Language Arts II - 7

Through a theme of finding their voice, students in the MJ Language Arts II -course study how word choice and sentence structure contribute to developing the author’s perspective. Students continue to develop the reading, writing, language, and speaking/listening skills necessary for success in college, career, and beyond with a strong connection to civics throughout the centuries. Students closely examine voice, purpose, diction, syntax, and rhetoric in historical speeches, informational texts, and classic and contemporary literature through guided readings, interactive practice, and formal assessments. They also grow their narrative, informational, and argumentative writing skills through the repeated practice of planning, drafting, revising, and editing their written work.

Semester One:

• Explaining the author’s purpose through diction and syntax
• Exploring connotation and denotation
• Examining the ways literary elements interact
• Understanding the effect of unreliable narrators
• Analyzing plot structure
• Determining one or more themes in literature
• Learning the correct usage of hyphens
• Uncovering word meanings through context clues
• Discovering tools for enhancing language
• Composing powerful paragraphs
• Determining the central idea of a text
• Recognizing text features
• Writing effective summaries
• Identifying the structure of informational texts
• Distinguishing between organizational patterns
• Reading for research purposes
• Avoiding plagiarism Citing sources correctly
• Formatting the Works Cited page
• Using signal phrases and transitions in academic writing
• Writing effective informational introductions, body paragraphs, and conclusions
• Formulating thesis statements for academic writing
• Using precise language and domain-specific vocabulary
• Creating different types of sentences
• Editing and revising
• Identifying and correcting logical fallacies
• Using semicolons effectively
• Determining word meaning through affixes and root words
• Defining and analyzing the author’s perspective
• Writing compare and contrast paragraphs
• Using colons effectively
• Identifying and analyzing allusions in non-fiction and fiction

Semester Two:

• Analyzing rhetorical appeals and devices
• Responding to text-based prompts
• Identifying elements of an effective claim and counterclaim
• Effectively supporting a claim Organizing an effective argument
• Determining the central/main idea
• Using elaborative details
• Understanding how figurative language affects meaning and tone
• Interpreting figurative language
• Finding literal and figurative meaning
• Comparing and contrasting texts
• Using context clues to paraphrase poetry
• Identifying characteristics of poetic forms
• Explaining how figurative language impacts tone
• Identifying elements of drama
• Clarifying point of view and perspective
• Tracking the development of conflict and theme
• Revising for parallel structure
• Using digital media to create a book review
• Identifying narrators and points of view
• Planning a narrative based on a prompt
• Writing a narrative that reflects plot structure
• Using narrative techniques to enhance creative writing by Incorporating temporal words and phrases effectively
• Understanding active and passive voice
• Using verbs to achieve a certain mood