and feelings; incorporating a lead-in to grab the reader’s attention, etc. •In connection with the poetry unit, the poetry anthology asks students to choose five of their favorite poems and write their own tribute poems, mimicking the original’s meter, rhyme scheme, symbolism, and tone. • In connection with the Doris Post speech, students are asked to write a persuasive speech on a topic of their choosing—this speech will be structured as a persuasive essay and leads into a study of the essay form and its associated conventions. • In connection with the interdisciplinary week on the interrelationship between change and conflict, students study a variety of short stories and then write their own short story about a conflict or change from 19th century American history. |
•Homo Faber: How does a writer make a subject interesting? •Homo Faber: Why do we write? •Health and Social Education: How can the process of writing help us deal with difficult personal and social issues? |
•Students are graded on the MYP's 7-point scale, using a 30-point rubric (rating Content, Organization, and Style and Language on scales of 1-10), paying attention to overall development, strength and clarity of argument, organization and support, sentence structure, word choice, and mechanics. The numerical representation is as follows. 7 is extraordinary, 6 is excellent, 5 is very good, 4 is good, 3 is satisfactory, 2 is below satisfactory and 1 is poor. Formal essays on texts are also graded on the same basis. • Students are also frequently assessed according to the quality of their revisions and their adherence to Personal Proofreading and Spelling Lists. |
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| Vocabulary : | Text: Vocabulary Workshop, Second Course—Holt, Reinhart and Winston. |
-To enrich students' vocabulary skills. -To scaffold vocabulary words found the primary texts. -To provide students with the skills and strategies necessary for determining the meanings of unfamiliar words through the use of the words in context, the analysis of the word's structure (i.e. Latin and Greek roots, prefixes, suffixes), and the identification of phonetic clues and similar sounding words. |
-Weekly Vocabulary lists. -Weekly "Wordbusting" exercises, where students guess the meanings of unfamiliar words based on context, structure or sound. |
Approaches to Learning: What strategies can we use to guess the meaning of unfamiliar words? |
- Weekly quizzes on words that assess a students ability to define the vocabulary words and use them in a complete sentence that shows the meaning of the word in context. - “Wordbusting” exercises as a component of the homework grade. |
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| Flowers for Algernon : | •Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. |
•To explore how a character and his voice and outlook changes over time. •To discuss the connection between writing and thought •To explore the benefits and dangers of knowledge and education. |
•Reading in class and at home •Class discussions and close readings of key passages •Take-home and in-class essays |
•Health & Social Education: How does society treat the mentally challenged? •Homo Faber: Was the experience that Charlie had worth the difficulties he faced? Was it worth it for Charlie to have had the operation? |
•Short answer quizzes •In-class essay graded according to the MYP Language A Rubric. |
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| Grammar : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Honors Program : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Camerer Essay : | A personal essay on a topic of the student's choosing. Length 400-800 words. |
This is an annual competition in memory of Dr. Emil Camerer, who served as headmaster of the Dwight School for 32 years. This essay contest has been a tradition at the Dwight School since 1895. The purpose is both to develop the student's writing ability by engaging in an effort to produce a significant, polished piece of writing, and to give the student an outlet for either relating a meaningful experience or describing and discussing something personally significant. |
• In connection with the Camerer Essay, the seventh grade studies the genre of a memoir allowing students to write and revise a personal memoir on a topic of their choosing • In-class lessons during this unit include the difference between showing and telling, the importance of including a narrator's thoughts and feelings, and how to incorporate a lead-in to grab the reader's attention. • All essays must be original, type-written, and double-spaced. Short stories and any form of wildly fantastic writing are not appropriate for the purpose of this essay. • Students will write the essay in two typewritten drafts. The first draft will be marked by the teacher but will not receive a grade. Students will be expected to carefully read through their teacher’s comments in order to produce a significantly improved second draft that will be submitted along with the marked first draft. • For purposes of the competition, the revised draft should have, in place of the student’s name, a pseudonym of the student’s invention. |
Homo Faber: How do individuals use writing to express significant moments in their life? Health and Social Education: What has happened to you that changed your life or helped you develop into the person you are? |
• The first draft will not be graded; however, the grade on the second draft will reflect both the effort and accomplishment of the two drafts. • All drafts must be submitted by their assigned deadlines. Lateness will be penalized. • The best six essays grade-wide will be read by all the members of the English Department to determine a winner. The seventh grade teacher will not participate in the judging, and the student's use of a pseudonym on the second draft of the essay is a further measure to ensure impartiality. The writer of the winning essay will receive a prize awarded at the end of the year. |
