Grade 10 Courses

ENG 2D1

Students will be encouraged to use computers, drama, creative writing and research as a way of appreciating the complexities of a work of literature. The selection of this course is subject to student accomplishment and/or teacher recommendation. Note: This course fulfils one of the compulsory English requirements.

Course Outline

We begin grade 10 academic English by examining several short fiction, non-fiction, and poetry pieces from our anthology. We focus largely on character development, character analysis, and the themes of persecution/prejudice. A character analysis is submitted for evaluation. We then examine the hero archetype developed in Greek mythology and works such as Beowulf, where we consider the language and diction of epic poetry. We do several close analyses of excerpts of the text. We also examine the ways in which the language furthers the implicit morals and themes of Beowulf. This examination of character is continued in our study of Macbeth, where we examine Macbeth’s character to distinguish it from Beowulf’s and to determine the differences between a heroic and villainous character. There will be reading of questions, creative presentations, and quotation analysis in this unit. Lord of the Flies, or another suitable work, is the culminating text, where the students apply what they have learned about the interpretation of character and theme to seminar presentations. There are also guided journal responses to the text and quotation analysis. The students enhance their knowledge of the novel by researching the social and political environment of the time. The course concludes with a short poetry unit. Poetic analysis is furthered by example and via a seminar where pairs of students analyze a poem and present their findings to the class. The goal of all of our presentation preparation is to facilitate the development of confident and thoughtful presentations.

Throughout the course, there is a regular focus on grammar skills, primarily indirect and direct objects, verb tenses, clauses and sentence expansion, subject-verb agreement, pronouns, and antecedents.

The student also reads a novel of his/her choice of at least 200 pages and answers specific questions relating to his/her personal response and thematic development.

The summative evaluation is comprised of the Lord of the Flies seminars and a final 2-hour exam.

ENG 2P1

This course extends the range of key reading, writing, oral communication, and thinking skills that students need for success in all areas of the curriculum. Students will study novels, poems, magazines, and reports, and will describe, design, and produce effective media works. An important focus will be the clear and coherent use of spoken and written language.

Note: This course fulfils one of the compulsory English requirements.

Course Description

Dreams Unit

• Students will read an excerpt from Martin Luther King’s speech, “I Have A Dream”, and write a speech about their goals and dreams, which will be presented to the class (culminating activity).

Drama Unit

• Students will read the play, The Melville Boys, and will answer questions related to the play.
• Students will have an activity to do for each scene of the play (write an opinion paragraph, write a short script, comparison/contrast paragraph, and a character sketch paragraph).
• Students will write an extra scene for the play (culminating activity).

Short Stories Unit

• Students read several short stories and answer questions related to the stories (critical thinking, inference etc.).
• Students write opinion paragraphs on subjects relating to the short stories.

Language & Writing

• Students will do a research project on “weird” topics and will use their knowledge of paragraph writing.
• Students will complete grammar lessons to give them the writing skills they need for success in Grade 10 and continued success through high school.

Novel Unit

• Students will read the novel (titles vary according to section) and write journals for each chapter. There are also chapter questions to do.
• Students will write a five-paragraph essay on a theme of the novel (culminating activity).

Media & Advertising

• Students will learn about the newspaper—about the front page, types of stories, sources, how to write articles etc..
• Students will review types of advertisements.

I.S.U.

• Students will create their own newspaper on a theme of their choice. Its creation will involve the skills they’ve acquired throughout the course.

Mythology Unit

• Students will read stories about heroes in Greek Mythology. They will do character sketches on the heroes they read about.
• Students will watch a film featuring heroic archetypes, such as Troy, and will write a movie review in the form of a persuasive paragraph(s).