In 9th Grade English Language Arts, students explore the theme of personal identity through diverse, rigorous, and relevant texts: Born a Crime, Of Mice and Men, The Central Park Five, In the Time of the Butterflies, The Taming of the Shrew, and thematically aligned texts: short stories, articles, poems, and digital media. Students will consider how factors like race and gender as well as the social and political context of characters’ lives impact who they are, how they experience the world, and how they use their voices to effect change for themselves and others. Across the 5 units, students deepen their paragraph writing skills through narrative, opinion, analytical, and informational writing tasks.

Building upon the knowledge and English Language Arts skills they’ve developed in previous years, students deeply engage with complex texts through both independent reading and guided Close Reading, prepare for and engage in longform whole class discussions including Socratic Seminars, and write multi-paragraph responses to Essential Questions by gathering evidence and effectively communicating their thoughts.