The Sophomore cohort will be taking the English Regents Exam this June. In order to prepare, students are advised to maintain and carry a notebook or binder with them to class on a daily basis. Notes on literary elements and techniques are taken for students to study for the exam, and organization is key to success. Homework assignments are aligned to the tasks of the essays on the Regents exam. For students to collaborate with peers on revisions during writing workshop, it is essential that each student completes the assignment on the due date, so that peers can consult and give feedback and critique aligned with the scoring rubric.
Independent daily reading, as a homework project, will greatly benefit the student, both in the choice of a personal work of literature, and the ability to read in a sustained way in a quiet, controlled space at home. The Critical Lens essay on the exam requires students to write about literary elements and techniques of two works of literature they have read prior to the test, in response to themes and ideas in a given quotation. Students should choose and read independent books, in addition to the shared reading in class. This term we are reading A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams. Assignments and essays, both in class and at home, are aligned to the skills and concepts they will be called upon to demonstrate when they sit for the test.
“Practice–If you can, you must, so that when you must you can.”
