Language Arts Courses
Graduation Requirements
4 Language Arts credits required for graduation.
English 9
English 10
English 11
Eng 12A World Literature
Eng 12B Composition
Grad Reading
Creative Writing
Writing for Rookies
English Learning Strategies- Writing
English Learning Strategies-Reading
Media and Society (Grades 10-12)
Native American Literature
Popular Teen Literature
Reading for Success (Not Offered 2010-11)
Sticks & Stones Poetry
English 9A & B
Carrie Schlicht
cschlicht@blueskyschool.org
English 9 is a comprehensive, year-long English language arts course that will build skills in the areas of reading, writing, and communication. Students will interact with a variety of texts and materials that reach across a wide variety of genres, gaining reading comprehension strategies and making connections with what they are studying. The course also covers the fundamentals of speech & communication, classical drama, and composition and is aligned to Minnesota State Standards. Students will also prepare for the GRAD writing test which is a graduation requirement for all Minnesota students. Designed to be interesting and purposeful, students will end the year with a greater appreciation for the arts of communication, drama, reading, and writing!
English 10A & B
Heidi Housh
hhoush@blueskyschool.org
This class is a comprehensive English Language Arts course that will build skills in the areas of reading, writing, and communication. The text offers many selections that stretch readers' imaginations and encourage active reading. Students will interact with what they read across a wide variety of genres as they gain reading comprehension strategies and make connections with what they are studying. The course also covers the fundamentals of composition and is aligned to Minnesota State Standards.
English 11A & B
Jaclyn Weber mprekker@blueskyschool.org
Marti Prekker jgomez@blueskyschool.org,
This class is a comprehensive English Language Arts course that will build skills in the areas of reading, writing, and communication. The text covers American literature and its reflection of history from our origins through present day. Students will interact with what they read across a wide variety of genres as they gain reading comprehension strategies and make connections with what they are studying. The course also covers the fundamentals of composition and is aligned to Minnesota state standards.
English 12A World Literature
Barbara Degrote bdegrote@blueskyschool.org
Amee Wittbrodt awittbrodt@blueskyschool.org
This class is a comprehensive English Language Arts course that will build skills in the areas of reading, writing, and communication. The text covers a variety of world literature selections including Shakespeare, Homer and Dickens. Students will interact with what they read across a wide variety of genres as they gain reading comprehension strategies and make connections with what they are studying.
English 12B: Composition
Barbara Degrote bdegrote@blueskyschool.org
Amee Wittbrodt awittbrodt@blueskyschool.org
This semester focuses on media literacy and writing skills by teaching students to critically analyze information found in electronic and print media, and to use a variety of these sources to learn about a topic and represent ideas. Understanding the effects of media on society and culture is a necessary skill in today’s world. The course covers the fundamentals of composition and is aligned to Minnesota state standards. Students planning to go on to college can choose to focus on academic writing while other students can focus more on technical writing. All students will research a specific topic, evaluate their findings, and produce a research paper that focuses on a central idea and answers their research question. Semester 2 only.
Grad Reading
Angie Klopstad
aklopstad@blueskyschool.org
GRAD Reading is a test preparation class designed to help students to gain and practice the skills required to pass the reading test required to graduate high school.
Creative Writing
Marti Prekker
mprekker@blueskyschool.org
Each week, students will "meet" an author, writer, or person whose work involves writing. Each week, students will practice using a writing "trick or tool of the trade." Each week, in addition to pieces student produce as they practice with the tools of the trade, they will produce a larger written piece or product. By the end of the quarter, students should have a substantial amount of new writing, and a newly learned collection of writing tools or proven writing methods.
English Learning Strategies-Writing
Angie Klopstad and Darla Erickson (team-taught)
aklopstad@blueskyschool.org
derickson@blueskyschool.org
A structured class that uses the Kansas Learning Strategies to help students master sentence writing and paragraph writing skills. The Sentence Writing Strategy includes noun and verb identification, and students will write up to four sentence types. The Paragraph Writing Strategy is a strategy for organizing ideas related to a topic, planning the point of view and verb tense to be used in the para-graph, planning the sequence in which ideas will be expressed, and writing a variety of topic, detail, and clincher sentences. Semester 1 only.
English Learning Strategies-Reading
Angie Klopstad and Darla Erickson (team-taught)
aklopstad@blueskyschool.org
derickson@blueskyschool.org
A structured class that uses the Kansas Learning Strategies to help students master sentence writing and paragraph writing skills. The Sentence Writing Strategy includes noun and verb identification, and students will write up to four sentence types. The Paragraph Writing Strategy is a strategy for organizing ideas related to a topic, planning the point of view and verb tense to be used in the para-graph, planning the sequence in which ideas will be expressed, and writing a variety of topic, detail, and clincher sentences. Semester 2 only.
Media and Society
Amee Wittbrodt
awittbrodt@blueskyschool.org
The average 8 to 18year old in the United States spends almost six-and-a-half hours consuming media in a typical day. Media is a term for anything that communicates, such as books, magazines, computers, radio, film, television, music, and the Internet. Media are very integral part of our lives and therefore they generate popular interest and debate about any social problem that we can think of. This class will take a critical look at media's role in society. It will help you improve your ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and produce media messages of all kinds.
Native American Literature
Amee Wittbrodt and Kim Johnson (team-taught)
awittbrodt@blueskyschool.org, kjohnson@blueskyschool.org
This elective class is designed for students who want to expand their literary horizons by reading novels, essays, poetry, and short stories written by Native American authors. Students will have the opportunity to become more familiar with issues facing American Indians through literature. Since a lot of reading is required, students should possess good reading skills.
Popular Teen Literature
Heidi Housh
hhoush@blueskyschool.org
This semester-long course allows students the freedom to read novels of their choice or to read high-interest teen fiction assigned in the class. Regardless of their choice, students will explore several literary elements of their novel and be encouraged to enter the lives of the their characters and experience the issues and situations they encounter, while examining and evaluating the decision they face. Students will become active participants in a literary networking community called Shelfari. In this community, students will review the novels they've read, learn about what their classmates have read, and interact with their peers regarding some great future reading ideas.
Reading for Success
Angie Klopstad
aklopstad@blueskyschool.org
Not Offered 2010-11. Students in this class will become successful, active readers in any subject. The purpose is to teach students the reading process, critical reading strategies and when to use them, reading tools and organizers, text organization, and other essential skills that will aid in reading comprehension.
Sticks & Stones Poetry
Jaclyn Weber
jgomez@blueskyschool.org
"Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." In this course, students will explore the power of words, in contrast to this childhood idiom we have all heard. Students will explore the work of many poets, looking at typical poetic conventions of imagery, form, and style, to name a few. Students will also be playing with words, creating a range of poetry, and critiquing their own work and the work of others.
Writing for Rookies
Barbara DeGrote
bdegrote@blueskyschool.org
Writing for Rookies offers the basics of writing in a non-threatening environment. Students will start with two-word sentences and end the semester with five paragraphs of some of their best work. They will start with what they can do and build from there. Students can receive help on work from other classes. Coming up with ideas, learning Grammar, spelling, coming up with ideas. Tips and short exercises will get students in writing shape. Almost all classes require writing, and in this class, students will learn how to take a teacher prompt and give a response that earns them top points. Students in this course will never be afraid to write again. Not offered Semester 2, 2009-2010.
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