Sample Syllabus I. Description of Context: This syllabus is intended for an eleventh grade classroom.

The class will likely be composed of students who live in suburban Washington D.C area of Alexandria, Virginia. Roughly 40% of the students will be white, 30% will be Hispanic, 20% will be black, and the remainder of students will likely be Asian. In the district 40% of the students receive free or reduced priced lunches. This high school is located about 40 minutes from downtown Washington D.C. The school has about 1,200 students in total. It will be very likely that I have many students who are English Language Learners. Many of these students may receive a portion of linguistic and academic support in an ESL classroom, but as a content area teacher, I must be sure to also provide linguistic and academic support for my ELLs. This may mean that I will provide annotated versions of text and that I may assess their skills in a slightly different way than I assess my other students. I also expect that many of my students will come from families with a lower socioeconomic status. This may often mean that my students will not have access to resources such as computers, printers, or online databases outside of school hours. In order to not only accommodate, but also support these students, I will be sure to make such resources available for students both during and after school. Ultimately, I will strive to best support every one of my students to the best of my ability. I will also recognize that sometimes external resources, such as the ESL classroom, will best support them or by a special education sheltered classroom, and I will do my best to utilize these valuable resources. II. Overarching Concept: Throughout the course of the school year, this eleventh grade English class will study various texts that relate to the themes of dystopia and utopia. Students will read texts that explore inevitable failure of a utopian society (thus bringing about dystopia), as well as read texts that illustrate the challenges and adversities that may exist in a dystopia. Not all texts found in the course calendar will fall into the genre of dystopian novels. This is because the course is going to travel in a direction that points towards other themes. During the units where a specifically dystopian novel is not being used, students will continue to reflect back upon themes found in dystopian novels. This reflection will occur concurrently as students will work towards addressing themes of inequity found both within texts in class, and in society. Through examining the various societies within the texts, students will be able to examine the societies within which they operate in their daily lives. III. Alignment of yearlong Course Objectives with Common Core Standards: Yearlong Course Objectives 1 Students will explore a variety of texts, such as poetry, novels, films, plays, and short stories. Students will be able to deduce meaning and express understanding about the texts. Common Core Standards CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.10 By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 11-CCR text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.9 Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.7 Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text. (Include at least one play by Shakespeare and one play by an American dramatist.) 2 Students will track and distinguish multiple themes throughout multiple texts. Through the tracking of these themes, students will be able to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.2 Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they

observe the development and depth of such themes (ex: inequity, dystopia, poverty, authority/power relations, apocalypse).

interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.9 Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.2 Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.

Students will be able to discuss various aspects of texts and consider the effectiveness of the rhetorical and literary devices used. Students will be able to relate the structure of a text to its actual meaning and derive meaning from such relationships (ex: how does the format of a poem relate to the poems meaning?).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.5 Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the structure an author uses in his or her exposition or argument, including whether the structure makes points clear, convincing, and engaging.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.6 Determine an authors point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness or beauty of the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.3 Analyze the impact of the authors choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed). 4 Students will be able to illustrate their findings and understanding about a text in appropriate various formats, such as: media projects, formal academic papers, speeches, visual representations, etc. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.5 Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.6 Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating a command of formal English when indicated or appropriate. (See grades 11 12 Language standards 1 and 3 here for specific expectations.) CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.4 Present information, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a clear and distinct perspective, such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning, alternative or opposing perspectives are addressed, and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and a range of formal and informal tasks.

Students will be able to drive discussion, dialogue, and debate in the classroom. Through each of these communicative classroom experiences students will remain respectful towards each other while challenging the texts and their classmates.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.3 Evaluate a speakers point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, assessing the stance, premises, links among ideas, word choice, points of emphasis, and tone used.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1 Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-onone, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 1112 topics, texts, and issues, building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1d Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives; synthesize comments, claims, and evidence made on all sides of an issue; resolve contradictions when possible; and determine what additional information or research is required to deepen the investigation or complete the task. 6 Students will be able to interpret point of view and recognize bias within texts. Students will also be able to reflect upon themselves and acknowledge their own biases. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.6 Determine an authors point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness or beauty of the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.6 Analyze a case in which grasping a point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement). CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.8 Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths and limitations of each source in terms of the task, purpose, and audience; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and overreliance on any one source and following a standard format for citation. 7 Students will conduct research as they select a theme from texts we have studied to identify a type of inequity in society. Students will select a specific example of oppression/inequity they feel compelled to examine. Students may choose to actually conduct their own research or they may choose to utilize existing studies/research. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.1 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.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.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. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.8 Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths and limitations of each source in terms of the task, purpose, and audience; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and overreliance on any one source and following a standard format for citation. 8 Students will be able to produce a piece of writing that seeks to express their findings and/or opinions about a text. Through this writing process, students will be able to develop a strong claim, support their claim by providing refutable evidence CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.1a Introduce precise, knowledgeable claim(s), establish the significance of the claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that logically sequences claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.1b Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly and thoroughly, supplying the most relevant evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both in a manner that anticipates the audiences knowledge level, concerns, values, and possible biases.

IV. Rationale: Throughout the course of this year, students will delve into the darker spaces of society and explore heavier topics such as poverty, adversity, oppression, sexism, racism, environmentalism, and consumerism through the lens of a larger overarching topic: dystopia vs. utopia. The English classroom is the perfect setting to examine these difficult issues that pervade students lives in ways such as consumerism advertisements, emerging Hollywood blockbuster apocalypse films, sexist messages in the media, and in so many, truly innumerable, ways. These topics must be discussed with the young adults of today so that they can form their own beliefs and discover where they place their values. Through the exploration of selected texts (seen below), students will learn to track and dissect themes and patterns from a text. Students will also learn to be expressive of their own understandings and beliefs in a variety of ways so that all students learning styles can be valued in the classroom, while still challenging students. Throughout the school year, students will grow as individuals as they learn to dialogue and respectfully debate with their classmates. Students will learn to articulate their thoughts and ideas verbally, as well as through written word and visual representation. V. Materials and Projects: Shrinking Women by Lily Meyers OCD by Neil Hilborn The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky As You Like It by William Shakespeare The One Who Walks Away From the Omelas by Ursula Le Guin The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot Brave New World by Aldous Huxley Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood The Giver by Lois Lowry V for Vendetta a film The Road a film based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy The Book of Eli a film VI. Assessment: Students will create their own utopian society and address topics/themes in their society such as: healthcare, crime, poverty, education, government, technology, etc. Students will draw from ideas from the texts as far as what works or what fails to create or maintain utopia. Through this assignment students will likely conclude that a utopia may never truly exist as long as humans are involved. Students will compose explanations of their society and the decisions they make about government, environment, etc. Students will be able to illustrate their utopia in any form they like, such as: video, painting, photograph, paper, poem, song, etc. Students will offer explanations for their society and offer thoughtful responses to the following: what does utopia look like? How does human nature affect the ability for utopia to exist? Is utopia possible? Through the utopia created and the responses of students to the prompting questions, there will be an understanding of the students knowledge base. Students will support their explanations with evidence from the course texts.