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Lesson 2

Our First Central Topic

Establishing a Unifying Concept or Idea

DECISIONS, DECISIONS

To facilitate the learning process this year’s reading program is divided into units, each organized around a central topic.

The central topics will serve as organizing concepts designed to guide you through the learning process as you strive to maximize comprehension and gain depth of understanding. You might say that central topics give you the “big picture.”

They will be a key part of our reading program, so it is critical that you have a clear understanding of this concept and always remain aware of the topic currently under study.

There are two different types of central ideas. There are universal ideas like "friendship" and "survival," which encourage deep and critical thinking; and then there are research topics such as "weather," "astronomy," and "ancient civilizations," which foster inquiry and research in other content areas like science and history.

Our first central idea will be "Decisions, Decisions."

We will begin every new unit with a pre-lesson in which you make connections with that unit's central idea.

This will essentially be no more than a discussion in which you access your prior or pre-existing knowledge, sharing your past experiences or what you already know with respect to the topic at hand.

Chapter 1

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

Chapter One: My Childhood

CHAPTER CHECKUP

• On page 12, the story’s protagonist wonders, “How could my beautiful mother marry an unpleasant man like Mr. Murdstone?” What reason do you think Mrs. Copperfield may have had for deciding to marry a man who was “unfriendly and never smiled”?
  

• Suppose the reason you wrote above really is the reason Mrs. Copperfield had for marrying Mr. Murdstone. Do you think she made the right decision? Why or why not?
  

• What if you were Mrs. Copperfield and you had the same reason for wanting to marry someone. Would you have done the exact same thing she did or would you have decided to do something else? Please explain your answer.
  

Lesson 5

Connecting with the Unit

The Pre-Lesson

DISCUSSING THE CENTRAL TOPIC

You will always begin new units or literary selections with a pre-lesson which is essentially no more than a discussion with a focus on making connections.

• When I say the word decisions what thoughts come to mind?
  

• What elese do you already know about decisions or the decision making process? Are there are different approaches one might take when making a decision. Can you suggest any?
  

• For example, one approach is to compare and contrast. What do you know about this approach, if anything?
  

• Another technique for making decisions is to weigh “pros” and “cons.” Is this something with which you are familiar, and if so, what do you know about it?
  

• What would you say is the best decision you ever made in your life and why?
  

• Have you ever made a decision that you regretted or one that had negative consequences you had not originally anticipated? What happened?
  

• Is there anything else related to making decisions that you’d like to talk about, investigate or understand better?
  

• In what ways are the various aspects of decision making we touched on during our discussion related to one another?
  

• And finally, have you read any books, heard any radio broadcasts, or seen any television shows or movies where making a decision was a key element of the narrative? If so, what were those stories about?
  

Lesson 1

Why Study English?

Privileged to Pray

THE IMPORTANCE OF LANGUAGE

Human beings are the only creatures on Earth that communicate regularly using both spoken and written language, allowing us to share information, work together, plan for the future, develop our understanding, pass on traditions, and converse with God.

Much more could be said about the importance of learning English, but it is sufficient to note that language in general is a central and vital part of the human experience, with English in particular becoming ever more prevalent as a global and international language—hence the importance of providing you with the best English instruction possible.

Indeed, the importance of being able to read, write, and speak English well cannot be overemphasized, which is why it is such a good idea for you to learn to maximize your skills in the area of reading comprehension.

Lesson 3

Making Connections

Using Schema to Maximize Comprehension

READING TO LEARN MORE ABOUT LIFE

To read literary selections merely because they were assigned by your teacher is to miss out on some of the best opportunities you may encounter in your career as a student.

Writers usually want their audiences to take something away from their work—to leave readers with something to think about and remember. Accordingly, one of the goals of this class is to guide you in discovering the possibilities such opportunities afford in terms of growth and understanding and thereby convey the value of reading written works of art. We want to help you see how stories can help you consider significant ideas about the world and come to learn some of this life’s greatest “truths.”

The main way we will do this is by helping you learn how to make connections.

Making connections is finding elements in a selection that bring to mind aspects of your own life. For example, maybe you can remember a time when you did the same thing as a character in the story. However, we want you to go beyond such isolated (superficial) observations and connect with central ideas to which the selection repeatedly returns.

Making connections is a way to build and deepen your understanding. It’s a tool for using books and stories to think about important things in new ways and begin pondering questions in a manner that may enrich not only your experience in the text, but your experience in life as well.

The whole point to this activity is to connect with thoughts that will assist you with your reading by helping you better understand and appreciate the most important messages being communicated by the author.

Lesson 6

Connecting with the Story

The Pre-reading Strategies

BROWSING AND MAKING CONNECTIONS

Before reading any new selection we will always begin with a discussion based on the pre-reading strategies to help you activate any prior or background knowledge you may have about the selection. We may use any or all of the questions that appear below.

• Do you know what story you’re about to read? Are you familiar with it? If so, tell me a little about it, but remember not to give away the ending.
  

• How do you think this story might relate to our current unit’s central theme?
  

• Do you know of any other stories similar to this one?
  

• Are there any other stories you can think of involving our current theme?
  

• While you were browsing, what did you see that reminded you of something in your own life?
  

• What situations have you personally experienced or encountered in your life similar to those we are likely to read about in this selection? When was this? What happened?
  

• What do you know about the type of characters you expect to encounter in this story?
  

• Who is the author of this story and what, if anything, do you know about him or her?
  

• Have you read any other work by this author?
  

• In what genre would you place or categorize this selection? What are the features of that genre?
  

• What do you think this story is going to be about?
  

• Almost every good story has some sort of “conflict,” which is the main problem in the story. What do you think will be the conflict in this story and what, if anything, do you know about the factors involved in such conflicts?
  

• Did you see any words that you think you will have difficulty reading? Were there any words that you would like to know how to pronounce?
  

• After browsing the selection, what roused your curiosity? What are you wondering or anxious to find out about?
  

• What is the purpose or reason on which you have decided for reading this selection?