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Prerequisite

English 11, Part 1

Course Learning Outcomes

 As students complete the course assignments, they will increase their knowledge, improve twenty-first-century skills, and develop an attribute.

The attribute: Knowledge

In this course, knowledge refers to the subject matter and content students will learn while completing the readings, practices, quizzes, and assignments.

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to do the following:

  • Identify what it means to be an American by reading about the history of America.

  • Discover the impact that two of the founding fathers had on the vision for America.

  • Describe unsung heroes in American History, society, and in your personal life.

  • Identify ways the American dream has changed over time by choosing an anchor text written by an American author.

  • Describe how the author of your anchor text views the American dream by tracking themes and summary protocols at least four times during your reading.

  • Use the theme tracking and summaries to write an American dream anchor text theme literary analysis.

  • Discover and apply many English skills that are important for reading, writing, MLA paper citations, and meeting core standards in English.

Twenty-First-Century Skill: Creativity: Openness and Courage to Explore

The twenty-first-century skill students will focus on for this semester is Creativity: Openness and Courage to Explore. This skill has four criteria: experience, create, learn, and connect.

Attribute: Resilience

The attribute students will focus on in this course is resilience. There are various examples drawn from literature and unsung heroes in American history, in society, and in our everyday lives who demonstrate characteristics of resilience.

Course Description

In English 11 Part 2, you will explore the course theme of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: The American Experience. The course is divided into two units, consisting of 8 modules in each unit. Since resilience is the attribute for this course, students will discover unsung heroes in history and their personal lives who demonstrate this characteristic. Students will also develop their own SMART resilience goals and submit them in module 16. There is also a final exam in module 16.

  • Unit 1: The American Experience through the Founding Fathers and Unsung Heroes, which covers modules 1–8, focuses on the Founding Fathers' vision for America; Alexander Hamilton and George Washington as key figures in the American experience; and unsung heroes in history, our society, and our personal life.

  • Unit 2: The American Experience through American Literature, which covers modules 9–15, explores elements of the American dream through the anchor text students choose to read. Students will also write an American Dream Anchor Text Theme Analysis by summarizing and tracking the themes in their anchor text. Students will track the themes in their anchor texts in modules 11–14. They will then use this information for their final Literary Analysis due in module 16.

  • Module 16 will be the final module in which the American Dream Literary Analysis is due. Students will take a short final exam and have the opportunity to claim their skill micro-credential for the skill Creativity: Openness and Courage to Explore. The micro-credential is optional. The structure of each module in the course includes:

Course Materials

You need to buy these materials to complete the course. Using the Anchor Text Sampling Presentation below, learn a bit more about the available texts you can read. This PPTX presentation is in module 10.

  • Here are the books you can choose from for this course. Please use the information and links provided in the PowerPoint to help you decide which book you would like to read.

Students may choose one novel for their anchor text to read from this list:

  1. Unbroken (The Young Adult Adaptation): An Olympian's Journey from Airman to Castaway to Captive by Laura Hillenbrand

  2. Butterfly Yellow by Thanhha Lai

  3. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

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Assignments

There are several assignments in this course. Students will often have choices within these assignments. If assignments are to be submitted in the module, these submissions will be listed on the Module Overview page. There is a lot of thinking and processing required by students to personalize this course and get the most out of it. Most of the assignments require students to think through what they are reading or learning and fill in graphic organizers with specific questions about the content. Some graphic organizers may be in Canvas as student-annotated notes and can be filled out right on the Canvas page and submitted. But students can choose the best method for them and they may download the graphic organizer to their Google Drive as a Word document, save it, and then submit it when it is due. 

There are some assignments in the form of a short quiz. All of these are open notes, open books. They relate to the material on that page of the module. 

There are several writing assignments where students communicate using writing in a variety of formats: visual, pictures, PowerPoint or Loom presentations, written essays, discussions, etc. Students will have the opportunity to submit assignments in a variety of ways. There are usually choices for students to make in the assignments. 

Content Guides

This course has content guides that will be submitted four times, twice for each unit. Content guides will be submitted in modules 4, 8, 12, and 15.

The purpose of these guides is to scaffold students as they read the pages and apply the principles taught; many standards are covered in the content guides. The content guides help prepare students to be successful with their assignments, quizzes, and written papers. 

English Skill Quizzes

There are four, short, computer-graded quizzes in modules 11–14 covering important grammar topics.  The questions be similar in format to the questions on the final exam. These quizzes are also open notes, so the content guides will help with these quizzes. 

Midcourse Quiz

This computer-graded quiz will cover the material from modules 1–8. The questions on the midcourse quiz will be similar in format to the questions on the final exam. Students may use their notes for this midcourse quiz. 

Exams

Final Exam

Students must pass the final exam to earn credit for the course; they may retake it once, for a fee, upon request. No notes are allowed on the final exam. 

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Grading

Your grade in this course will be based on these assignments and exams:

* You must pass the final exam with at least a 60% to earn credit for the course.

Assignment or Exam Grading Percent of Total Grade
Skill Assignments Teacher-graded 20%
Written Assignments Teacher-graded 30%
English Skill Quizzes Computer-graded 5%
Content Guides (4) Teacher-Graded 30%
Final Exam + Midcourse Quiz Computer-graded 15%

Grade Scale

Your letter grade is calculated according to these percentages.

A 93% - 100%
A- 90% - 92%
B+ 87% – 89%
B 83% - 86%
B- 80% - 82%
C+ 77% - 79%
C 73% - 76%
C- 70% - 72%
D+ 67% - 69%
D 63% - 66%
D- 60% - 62%
F (fail) 0% - 59%

Getting Help

Please use the help menu in this course to contact Academy of America or your instructor. You can find information about tutoring available to Academy of America students on the Tutoring website.

The Resources page offers a wide variety of services to support you:

  • Academic success skills coaching such as time management, study skills, test preparation, motivation, and more.

  • Course-specific support that includes live tutoring and on-demand resources.

Come find out how we can help you achieve your goals.

Course Policies

For information about how long you have to complete the course, resubmitting assignments, retaking exams, and other questions, please see Course Policies.

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