English Syllabi – The Hebrew University Secondary School,
Jerusalem 2015 / 2016.
English syllabus for grade 7
Course Book: Navigator by Judy Dobkins and Gloria Spielman (student and work
books)
Oxford English – English – Hebrew Dictionary.
Novels
In Grade 7 the students will expand their knowledge of the rich grammar the English
language has to offer and perfect their writing skills. The students will also be
introduced to the school's literature programme by reading, novels, short stories and
poems.
The main emphasis is on the Identity Project: we will be doing a roots/identity
projects which will be used as a tool to sharpen research and writing skills. The
project will be done in class/ computer room and presented to the class. Team work
and peer input is very important. The students will present their work four times
during the course of the project; at the beginning, to present the idea, twice in the
interim to get feedback and finally at the end for assessment. The students will also
keep a journal. The project entails the reading of different pieces of literature and the
writing of different kinds of poetry and short stories. The students will also create
masks and work with the theatre teachers.
Two novels will be read and assessed during the course of the year.
Grammar:
 Review of the present and past simple, time expressions and the future simple
and future with be going to.
 Review of present progressive.
 Modals and semi-modals
 Adverbs
 Passive (simple forms in the past, present and future)
 Gerunds
 Superlative adjectives
 Past progressive
 Relative clauses.
Vocabulary:
 Cognates
 Phrasal verbs
 Prefixes
 Suffixes (nouns and adjective endings)
 Idioms (+ 25)
 Synonyms
 Antonyms
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Compound nouns
Presentation / writing:
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Write a description about a person, place or thing.
Write a brochure and or advert.
Conduct and present a survey.
Prepare and present a speech.
Prepare a book cover.
Writing of paragraphs: newspaper articles, short stories, emails, post
cards and letters.
Rules and Policies:
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The students are to come to class with the textbook, work file and the
Oxford English – English – Hebrew Student Dictionary and a note
book to all classes.
The students are to be in class on time and if they come after the
teacher, they will be allowed entrance with a note from either their
parents or homeroom teacher.
Class is not held in the kiosk, therefore no eating will be allowed
during the lesson.
Cell phones are to be kept out of sight and sound!
Assessment:
Assessment will be based on: Attendance, homework, project work, class work, two
book reports, quizzes, tests as well as oral participation and presentation in class. The
breakdown will be discussed by the teacher with the students.
Suggested Reading.
1. Frindel – Andrew Clements
2. Matilda – Roald Dahl
3. Danny the Champion of the world - Roald Dahl
4. I am David – Anne Holm
5. Charlotte's Web – E B White
6. The Sheep pig – Dick King-Smith
7. The Secret Garden – Francis Hodgson Burnett
8. The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips – Micael Morpurgo
9. The Report Card – Andrew Clements
10. The School Story – Andew Clements
11. The Giving Tree – Shel Silverstein
English syllabus for grade 8
Text book: Mind Matters (Eric Cohen Books)
Oxford English – English – Hebrew Dictionary.
Novels
Objectives:
The grade eight English course aims at teaching the English as a foreign language to
Hebrew speaking students through the integration of four domains: Social interaction
(oral), presentation (writing), Appreciation of culture and literature and language and
access to information (comprehension).
In our literature programme the students will learn to appreciate literature by being
exposed to different literary texts. They will discuss literary techniques and express
their opinions.
An additional emphasis is on projects: we will be doing projects which will be used as
a tool to sharpen research and writing skills. The projects will be done in class/
computer room and presented to the class. Team work and peer input is very
important. The students will present their work four times during the course of the
project; at the beginning, to present the idea, twice in the interim to get feedback and
finally at the end for assessment. The students will also keep a journal.
Language/ grammar:
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Present and past simple and progressive.
Idioms
Cognates
Pronouns
Modals and semi-modals
Active and passive
Present perfect
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Adjectives and adverbs
Prefixes and suffixes
Presentation / writing: The students will be taught how to write more than one
paragraph. They will learn connectors and register.
