What makes up a freshman English class?

[April in WA]

What exactly makes up a Freshman English I class? I know the obvious- grammar, literature and writing. Would you add anything else? What portion should each component be in the class? Hopefully that makes sense.

Thanks,
April in WA

[Michelle in AL]

I add some type of vocab study in order to prepare for SAT/ACT if your student needs it.

I really focused on literary elements this yr for my 9th grader.

[Chris in VA]

Yep, I'd add some sort of vocab or roots program.
I'd go heavy on the composition, and heavy on the lit--you want them to be able to write, and you want them to explore the ideas presented in the literature.
Get them used to timed essays, also.

[laughing lioness]

I would also add, make sure their spelling is up to speed. If not, take the time to get it there.
Make sure that they know what a "paper" should look like:
Title centered and underlined,, name and date on front page, paragraphs, neat, etc.

[Anne/Ankara]

Well, I can chime in from an international school in Ankara, Turkey. I'm teaching freshmen English (the first year of a two year program in IGCSE English Literature and Language).

The ninth grade has to read three novels: To Kill a Mockingbird, Ethan Frome, and Richard III. They have to cover about 12 poems (Keats, Matthew Arnold, Browning, etc). We do a vocabulary program (Vocabulary for the College Bound) and I put them through a Grammar Essentials review program last semester.

There is a separate English Language component, which is basically a reading and composition program, responding to articles and showing comprehension and some sort of personal response.

In my particular class, we do weekly in-class essays (passage analysis, empathic response, or discursive essays), and then we have monthly two-page papers (poetry analysis, book reviews, literature response, etc).

We have some fun too-- made powerpoint presentations of To Kill a Mockingbird, did vocabulary bees, poetry memorization challenges, writing for publication, etc. So far, so good...

Anne

[April in WA]

Thank you ladies! We also do Latin so that will help with the vocabulary and spelling.

Blessings,
April in WA