Visual Lit High School: Draw Your Way Through High School English Language Arts

Welcome to Visual Literature: High School English Language Arts!  You can join in anytime! This comprehensive Language Arts course explores grammar, literary interpretation, and effective communication skills in accordance with the standards set by the Common Core, National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), and International Reading Association. 

These standards encompass a wide range of competencies including reading comprehension, literacy, oral expression, visual interpretation, and fundamental grammar skills. Each individual standard is addressed in a self-contained lesson, allowing for independent progression without cumulative dependency.
In this course, we utilize the technique of sketchnoting to enhance our understanding and analysis of texts. Sketchnoting, a form of note-taking, involves incorporating visual elements into the process, thereby promoting a more engaging and vivid representation of information.

Our class commences with varied warm-up activities, ranging from sentence diagramming to thought-provoking discussion prompts. No homework or pre-reading assignments are required as we access and explore stories and poems together during class. Guided reading and Socratic discussions facilitate our comprehension and exploration of these literary works.

Throughout the course, we embark on in-depth examinations of texts, delving into various literary elements such as tone, plot structure, symbolism, and character development. During these explorations, we translate our insights into visual representations, allowing students to create tangible artifacts that serve as lasting reminders of each text.

The primary objective of this class is to foster students' confidence in their analytical and grammatical skills within a supportive and collaborative learning environment. All the texts we will study are available online and/or in the public domain and are provided as links in the list below:

CURRICULUM: 
THIS CLASS CONTINUES WITHOUT STOPPING (except for occasional breaks) and is designed so that students can join at any time. 


WEEK OF NOVEMBER 4: 
Visual Grammar + “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell Found here: https://www.btboces.org/Downloads/1_The%20Most%20Dangerous%20Game%20by%20Richard%20Connell.pdf SKILLS: ELA RL.9-10.1;  ELA RL.9-10.2 ; ELA RL.9-10.6;  RL.9-10.10  Common Core Writing Standard 1.  W.9-10.6 ; ELA L.9-10.1; ELA L.9-10.2  

WEEK OF NOVEMBER 11: VISUAL GRAMMAR + Standards: ELA RL.9-10.1; ELA RL.9-10.2; ELA RL.9-10.6; RL.9-10.10; ELA RL.9-10.5; ELA L.9-10.1; ELA L.9-10.2; Common Core Writing Standard 1, W.9-10.6
“The Lady of the Tiger?” by Frank R Stockton
https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/396/pg396-images.html 

WEEK OF November 27: VISUAL GRAMMAR + Standards: RL..1, RL..2, RL..3, RL..4, RL..6 “The Moustache” by Robert  Cormier Found here: http://pvaparisi.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/50345180/The 


WEEK OF NOVEMBER 20:    VISUAL GRAMMAR + Standards: ELA RL.9-10.2; ELA RL.9-10.4; ELA RL.9-10.6; ELA RL.9-10.5
“To Build a Fire” by Jack London
https://americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/to-build-a-fire.pdf 

NO CLASS 11/27 – 11/29:

WEEK OF DECEMBER 2:
VISUAL GRAMMAR + Standards: RL.9-10.1; RL.9-10.2; RL.9-10.3; NCTE/IRA 1, 3, 6, 9
“Good Souls” by Dorothy Parker found here: https://americanliterature.com/author/dorothy-parker/short-story/good-souls/ 

WEEK OF DECEMBER 9:
VISUAL GRAMMAR + Standards: RL.9-10.1; RL.9-10.2; RL.9-10.3; NCTE/IRA 4, 5, 10
Various aphorism and quotes from multiple people including Voltaire, Winston Churchill, Emily Dickinson, J R R Tolkien as well as the poetry of e e cumming found here: https://allpoetry.com/poem/8494115-l-a...--a-leaf-falls-on-loneliness--by-e.e.-cummings  and here: https://poets.org/poem/anyone-lived-pretty-how-town 


WEEK OF DECEMBER 16: Standards: RL5; RL4; RL6; RL7; CC 1; CC 2; Text “The Great American Pie Company” by Ellis Parker Butler  found here: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/44147/44147-h/44147-h.htm **except Thursday class which will do this : VISUAL GRAMMAR + Standards: RL.9-10.1; RL.9-10.2; RL.9-10.3; NCTE/IRA 4, 5, 10 Various aphorism and quotes from multiple people including Voltaire, Winston Churchill, Emily Dickinson, J R R Tolkien as well as the poetry of e e cumming found here: https://allpoetry.com/poem/8494115-l-a...--a-leaf-falls-on-loneliness--by-e.e.-cummings  and here: https://poets.org/poem/anyone-lived-pretty-how-town 



WEEK OF DECEMBER 23:

THERE WILL BE NO CLASSES FROM DECEMBER 23RD TO DECEMBER 29 DUE TO WINTER HOLIDAY

WEEK OF DECEMBER 30: VISUAL GRAMMAR + CC: RL1; RL2; RL3; RL4; RL5; RL6; RL7; RL9; SL1; SL4; L4; L5: NCTE 1; NCTE 3; NCTE 4; NCTE 5; NCTE 9; NCTE 11; NCTE 1: IRA 1; IRA 2; IRA 3; IRA 4
Elizabeth Bear’s “Tideline” found here: https://bobson.ludost.net/hugoawardnominees/2008/tideline.html 


WEEK OF JANUARY 6:
VISUAL GRAMMAR + Standards: RL.9-10.2; RL.9-10.3; RL.9-10.4; RL.9-10.5; RL.9-10.6
Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey and “The Odyssey” excerpts
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1727/1727-h/1727-h.htm  