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Write and act out a script.
Write a review of a book and film.
Express your opinion of an art piece and a song.
Research and analyze a cartoon.
Write an essay of 80 – 100 words.
Write a friendly letter and email.
Write a letter to the school newspaper expressing your opinion.
Writing and performing a survey.
Writing a speech and giving it before the class.
Writing and presenting an advertisement.
Debating.
Literature:
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Excerpt from Lord of the Flies – Sir William Golding.
Excerpt from Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
Excerpt from Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank
Excerpt from Touching the Void Rehearsal – a short story
I have a dream – speech written by Dr. M L King
The cinema – John Escott
The House on Mango Street – a novel – Sandra Cisneros
Seedfolks – a novel – Paul Fleishman
Examples of projects.
The projects may differ according to class.
Project #1.
Creating a school.
In this project the students will "create" a new school. They will decide on its physical
structure and build a model. They will write a curriculum and decide on its code of
behaviour. An emblem will be drawn and explained as will the uniform.
The students will explain the aims of the school, to whom it is aimed and who will
teach at the school. The educational ideology will be included too.
Project #2.
Writing a journal.
In this project the students will pick a time and place in history and write a journal of
a person at that time. The journal will allow the reader to understand the person and
time period without reading a history book, biography or autobiography.
Examples: Christopher Columbus' diary.
Nelson Mandela's diary while on Robbin island.
Sojourner Truth's diary at the first Feminist conference.
Ben Gurion's diary – May 1948.
etc.
Project #3.
Vacation brochure.
Create a vacation guide for a person with special needs.
Choose a place, time, cost etc and build an itinerary for a person with special needs.
Special needs – physical challenges, dietary needs etc. The guide needs to be "real",
nothing can be fictitious.
Project #4.
Cultural newspaper.
Write a cultural newspaper for a city in your country of your choice. P{ick a month
and base the paper on it. The newspaper will need to be based on reality. The paper
will deal with the cultural life of the city and will allow the reader to understand what
goes on in the city. The paper will include articles, reviews, interviews,
advertisements, drawings etc.
The above projects will demand writing, research, creativity and the knowledge of the
various grammar points learnt in class. The teacher will decide which language skills
will be needed for each project. For example, the knowledge of modals will be needed
for writing a code of behaviour in the school.
All projects will be presented in different intervals 4 times to the class for class
feedback and evaluation. Each evaluation sitting will be done both orally and in
writing. Meeting one will be to present your idea, two and three to present various
drafts to be discussed by peers and then the final presentation for final assessment.
Project #5.
The Chocolate project. An advertising project which allows the students the
experience of critical thinking.
Assessment:
Assessment will be based on: Attendance, homework, three projects, class work, three
book reports, quizzes, tests as well as oral participation and presentation in class. The
breakdown will be discussed by the teacher with the students at the beginning of the
year.
English syllabus for grade 9
Course Books – Choices by Jack Pillemar (student and work books)
Oxford English-English-Hebrew Dictionary.
Mind the Characters, a collection of very short stories and modern fables by
Guglielmo Corrado
Oxford English – English – Hebrew Dictionary.
The emphasis this year in grade nine will be the introduction to the short story and
poetry.
The students will learn terms such as storyline, tone, climax, conclusion, symbol,
viewpoint, theme, atmosphere, flashback, simile and setting. The syllabus will slowly
ease the students into the new HOTS ( Higher Order Thinking Skills) literature
programme.
Each piece of literature will deal with the terms mentioned above.
Literature Programme:
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The little Girl and the Wolf – James Thurber
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Those three wishes – Judith Gorog
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The Star – Alasdair Gray
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Dead Letter – Frederic Brown
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The Unicorn – James Thurber
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Voodoo – Frederic Brown
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Blood – Frederic Brown
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True Love – Isaac Asimov
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The Nightingale and the Rose – by Oscar Wilde
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The Rivals – Vivien Alcock
We will also stress vocabulary and writing, including the specific language /grammar
points mentioned below.*
Vocabulary: prefixes and suffixes, compound nouns, idioms, synonyms, opposites,
cognates, phrasal verbs and teen language.
