Welcome to English Skills!

overview

English Skills is a requirement for any CCHS student with more than one credit of English to finish. It is the first class all students take - two packed modules that will introduce you to the essential reading and writing skills you'll use during your time at CCHS.

driving questions

• How do we write clearly and directly?
• Why is it important to become a writing ninja, especially in an age of texting and Snapchat?
• What is the value of learning the writing process, rather than just putting something down on paper?
• How do we break down texts to understand them better?

goals

• The student will master clear and direct writing.
• The student will develop and employ their ability to revise and edit personal writing.
• The student will be able to analyze and discuss their writing using grammatical language.
• The student will utilize reading strategies to read for comprehension and analysis.

c-tachs

• Reading
  • Cite strong textual evidence to support analysis of explicit and implicit meaning of text
  • Read and comprehend complex literature and informational text independently, accurately, and for deep understanding
• Writing
  • Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence
  • Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to the task, purpose, and audience
  • Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach
• Language
  • Demonstrate command of conventions of standard English grammar when speaking and writing
  • Demonstrate command of standard capitalization and punctuation
  • Spell correctly
• Speaking and listening
  • Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions
  • Analyze the important points of an oral presentation
  • Present information, findings and supporting evidence, conveying a clear and distinct perspective

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week 1 schedule
​(8 - 11 january)

Modes of writing (paragraphs)

NOTE: Activities here are usually organized to parallel your syllabus (introduce, expose, practice, create, reflect) - but because these two weeks are so packed, a day-to-day schedule is a little easier to follow. However, everything outlined here matches the activities listed on your syllabus.

TUESDAY

• Warm-up: how do you feel about reading and writing? (choose a Tell Tale card)
• Go over expectations and syllabus
• Take Day 1 Pre-assessment survey (not graded)
• Mechanics mini-lessons: verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs; subject/verb; phrases/clauses 
  • Practice: parts of speech handout, part I
  • Practice: subjects and verbs worksheet
  • Practice: phrases and clauses worksheet

WEDNESDAY

• Review Reading and Writing Handbook
• Mini-lesson: paragraph modes - informative, persuasive, narrative
  • Take notes on the three modes (purpose and structure of each)
• Independent work: 
  • Draft an informative paragraph responding to one of the given informative prompts:
    • What should a visitor to BV know about the town?
    • How would you summarize your summer?
    • Tell me about your first pet.
    • Explain how to make your favorite meal.
    • What have you learned about CCHS so far?
  • Draft a narrative paragraph responding to one of the given narrative prompts:
    • Describe a day something in your life changed significantly.
    • What are you grateful for?
    • Describe your proudest moment thus far.
    • Write about an object that tells the story of your life.
    • Write about your day as if you were either a dog or a cat.

THURSDAY

• Attend mechanics mini-lessons: conjunctions, prepositions; commas, semicolons
  • Practice: parts of speech handout, part II
  • Practice: commas and semicolons worksheet
• Participate in Connections Lecture
  • Take notes on purpose of being able to make connections and key categories (as written on the board)
• Attend mini-lesson: blog post writing and formatting
• Complete independent work: 
  • Draft a persuasive paragraph that makes connections between three random ideas: form an opinion about one of the words in the quote on the board and defend your opinion using three random topics from the board
  • Peer review paragraphs using feedback form
• Conference with Christine about paragraphs
• Upload paragraphs to Weebly - create a separate post per prompt
  • Modify paragraph structure to fit blog post standards (2-3 sentences per paragraph)
  • Add a photo or video to each blog post

FRIDAY

• Wrap up paragraph blog posts
• Get syllabus signed off

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week 2
​(14 - 18 january)

reading the writing process

MONDAY

• Warm-up: complete thesis worksheet
• Review syllabus and expectations for the week
• Attend mini-lesson: commas, part 2 (differentiating between rules)
  • Practice: commas, part 2 worksheet
• Attend mini-lesson: close reading strategies
  • Take notes on strategies
• Begin reading Shirley Jackson's  "The Lottery"
  • Read and annotate some together

 
TUESDAY 

• Attend mini-lesson: homophones
  • Practice: homophones worksheet
• Attend mini-lesson: essay structure, integrating quotes and citing
• Finish reading "The Lottery" independently
  • Continue annotations
• Discuss story as a group
• Create an essay outline in response to one of the following prompts:
  • Who is to blame for the lottery?
  • Is "The Lottery" a relevant story to read today?
  • Would you recommend "The Lottery" to others?
  • What is "The Lottery" saying about tradition?
  • What is the most twisted element of "The Lottery"?
  • How does Jackson use tone to throw off the reader?
  • Do you think Shirley Jackson was sharing a message through this story?
• Turn in outline before the end of class

WEDNESDAY

• Conference with Christine about outline
• Draft five paragraph essay after outline has been approved
  • Incorporate at least one direct quote from the story
  • Include in-text citation and Work Cited annotation
    • Use this link to create a citation for "The Lottery"

THURSDAY

• Finish drafting essay
• Self-critique essay with Writing Scoring Guide
• Conference with Christine, then revise essay as needed
• Re-submit final essay

FRIDAY

• Take English Skills Post-test (earn 80% to pass; you may use your almighty handbook)
• Get syllabus signed off

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resources

Week 1 Syllabus
Week 2 Syllabus
​Use this link to create a citation for "The Lottery"

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Reading and Writing Handbook

Click on the thumbnail to access a PDF of the Reading and Writing Handbook.
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If, somehow, you lost your handbook, please DO NOT print one yourself... let me know, and I'll get you another one. The handbook is here just for added reference.