Let's talk output

[EKS]

I'm mostly considering history and literature here. In thinking about high school level work, I get that if we use a high school or college text that it would be considered high school level input. But what general output requirements do you have for your high school students? Answer all the questions in the book? Some selected ones? Essay every week? Tests? Some combination of the above?

 

Thoughts?

 

Thanks!

[EKS]

Allow me to talk to myself for a moment, LOL!

 

I just looked at the homework listed on the internet for the English and history courses offered at the local (highly regarded) public high school.

 

There seems to be very little writing assigned (as homework, perhaps they do it all in class?) even in the AP courses. Can this possibly be possible? Yikes!

 

Actually, in the non-AP courses, there seemed to be very little of anything assigned. The AP courses had reading assignments almost every night.

 

Now I'm off to see if I can find anything for private high schools.

[HollyinNNV]

I'm mostly considering history and literature here. In thinking about high school level work, I get that if we use a high school or college text that it would be considered high school level input. But what general output requirements do you have for your high school students? Answer all the questions in the book? Some selected ones? Essay every week? Tests? Some combination of the above?

 

Thoughts?

 

Thanks!

 

I'll speak to the literature requirements for my writing/lit class. At the end of the post, I've included our literature list. We also read a couple poems, letters and short stories.

 

1. Once a week students are required to post on my lit blog. They must ask a question about the lit we are currently reading, answer another student's question and answer my "big question." The big question usually requires thought, knowledge of the text and I strongly encourage use of the text within their answer. Here is an example. (Sorry, because my blog is in all caps-I can't change the formatting.)

 

Big Question:

FIRST, DEFINE YOUR OWN STANDARDS OF HEROISM.

THEN ANALYZE HAMLET’S CHARACTER ACCORDING TO YOUR STANDARDS. DRAW ON HIS RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER PEOPLE AS WELL AS HIS GOALS IN LIFE AND THE WAYS IN WHICH HE ACCOMPLISHES THEM TO SUPPORT YOUR ANALYSIS.

DRAW YOUR OWN CONCLUSION ABOUT HAMLET’S STATUS AS A HERO OR NON-HERO.

 

A 9th Grader's Answer:

 

HERE IS MY DICTIONARY’S DEFINITION OF A HERO:

“A MYTHOLOGICAL OR LEGENDARY FIGURE ENDOWED WITH GREAT STRENGTH COURAGE OR ABILITY FAVORED BY THE GODS. A MAN OF COURAGE AND NOBILITY FAMED FOR HIS MILITARY ACHIEVEMENTS: AN ILLUSTRIOUS WARRIOR. A MAN ADMIRED FOR HIS ACHIEVEMENTS AND NOBLE QUALITIES AND CONSIDERED A MODEL OR IDEAL. THE PRINCIPAL MALE CHARACTER IN A DRAMA, NOVEL, STORY, OR NARRATIVE POEM.â€

 

I THINK THIS DEFINITION LEAVES OUT THAT HEROISM MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY RIGHTEOUS MOTIVATIONS. IF SOMEONE ACCOMPLISHES SOMETHING BRAVE FOR THEIR OWN PERSONAL GAIN, IT CANNOT BE CONSIDERED HEROIC! ALSO, A HERO HAS TO DO SOMETHING DARING AND COURAGEOUS EVEN IF IT COULD RESULT IN HARM TO THEMSELVES.

ALTHOUGH HAMLET IS THE PROTAGONIST OF THE PLAY, HE IS NOT NECESSARILY A HERO. I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT HE HAS SHOWN COURAGE OR ABILITY. HAMLET ALWAYS TALKS ABOUT CARRYING OUT HIS REVENGE, BUT HE NEVER CARRIES OUT HIS PLANS. HE ALWAYS TALKS HIMSELF OUT OF THE ACT.