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| Reading and Writing Workshop : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Vocabulary : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Flowers for Algernon : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Grammar : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Honors Program : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Reading and Writing Workshop : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Vocabulary : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Poetry : | •A Poetry Handbook, Mary Oliver. •Selected poems by authors such as Tennyson, Frost, Dickinson, Collins, Neruda, Basho, etc. |
•To study various poetic forms including odes, sonnets, and sestinas. •To learn how poetic devices such as tone, imagery, sound, rhyme scheme, metaphor, simile, personification, and symbolism affect the overall meaning of a poem. |
•In-class close readings and discussions; poetry short answer questions. •Poetry Anthology: This project asks students to choose five of their favorite poems and write their own tribute poems, mimicking the original’s meter, rhyme scheme, symbolism, and tone. |
•Homo Faber: How is poetry different from prose? Why do people choose to express themselves using poetry? |
•Short Answer Homework questions • The Poetry Anthologies are graded according to the layout and design of the anthology itself, and how skillfully the students have imitated their chosen poems with regards to meter, rhyme, figurative language, symbolism, and tone (see attached rubric).  Poetry Rubric |
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| Grammar : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Honors Program : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Reading and Writing Workshop : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Vocabulary : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| A Midsummer Night's Dream : | A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare. |
•To understand how a play differs from a novel. •To understand the various components of drama such as blocking, performance, tone, stage directions. •To gain an appreciation for Shakespeare’s use of language. •To memorize a Shakespearean monologue. |
•In-class and at-home reading of the play. •The use of study guides (in book) to augment the understanding of plot, characters and action. •Dramatic exercises and activities such as inflection. •Dramatic readings and enactments of the play in class. |
•Homo Faber: What is the play’s underlying message regarding love? •Homo Faber: How is drama different from fiction? What can a play do that a novel cannot? •Approaches to Learning: What study techniques can students use to memorize a monologue? |
•Monologue memorization assignment. •In-class essay graded according to the MYP Language A rubric. |
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| Grammar : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Honors Program : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Reading and Writing Workshop : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Vocabulary : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Of Mice and Men : | •Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. |
•To discuss and understand Steinbeck’s use of characterization and symbolism. •To recognize and grapple with the moral issues raised by the novel, e.g. What moral obligation do we have to care for others? |
•Reading in class and at home. •Class discussions and close readings of key passages. • Simulated trial for the character of George to discuss whether he should be punished for the murder of Lennie. • Screening of the 1992 version of Of Mice and Men; discussion of the differences between the book and the movie |
•Homo Faber: How does the structure of the novel affect the meaning? •Health and Social Education: What moral obligations do we have to one another? •Health and Social Education: What does it mean to be a good friend? |
• Quizzes on reading comprehension, and character identification. • Creative Reading Response—Students either rewrite the final chapter of the story or write a subsequent chapter, while incorporating some of the symbolism introduced earlier in the novel (see attached handout and rubric for details). Of Mice and Men Rewrite AssignmentOf Mice and Men Rubric |
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| Grammar : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Honors Program : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Reading and Writing Workshop : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Vocabulary : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Around the World in 80 Days : | Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne. |
•To understand the strengths and weaknesses of habits and routines. •To study geography as the characters traveled the world. •To understand how innovations and technologies can affect the interaction between different societies. |
•In-class and at-home reading. •Discussions and close readings of particular passages. |
•Health and Social Education: How are routines important in our daily lives? •Health and Social Education: Is the world getting smaller because of technology? |
•In-class reading comprehension quizzes. •In-class essay on the relevance of Around the World in Eighty Days in 2006 graded according to the MYP Language A Rubric. |
