About the instructor:  I'm thrilled about returning for another exciting year of instruction and am delighted to be working with such a vibrant community of learners.  As a sixth year teacher with prior experience in corporate sales, and in national television (abc), I bring a variety of experience and knowledge to share with my students.  Recently, a song/poem I wrote in response to Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad; has been published in an academic text called Inquiry Based Learning through the Creative Arts for Teachers and Teacher Educators (Palgrave MacMillan, 2020) written by Amanda Gulla PhD.  The work I've done with Dr. Gulla has inspired me to weave creative response and inquiry-based learning into my pedagogy to augment student participation and understanding.  

English 10 - Course Overview

This year in English 10, we will study themes of survival, the exploration of the self, and transformation, among others.  Guided by the New York State Next Generation Standards, the class will engage in academic discussion, high-stakes and low-stakes writing, poetry, literary and informational text analysis, close reading, and literary craft and structure.  The class will begin to develop their skills at composing essays and other forms of creative response; encouraging each student to emote in their own voice.  The course will follow the guidance set forth in the New York State Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education Framework.  Students will be exposed to an array of literature by providing them various text forms and genres by authors from various backgrounds and cultures.  Students will create multimodal projects ranging from digital video to visual interpretation.

Key Texts

“The Seventh Man” by Haruki Murakami

“Are You Lost in the World Like Me” an animated short by Steve Cutts

12 Angry Men by Reginald Rose

The Absolutely Tue Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

And others

Poems by Robert Frost, Edgar Allan Poe, Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, Maya Angelou, Gary Soto, Lorna Dee Cervantes, and many more.

English 11 - Course Overview 

English 11 is designed to prepare students for the New York State Regents exam and to ensure their college and career readiness.  The class will engage in academic discussion, high-stakes and low-stakes writing, poetry, literary and informational text analysis, close reading, and literary craft and structure.  The class will hone their skills at composing well-crafted argumentative and expository essays while encouraging each student to find their own voice.  The course will follow the guidance set forth in the New York State Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education Framework.  Students will be exposed to an array of literature by providing them various text forms and genres by authors from various backgrounds and cultures.  Students will create multimodal projects ranging from digital video to visual interpretation.

Key Texts

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

“The Danger of a Single Story” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Ted Talk)

Macbeth by William Shakespeare

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Poems by Robert Frost, Edgar Allan Poe, Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, Maya Angelou, Gary Soto, Lorna Dee Cervantes, and many more.