Honors English Class Ideas

Honors English Class
(Joy & Cherise)

Background:
As our school grows in size, prominence and reputation, it is important that we offer courses and curriculum that can more appropriately meet the needs of our highest-level students, many of whom are eager for a challenge. We want to also be sure to prepare them academically so that they will be able to experience success wherever they may go after high school. To this end, it will expose students to canonized literature while also allowing them to discover postsecondary options.

If possible, the class may be offered as a 2-hour block class. If so, it will simultaneously explore topics around college-readiness, including: study skills, the college application process, varieties of colleges and civic responsibility.

Ideas for Curriculum:
-Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
-Othello by Shakespeare
-Savage Inequalities by Johnathan Kozol
-Slam Poetry (using Def Poetry, Youth Speaks and UC Berkeley's Poetry for the People)

Essential Questions:
(These are also referenced in the earlier post, entitled "Essentials for Motivating Students")
-What are the benefits of knowing how to write and speak for various audiences?
-How can the themes and ideas that we are studying be translated into valuable meaning for my life and worldview?
-How does the literature we are reading reflect elements in my life?