Course Offerings - English
English
ENGLISH 9
English 9 is designed to help students apply the skills that they have practiced in their 8th grade reading and writing workshops to analyze works that are thematically and textually complex. Students will apply comprehension strategies and understanding of author’s craft to their study of works beyond young adult fiction. In their reading and analysis of works, which focus on the theme of class struggle and coming of age, students will encounter several writing genres, including play, novel, short story, poetry, and essay. Students will continue to practice process writing with an increased focus on revision and editing as they write narratives, arguments, and literary analyses. Students will also apply their reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills to writing and presenting a research paper.
GRADE 9
1.0 CREDIT
ENGLISH 9 HONORS
Prerequisite: Honors criteria
Like English 9, English 9H is designed to help students apply the skills that they have practiced in their 8th grade reading and writing workshops to read and analyze works that are thematically and textually complex. English 9H, however, requires a greater time commitment from students, as they will read a greater number of complex texts. In their reading and analysis of works, which focus on the theme of class struggle and coming of age, students will encounter several writing genres, including play, novel, short story, poetry, and essay. Students will continue to practice process writing with an increased focus on revision and editing as they write narratives, arguments, and literary analyses. Students will also apply their reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills to writing and presenting a research paper.
GRADE 9
1.0 CREDIT
ENGLISH 10
This course is designed to help students deepen their understanding of how authors write to express their ideas about themes and how they purposefully choose words and structures to convey their ideas. With an increased focus on intertextuality, students will study works from various media that focus on thematic ideas related to conflict. Students will study long-form texts from Greek and Elizabethan theater to contemporary fiction and short-form works including short stories, poems, essays, and articles. Students will synthesize ideas from multiple texts to develop and organize arguments as well as write literary analyses, tasks that will prepare them for the New York State English Regents, which students will take in their junior year. Students will also apply their reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills to writing and presenting a research paper.
GRADE 10
1.0 CREDIT
ENGLISH 10 HONORS
Prerequisite: Honors criteria
Like English 10, English 10 Honors is designed to help students deepen their understanding of how authors write to express their ideas about themes and how they purposefully choose words and structures to convey their ideas. English 10H, however, requires a greater time commitment from students, as they will read a greater number of complex long-form texts. With an increased focus on intertextuality, students will study works from various media that focus on thematic ideas related to conflict. Students will study long-form texts from Greek and Elizabethan theater to contemporary fiction and short form works including short stories, poems, essays, and articles. Students will synthesize ideas from multiple texts to develop and organize arguments as well as write literary analysis, tasks that will prepare them for the New York State English Regents. Students will also apply their reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills to writing and presenting a research paper.
GRADE 10
1.0 CREDIT
ADVANCED PLACEMENT SEMINAR
Prerequisite: English 9 or 9H with honors criteria
This foundational course provides students with opportunities to think critically and creatively, research, explore, pose questions, develop arguments, collaborate, and communicate using various media. Students explore real-world issues through a cross-curricular lens and consider multiple points of view to develop deep understanding of complex issues. Upon successful completion of the course, students receive AP credit and qualify to take the AP Research course. Students who earn scores of three or higher in: AP Seminar, AP Research, and four additional AP courses will be awarded an AP Capstone Diploma from College Board. Students’ performance on three tasks determines their AP score for Seminar: an individual research paper with group presentation, an individual research paper with individual presentation, and an AP Exam. Students who take AP courses will be required to take Advanced Placement examinations in May.
GRADE 10
1.0 CREDIT
ENGLISH 11
This course is designed to help students continue to develop their critical thinking and rhetorical skills. Using thematic ideas related to identity and power to center their inquiry, students will study long- and short-form works, considering the historical, philosophical, and psychological contexts of each work. Students will develop arguments, narratives, and literary analyses. Students will also apply reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills to conducting and presenting research. Students will take the New York State English Regents in January.
GRADE 11
1.0 CREDIT
ENGLISH 11 HONORS
Prerequisite: English 10/10H or AP Seminar with honors criteria
Like English 11, English 11H is designed to help students continue to develop their critical thinking and rhetorical skills. English 11H, however, requires a greater time commitment from students, as they will read a greater number of complex texts. Students will study long- and short-form works, considering the historical, philosophical, and psychological contexts of each work. Students will develop arguments, narratives, and literary analyses. Students will also apply reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills to conducting and presenting research. Students will take the New York State English Regents in January.
GRADE 11
1.0 CREDIT
ADVANCED PLACEMENT LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION
Prerequisite: English 10/10H or AP Seminar, all with honors criteria
This Advanced Placement course emphasizes college level grammatical and stylistic structure, recasting sentences, advanced punctuation skills, writing and analyzing paragraphs and essays, and prose discourse. This course places rigorous demands upon students that are equivalent to a college level course. Students who take AP courses will be required to take Advanced Placement examinations in May. Students will also take the NYS English Regents Examination in January.
GRADES 11 or 12
1.0 CREDIT
ENGLISH 12
This course is designed to help students strengthen reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills necessary for college and career. Centering their inquiry on thematic ideas related to finding one’s place in the world, students will read and analyze works from various media and write arguments, narratives, and literary analyses. Student will also conduct and present research.
GRADE 12
1.0 CREDIT
COLLEGE ENGLISH
Through Stony Brook University’s Accelerated College Education Program, seniors can earn up to 6 undergraduate credits of core English: 3 credits for EGL 192: Fiction: The Art of the Story and 3 credits for EGL 194: Introduction to Film. The volume and complexity of the reading and the expectations for writing and discourse will prepare students for success in intermediate-level college English courses. This course offers college credit for a fee through one of Oyster Bay High School’s college partnerships.
GRADE 12
1.0 CREDIT
ADVANCED PLACEMENT LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION
Prerequisites: Advanced Placement Language and Composition, English 11/11H, all with honors criteria
This Advanced Placement course exposes students to some of the greatest works of literature in Western Civilization, which raise universal, timeless questions of justice, search for identity, good and evil, and crime and punishment. The course is intellectually demanding, requiring students to read works from the Greeks to literature of the twentieth century. Literary works studied include The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Heart of Darkness, Lord of the Flies, Oedipus Rex, Antigone, Things Fall Apart, Crime and Punishment, anthologies of poetry and short stories, and books from a required summer reading list. Students who take AP courses will be required to take Advanced Placement examinations in May.
GRADES 11-12
1.0 CREDIT
JOURNALISM
This production-oriented course emphasizes the basics of print and online journalism. Students learn how to write for specific audiences, revise writing, and edit for publication in the OBHS newspaper, The Harbour Voice. Students explore various types of newspaper articles (news and feature stories, editorials, reviews, and sports writing) and they study topics, such as layout, headline writing, editing, photography, and exploration of documentary films.
GRADES 9-12
.5– 1.0 CREDIT
ADVANCED PLACEMENT RESEARCH
Prerequisite: An AP score of 3 or higher for AP Seminar
This course enables students who successfully completed AP Seminar to use their research skills to conduct a year-long study of a specific question related to a topic of interest in any academic discipline. Under the supervision of a teacher and a mentor, students will select a topic of interest, design a research question, write a review of related research, design a methodology, request IRB approval, conduct a study, and analyze collected data. Each student will submit an academic paper and complete an oral defense, which will determine his/her AP score. Students who receive a score of 3 or higher in AP Seminar and AP Research will receive the AP Capstone Certificate. Students who receive a score of 3 or higher in AP Seminar and AP Research as well as four other AP courses will receive the AP Capstone Diploma.
GRADES 11-12
1.0 CREDIT