English IV - Semester - 2

Course Details:

English IV focuses on four main topics: Advanced strategies for reading and writing, analysis of foundational U.S. documents, analysis of multiple perspectives, and relating past events to the present. The art of effective reading and writing builds on students' fundamental skills to promote critical and active reading, effective writing, and analysis of various texts. The course material walks students through various foundational U.S. documents from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, including The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address to aid students in evaluating documents of historical and literary significance. Through representations of World War II, D-Day, and Anne Frank's diary, students learn to analyze sequences of events, integrate multiple sources of information, and conduct independent research to answer a question or solve a problem. Topics such as the Great Depression, the Great Recession, multiple outbreaks of plague, the Influenza pandemic of 1918, and the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 provide an opportunity for students to evaluate various documents, infographics, and media files for their historical and literary significance as they relate past events to the present.

The broad series of lessons and activities included in this course offers various modalities for ultimate student engagement and content retention. Each section contains a series of lessons that introduce the content, provide examples, and repeated opportunities for students to apply their knowledge. Quizzes, assignments, and writing opportunities also allow students to demonstrate their mastery of the material.

Note: This course is not designed for ELL (English Language Learners) students. ELL students may enroll in this course ONLY if they have adequate mentor support at their home school and are able to fulfill all course requirements.

Prerequisites:

• English IV - Semester - 1

Syllabus:

Section 1 - The Art of Effective Reading and Writing

The lessons in this section will help you:

• read critically for comprehension 
• use advanced strategies to improve your writing
• see how multimedia enhances content
• learn from brief instructional videos that supplement the lessons

Lessons: 

• Introduction to the Dutch Golden Age - Part 1
• Introduction to the Dutch Golden Age - Part 2
• Dutch Golden Age for the Arts - Part 1
• Dutch Golden Age for the Arts - Part 2
• Landscapes in Dutch Golden Age Art

Section 2 - Analyzing Foundational US Documents

In this section, you will learn about the following objectives:

• Become familiar with foundational U.S. documents from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries including The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address. 
• Evaluate foundational U.S. documents of historical and literary significance. 
• Evaluate the reasoning in seminal U.S. texts.
• Apply constitutional principles and legal reasoning.
• Identify premises, purposes, and arguments in various works, such as The Federalist Papers and presidential addresses.

Lessons:

•  17th Century Foundational U.S. Documents
•  18th Century Foundational U.S. Documents - Part 1
• 18th Century Foundational U.S. Documents - Part 2
• 19th Century Foundational U.S. Documents
• Seminal U.S. Documents

Section 3 - Analyzing Multiple Perspectives

In this section, you will learn about the following objectives:

• Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
• Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.
• Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over the course of the text.
• Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term or terms over the course of a text.
• Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the structure an author uses in his or her exposition or argument, including whether the structure makes points clear, convincing, and engaging.
• Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness, or beauty of the text.
• Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats as well as in words to address a question or solve a problem.
• Evaluate a speaker's point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, assessing the stance, premises, links among ideas, word choice, points of emphasis, and tone used. 
• Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
• Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
• Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
• Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
• Introduce precise, knowledgeable claim(s), establish the significance of the claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that logically sequences claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.
• Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly and thoroughly, supplying the most relevant evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both in a manner that anticipates the audience's knowledge level, concerns, values, and possible biases.
• Use words, phrases, and clauses as well as varied syntax to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships between claim(s) and reasons, between reasons and evidence, and between claim(s) and counterclaims.
• Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.
• Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented.
• Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
• Engage and orient the reader by setting out a problem, situation, or observation and its significance, establishing one or multiple point(s) of view, and introducing a narrator and/or characters; create a smooth progression of experiences or events.

Lessons:

• Introduction
• Analyzing Multimedia in Informational Text
• Analyzing Images, Multimedia and Oral Presentations
• Analyzing Personal Accounts - Anne Frank
• Analyzing Personal Accounts - German Soldier
• Writing Arguments to Support Claims

Section 4 - Relating Past Events with the Present

In this section, you will learn about the following objectives:

• Evaluate various documents, infographics, and media files for historical and literary significance.
• Relate past events to present events. 
• Gain perspective on information from an era when modern medicine had not yet been born.
• Understand the disproportionate impact of epidemics and pandemics over time.
• Understand similarities between past and present epidemics and pandemics.
• Understand the financial and economic hardships that humans suffered in the last hundred years.
• Understand the worst human-made ecological disasters of all times in the history of America, the Dust Bowl.

Lessons:

• Epidemics and Pandemics
• The Great Depression and The Dust Bowl