WEEK OF JANUARY 13:
VISUAL GRAMMAR + Standards: RL.9-10.2; RL.9-10.3; RL.9-10.4; RL.9-10.5; RL.9-10.6
Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey and “The Odyssey” excerpts
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1727/1727-h/1727-h.htm

WEEK OF JANUARY 20:
VISUAL GRAMMAR + Standards: RL.9-10.2; RL.9-10.3; RL.9-10.4; RL.9-10.5; RL.9-10.6
Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey and “The Odyssey” section three
https://theodysseyonline.weebly.com/uploads/1/5/3/2/15321652/book_12_complete.pdf

WEEK OF JANUARY 27:
VISUAL GRAMMAR + Standards: RL.9-10.4; RL.9-10.6; RL.9-10.7; RL.9-10.10
“The Signal Man” by Charles Dickens” https://shortstoryamerica.com/pdf_classics/dickens_the_signal_man.pdf 
 
******GRAMMAR   COVERED through visual grammar series: W.9-10.6 ; ELA L.9-10.1; ELA L.9-10.2  

******THIS CLASS CONTINUES WITHOUT STOPPING (except for occasional breaks) and is designed so that students can join at any time. 

WEEK OF FEB 3:  VISUAL GRAMMAR + Standards:  RI. 4, RI. 6, RI.8:  "Me Talk Pretty Some Day" and "Us and Them" by David Sedaris found here: https://www.macobo.com/essays/epdf/Me%20Talk%20Pretty%20One%20Day%20by%20Sedaris.pdf  and here: https://www.grant.kyschools.us/Downloads/10_2_65_Us_and_Them.pdf 

WEEK OF FEB 10:  VISUAL GRAMMAR + STANDARDS RL..3, RL.1, RL..4, RL..10, RL.5. “The 11:59” by Patricia McKissack found here: https://www.unit5.org/cms/lib/IL01905100/Centricity/Domain/722/The%2011%2059%20.pdf  

WEEK OF FEB 17:  VISUAL GRAMMAR + STANDARDS RL..2, RL.3, RL..10, RL.5.  “Just Lather, That’s All” Hernando Tellez found here:  https://msvadacchino.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/just-lather-thats-all.pdf  

WEEK OF FEB 24:  Standards: VISUAL GRAMMAR + STANDARDS RL..3, RL.6, RL..7, RL.10 : “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner found here: https://facultyweb.wcjc.edu/users/jonl/documents/RoseforEmily.pdf 

WEEK OF MARCH 3:  : VISUAL GRAMMAR + Standards R.L.6, R.L.4, and R.L.2 : Louise Erdrich, “The Leap” found here: https://www.frontiercsd.org/cms/lib/NY19000265/Centricity/Domain/66/The%20Leap_%20Short%20Story.pdf 

WEEK OF MARCH 10:  VISUAL GRAMMAR + Standards R.L.6, R.L.4, and R.L.2 : “Contents of a Dead Man’s Pocket” by Jack Finney found here: https://www.cusd80.com/cms/lib6/AZ01001175/Centricity/Domain/3421/Contents_of_the_Dead_Mans_Pocket.pdf 

WEEK OF MARCH 17:  VISUAL GRAMMAR + Standards R.L.1, R.L.3, and R.L.6. PART 1 OF “The Rule of Names” by Ursula K Le Guin found here: https://reinert.weebly.com/uploads/1/4/2/7/14270413/the_rule_of_names.pdf 

WEEK OF MARCH 24:  VISUAL GRAMMAR + Standards R.L.1, R.L.3, and R.L.6. PART 2 OF “The Rule of Names” by Ursula K Le Guin found here: https://reinert.weebly.com/uploads/1/4/2/7/14270413/the_rule_of_names.pdf

WEEK OF MARCH 31 VISUAL GRAMMAR +  RI 1; RI4. RI. 5; Persuasive Techniques and Shakespearean Speech from Julius Caesar (Brutus and Antony’s speeches) pdf found here: https://www.folger.edu/explore/shakespeares-works/julius-caesar/read/ 

WEEK OF APRIL 7 VISUAL GRAMMAR +  Standards: RL1; RL 4; RL 7; Text: "Gabriel-Ernest" by Saki http://eflreading.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/47229218/Gabriel-Ernest.pdf  & William Blake’s “Songs of Innocence” & “Songs of Experience” found here:  https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1934/1934-h/1934-h.htm 

WEEK OF APRIL 14 VISUAL GRAMMAR +  Standards:  RL..2, RL..3, RL..4, RL..5, RL..6 “The Feather Pillow” by Horatio Quiroga pdf found here: https://images.pcmac.org/SiSFiles/Schools/AL/HooverCity/SpainParkHigh/Uploads/Forms/The%20Feather%20Pillow.pdf 

WEEK OF APRIL 21 VISUAL GRAMMAR + Standards: CC 1; CC 4; CC 7; NCTE 1 & 7; “The Tell Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe: https://www.northiowa.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Tell-Tale-Heart.pdf 

WEEK OF APRIL 28 VISUAL GRAMMAR +  RL 3 ; RL 6; Texts: “Joy” by Anton Chekhov and “I am Nobody” "I heard a Fly buzz"  by Emily Dickinson (poem) https://www.online-literature.com/anton_chekhov/1103/ and https://poets.org/poem/im-nobody-who-are-you-260 
 

******GRAMMAR   COVERED through visual grammar series: W.9-10.6 ; ELA L.9-10.1; ELA L.9-10.2  

******THIS CLASS CONTINUES WITHOUT STOPPING (except for occasional breaks) and is designed so that students can join at any time.