Curriculum Guide
for
English 11
Course Number
032
Department of Language Arts
Belvidere High School
Department Philosophy
Belvidere High School endeavors to develop every student’s reading, writing, speaking,
listening, and thinking skills with the guidance of the New Jersey Core Content
Standards. Belvidere High School’s literature–based curriculum focuses on providing
students the tools to become discriminating readers, competent writers, articulate
speakers, reflective listeners, and critical thinkers.
Course Overview
Proceeding at a modified pace, English 11 continues to build language skills and
confidence in reading, writing, listening, viewing, speaking, and literary analysis. These
skills will be applied to the writing of the expository theme, vocabulary study, and
reading selections of American literature.
.
Course Content
Weekly Curriculum Map: English 11 (change as needed per unit)
Duration Content
Assessment
Resources
New Jersey
of Unit
Common Core
Standards
W.9-10.3, W.9-10.1,
RL.9-10.5, RL.9-10.2
5-7 wks
on-going
SAT Prep
HSPA
Orientation
10-12
wks
L.11-12.1b, RL.11-
1 wk
Leadership
Qualities in
American
Literature
Review/Testing
15-20
wks
American
Dream in Lit.
RL.11-12.3, RL.11-
24 days
throughout year
6 wks
Vocabulary
L.11-12.6, L.11-12.4,
RL11-12.4
Research Paper
L.11-12.3a, SL.11-
12.5, W.11-12.5
12.2, W.11-12.10
12.2, W.11-12.8,
W.11-12.4, W.11-12.7
1 wk
Review/Testing
class discussion,
homework,
quizzes, tests,
essays, projects
class discussion,
homework,
quizzes, tests,
essays, projects
Midterm Exam
Supplementary Materials, Power
Point Presentation, College
Board.org, Internet
class discussion,
homework,
quizzes, tests,
essays, projects
class discussion,
homework,
quizzes
class discussion,
Facts, Outline,
Rough draft,
Final Essay
Final Exams
Novels, Supplementary
Materials, Power Point,
Presentation, Internet
Novels, Supplementary
Materials, Power Point
Presentation, Internet
Vocabulary Power Plus for the SAT
MLA Guide Handbook, Internet
Databases, Owl Purdue Website
Unit I. SAT Prep and HSPA Orientation
State Standard Area of Concentration:
Language Arts/High School-English 11
Unit Summary: In this unit, focus will be on the introduction and or review of SAT and HSPA content and practice.
Real test questions, exercises, reading passages and writing topics will be addressed. Strategies to sharpen test-taking
skills and familiarity with grammar, logic and reading comprehension will be provided.
Unit Rationale: The purpose of this unit is to provide students with exposure and orientation to the national college
admissions exam (SAT) and the current New Jersey graduation test (HSPA). Students will experience practice tests
in an effort to reduce test anxiety as well as increase knowledge and success.
Standards: As seen below
Common Core Recommended Common Core:
#:
Text(s):
W.11-12.1d
Vocabulary Power
Plus for the SAT,
Book 3
Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms
and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.
W.11-12.1e
Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument
presented..
RL.11-12.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including
figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on
meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is
particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful.
L.11-12.1
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage
when writing or speaking.
Essential Questions:
 How does a student register for the SAT?
 What are the standard SAT vocabulary words?
 What are the parts of speech for standard SAT
vocabulary words?
 What are the definitions of standard SAT
vocabulary words?
 What are the synonyms for standard SAT
vocabulary words?
 What are the antonyms for standard SAT
vocabulary words?
 What are common roots, prefixes and suffixes
Enduring Understanding:
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Speaking, listening, reading, and writing vocabularies
will be increased.
Grammar and usage skills will be improved.
Essay-writing skills will be enhanced.
Critical reading skills will be boosted.
Concrete understanding of writing fundamentals will be
developed through exposure to SAT rubrics, and HSPA
(Registered Holistic)scoring rubrics.
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of standard SAT vocabulary words?
How can sentences be improved?
How can paragraphs be improved?
How can reading passages be comprehended?
How can an effective SAT essay writing prompt
be developed within the twenty-five minute
time allowance?
What rubrics are used to score SAT essays?
What are the tips and strategies for writing
effective narrative and persuasive essays?
What are the tips and strategies for
comprehending narrative and persuasive
passages?
What are the tips and strategies of
responding to open-ended literary
questions?
What rubrics are used to score HSPA essays
and open-ended literary questions?
Instructional Focus:
Introduce, discuss, and incorporate various word lists, Review and apply the following SAT vocabulary and
skills and exercises included in Vocabulary Power
HSPA reading and writing skills in :
Plus for the New SAT workbooks and HSPA Success
Work-A-Text
 Every day/Narrative/and Informational reading,
writing, speaking and listening situations across the
Literacy Preparation Aid:
curriculum.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lpQEjP77us&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpDAdgdUwYE&feature=relmfu
Summative Assessment
Weekly Vocabulary Lesson Tests (1-21)
Review Tests (Lessons 1-7, 8-14, 15-21)
Midterm Exam (Lessons 1-11)
Final Exam (Lessons 12-21)
Semester Essays
Evidence of Learning
Formative Assessment:
Introduction
Discussion
Practice
Homework
Review
Equipment needed: Smart board, Projector, TV, Blackboard or Dry Erase board, Computer labs, email, other applicable
technological items.
Resources:
 Reed, Daniel A., and Paul Moliken. Vocabulary Power Plus for the New SAT:
Vocabulary, Reading, and Writing for High Scores. Cheswold, DE: Prestwick House,
2012. Print.
Unit II. Leadership Qualities in American Literature
State Standard Area of Concentration:
Language Arts/High School- English 11
Unit Summary: This unit will focus on leadership qualities in various American cultures and societies.
Humanity and good character skills will be examined per time period with analysis centering on the possible
effect that a culture may have on the human condition itself.
Unit Rationale: The purpose of this unit is to give the students a foundation for a psychological approach to