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| Grammar : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Honors Program : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Reading and Writing Workshop : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Vocabulary : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Short Stories : | A selection of short stories from the anthology 21 Great Stories as well as various other selections. The short story list includes: “The Lady & the Tiger” by Frank Stockton; “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe; “The End of Something” and “Hills like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway; “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; “Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce; "The Catbird Seat" and "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" by James Thurber; "There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury; "War" by Luigi Pirandello; "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin. |
•To identify an author’s approach to a story through an analysis of various forms of structure, point of view and voice. •To discuss the roles of setting, time and culture. •To discuss the way in which stories depend on conflict to exist. |
•Reading comprehension quizzes. •Controversial topics and social issues. • In connection with the interdisciplinary week on the interrelationship between change and conflict, students study a variety of short stories and then write their own short story about a conflict or change from 19th century American history. |
• Health and Social Education: How are change and conflict interrelated? • Homo Faber: What are the elements of an engaging short story? |
Students are asked to write and revise a historical short story based in 19th century America. Students are graded on their ability to revise and to incorporate historical details into their short stories. Short stories are graded based on several preliminary revisions; the final product is assessed using the MYP Language A rubric. |
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| Grammar : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Honors Program : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Reading and Writing Workshop : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Vocabulary : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Doris Post Speech : | The Doris Post Oratory Competition is a yearly activity conducted by the English Department for all students in grades five through ten, in honor of Doris Post, a great orator and teacher who was part of the Dwight family for nearly fifth years. Each student in grade seven is required to write and deliver an original speech, three to four minutes in length, on a topic of his or her own choosing. |
Effective public speaking is an indispensable skill. The competition provides students with an opportunity to practice the craft of speech writing (i.e., introductions, examples, and conclusions) and the techniques necessary for a successful delivery (tone, inflection, dramatic pauses, and so on). Students are also developing poise by being required to speak in front of an audience. |
In-class speeches performed by all students. An after-school semifinal round performed before, and judged by, members of the English Department. The six semifinalists are chosen by their English teacher. A final Middle School competition of the three finalists from each grade, performed in an assembly of grades five through eight. |
Homo Faber: How do we write and deliver an effective speech? |
Students will be judged on the following criteria: Clarity and diction. Content and organization. Presentation (use of notes, eye contact, and posture.) |
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| Grammar : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Honors Program : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Reading and Writing Workshop : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Vocabulary : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| To Kill A Mockingbird : | To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. To Kill A Mockingbird (1963) starring Gregory Peck. |
•To understand issues such as compassion and empathy •To discuss the ambiguity of truth and justice •To understand various cinematic techniques through a careful analysis of the 1963 movie To Kill A Mockingbird |
•In-class and take home reading. •Film Study Assignment: Students will watch the film version of To Kill A Mockingbird. Then, in class, we will analyze various scenes to examine how effects such as lighting, cinematography, blocking, editing, and symbolism enhance the story. Finally, students will write an analytical essay focusing on the cinematic techniques used in one specific scene from the movie and how those techniques add to the scene's overall impact. |
•Homo Faber: How do directors, cinematographers, editors, and actors use cinematic effects to enhance the plot of a film? •Environment: How much of an impact does your culture and upbringing have on your life? •Community & Service: What sacrifices are necessary for moral behavior? |
•Students will be evaluated based on class discussions, comprehension quizzes, and the analytical essay on film study. |
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| Grammar : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Honors Program : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
See September for explanation. |
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| Reading and Writing Workshop : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| Vocabulary : | Ongoing. See September for details. |
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| To Kill A Mockingbird : | Ongoing. See May for details. |
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