EE Individualized Access (Portfolio Review)

English

Five assignments shall be collected from each student per semester. The 5th one is a final exam or project. Before the end of a semester, the EE shall provide students & parents with guidelines and a date of completion for the final, which will be scored by the EE.

English - Two essays per semester are mandatory. One of those essays can be the final. ESs and students choose from the other options listed here to complete the five-assignment portfolio.

1. Chapter/Unit Assessment - Mix of multiple choice and short answer covering key concepts for literature.
2. Summary of: Literature - i.e., novel (1 chapter), poem, short story, or informational text (i.e., essay, news article, primary document related to current English work).
3. Annotation of: Literature - i.e., novel (1 chapter), poem, short story, or informational text (i.e., essay, news article, primary document related to English work). There is an example of this type of assignment below.
4. Descriptive outline of: Literature - i.e., novel (1 chapter), poem, short story, or informational text (i.e., essay, news article, primary document related to current English work). There is an example of this type of assignment below.
5. Essay- Argumentative. Please ask students to submit a rough draft & a final copy. Both can be typed. Topics can be cross-curricular based on current studies or based on a significant real-world subject of interest.
6. Essay- Narrative. Please ask students to submit a rough draft & a final copy. Both can be typed. The narrative can be cross-curricular fact-based fiction. For example, students can choose stories that are either historical fiction or science fiction and weave facts from them into the stories they write.
7. Essay - Informational/Explanatory. Please ask students to submit a rough draft & a final copy. Both can be typed. The essay can be cross-curricular or based on a significant real-world subject of interest.
8. Final - Research Essay or Project- To be determined by the EE.

Note: Use the Writing Prompts to find general guidelines for the argumentative, narrative, and informational/explanatory writing prompts. Use the rubric there to score the essays.

The Descriptive Outline

A Descriptive Outline tells what the author DOES as well as what he SAYS:

To write a descriptive outline, for each paragraph determine the function of the paragraph in the essay and then summarize (briefly!) the content.

For Example:

Paragraph 1:

Does: Offers anecdote to connect personal experience to work being analyzed.

Says: Childhood story ended up being topic of literary analysis

Verbs that Describe What Texts Do

Each of these verbs might be used to complete phrases such as "this paragraph (or section) _________"

Verb list from Reading Rhetorically, 3^rd Edition, John Bean et.al., p.59

Annotating:

Reading with a pen in hand. Questioning as you read. Responding to a text. Whatever we name it - annotating is one of the best reading tools we can give our students. Deliberate and careful reading for understanding, it is a collaborative relationship between the reader and the writer. When it becomes a habit, annotating improves our students' reading comprehension by keeping them actively engaged.

***These annotating tips can be used with informational and narrative texts, i.e., novels, short stories, primary sources, history and science textbook chapters. (Most of the information below was compiled from various websites)

Highlighting tips:

• Important passages
• Names of people
• Unfamiliar vocabulary
• Quotable lines
• Key research, statistics & facts
• Themes & main ideas
• Do not highlight everything. It is like highlighting nothing.

Annotation shorthand:

• ? = question or unsure of meaning
• * = important
• [ ] = quotable
• # = info, statistic or research
• ___= new vocabulary

Making notes in the margin:

• Write definitions
• Ask questions
• Translate ideas into your own words
• Make connections…other books, classes, life experiences
• Capture emotional reactions
• Summarize
• Comment on ideas
• Predict what will happen
• Margin notes may become most useful when you find evidence for a thesis or to study the text.