The Year's Plans

The world around us is rapidly changing. How do humans typically respond to change and how does it reveal more about who we are and how we each individually see things? We'll also explore in this unit how these perspectives are also shaped by our five senses, technology and other surprising insights.

Readings/Media:

• A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini - a bestseller and on the BBC list for 100 most inspiring novels, the story is set in contemporary Afghanistan and focuses on a mother-daughter relationship surviving through Taliban rule.

• The Kite Runner - film

• Selections from California Collections - 10th Grade textbook: "Simplexity" - scientific article by Jeffrey Kluger; "The Trouble With Poetry" - poem by Billy Collins; "Magic Island" - poem by Cathy Song; "We Grow Accustomed to the Dark" and "Before I Got My Eye Put Out" - poems by Emily Dickenson; "The Night Face Up" - short story by Julio Cortazar

Main Projects: Narrative writing, interpretive presentations, analytical writing

Human ambition is timeless, and its fruits are fleeting. The texts in this unit will explore different types of power, how people view power differently, and what we know about those who seek it. Is having power always a good thing? Is being ambitious positive or negative? What are the consequences of using ambition to gain power?

Readings/Media:

• Animal Farm by George Orwell

• Macbeth by William Shakespeare

• Macbeth (2018) - film

• The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silcon Valley (2019) - documentary

• Selections from California Collections - 10th Grade textbook: "Why Read Shakespeare?" - argument essay

Main Project: Analytical and informative writing (the research and synthesis process)

This unit explores how we interact with other people, from family, enemies, neighbors, strangers, and those with whom we disagree. Examining this topic will also connect with your World History course, while we consider how these perceptions have also shaped the world around us, from racism to other humanitarian crises that force us to examine human worth.

Readings/Media:

• Manzanar internment camp documentary

• Selections from California Collections - 10th Grade textbook: "Without Title" - poem; "The Universal Declaration of Human Rights" - document; "Towards a True Refuge" - speech; Texas vs. Johnson - court opinion; "The American Flag Stands for Tolerance" - newspaper editorial

Main Project(s): Argumentative analysis writing, and multimedia projects and haiku writing

This unit will act as a bridge and preparation for English 11 and U.S. History. From the Civil Rights movement and the Arab Spring to Gandhi's Salt March in the 1930s, we examine hard-fought liberties across the globe, and the human suffering and persistence for equality and accountability that continues to push these liberties forward today.

Readings/Media:

• Fahreinheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

• Selections from California Collections - 10th Grade textbook: "Letter from Birmingham Jail" - argument essay; "March on Washington" - speech; "Letter to Viceroy, Lord Irwin" - argument essay; Ghandi - Rise to Fame - documentary; "Bile" - short story, "Cloudy Day" - poem

• Crash - film

Main Project: Argumentative speech presentations