literature by choosing selections from this list. The unit will provide a deep analysis of the society and how it
may or may not change a person’s code of conduct, morals or behavior.
Standards:
Common Core
#:
Recommended Common Core:
Text(s):
W.11-12.7
To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee
Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question
(including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the
inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject,
demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation. (Pre-reading)
W.11-12.9
The Gettysburg
Address by Abraham
Lincoln
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection,
and research.
W.11-12.10
Inherit the Wind by
Jerome Lawrence and
Robert E. Lee
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and
revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of
tasks, purposes, and audiences.
RL.11-12.1
The Glass Menagerie
by Tennessee Williams
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says
explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where
the text leaves matters uncertain.
Essential Questions:
 What qualities do effective
leaders share?
 How do you live a life that will
inspire others?
 How can you lead through
relationships with people as
opposed to leading through
control over people?
 How do ordinary people
transform into extraordinary
individuals?
 What factors influence the
Enduring Understanding:
*Students must recognize leadership skills they have
developed.
*Students must recognize leadership qualities they
will need to take with them from high
school.
*Students must recognize what qualities define a
good citizen.
*Students must question how they can create the
world they want to live in?
*Students must question how they can use their
talents to create new opportunities for
development of leadership?
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themselves and for others?
Students must question if they are developing the
academic skills that they will need in their future
lives?
People’s fundamental beliefs impact their
relationships.
Americans have a tradition of nonconformity and
questioning authority.
It is sometimes necessary to reinvent oneself.
One person can change society.
The individual has a responsibility towards society.
Both individualism and collectivism play vital roles
in American society.
Instructional Focus:
Introduce, discuss, and incorporate the social and historical Review and apply the following topics:
context of the works. Connect themes in modern media and
 Literary Elements
society to material. Assess students’ comprehension
 Literary Devices
through in class discussion/ testing and out of class
 Internal and External Conflict (Man vs.
analytical writing assignments /projects.
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Summative Assessment
Reading Comprehension Quizzes
Performance Assessment
Cumulative Test
Project
Essay
Society, Man vs. Self)
Racial Discrimination
Religious Beliefs
Gender Biases
Importance of Reputation
Influences of Human Behavior
Evidence of Learning
Formative Assessment:
Discussion
Homework
Comprehension Quizzes
Small Writing Tasks
Equipment needed: Smart board , Projector, TV. Blackboard or Dry Erase board, Computer labs, email, other
applicable technological items
Resources:
http://faculty.buffalostate.edu/beaverjf/nbd/kill11.htm
http://pinterest.com/wordsmith2/to-kill-a-mockingbird/
http://www.teachit.co.uk/index.php?CurrMenu=156&T=1173
http://schools.nyc.gov/offices/teachlearn/arts/American%20Voices/Inherit%20the%20Wind%20-%20Lesson%20Plans.pdf
Unit III. The American Dream
State Standard Area of Concentration:
Language Arts/High School- English 11
Unit Summary: This unit will explore the ideal of the American Dream as portrayed in 19th, 20th and 21st Century
Literature.
Unit Rationale: The purpose of this unit is to study the evolution of the American Dream and how it is reflected in
American literature by reading selections from this list.
Standards:
Common Core #:
W.11-12.10
Recommended Common Core:
Text(s):
by Arthur Miller
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision)
and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes,
and audiences.
RL.11-12.2
The Grapes of
Wrath by
John Steinbeck
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over
the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific
details; provide an objective summary of the text.
RL.11-12.3
Catcher in the Rye Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations)
by J.D. Salinger
develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot
or develop the theme.
RL.11-12.10
A Raisin in the Sun By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and
by Lorraine Hansberry poems, in the grades 11-CCR text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as
needed at the high end of the range.
RL.11-12.5
The Great Gatsby
Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text
by F. Scott Fitzgerald (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or
Death of a Salesman
tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic
impact.
RL.11-12.4
Leaves of Grass
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including
by Walt Whitman figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on
meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is
particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other
authors.)
Essential Questions:
Enduring Understanding:
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What is your interpretation of the American dream?
What does the idea mean to you? Why?
What role does society play in shaping the American
dream?
How can your ideas or values be achieved in society?
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Reflect on what can be done to increase access to
upward mobility and the American dream.
Analyze art, poetry, and song lyrics for American
dream references throughout history.
Analyze informational texts (newspapers, essays,
editorials, opinion articles) to trace the evolution of
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How has the concept of the American dream changed in
the respective novels and plays studied in class?
What are the goals Americans should strive to achieve?
What are the assumptions of American society?
What happens when a dream is unfilled?
What is the nature of your own dreams?
What aspects of the American dream do the authors
express in their respective works?
What cultural barriers exist that could prohibit one from
attaining the American dream?


