Building on composition skills learned in previous years, students write descriptive and narrative compositions, as well as expository and persuasive papers. All ninth graders accumulate a writing portfolio of various types of compositions they choose to write. Students study vocabulary from literary works. Grammar and usage skills are taught through a variety of activities and sentence combining exercises. Students compose a variety of expository, descriptive, narrative, and persuasive writings stemming from fiction and non-fiction.
Students memorize and recite a poem each month.
Students also respond personally and analytically to outside reading, prepare and deliver formal and informal oral presentations, conduct research and document their results using APA style citations, and analyze a wide variety of literature, including Antigone, A Tale of Two Cities, Black Boy, The Hound of the Baskervilles, They Cage the Animals at Night, The Picture Bride, and Romeo and Juliet. Students improve their command of language usage through grammar activities, revision, and sentence combining activities. Over the year students accumulate a writing portfolio of various types of compositions they write. Submission of writings for publication is required throughout the year. Teacher and counselor will monitor progress to assure that each student's best interests are being met.