English Honors Workshop 2015 Agenda The Honors English

English Honors Workshop 2015

Agenda The Honors English Program n Homework and Teacher Expectations n Regular Versus Honors English n Practice Activities n Questions? n

The Honors English Program n n Honors English at all levels is designed to prepare students for the assessments related to the Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) programs Teachers will plan instruction, activities, and assessments that support and reinforce the skills needed to be successful on the AP exam, the IB assessments, and in college

AP: Literature and Composition n Three-hour exam l Objective n Approximately 55 multiple-choice Qs covering four or five reading passages to be completed in one hour. 45% of AP score l Essay n Three essays written in two hours (one poem, one piece of prose, and one open question). 55% of AP score

IB: Language A 1 n Two oral assessments 11 th Grade Oral Presentation l 12 th Grade Oral Commentary l n Two formal papers World Literature #1 l World Literature #2 l n Two timed essays

Homework and Teacher Expectations Homework will be more frequent, require more time, and ask for greater depth and quality than assignments given in regular classes n Students will be required to read independently and make sense of what they read on their own n

Homework and Teacher Expectations (continued) n n Homework is essential to practice skills needed for in-class assessments (like essays and tests) and may help to reduce the effect of lower test/essay scores on a student’s overall grade It is expected that honors students will complete all homework assignments to the best of their ability

Homework and Teacher Expectations (continued) n n In honors, we want you to move from the “what” to the “why” Students should expect a much heavier emphasis on critical reading and interpretive writing Students should expect more frequent opportunities to speak formally Students should expect to be required to actively engage in classroom discussions

Regular Versus Honors English n Regular l l l Emphasis on work completion Analysis focuses on plot and characters Teacher is more involved in guiding students n Honors l l l Emphasis is on proficiency Analysis is focused on theme and how it is developed Students are expected to work more independently

Honors Emphasis n How does an author’s use of language develop and reinforce a theme? Diction l Imagery l Syntax l

Practice #1 “Art is the antidote that can call us back from the edge of numbness, restoring the ability to feel for another. ” 1. By using the word “antidote, ” what does the author imply about the inability to feel for another? 2. If we changed the word “antidote” to “gift, ” what effect would it have on the meaning of the sentence?

Practice #2 “An aged man is but a paltry thing A tattered coat upon a stick. . . ” From “Sailing to Byzantium” by William Butler Yeats 1. 2. What picture is created by the use of the word “tattered? ” By understanding the connotations of the word “tattered, ” what do we understand about the author’s attitude toward “an aged man? ”

Practice #3 “Wind rocks the car. We sit parked by the river, silence between our teeth. Birds scatter across islands of broken ice. . . ” – Adrienne Rich 1. What feelings are produced by the word “rocks? ” 2. How would the meaning change if we replaced “rocks” with “shakes? ”

Practice #4 “She’s this wrinkled old bat with bad breath, so kids avoid her. I tried to sit downwind of her breath, but it was right after lunch and she kept burpin’ little bursts of garlic. ” 1. Which details stand out most in this passage? 2. How would the meaning change if the second sentence were deleted?

Questions?