The Four Unit Year 9 th Grade English At MVHS: What a student can expect

What the year looks like 4) Discovering Personal and Cultural Identity 3) Forming and Maintaining Relationships 2) Understanding Moral and Ethical Decision Making 1) Becoming a Scholar and Leader

What’s the difference ? The Literature-centered approach: When Steinbeck describes the tree as having “recumbent limbs” what is the effect on the reader? What event foreshadows Lenny’s death? Who is to blame for the tragic deaths of Romeo and Juliet? What’s the recurring metaphor in this poem? Who saved Scout and Jem at the end of the novel? What happens to Esperanza in Red Clowns? Compare and contrast Theseus and Hercules. The book is at the center of the curriculum

What’s the difference? The student- centered approach: Student Inquiry (4 Unit Year) Approach: Focus is on the student and his/her inquiry process. Why do people through the centuries write about relationships, especially those involving love and hate? Is there anything the contemporary literature shows the human race has learned about family relationships in the last ten years? What do literature and my experience suggest about deciding who is and isn’t a scholar? Compare the strategies for resolving ethical conflict employed by Mayella Ewell and Friar Lawrence. After reading my two literature circle books, can you determine whether identity formation can ever be largely free from struggle?

Ok, but what’s the difference to me? Greater student choice in reading materials, writing topics and styles. Greater variety in materials. Greater opportunity for students to be responsible for the level of their learning. Greater opportunity for students to direct their own learning.

The Essential Questions Every unit has its own set of provocative, challenging questions that you will learn to answer using fiction, non-fiction, film clips, the internet, newspapers, interviews, etc. instead of using a book to answer questions about it.

All of the texts (fiction, non-fiction, movies, songs, poetry, advertisement, etc.) we encounter have something to tell us about who we are and how we can live our lives. When we interpret them meaningfully, we expand our understanding of the world around us and become more thoughtful and interesting people. The Enduring Understanding