English 7:
Grammar and Composition: Students review punctuation, capitalization, parts of speech, verb usage, and sentence structure to blaze the trail for writing a variety of compositions, research papers, and book reports. Teachers cover the steps of writing such as parallel outlines, correct point of view, parenthetical citations, and a works cited page. Students strive to be effective communicators by perfecting their writing skills.
Literature: By reading excerpts from famous works such as The Jungle Book, Robinson Crusoe, Little Women, A Christmas Carol, and more, students gain an understanding of people from different ages, cultures, and economic backgrounds. Teachers guide students to discern people’s motives and feelings while recognizing the consequences of particular actions.
Vocabulary, Spelling, and Poetry: Students learn to apply spelling rules, use words in correct context, recognize synonyms, and identify misspelled words. Teachers introduce eight well-known poems for recitation and memorization to enhance appreciation of poetry.
English 8:
Grammar and Composition: Students delve into higher level grammar with an introduction to noun clauses, gerunds, and infinitives, while reviewing the eight parts of speech plus diagramming. Teachers utilize numerous compositions to prepare students to write their great American research paper.
Literature: Students study classic authors such as Robert Frost, Rudyard Kipling, O. Henry, Washington Irving, and many more. Teachers take students on a world-wide adventure through the life of Corrie ten Boom in The Hiding Place, fact and fiction to find Paul Bunyan’s flapjack griddle, the headless horseman of Sleepy Hollow, and Mowgli’s friends from The Jungle Book. Students also study missionary and military adventures promoting character-building qualities such as perseverance, sacrifice, and courage.
Vocabulary, Spelling, and Poetry: Students learn to understand and apply spelling rules, use words in the context, and recognize homonyms, synonyms, and antonyms. Teachers challenge students to use higher-level thinking such as analyzing prefixes, suffixes, and roots, and answer analogy questions related to their literature study. Students will increase their credibility through correct spelling well-rounded vocabulary, and an appreciation of poetry.
English 9*:
Grammar and Composition: Students increase their understanding of active and passive verbs, perfect paragraph unity and coherence, and improve choppy and stringy sentence writing. Teachers guide students in their practice of punctuation, capitalization, the parts of speech, and application of those concepts to writing clear and concise compositions. Students learn more about clauses and diagramming in order to correctly construct sentences. In cooperation with students' Bible teachers, freshmen write a persuasive research paper on a controversial topic from a biblical perspective.
Literature: Students learn to critically analyze works of literature to discover the theme of the work. Teachers cover selections from classic works such as Hamlet, Up from Slavery, Wind in the Willows, Great Expectations, and many more. Teachers challenge students to increase their ability to read and comprehend with greater speed.
Vocabulary, Spelling, and Poetry: Students enhance their vocabulary and memorize classic poems from Shakespeare, Longfellow, and more. Teacher help students to apply spelling rules, use words in the correct context, and recognize synonyms and antonyms.
English 10*:
Grammar and Composition: Students learn more advanced grammar concepts such as mood, objective complements, concrete and abstract nouns, and substantives. Teachers review basic grammar concepts and apply all of these ideas to new forms of writing such as a critical book review, an informative essay, an extended definition, and a biology research project (in cooperation with each student's science teacher).
Literature: Students learn to enjoy, appreciate, and analyze classic literature and recognize literary devices such as character development, plot, figurative language, theme, rhyme and rhythm, paradox, setting, and more. Teacher guide students through a chronological study of literature from the Ancient East and Classical Greece to the Reformation and the Modern Age with works such as Paradise Lost, Julius Caesar, Don Quixote, Antigone, Silas Marner, and more.
Vocabulary, Spelling, and Poetry: Teachers stimulate students' analytical and memorization skills with an emphasis on the origin of vocabulary words; word analysis through the study of prefixes, roots, and suffixes; word analogies; synonyms and antonyms; and memorization of classic world poetry.
Click here to download English 10 Honors reading lists.
English 11*:
Grammar and Composition: Teachers guide students through a basic review of capitalization, punctuation, fragments, run-ons, and more as well as editing and writing to apply all of the basic grammar concepts. Students hone their subject/verb agreement, pronoun reference, diction, phrases, modifiers, and sentence structure skills. Students write numerous compositions including critical book review, essays, opinion pieces, and a notable American research paper in cooperation with the history department.
Literature: Students read American short stories, poems, and more with specific focus on genre to notice specific characteristics of the time period. Teachers point out dialects in American legends, irony and satire in short stories, local color writing during the Realistic period, and rich imagery during the Romantic Era. Students read the American classic, The Scarlet Letter, together as a class.
Vocabulary, Spelling, and Poetry: Teachers emphasize the origin of vocabulary words; word analysis through the study of prefixes, roots, and suffixes; word analogies; synonyms and antonyms; and memorization of classic American poetry.
Click here to download English 11 Honors reading lists.
English 12*:
Grammar and Composition: Students strive to master parallelism, clear and logical construction, exactness and vividness, agreement, and many other habits that a good writer should develop. Teachers give a final review of parts of speech, punctuation, and capitalization to keep students sharp on grammar mechanics. Students write numerous compositions including critical book review, essays, and opinion pieces and a spend a significant portion of the year researching and preparing a career study research paper on the vocation of their choice.
Literature: Students study literature and literary history from the Anglo-Saxon Period with Beowulf to Pygmalion in the Twentieth Century. This study of British literature includes works from famous authors such as Geoffrey Chaucer, Christopher Marlowe, Daniel Defoe, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and many more. Teachers cover literary devices such as the aside, comic relief, the kenning, the ode, the rondeau; and different literary forms such as the lyric and epic poem, the allegory, and Romantic and Victorian poetry.
Vocabulary and Spelling: Teachers put an emphasis on the origin of vocabulary words; word analysis through the study of prefixes, roots, and suffixes; word analogies; synonyms and antonyms; and classic poetry.
Click here to download English 12 Honors reading lists.
*Honors designation is available. Contact the registrar's office for more details.