Freshman / 9th Grade

Freshman English lays out the skills that will be spiraled through their high school years, while building independent reading habits.

Freshman English Thematic Units Include:

Unit 1: Against all Odds
Unit 2: Breaking Through Barriers
Unit 3: Crime Scenes
Unit 4: Love and Loss
Unit 5: Freedom at All Costs
Unit 6: Epic Journeys

Sophmore / 10th Grade

Sophomore English will push students’ understanding of literary devices and their effects.

Sophomore English Thematic Units Include:

Unit 1: Conflict and Connection
Unit 2: The Power of Perception
Unit 3: Hard-Won Liberty
Unit 4: Reckless Ambition
Unit 5: Forces of Change
Unit 6: Our Place in Nature

Pre-AP Sophomore English
Pre-AP Sophomore English is an advanced tenth grade course, which will prepare students for AP English Language and AP English Literature.  Students in this course will take the ELA Regents in the June of their sophomore year.

Junior / 11th Grade

Junior English will prepare students for the NYS Regents exam in ELA through a focus on American Literature.

Junior English Thematic Units Include:

Unit 1: Foundations and Encounters: Early American Literature
Unit 2: Building a Democracy: The Revolutionary Period
Unit 3: The Individual and Society: Literature of the American Renaissance
Unit 4: The Quest for Freedom: The Civil War and its Aftermath
Unit 5: America Transformed: An Age of Realism
Unit 6: Modern And Contemporary Voices: The Modern Period to the Present Day

AP Junior English: Advanced Placement Language and Composition
Learn about the elements of argument and composition as you develop your critical-reading and writing skills. You’ll read and analyze nonfiction works from various periods and write essays with different aims: for example, to explain an idea, argue a point, or persuade your reader of something.

Senior / 12th Grade

Senior English will expose students to British Literature, while working on the college essay and post-secondary skills.
Senior English Thematic Units Include:
Unit 1: Origin of a Nation
Unit 2: A Celebration of Human Achievement
Unit 3: Tradition and Reason
Unit 4: Emotion and Experimentation
Unit 5: An Era of Rapid Change
Unit 6: New Ideas, New Voices

AP Senior English: Advanced Placement Literature and Composition
Learn how to understand and evaluate works of fiction, poetry, and drama from various periods and cultures. You’ll read literary works and write essays to explain and support your analysis of them.


National Education Equity Lab Courses
In partnership with pioneering universities, including University of Pennsylvania, Arizona State University, and Brown University, National Education Equity Lab delivers and supports online college credit-bearing courses into teacher-led high school classrooms across the country. Participating students earn widely-transferable college credits and have access to mentorship and hands-on support.  Richmond Hill current offers these classes through National Ed Equity:

Arizona State University's Poetry in America: The City from Whitman to Hip Hop
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In this course, we consider those American poets whose themes, forms, and voices have given expression to visions of the city since 1850. Beginning with Walt Whitman, the great poet of nineteenth-century New York, we explore the diverse and ever-changing environment of the modern city through the eyes of various poets as well as contemporary hip hop and spoken word artists.
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Brown University's Law & Literature
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Through novels, poetry, film, legal writings, and legal opinions, we examine how law and literature are connected to issues like identity, sexuality, injury, policing, speech, and silence.
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Brown University's Fantastic Places, Unhuman Humans: Exploring Humanity Through Literature
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Consider what it means to be human by examining the grotesque, monstrous, and alien creatures found lurking in the magic of fiction.
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UPenn’s Grit Lab: The Psychology of Passion & Perseverance
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Are you interested in the science and practice of passion and perseverance? The aims of Grit Lab are two-fold: (1) to equip you with generalizable knowledge about the science of passion and perseverance, and (2) to help you apply these insights to your own life.

Electives

Theatre Games
PROJECTED CLASS UNITS OF STUDY:
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Tribal-style verbal and nonverbal storytelling
European pantomime
Daily improv
Fun theatre warm-ups and games for learning and applying techniques
Using workshop-style criticism as assessment
Writing, directing, and performance of small scripted scenes
Performance of small improvisational group skits
Stage movement, blocking, direction, and stage aesthetics
Voice
 

Multicultural Perspectives in Literature
This English elective course gives students exposure to an array of culturally-focused representative works, both in written and film form. Students have the unique opportunity to expand their worldview by stepping outside of their own cultural frame of reference in order to gain essential understandings of those cultures of which they might lack familiarity, as well as reflect on cultures that a student might identify with within the context of a larger society

Pop Music & Literature
This class aims to introduce and expand musical knowledge beyond the mainstream realm and comfort zone. Students explore the evolution and impact of music from various genres, cultures and decades, as well as reflect on and share their journey of musical awakening.  Opportunities to create music, online and in the class, are highly encouraged along with a multitude of tangible projects.

English Faculty