Successful Learners are: Dedicated to Excellence - United in Service - Educated for Success

1. Use the writing process to write well.
Complete sentences, well-written paragraphs, working knowledge of
parts of speech, especially verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives and
adverbs

2. Follow the steps of writing to produce a well-written persuasive essay.
Understand and follow directions, brainstorm ideas, choose a main
idea, group ideas into three groups, 
write the essay using an introductory paragraph, three body
paragraphs with examples and details, and a concluding paragraph,
edit for grammar, spelling, punctuation

3. Use the six traits of writing in producing an essay.
Idea development, organization, voice, word choice, sentence
fluency, and conventions

4. Learn what Americans were thinking and feeling, and what was
important to them, and what they believed in during all the times
of America’s history. Relate these ideas to the selections from
American literature read in class.

5. Read many American short stories, an American play, and an American
novel, and review the elements of literature.
Setting, plot, characters, point of view, conflict, theme, tone and
mood, dialogue, symbolism, foreshadowing, irony

6. Review and use reading strategies for comprehension.
Learn Vocabulary, Visualize, Ask Questions, Make Connections,
Make Predictions, Summarize, Give Opinion

7. Read selections from American poetry and review the elements of poetry
and figurative language.
Alliteration, simile, metaphor, onomatopoeia, personification,
rhythm, rhyme, stanza, allusion, repetition

8. Read articles, journal entries, letters and other texts from American
literature, and analyze and evaluate the texts.

9. Determine meanings of words.
Prefixes, suffixes, root words, synonyms, antonyms

10. Review and practice using correct punctuation, spelling, and grammar.
Periods, question marks, exclamation points, commas, colons, semi-
colons, apostrophes, quotation marks, hyphens, dashes, underlining,
parentheses, brackets, italics

11. Memorize selections of American literature, and present to the class. 
Present written papers orally to the class, using visual aids or
technology for support.

12. Practice being an attentive and responsive listener, and learn listening
techniques.