 

ACT 3 SCENE 3 “NOW MIGHT I DO IT PAT. NOW HE IS A-PRAYING. AND NOW I’LL DO’T…AND SO AM I REVENGED…TO TAKE HIM IN THE PURGING OF HIS SOUL WHEN HE IS FIT AND SEASONED FOR HIS PASSAGE? NO. UP, SWORD, AND KNOW THOU A MORE HORRID HENT.â€

 

HE FINALLY KILLS CLAUDIUS WHEN HE KNOWS THAT HE IS SECONDS FROM DEATH HIMSELF.

 

“LAERTES: HAMLET, THOU ART SLAIN. NO MEDICINE IN THE WORLD CAN DO THEE GOOD.

HAMLET: THE POINT ENVENOMED TOO!—THEN, VENOM, TO THY WORK.

HAMLET HURTS CLAUDIUS…HAMLET FORCES CLAUDIUS TO DRINK (POISON)…CLAUDIUS DIES

HAMLET: I AM DEAD HORATIO…O GOD, HORATIO, WHAT A WOUNDED NAME, THINGS STANDING THUS UNKNOWN, SHALL LIVE BEHIND ME! IF THOU DIDST EVER HOLD ME IN THY HEART ABSENT THEE FROM FELICITY A WHILE, AND IN THIS HARSH WORLD DRAW THY BREATH IN PAIN TO TELL MY STORY.â€

 

EVEN THOUGH HAMLET COULD FIT INTO THE DICTIONARY DEFINITION OF A HERO, HE DOES NOT FIT INTO MY DEFINITION OF A HERO. HE SEEMS COWARDLY AND AFRAID TO COMPLETE HIS REVENGE, AND WHEN HE FINALLY DEFEATS CLAUDIUS, HE ALREADY HAS NOTHING TO LOSE, BECAUSE HE IS GOING TO DIE ANYWAYS! AND TO FINISH HIS LIFE OFF, HE ASKS HIS ALLY, HORATIO, TO TELL HIS STORY AND RECLAIM HIS HONOR. THIS IS QUITE A VAIN ACTION IF YOU ASK ME! ALSO, HAMLET’S QUEST FOR REVENGE IS NOT REALLY A QUEST FOR OTHER PEOPLE’S BENEFIT. IF CLAUDIUS WAS A GREEDY AND UNJUST KING, THEN HAMLET’S QUEST MIGHT BE MORE JUSTIFIED.

HAMLET IS NO HERO!

 

In addition to posting on the blog, students are assigned three literature-related papers. They wrote a comparison/contrast paper on Hamlet & Richard III. They are currently writing a comparison paper about Victor and the monster from Frankenstein. They will also be writing a paper about Animal Farm, however I have not figured out a prompt for that yet. It is hard to make a general statement of the length of the papers. I usually say no shorter than_____. Or I state that they must be long enough to fully answer the prompt. DD's papers are generally in the 6-8 page range, font 12, double spaced.

 

At the beginning of the year they were required to learn various literary terms and I created a few quizzes. At the end of the year I am in the process of giving a few comprehension quizzes on the literature they are reading.

 

Last year we did not use the blog, but did more traditional comprehension worksheets, class discussions and a few big projects. I think three papers were literature-related.

 

Next year, I will totally change the format of the class. I try and change things up each year so that students get a taste of how different english teachers might structure a class. However, I try and keep a similar structure throughout the year so that they know what to expect weekly. KWIM? I'm not sure what I will do next year:001_smile:. I've really loved the blog this year, but I think we need to change things up.

 

Hopefully this gives you an idea of the lit output for my class. Here's the lit list and I'll check back to see if you have any questions. (We are currently finishing The Black Tulip and beginning Animal Farm.)

Holly

 

The Three Theban Plays by Sophocles

Translated by Robert Fagles ISBN 0-14-044425-4

Be sure you purchase the Fagles version!

Greek play-ca. 450 BC

 

Aeneid by Virgil

Translated by Robert Fagles ISBN 978-0-14-310513-8

Be sure you purchase the Fagles version!

Latin epic poem-1st Century BC

 

Inferno Dante Alighieri

Translated by Anthony Esolen ISBN 0-8129-7006-3

Be sure you purchase the Esolen version!