the American dream with its immigrants then and
now.
Compare and contrast cinematic versions of the
texts covered in class.
Analyze literary multimedia to become a
discriminating viewer.
Instructional Focus:
Introduce, discuss, and incorporate the social and historical
Review and apply the following topics:
context of the works. Connect themes in modern media and
 Point of view
society to material. Assess students’ comprehension through in
 Metaphor/Simile
class discussion/ testing and out of class analytical writing
 Internal and External Conflict
assignments /projects.
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Foil Character
Genre differences
Symbolism
Motif
Tone vs. Mood
Literary Quotation Interpretations
Evidence of Learning
Summative Assessment
Formative Assessment:
Reading Comprehension Quizzes
Discussion
Performance Assessment
Notes
Cumulative Test
Summary
Project
Homework
Essay
Comprehension Quizzes
Small Writing Tasks
Equipment needed: Smart board, Projector, TV. Blackboard or Dry Erase board, Computer labs, email, other applicable
technological items
Resources:
*secure.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Books/Sample/50986Chap01_x.pd
*pinterest.com/sec solutions/teaching-the-great-gatsby/
*http://www.steinbeckinstitute.org/teacher.html
*Adams, James Truslow. The Epic of America, by James Truslow Adams;. Boston: Little, Brown
and, 1934. Print.
Unit IV. Vocabulary
State Standard Area of Concentration:
Language Arts/High School- English 11
Unit Summary: This unit will focus on the memorization and application of tenth grade level vocabulary terms.
Unit Rationale: The purpose of this unit is to widen the students’ vocabulary. Not only will the students be
learning new definitions, but they will be working on integrating words into their own writing. Roots, suffixes,
and prefixes will be studied so that students can use parts of a foreign word to create a definition for it.
Standards:
Common Core
#:
RI.11-12.4
Recommended Common Core:
Text(s):
Vocabulary Power
Plus for the New SAT
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including
figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of
specific word choices on meaning and tone
L.11-12.4
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and
phrases based on grades 11-12 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a
range of strategies.
L.11-12.6
Acquire and use accurately general academic and domain-specific words and
phrases, sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and
career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary
knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or
expression.
Essential Questions:
 How do word parts help us understand meaning?
 How does context help us understand word meaning?
 Why do we used the dictionary and thesaurus as
resources?
 Why is vocabulary development important?
 How does the depth of a student’s vocabulary contribute
to the student’s ability to read, write, listen, and speak
more effectively?
Enduring Understanding:
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Words are composed of parts that help us
understand their meaning.
A dictionary and thesaurus are resources for
finding, understanding, and using words.
A rich vocabulary enables us to understand and
communicate more effectively.
Vocabulary is acquired through reading, writing,
listening, and speaking.
Instructional Focus:
Vocabulary will be mostly a solitary unit. Each Friday, the
students will be tested on a new lesson. When time allows,
we will go over the words together along with the lesson
exercises. Students will be expected to use vocabulary
words in their writing for the class.
Review and apply the following topics:
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Suffix
Prefix
Root
Evidence of Learning
Summative Assessment
Formative Assessment:
Vocabulary Tests
Discussion
Homework
Small Writing Tasks
Equipment needed: Vocabulary Power Plus for the New SAT Materials (Workbooks, Teacher’s Edition, and
Publisher’s Tests)
Resources:
http://www.easthampton.k12.ma.us/adminoffice.cfm?subpage=825206
Unit V. Research Paper
State Standard Area of Concentration:
Language Arts/High School- English 11
Unit Summary: This unit will require students to research the evolution of the American Dream as portrayed
through 19th, 20th and 21st Century literature and complete several 2-3 page research papers on the topic.
Unit Rationale: The purpose of this unit is to familiarize students with the research process to a higher degree.
Choosing appropriate sources, gathering information and analyzing it to generate new knowledge to present in a
coherent structure following MLA formatting is the purpose of this experience. Along with researching, students
will be required to select a literary source to read in conjunction with the research topic to be incorporated in
their research papers.
Standards:
Common Core
#:
Recommended Common Core:
Text(s):
W.11-12.7
Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question
(including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the
inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject,
demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
W.11-12.4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and
style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience
W.11-12.8
Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources,
using advanced searches effectively; assess the usefulness of each source in
answering the research question; integrate information into the text selectively to
maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for
citation.
SL.11-12.2
Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse media or formats
(e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each
source.
L.11-12.3a
Write and edit work so that it conforms to the guidelines in a style manual (e.g.,
MLA Handbook, Turabian’s Manual for Writers) appropriate for the discipline and
writing type.
Essential Questions:
 Is the topic too broad or too narrow?
 Will the chosen topic lend itself to research and
writing?
 Are the sources chosen reliable and credible?
 Are the sources relevant to the topic?
 What revisions need to be made to the search strategy?
 Why do you need an outline?
Enduring Understanding:

