Westlake Boys High School
Year 9 English - Extension
Course Description
Teacher in Charge: Mrs S. Meredith.
Year 9 English Extension
Year 9 English Extension is a course that develops key skills and competencies for success in the senior school and is the first year in a dedicated pathway leading towards Scholarship assessment. The course provides for a specific focus on enrichment, while providing a breadth of understanding across a range of language and literature topics. Foremost, there is a focus on the engagement of students by instilling a passion for the language and ideas associated with literature and cultural texts. In terms of the selection of texts, there will be a necessary emphasis put upon literature which has weight and depth, and there will be an immediate effort to provide variety and breadth across multiple genres and periods. Texts include novels, non-fiction, poetry and short stories. Students also study film, public speaking, Shakespearean drama and creative and formal writing.
Students learn to use and respond to English language and literature through personal reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing and presenting. This occurs both individually and in group situations. Students will be challenged to think about literature critically and perceptively in an informed way. Personal response and individual thought will be prized alongside precision and technical expertise. Close reading skills will be prioritized and developed. The core writing fundamentals (of essay writing particularly) will be a focus in years 9 and 10 and it will be expected that the vast majority of students graduating into year 11 from this cohort will do so with a superior capacity to write a high-quality literature essay.
Assessment
English is assessed through term marks made up of in class unit tests and assignments. Regular, formative in-class assessments and standards-based assessment are completed through the year.
These marks contribute to the Mid-Year Examinations (counting 33% of the marks for the year) and End of Year Examinations (counting 67% of the marks for the year).
These marks count towards the students overall ranking in the year group.
Course Overview
Term 1
We begin the 9ENGE year with a unit focusing on Cultural Narratives. Students will investigate bicultural and multicultural literature, focusing on Māori narratives and analysing ideas of nationhood, whakapapa, personal identity, and community. Students are encouraged to reflect on how they fit in within their own communities, and how they express or respond to the bicultural world in which we live. After analysing the variety of short texts, the students will write their own cultural narrative in the same style as one of the studied pieces, which is then subsequently assessed. After this, students will study written text(s), either a novel, drama, short stories or poetry. Students will respond to this written text through essay writing.
Term 2
The focus of Term 2 is the Mid-Year Exams, which give teachers a great insight into how students have progressed after Term 1. We begin the term by revising reading comprehension skills; analysing unfamiliar texts and identifying language features, parts of speech and the effect of these. In the exam, students will complete a reading comprehension paper, an editing task as well as an essay responding to their studied written text. After these exams, the rest of the term will be spent reading and understanding Shakespeare's play Macbeth where students will complete a writing task and performance, which is then subsequently assessed.
Term 3
In Term 3, the students will then move on to a visual text unit where they will watch and analyse a film. They will be looking at how directors utilise a variety of film techniques and conventions to create meaning. This close analysis will lead into an essay response and provide inspiration for their Speaking Assessment in Term 4. This is followed by a classic novel inquiry where student in groups will select a classic novel, read and analyse the text and present the aspects of their chosen text to the class.
Term 4
In Term 4, students will write and perform a speech based on their understanding of the film they have watched and analysed in class. The students will then begin revising for their exams. This revision will be focused on reading comprehension, reinforcing conventions of essay writing, and grammar skills. The exam is made up of a reading comprehension section, grammar/editing section, and an essay response on their the studied film. After exams, students will embark on a genre study. In this unit, students will choose a genre of their choice and find a range of visual and written texts within this genre. They will then analyse these texts based on the identification of specific genre conventions.
Entry Criteria
All students in Year 9 will complete a course in English.
Equipment/Stationery and Course Costs
As this course makes extensive use of digital learning material. It is expected that you will have a laptop or other suitable learning device available for each class when required.
Pathway
Disclaimer
Course selection does not guarantee a course will be available or that you have approval to take a course. Final course confirmation is in January and depends on your final results and in rare cases, staff availability.
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