In 10th Grade English Language Arts, students explore the tension between being selfless and selfish, between being an individual and being part of a community through diverse, rigorous, and relevant texts from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries: Fahrenheit 451, Sula, Men We Reaped, A Streetcar Named Desire, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and thematically aligned texts: short stories, articles, poems, and digital media. Students will examine the things, people, and places that motivate people to act in the best interests of others. Across the 5 units, students deepen their paragraph writing skills through narrative, opinion, analytical, and informational writing tasks.

Building upon the knowledge and English Language Arts skills they’ve developed in previous years, students deeply engage with complex texts through both independent reading and guided Close Reading, prepare for and engage in longform whole class discussions including Socratic Seminars, and write multi-paragraph responses to Essential Questions by gathering evidence and effectively communicating their thoughts.