English / Language Arts

From Kindergarten to twelfth grade, the Clifton Media Centers address a variety of skills.  First and foremost, each Media Center is full of a variety of texts to serve every reader and every reading level.  The shelves contain non-fiction and fiction titles designed to be high interest levels for all types of readers. The Media Centers also address STEM topics with centers set up for students to work on different projects to improve their skills in those areas.  The Media Centers are also up to date with technology and have computer centers where students can visit to do independent research, writing or take time with assignments.

Students work in novel and thematic units around the anchor New Jersey Student Learning Standards (NJSLS); Narrative, Explanatory/Expository, Literary and Argumentative, and Opinion.  Vocabulary acquisition through the teaching of context clues, Greek and Latin roots and figurative language is embedded in the units along with cross-curricular connections to Visual and Performing Arts, Reading History/Science and College and Career Readiness.  Student learning experiences are varied using technology; G Suite for Education, Accelerated Reader 360 and MyOn Reader. Instruction is also supported with the use of choice boards, stations and collaborative projects.

English I will provide students with an in-depth reading and writing experience placing special emphasis on reading comprehension and writing skills. Students will read between 6-10 significant pieces of literature (mostly novels), and a collection of plays, poems, short stories and essays. Students will create at least two major writing tasks per marking period using the MLA format, and the writing-as-a-process protocols, and develop their speaking, listening, viewing and vocabulary skills. 

English II picks up where English I left off: providing students with a continued emphasis on advancing their reading, writing, speaking, viewing and listening skills. There will be a primary emphasis on the reading 6 novels per year with a secondary attention to plays, poetry, and short stories. Students will write two major writing tasks per marking period in the MLA format, fully utilizing the writing-as-a-process protocols, and focus on vocabulary. 

This full year course for English III examines in depth the American literary scene from the Colonial period to the present. Attention is focused on the reading between 6-10 novels per year, and a collection of essays, articles, short stories, plays, and poems. In addition to giving the students a knowledge of their American literary heritage, emphasis is placed upon improving the students’ writing, speaking, listening and viewing skills, and immersing them in a vocabulary program 

English IV places emphasis on human values. Fundamental questions and qualities of society will be explored. Reading short stories, novels, plays, poetry, magazine articles and excerpts from British and World literature will give the students the opportunity to view social problems and to develop personal conclusions. Emphasis will be placed on the study of vocabulary and the development of reading, writing, speaking, viewing, and listening skills.