Ideas for School Year 2018-2019

English 9
--convert Rilke's letter to Article of the Week format--use as first AoW and introduce with some sort of argumentative statement (e.g., "The most important person is myself.")
--share/assess together a sample "Letter to Mr. Martin" from 2016-2017
--do "The Lady, or the Tiger?" instead of "St. Lucy's..."--"marry" the current unit to work with "The Lady..." at the end of school year 2017-2018 (meaning argument instruction begins happening earlier and can be somewhat built upon as school year progresses!)
--as "hook" of summary lesson, present three summaries of, say, Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone

• Which is the strongest?
• Why? (pick out qualities to introduce components of a strong summary)

--for Grammar Hammer, make tasks align more with ACT--include a section on final exam that looks like the ACT and holds students accountable for English 9 errors
--prior to the final exam, ... 

• revisit theme via the questions from theme lesson (What is a theme? Theme statement? Etc.)
• revisit the "A Paragraph's a Paragraph's a Paragraph" template

English 10 Honors
--add "deus ex machina" and "in media res" to list of terms
--update term to reflect shift toward ThinkCERCA language
--for literary analysis, teach characterization to theme statement pathway as "easiest" route, but then move into other options (e.g., symbolism)--use "The Masque of the Red Death" still as a "training" story--all group writing?

• also, model explicit structure--characterization paragraph followed by theme paragraph

--Lord of the Flies will be first major work--teach conventions/marry them to devices, then have students complete group analysis with Inside Out

• assess via a Regents task after group writing practices
• assess Lord of the Flies via passage identification--marry to literary analysis "build up"

--when beginning counterargument work, tap into Divergent argument writing as a starting point
--majority of AoW work should deal with counterargument--consider writing counterargument paragraphs for each type of counterargument (e.g., finding a fallacy, piling up additional related evidence, etc. [SEE "METHODS OF REFUTATION" DOCUMENT])
--for End-of-Course Assignment, complete preliminary Works Cited for Mrs. Donohue--after receiving score/feedback, revise, highlight revisions, and resubmit
English 9 & English 10 Honors
--when engaging in self-reflection at the end of a marking period, use "Self-Assessment" document the first time.  Then, ALWAYS USE THE COMMENT BANK!!! (UPDATE BY MARRYING WITH "SELF-ASSESSMENT")
--preview the idea of slant and bias and the importance of awareness of from where information is coming--with each Article of the Week, provide a quick blurb about the source
--use a variety of argumentative pieces as choices for first Article of the Week after first making some claims about the end of summer, pop culture, and opinions:

• Pokemon Go--something about how "ridiculous" it is?
• http://www.wired.com/2016/08/ethics-ar-pokemon-go/
• Ryan Lochte--something about how he is a liar, entitled, immature, and giving the United States a bad name?
• http://www.forbes.com/sites/shannonsims/2016/08/18/the-case-for-ryan-lochte/#38e395132634
• Information about Forbes:
• TwentyOnePilots--something about how the band has "sold out"?
• http://underthegunreview.net/2015/05/14/review-twenty-one-pilots-blurryface/

--use Kelly Gallagher's "Nerd Alert: Reading is Good for Your Health" article as an Article of the Week prior to informing students about Free Reading Course Component (add to sheet created by GB and modified by me accordingly)
--check this out: http://argumentcenterededucation.com/