Italian epic poem-ca. 1308-1321

 

The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser

ISBN 0-140-42207-2

English epic poem-1590

 

Richard III by Shakespeare

Please buy the “No Fear Shakespeare†edition.

ISBN 1-4114-0102-6

English play- ca 1591

 

Hamlet by Shakespeare

Please buy the “No Fear Shakespeare†edition.

ISBN 978-1-5866-3844-3

or ISBN 1-5866-3844-0

(I’m not sure why there are two ISBN #’s.)

English play ca 1600

 

Gullivers Travels by Jonathan Swift

You may purchase this or follow the link (from the title) to a free online version.

English satire/parody novel-1726

 

Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus

by Mary Shelley

You may purchase this or follow the link (from the title) to a free online version.

English Gothic/Romantic novel-1818

(She was 18 when she wrote this!)

 

The Black Tulip

by Alexandre Dumas

You may purchase this or follow the link (from the title) to a free online version.

French Author- 1850

This book is set in Holland in 1672.

 

Animal Farm by George Orwell

English Satirical Allegorical Novella-1945

This book is set on a farm!

 

Alas Babylon by Pat Frank

American Post-Modern, Post Apocalyptic-1959

 

Childhood’s End by Sir Arthur C. Clarke

English Science Fiction-1954 (rev. 1990)

[EKS]

Wow! May I ask what type of school you are teaching in? This seems much more intense in terms of input and output than anything I could find on homework webpages for several schools (including private). So, translating into my own language, it looks like you are essentially requiring a 1-2 page essay every week as well as three longer papers. Is this correct? This is the level that I was envisioning, but then when I was looking at the school websites I started to think that maybe I was way off base.

 

Thank you so much for your thoughtful response!

[HollyinNNV]

Wow! May I ask what type of school you are teaching in? This seems much more intense in terms of input and output than anything I could find on homework webpages for several schools (including private). So, translating into my own language, it looks like you are essentially requiring a 1-2 page essay every week as well as three longer papers. Is this correct? This is the level that I was envisioning, but then when I was looking at the school websites I started to think that maybe I was way off base.

 

Thank you so much for your thoughtful response!

 

I organize a writing/science co-op. The parents of the high schoolers asked if I could add lit to my writing class. We meet once a week for 90 min. Because this is a very short amount of time when you are trying to cover writing and literature, I added a blog so that students would have more interaction with each other.

 

I'm not sure how intense we are compared to other schools. I think that many times teachers don't post everything they do. My dd is in the class and I feel the workload is "just right" for us. I've looked at what many home school curriculums suggest, and I generally feel like I do less than an entire program-if you did all recommendations.

 

I am not sure about your translation....:D. It is pretty close. We do three longer literary papers. That takes about 10 weeks. It is under the category (in my mind) writing, but it is lit-related. So-to be clear-I don't assign other writing assignments (science, history etc.) during those time periods.

***********

A little off-topic:

Then-in terms of writing (for those interested) I do approx. 10 weeks research (history/science), 4 weeks creative and 6 weeks imitation-in- writing and timed writing. Some of these overlap a bit. But that is the overall breakdown. And-to be honest-the imitation in writing is great for literature studies! So there is some overlap there.

***********

Students also have to respond to writing 3 times a week-a question, peer answer & big answer. That might be a total of a page of written work.

 

Then they have 2-3 literature term memorizing assignments and 3-4 lit comprehension quizzes.

 

HTH,

Holly

[elizabeth]

 

http://www.stjohns-chs.org/english/cover.html Here are the syllabi for several English courses at St John's High School one of the best in the country. I have used this resource to design and reconfigure my requirements for dd . If we had a school such as this as an option we would have dd attend . This is an amazing resource for assessing the amount of work and the type and amount of reading that other students are expected to do. It has helped me see what we need to do to remain competitive with other students of similar expectations. I hope this link is a good sounding board for reflection, revision and inspiration.