Grade 9 English Course Outline

M.A. Spurr-MacKay

 

Goals:  Speaking and listening, reading and viewing, writing and representing.

 

SMART Goal:  The majority of Grade 9 students will achieve Appropriate Performance or Superior Performance results on the E.L.P.A. in January, 2011. Students will end their grade 9 year by demonstrating a firm grasp of writing basics and of four main genres: the short story, the novel, poetry, and non-fiction.

 

I.  Process of Writing

Prewriting

Draft

Revise

Edit

Publish

 

II. Writing

Improving Sentences

Descriptive, Narrative, Expository Paragraphs

5 Paragraph Essay (MLA Format Introduced)

3-5 Paragraph Research Paper

Precis

Journal Writing

Book Reports and Reviews

Plot Summaries

Compare & Contrast

Character Shetches

Theme Discussions

 

III. Grammar

Word Usage

Types of Sentences

Subject/Predicate

Possessive Form of Nouns

Subject/Verb Agreement

Verb Forms

Punctuation (Quotation marks, colon, semi-colon, comma,

                        dash, hyphen)

Parts of Speech (Noun, pronoun, verb, adverb, adjective,

                              Preposition, conjunction, interjection)

 

 

IV. Oral Work

Speeches

Book Reviews/Reports

Drama Activities

Skits

 

V. Short Stories

Focusing on the  Crossroads for Gr.9 text

Emphasis on: Point of View, climax, plot, character, setting theme, style, atmosphere, internal & external conflicts

 

VI. Novel Study 

Two novels (one each semester) will be chosen to be done as a class and students will individually read four novels on their own (two per semester).

Emphasis on: Character, Theme, Conflicts, Plot, Writing Style

 

VII. Poetry

Creative Writing of various types of poems.

Texts will vary.

Emphasis on: Diction, Sensuous Imagery, Figurative Imagery,

                        Symbolic Imager, Sound Devices.

 

Evaluation:

 

Homework/Class work

20%

Tests/Quizzes

15%

Writing and oral projects

40%

Midterm

10%

Exams

15%

 

 

Time Frames:

 

·       The Process of Writing is covered during September

·       Short stories: Oct./Nov.

·       Class novel: Nov/Dec. and again: April-June

·       Poetry: Feb./March

·       Literary Circles will be done 1-2x a year, hopefully one per semester.  (ie. Jan. and May)

·       Sept.-Nov. is also time spent on preparing for the gr.9 literary assessment test.

·       End of Oct.-early Nov. “Take Your Kids to Work”

·       Writing Traits will be introduced in Sept. and used all year.

·       Writing, grammar, spelling, oral work will continue all year.