Presentation / writing programme:
The writing programme will provide the tools needed to write a full three paragraph
essay. The programme involves a lot of process writing which will teach the students
how to write a clear and succinct essay. (Opening, body and conclusion)
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Writing emails or letters (friendly and formal).
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A diary or blog entry for one day
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A new ending to a play and acting it out and writing a comic about conflict.
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Descriptive writing about a person, animal or thing.
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Researching a place and writing a brochure.
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Conducting a survey and presenting the findings with the help of PowerPoint.
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Preparing and presenting a speech.
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Writing for a newspaper and writing a short story.
Grammar/ Language:*
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Present and past simple - revision
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Time expressions - revision
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Future simple - revisoin
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Modals and semi-modals
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Adverbs
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Passive (simple forms in the past, present and future)
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Gerunds
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Superlative adjectives
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Progressive tenses – revision
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Relative clauses
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Present perfect
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Temporals
During the year the students will engage in many tasks to strengthen their social
interaction in English:
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Problem solving in order to form a list.
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Give advice and express an opinion.
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Sharing information.
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Give directions – how to bake, cook, construct or find one's way.
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Expressing opinions – debating and public speaking.
Examples of the literature to be read:
 Justice – An African Folktale
 The Enemy – Pearl S. Buck
 Excerpt from The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint Exupery
 Excerpt from Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Caroll
 Excerpts from The Art of Looking Sideways –
 Excerpt from Family Fallout –
 Excerpt from Fahrenheit 451  (Introduction to Shakespeare) Excerpts from Romeo and Juliet – William
Shakespeare.
Assessment:
Assessment will be based on: Attendance, homework, projects, class work, two book
reports, quizzes and tests as well as oral participation in class. The breakdown will be
discussed by the teacher with the students at the beginning of the year.
English syllabus for grade 10
In grade 10 the students will complete their formal acquisition of the different
grammatical/ language structures and focus on literature and writing. The students
will do a project on Dreams and begin preparing for module e (Examination to be
done at the end of grade 11). The students will also begin the new HOTS literature
programme.
Language / grammar:
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Word and sentence structure
Compound adjectives
Prefixes and suffixes
Phrasal verbs
Connectors
The passive
Revision of past tenses
Perfect tenses (present, past and future)
Conditions (1 – 3)
Temporals
Direct and reported speech
Literature programme:
The six HOTS to be introduced to the students for the literature programme.
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comparing and contrasting
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distinguishing different perspectives
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explaining cause and effect
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explaining patterns
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inferring
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problem solving
Figures of Speech.
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Simile
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Metaphor
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Personification
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Onomatopoeia
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Alliteration
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Hyperbole
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Oxymoron
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Climax
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Euphemism
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Irony
Literature programme:
The literature programme will change according to teacher.
 The Moustache – Robert Cormier
 Musical Career – Shel Silverstein
 The Road Not Taken – Robert Frost
 A Poison Tree – William Blake
 Walking Away – C. Day Lewis
 This Bridge - Shel Silverstein
 Drummer Hodge – Thomas Hardy
 Curiosity – Alastair Reid
 Beautiful – Bethany Dillian
 Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? – Yip Harburg
 Banker to the poor – a book review written by Muhammad Yunus
 Dreams – Langston Hughs
 A Dream Deferred – Langston Hughs
 Lost Generation – Jonathan Reed
 A Hymn to Him – My Fair Lady
 On the side walk bleeding – Evan Hunter
 1847 – Maura Daly
 Sisters are doing it for themselves – Eyrithmics
 A room of one's own - Shakespeare's sister – Virginia Woolf
 Poetry and Short Stories:
 I too sing America – Langston Hughes
 Dreams – Langston Hughes
 Way up to heaven – Roald Dahl
 The Land Lady – Roald Dahl
 Unicorn in the garden – James Thurber
 I saw a man – Stephen Crane
 The Golden Ball - Stephen Crane
 The Wayfarer - Stephen Crane
 Musee des Beaux Arts – W H Auden
 Margret Atwood -"The Siren Song"
 John Donne- Death be not Proud John Donne
 Stopping by woods on a snowy evening – Robert Frost
 Mending Wall – Robert Frost
 Eveline – James Joyce
 The Present – Jerome Mandel
 Icarus - Jaroslaw Iwaszkiewicz
 To the virgins make much of time – Robert Herrick
 Oh me Oh life – Walt Whitman
 Telephone Conversation – Wole Soyinka
 Sonnets 18 and 130 – William Shakespeare
 Mr Know all – W S Maugham
 And many more…
Novels:
 Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
 Animal Farm – George Orwell
 Twelve Angry Men – Reginald Rose
 All My Sons – Arthur Miller
 Things Fall Apart – Chinua Achebe
 Lord of the |Flies – William Golding
 The Wave – Todd Strasser
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And many more…
Additional poems and stories will be added to the list during the year.
