Mrs. McPhetridge's Freshman Honors English

Welcome! Honors English is an accelerated and rigorous English class that challenges students and prepares them for future honors and AP English classes. All of the regular Freshman English curriculum will be covered as well as more difficult texts and writing assignments. Students will read a variety of literature including 3-5 novels or other literary pieces each semester. Each quarter students will choose a novel as well as read 2-3 in-class literary texts. Students will also write a variety of essays included timed essays that prepare them for the AP exam.

First semester students will read Sky Fisherman by Craig Lesley, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, either Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men or The Pearl, and either Animal Farm by George Orwell or I Heard the Owl Call My Name by Margaret Craven. By the end of the semester, we will have written several types of essays (descriptive, narrative, expository and analysis) and other types of writing assignments. Students will work to improve writing skills through learning to write effective introductions, including descriptive elements in our writing, and improving sentence fluency and grammar skills. Each quarter students will also choose a novel/book that either comes from the college bound reading list or recommended reading lists.

Second Semester our focus will switch from novels to reading and analyzing classic pieces of literature such as Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Homer's Iliad and The Odyssey. We will also read several classic short stories and poems. Students will still have a choice novel/book for each quarter. We will also have a variety of writing assignments this semester building on our skills from first semester.