English Program

Our secondary English teachers recognize that the language arts skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking contribute to the success of all students as self-sufficient and productive citizens. We encourage students to
  • enrich their lives and increase their understanding of themselves and others through the broadening study of literature. To that end, we have included in our canon literature selections that portray universal and real themes. Our chief goal is to develop discriminating, sophisticated, and responsible readers and to encourage their life-long reading habits.
  • view writing and the composing process as a way to generate, organize, and communicate ideas effectively. We affirm the teaching of writing as a recursive process that includes a variety of pre-writing techniques, multiple drafts, revision, and editing. As a part of this instruction, we encourage peer evaluation so that students can be both authors and editors. In addition, we support the use of both teacher-generated and student-generated topics and the inclusion of writing experiences that stimulate creativity as well as critical thinking. To validate and encourage students, we subscribe to the use of constructive commentary in the evaluation of writing.
  • to be astute and responsible consumers of information. We provide opportunities for our students to critically evaluate the validity of information sources, including both print and non-print media.
  • actively listen to the ideas of others and shape their own ideas and concerns into clear and effective speech.

Coordinator Contact Information:
Christine Merritt
Phone: 814-272-4026
E-mail: cmm16@scasd.org
Last Modified on August 15, 2012