Analyze information for relevance, quality, and
reliability.

Select modes of presentation.

Recognize the contribution to collective knowledge.

The use of standard written English can be important


Why do you need to record facts?
Does the paper clearly outline the how- to process in a
well-developed and logical fashion?

What should you do to edit your draft?

Does it acknowledge source material correctly, using
quotes, paraphrasing and summarizing appropriately?
to effective communication.

An effective paper/essay includes well integrated
supporting facts, gathered, analyzed, and synthesized
from efficient research in order to produce a
convincing argument.
Instructional Focus:
The research paper will be completed in stages. Students
will be guided through the researching, outlining, and
writing/drafting processes.
Review and apply the following topics:
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Effective Research
MLA Guide
How to Outline an Essay
Editing
Revising
Evidence of Learning
Formative Assessment:
Summative Assessment
Fact Checks
Outline Check
Checking completion of following directions, research
Rough Draft Check
criteria, outlining and revision.
Final Draft
Equipment needed: Smart board, Computer, Internet, Database, Microsoft Word, Projector
Resources:
* http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
* http://www.scsk12.org/SCS/curriculum_guides/ELA_Mid_High/Middle_High ELA/Middle_
School_ELA_files/Research%20Paper%20Guide.pdf
* http://stratfordhigh.stratfordk12.org/Content/Research_Paper.asp
* http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/ELA_Grade_12_189418_7.pdf