Ana McDonald's Academic English II
San Marcos High School
Language Arts Classroom Building, Room 214


Syllabus Part 1: English II Overview


Writing is Thinking

The school-year is divided into Quarters. Please click on the appropriate Quarter for detailed information about what we'll be doing in class including descriptions of major assignments.

We’ll meet Monday through Friday, except during school holidays.

Reading is Understanding
Students are urged to read outside class for pleasure for at least 30 minutes per day!

We'll read world literature and examine the historical influences that shape the literature. To acquire reading skills, we will learn what excellent readers already know, particularly focusing on Questioning, Predicting, Revising, Clarifying, Summarizing, and Drawing Conclusions.

Writing is Thinking & Making Other People Understand

The focus of English II (a.k.a., 10th Grade Language Arts) is persuasion, personal writing, and literary analysis. Academic English II will introduce and improve the critical thinking skills students need in high school and beyond into college or the workplace. These skills include:

Understanding Information
Producing Information
Reading
Writing
Listening
Speaking
Viewing
Representing

To learn to write effectively, we'll analyze the TAKS Paragraph (Short Answer) and TAKS Essay Rubrics and others as required by the district.

By the end of the year, students should be able to