English 9 – 2023-24

Resources

  1. English 9 Outline (pdf)
  2. English 9 Overview: Grades, Rules, and Routines (pdf)
  3. English 9 Calendar (pdf)
  4. English 9 Progress Report (Marks and Grades Overview) (pdf)
  5. English 9 Models and Frameworks (pdf)
  6. English 9 Stuff-to-Learn List (pdf)
  7. English 9 Discussing Ideas as a Class (pdf)
  8. English 9 List of Texts (pdf)

Overview

Read, speak, and hear literature of the Ts’msyen, Stó:lo, Spokane, Scottish, Ojibwe, Nisga’a, Métis, Mexican, Mi’kmaq, Inuit, Heiltsuk, Haisla, Haida, English, Dene, Coeur d’Alene, Cherokee, Canadian, American, and African American peoples. Improve your reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. Learn about the literature of the English Renaissance and the Harlem Renaissance. Read popular fiction and learn about the “future of reading” by using AI as a writing tool to create popular fiction to sell books, entertain people, and shape culture. Read a variety of both fiction and non-fiction texts, including texts from Coastal First Nations and other places – local and global, traditional and contemporary, Western and Indigenous, etc. Learn how to write a high school expository essay and textual analysis essay. Use theory to think and use writing to help you think systematically and with clarity and sound reasoning. Read and write memorable poems that matter to you.

Thematic Quotes

  1. “they were looking to belong” (Hinton)
  2. “speak first for yourself” (Elton, William in All Is True)
  3. “all the world’s a stage” (Shakespeare)
  4. “stories are all we are” (King)
  5. “writing is thinking made visible” (Pappas)
  6. “narrative organizes the structure of human experience” (Bruner)
  7. “the only cure/I know/is a good ceremony” (Silko)

Poetry Packets

  1. Poetry Packet #1 – Lee Maracle (pdf) (will be posted Feb. 12)
  2. Poetry Packet #2 – Maya Angelou (pdf) (will be posted Feb. 12)
  3. Poetry Packet #3 – Walt Whitman (pdf) (will be posted Feb. 26)
  4. Poetry Packet #4 – Charles Bukowski (pdf)(will be posted Feb. 26)
  5. Poetry Packet #5 – Mary Oliver (pdf) (will be posted Mar. 4)
  6. Poetry Packet #6 – Raymond Carver (pdf) (will be posted Mar. 4)

Test and Exam Study Guides

  1. Mid Term Week (Mar. 4, Mar. 11-15)
    • Mid Term Exam Study Guide (will be posted later)
  2. Unit Test Week (May 10, May-13)
    • Unit Test Study Guide (will be posted later)
  3. Final Exam Week (June 14, June 17-21)
    • Final Exam Study Guide (will be posted later)

The last day of the Final Exam Week is Friday June 21. This is the last regular day of the semester. The Make-Up Day is June 24. If you miss an exam day, you can make it up on the Make-Up Day. Grades are posted on June 25. Year end grades must be posted at year end. Late work, turned in after the summer break, may be accepted and may result in a revised grade. This requires permission the office, so please see Mr. Kertes if you plan or expect to miss the exam week. The last day to submit any work for possible revision is September 30, 2024.

Assignment Overviews and Rubrics

  1. Due Mar. 1: Short Story Report (pdf) (will be posted later)
  2. Due Mar. 4: Expository Essay (pdf) (will be posted later)
  3. Due Mar. 8: Poetry Reflection Report (pdf) (will be posted later)
  4. Due Apr. 12: Student-Led Conference Report (pdf) (will be posted later)
  5. Due Apr. 15 or Apr. 17: My Story Presentation (pdf) (will be posted later)
  6. Due Apr. 18: Self-Assessment Report Due (pdf) (will be posted later)
  7. Due May 9: Textual Analysis Essay (pdf) (will be posted later)
  8. Due May 9: Novel Study Report (pdf) (will be posted later)
  9. Due June 3 or June 5: Future of Writing Presentation (pdf) (will be posted later)
  10. Due June 6: Future of Writing Self-Assessment Report (pdf) (will be posted later)
  11. Due June 17: 750-word Biography Report on Christopher Marlow or Bayard Rustin

Lesson Study Guides

  1. Writing as a System Part 1 (pdf) (will be posted later)
  2. Writing as Process Part 1 (pdf) (will be posted later)
  3. Thinking About Thinking (pdf) (will be posted later)
  4. Constructive Thinking Through Debate and Dialogue (pdf) (will be posted later)
  5. The Importance of Theory (pdf) (will be posted later)
  6. My Story (pdf) (will be posted later)
  7. Textual Analysis (pdf) (will be posted later)
  8. Writing as a System Part 2 (pdf) (will be posted later)
  9. Writing as a Process Part 2 (pdf) (will be posted later)
  10. Thinking Made Visible (pdf) (will be posted later)
  11. Elements of Narrative and Literary Devices (pdf) (will be posted later)

Quiz Study Guides

  1. Five Fs and Levels of Analysis (LOAs) Study Guide (pdf)
  2. Theory and Six Stages of Writing Study Guide (pdf)
  3. Levels of Analysis and Zone of Proximal Development Study Guide (pdf)
  4. Elements of a System Study Guide (pdf) (will be posted later)
  5. Five Fs, Levels of Analysis (LOAs), Theory, Systems, and Six Stages of Writing Study Guide (pdf) (will be posted later)
  6. Focusing Question, Thesis Statement, and Title Study Guide (pdf) (will be posted later)
  7. Thinking Made Visible Study Guide (pdf) (will be posted later)
  8. Elements of Narrative and Literary Devices Study Guide (pdf) (will be posted later)

Homework Templates and Readings

Readings (Passages, Essays, Poems, Short Stories, etc.)

