9th Grade English Language Arts
Agency, Power, and Justice
Navigate empowers scholars to map their own path through the foundations of critical analysis. Students learn to decode how authors use language and rhetorical devices to convey universal truths, gaining the navigational tools necessary to traverse complex social and political landscapes. By examining narratives of identity and justice, scholars develop the intellectual compass needed to navigate a world where their voices can effect meaningful change.
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Curriculum Highlights
This year focuses on "Personal Identity," investigating how factors like race, gender, and class impact an individual's sense of belonging. Scholars engage in high-level inquiry through units on institutional racism, power, and culpability. The curriculum emphasizes the "Writer's Craft," utilizing short stories, articles, and digital media as contemporary mirrors. Students refine their navigation of academic discourse through Socratic Seminars and evidence-based arguments.
This year focuses on "Personal Identity," investigating how factors like race, gender, and class impact an individual's sense of belonging. Scholars engage in high-level inquiry through units on institutional racism, power, and culpability. The curriculum emphasizes the "Writer's Craft," utilizing short stories, articles, and digital media as contemporary mirrors. Students refine their navigation of academic discourse through Socratic Seminars and evidence-based arguments.
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Core Literature
This course features a diverse range of powerful anchor texts. Key literary works include:
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
The Central Park Five by Sarah Burns
In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare
These are supplemented by thematically-aligned short stories, articles, poems, and digital media, providing scholars with a rich array of historical and contemporary perspectives to sharpen their critical lens.
This course features a diverse range of powerful anchor texts. Key literary works include:
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
The Central Park Five by Sarah Burns
In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare
These are supplemented by thematically-aligned short stories, articles, poems, and digital media, providing scholars with a rich array of historical and contemporary perspectives to sharpen their critical lens.
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Standards & Alignment
Fully aligned with CCSS Grade 9-10 standards. Focus areas include analyzing how an author’s choices regarding structure and timing create tension (RL.9.5) and developing substantive arguments with valid reasoning and relevant evidence (W.9.1). Scholars are expected to master citing textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, ensuring they are prepared for the "Ascension" years.
Fully aligned with CCSS Grade 9-10 standards. Focus areas include analyzing how an author’s choices regarding structure and timing create tension (RL.9.5) and developing substantive arguments with valid reasoning and relevant evidence (W.9.1). Scholars are expected to master citing textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, ensuring they are prepared for the "Ascension" years.
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