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Presentation / Writing:
 Descriptive, creative, personal, informative and opinion essays.
 Conducting a research project.
 Preparing a proposal
 Writing letters
 Mediating a solution to a conflict.
 Write and perform a dialogue.
 Write a news report.
Assessment:
Assessment will be based on: Attendance, homework, projects, class work, two book
reports, quizzes, tests as well as oral participation in class. The breakdown will be
discussed with the students at the beginning of the year.
We wish you all a wonderful year.
English syllabus for grade 11
The Active Reader (Eric Cohen Books)
Oxford English – English - Hebrew Dictionary.
HOTS literature programme
The objectives of grade 11 are to consolidate the language/grammar and figures of
speech learned thus far.
The students will finish the HOTS Literature programme and begin preparing for
module E to be done in grade 12.
Presentation / writing programme:
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A Formal letter
Express your opinion about a literary text (both in writing and orally)
Compare and contrast literary texts.
Persuasive writing
Writing an opinion essay – learning how to express opinions forcefully and
convincingly.
Personal writing
Produce a product
Independent research
Assessment:
Assessment will be based on: Attendance, homework, projects, class work, two book
reports, quizzes and tests as well as oral participation in class. The breakdown will be
discussed by the teacher with the students at the beginning of the year.
English syllabus for grade 12.
Preparation for modules E and G – comprehension / access to information and
writing.
The students will also do a short research paper which will be presented in the oral
bagrut. The students will prepare for the oral examination and learn how to present
their projects before the class.
Objectives:
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Revision of language points/grammar and parts of speech.
Revision of all writing structures and styles necessary for the matriculation
exam.
Revision of figures of speech.
Gaining of a deeper understanding of English as a whole language through
original literature.
Writing a research project.
Comprehension practice (modules) for the matriculation exam.
Discussions, debating and speech making.
Language/ grammar:
 The language revision is an integral part of the literature programme.
 Revision of simple and progressive tenses (present, past and future).
 Modals and semi- modals
 Prepositions
 Pronouns
 Active and passive
 Temporals
 Zero – third conditionals
 Perfect tenses
 Direct and indirect speech
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Spelling rules
connectors
Prefixes and suffixes
Synonyms and antonyms
Punctuation and other mechanics
Presentation /Writing programme:
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(Revision of paragraphing, register, tone and mechanics)
Seven formal essays will be written in addition to weekly tasks.
Personal writing
Descriptive writing
Opinion writing (newspaper articles and reviews)
Informal writing (friendly letters)
Formal writing (letters of application, complaint)
Creative writing (2 bookreports)
Reflective writing (personal reflections)
Persuasive writing (recommendation and application)
Assessment:*
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Full attendance and participation – the student is responsible of making up
missed material.
Seven essays
4 comprehensions
Research project
Homework
Quizzes
Reflections
There is no specified course book for grade 12. The students will purchase a literature
handbook, novel and module practice book in September according to their teacher.