PDFs of passages. For student use only. Password protected for copyright reasons. Please ask Mr. Kertes for student the password. The student password changes after the semester ends.

  1. Alexie, Sherman. One Good Man.
  2. Baptist, Willie and Jan Rehmann. Pedagogy of the Poor: Building the Movement to End Poverty. 
  3. Bendix, Tea. Different for Boys. 
  4. Bruner, Jerome. Actual Minds, Possible Worlds.
  5. Bruner, Jerome. The Narrative Construction of Reality. 
  6. Budning, Gordie. Systems-Thinking: Why It Matters and How to Use It
  7. Critchley, Simon. The Rigor of Love. 
  8. Currie, Gregory. Does Great Literature Make Us Better? 
  9. David, Levithan. Your Temporary Santa.
  10. Davidson, Sara Florence and Robert Davidson. We Were Once Silenced.
  11. Du Bois, W. E. B. Strivings of the Negro People.
  12. Freire, Paulo and Donald Macedo. The Importance of the Act of Reading.
  13. Gordimer, Nadine. Once Upon a Time.
  14. Hall, Rebecca. Passing.
  15. Holt, Jim. Is Philosophy Literature? 
  16. Hughes, Langston. Thank You, Ma’am.
  17. Hurston, Zora Neale. Sweat. 
  18. Hurston, Zora Neale. The Gilded Six Bits. 
  19. Jacobs, Harriet. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. 
  20. Kertes, Thomas. Civil Rights Worth It.
  21. Kertes, Tom. For Chief Gidansda as for Dr. King, Authority Has Roots in Respect.
  22. King, Thomas. “You’ll Never Believe What Happened” Is Always a Great Way to Start a Story.
  23. King, Thomas. A Million Porcupines in the Dark.
  24. King, Thomas. Haida Gwaii. 
  25. King. Thomas. Borders.
  26. King. Thomas. The One About Coyote Going West.
  27. Kuhn, Thomas S. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. 
  28. Larson, Nella. Passing.
  29. Madonna. Like a Prayer.
  30. Maracle, Lee. My Conversations with Canadians.
  31. Maracle, Lee. The Laundry Basket. 
  32. Oliver, Mary. A Poetry Handbook.
  33. Oliver, Mary. Rules for the Dance.
  34. Pappas, Juno. How to Write a High School Essay
  35. Piaget, Jean. The Psychology of Intelligence. 
  36. Robinson, Tyler. Making Sense of Theory: Why It Matters. How to Use It. 
  37. Rowell, Rainbow. Midnights.
  38. Stanley, Jason and John W. Krakauer. Is the “Dumb Jock” Really a Nerd? 
  39. Stanley, Jason. The Practical and the Theoretical. 
  40. Strand, Mark and Boland, Eavan. The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms.
  41. Sussman, Art. Dr. Art’s Guide to Science,
  42. Van Camp, Richard. The Promise.

Core Competencies

In this course you will develop the following core competencies: (1) communication, (2) thinking, and (3) personal and social, by applying the knowledge, skills, processes, and dispositions that are associated with interactions with others, intellectual development, and your place in the world of people and ideas.

Marks and Grades: How to Demonstrate Proficiency

  1. The goal of the course is for students to be proficient in understanding and using the ideas and skills being taught. This overview lists the skills and concepts required to demonstrate proficiency: English 9 How to Demonstrate Proficiency (pdf).
  2. For a student to attain the grade of “Proficient” they must demonstrate a complete understanding of the course concepts and skills. This requires that a student can use the skills and concepts independently at the satisfactory or higher level of quality.
  3. For a student to attain the grade of “Extending” they must demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of the course concepts and skills and must demonstrate mastery at the outstanding level of quality.

Marks and Grades: How to Assess Your Own Learning

  1. Students assess their own developmental level using the illustration below.
  2. Progress is explained in terms of the level of support required to do (or explain) something.
  3. The most learning happens in the ZPD (we call it the “best learning zone”*). This is the gap between needing just a bit of help and being able to do it on your own. The goal is to get to that point, and then to jump into the “cliff of learning” without any help. If the timing was right, you land feet first and have learned the skill or concept. If not, you get more support until you try jumping off the cliff again (*the technical name for ZPD is “zone of proximal development,” such simply means that within this learning zone the student can grow, or develop, the most).
  4. We learn about the theory behind ZPD and we reflect on how this theory helps us gain mastery over skills and concepts as soon as possible. We also reflect on how this process can feel uncomfortable and challenging at times, and how to respond to this feeling (such as by asking for help or by shortening the fall or spacing them out more).

Mr. Kertes is a Language Arts teacher in Prince Rupert, in the territory of the Ts’msyen, at Charles Hays Secondary School - home of the Rainmakers.

Tom Kertes Resume and CV

2024-25 Term 2 Courses