Express Yourself

I distinguish between plot and critical questions.

I distinguish between hypothetical and critical questions.

I formulate critical questions that inspire curiosity for me, and discussion with my classmates.

I can broaden critical questions to essential questions, connecting the world of the text to the real world.

I practice embodying multiple discussion roles, sharing the floor with my classmates.

I respond to critical questions in discussion (collaboratively).

I identify and share appropriate text evidence to deepen discussion.

I can learn and use complex terminology in context: definitions, synonyms, and connotations.

I can use my voice and physicality to communicate my understanding/the essence of a story/piece and engage an audience of listeners. (performance)

I can organize and present information with clarity and purpose, while engaging my audience. (presentation)

I can identify and express the major themes of the current text.

I connect to the current text’s major themes by making text-to-self/world connections in class, on projects, in writing.

I can determine a theme, motif, or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text.

I analyze how complex characters develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.

I can identify a symbol in a text.

I effectively express the current text’s themes in informal/non-traditional formats.

I can identify and express stylistic choices made by writers in different genres.

I respond to critical questions in informal or process writing.

I can experiment with different creative genres to respond to or demonstrate my understanding of authorial choice, and express my own opinions/experiences.

I can formulate my own essay questions (critical or essential).

I can write a specific, clear thesis statement.

I can write specific, clear topic sentences that support my thesis statement and preview my body paragraphs.

I can write an essay outline that serves as a scaffold to my essay draft.

I integrate and cite strong and thorough text evidence to support the analysis of my written argument.

I can organize my body paragraphs in the SPA (statement, proof, analysis) format, including unpacking the quotation in my own words, and connecting my analysis back to the thesis statement.

I can effectively “break the rules” of the SPA body paragraph while maintaining effective organization, argument, text, evidence, and analysis.

I write with style (I demonstrate care for what I say, and how I say it, in writing): my finished essays are generally free of mistakes in grammar, punctuation, spelling, and formatting. I use a variety of sentence structures to communicate clear, coherent thoughts. My quotations are correctly cited in MLA format.

I can recognize points of improvement for me in some/any/all of the English 3 Skills categories

I can identify specific steps or actions I can take to improve some/any/all of the English 3 Skills categories.

I practice active reading through multiple lenses, evidenced by my comprehension and annotations.

I practice my own style of annotation that works for me to solidify my comprehension and inquiry.

I formulate plot, critical, reactive, and essential questions as I read.

I can isolate a point of interest in the text and formulate a critical question.

I distinguish between various types of questions (plot, hypothetical, critical, essential)

I formulate critical questions that inspire curiosity for me, and discussion with my classmates, anticipating where a discussion might lead.

I embody multiple discussion roles by way of active listening.

I respond to and elaborate on critical questions in discussion (collaboratively).

I share appropriate text evidence and explore its significance to deepen discussion.

I can learn and use complex terminology in context: definitions, synonyms, and connotations.

I can use my voice and physicality to communicate my understanding/the essence of a story/piece and engage an audience of listeners. (performance)

I can organize and present information with clarity and purpose, while engaging my audience. (presentation)

I can identify and express the major themes and their significance, noting what the author is communicating about the themes.

I connect to the current text’s major themes by making text-to-self/world connections in class, on projects, in writing.

I can determine a theme, motif, or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text.

I analyze how complex characters develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.

I can analyze the meaning of the symbol in a larger context.

I can identify and express stylistic choices made by writers in different genres, and articulate how those choices develop themes.

I respond to critical questions in informal or process writing.

can experiment with different creative genres to respond to or demonstrate my understanding of authorial choice, and express my own opinions/experiences, developing my own distinct voice.

I can formulate my own essay questions (critical or essential).

I can write a specific, clear, concise, arguable thesis statement.

I can write specific, clear, argument-driven topic sentences that support my thesis statement and preview my body paragraphs.

I can write an essay outline that serves as a scaffold to my essay draft.

I introduce and seamlessly integrate well-selected, relevant, compelling text evidence to support the analysis of my written argument.

I can understand the major components (topic sentence, evidence, analysis) of a body paragraph and organize my paragraph to effectively support my thesis.

I write with a distinct voice with attention to audience. I use a variety of sentence structures to communicate clear, coherent thoughts.

I can recognize points of improvement and opportunities for challenge in some/any/all of the skills of the course.

I can identify specific steps and actions I can take to improve in some/any/all of the skills.