Course title: Freshmen Seminar (English)

Teacher: Rick Ayers

Contact: School number: 644-4586; email: rayers@berkeley.k12.ca.us

General Course Description:

Through extensive reading, writing, and discussion, we will pursue the essential question for the CAS freshman year, "Who am I and how do I fit into our diverse society?" We will begin the year with an "island activity" in which students work in groups to determine how they would govern themselves if stranded on an island. Through discussion, research, and evaluation, they will explore various philosophies and approaches to human society. The class will read extensive literature that proposes alternate points of view towards the question of our society and what is fair. What is human nature (are we naturally generous and collective; or naturally violent and competitive)? What is the role of government? How do we lead the most fulfilling lives? Second semester, we will do extensive reading, writing, and discussion that explore issues directly facing youth today. We will look at many different ways that people have represented teenage issues today and students will propose their own solutions. These solutions will be represented in class work but also in the CAS community through student government and the development of the culture of the small school. We will compare our own practice to the activism of young people all over the world.

Goals/Objectives:

Students will engage in critical thought as they explore multiple forms of text (oral, written, visual, etc.). They will learn to analyze, question, and react to multiple points of view. They will be expected to understand bias and its role in human thought and action. Students will strengthen communication skills in speaking, writing, photography, video and radio production, and magazine production. Students will read extensively and develop personal and analytical responses to reading. They will strengthen skills in group cooperative learning as well as individual academic pursuits. They will develop confidence in a rigorous and engaging academic environment. Students will learn to reflect and to be self-aware of their learning process. Students will develop a practice of community service and social responsibility. Students will become develop competence in appropriate state standards, including written and oral conventions, grammar, vocabulary, listening and reading comprehension, literary response, literary analysis, and creative writing. In addition, they will develop competence in CAS media literacy and media production standards and in CAS social justice standards.

Course content:

Essential Question: Who am I and how do I fit into our diverse society?

Units

I. Culture, Community, and Human Nature

• How are we do get along, how should we organize ourselves?
• What are the theories of society that have shaped our society? Examining different points of view.
• What agreements are necessary for optimal social development?
• What is post-Modern criticism? Understanding point of view and perspective.

II. Race, Power, Discourse

• How is race constructed in our society?
• How is power and social capital distributed in our society?
• What are our discourse communities? Examining how we communicate within communities and how to code switch depending on audience?
• How do media impact our social relations? What ways can we impact the media?

III. Adolescence - Social Issues

• How does gender and gender identity impact our lives?
• What can we celebrate about teen life? What challenges do we encounter?
• Growing up in social turmoil around the world.

IV. Identity - Teen Culture

• Creating a portfolio.
• Taking control: Making solutions for ourselves and our community.
• Thinking outside the box: Constructing our own course of study, book circles, educational plan for the future.

Assessment

Students will be assessed throughout the year in a variety of ways. Semester grades typically break down as follows:

Journal: 20%
Projects: 20%
Essays/Writing Assignments: 40 %
Participation: 20%

• Journals are collected once every 4 1/2 to 5 weeks.
• Students can expect one major writing assignment per quarter
• Students can expect one major project per quarter
• Current events credit can be fulfilled in a number of ways. Students will be expected to do one per semester.
• Respectful participation is earned through on-time, daily attendance, and positive classroom conduct.

Instructional Materials:

Students will need:

• A 2-inch binder with 6 dividers (note: the same 2-inch binder is good for all CAS 9th grade classes, however each class will need its own dividers)
• A Mead or Alco Composition book, with lined paper. This will serve as your journal.
• A collection of pencils, pens, and highlighters
• loose leaf paper in your binder

Texts we will use:

We will be doing extensive reading from various sources. Students will have independent reading as well as their own choice of books for book circle. In addition, students will be reading the following books together:

• Lord of the Flies, William Golding
• The Tempest, William Shakespeare
• A Tempest, Aimee Cesaire
• Caucasia, Danzy Senna
• Esperanza's Box of Saints, Maria Amparo Escandon
• Rule of the Bone, Russel Banks
• Funny Boy, Shyam Selvadurai
• Push, Sapphire

Students interested in independent work will be encouraged to pursue more independent reading and writing. Freshmen in CAS can participate in the CAS literary magazine and in work on the CAS web site.