WHS ESL 4 Curriculum Guide

Grades 9-12 College Prep  2.5  credits

Narrative: This course is designed for ESL students at the expanding level of English proficiency.  Students enrolled in ESL 4 will also take grade-level standard curriculum English classes.  This course focuses on mastering listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. Students are expected to continue to read increasingly complex fiction and nonfiction text while they develop their individual voice to improve their writing of text types aligned to the expectations of the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks including argument essays, creative papers, research projects with Works Cited, on demand timed written essays as well as other formative and summative assessments. In line with the school’s focus on Project Based Learning, students will complete curriculum embedded performance assessments and a final project. Prerequisite: Completion of ESL 3 or equivalent assessment or teacher recommendation. 

Unit

Timeframe

Big Ideas (Statements or Essential Questions)

Major Learning Experiences from Unit 

Our Stories

August-October

  • How have race, culture, language, and other aspects of identity impacted your life?

  • How do we balance personal stories with an understanding of statistics, historical facts, and policies?

Students read identity narratives from the book Tell Me Who You Are and then write their own identity narrative.


Students will be able to:

  • Summarize main ideas and key details from a text.

  • Reflect on and connect what they read to their own experiences.

  • Use identity vocabulary to discuss what they read and their own experiences.

  • Narrate a personal story using past and perfect tenses.

  • Cite facts and statistics using footnotes. 

Untold Stories

November-December

  • Whose stories are missing from traditional history books and media?

  • How do we research, cite, and present information in an academic way?

Students choose a research topic related to untold stories and marginalized voices. They go through the steps of writing a research paper, citing their information in an academic way. 


Students will be able to

  • Outline and organize a research paper.

  • Develop  an introduction and conclusion.

  • Cite sources using academic language.

Two Sides to the Story

January-February

  • How do we make sense of conflicting information?

  • How do we defend a position with evidence?

Students choose a debate topic and learn about both sides of the issue. They create a podcast or video that explains the information on both sides and then support their own position on the issue with evidence.


Students will be able to

  • Use adverbs/clauses of contrast.

  • Support a claim with evidence.

  • Write a counterclaim explaining a different perspective.

Market Yourself! 

March

  • What are your strengths, and how can you explain those to a future university or employer?

  • How do we explain our experiences and strengths in formal situations? 

Students identify goals for college and career. They review the grammar structures necessary for talking about their experiences. In addition, they review the differences between formal and informal language for different audiences. Then they “market” their skills through a written resume, an oral interview, and a formal letter (email) of introduction.


Students will be able to

  • Use a variety of grammar tenses.

  • Describe and explain life experiences.

  • Distinguish between formal and informal registers.

  • Create a resume and prepare for a job/university interview.

Rhetoric Project

April

  • How can words compel action?

  • What issues/problems do you want to research and inform people about?

  • How does language change depending on the audience? 

Students research an issue or topic that is important to them. They write about and orally inform their classmates about this topic. They also make a proposal for how this issue can be solved and prepare an editorial or speech for people responsible for the issue. 

 

Students will be able to

  • Write an editorial--a letter to the editor of a magazine or newspaper. 

  • Give a speech to a specific audience (officials, students. etc.)

  • Inform people about a problem or topic.

Podcast Project

May

  • What is essential for EL students new to the US to know about current events?

  • What do you wish you had known before coming to the US?


Students study current event topics and design the podcast for an ESL 2 audience. 


Students will be able to

  • Research a current events topic of interest.

  • Inform students about this topic.

  • Explain key vocabulary related to the topic.

  • Create a podcast for their peers. 

Literary Circles-Reading about Crisis and Survival

June

  • How do people survive challenging life events?

  • How do authors present these characters and stories?

Students conduct a book study about people facing a crisis. They discuss how the author portrays the characters and how the events the people face change their lives.


Students will be able to

  • Analyze the structure of a fiction novel.

  • Present key findings from a book to classmates.

  • Conduct academic conversations in which ideas are summarized and explained.