WAAST  

IB Language Arts 1 

2020-2021 

"Classrooms can be places of hope, where students and teachers gain glimpses of the kind of society we 
could live in and where students learn the academic and critical skills needed to make it a reality.”  

(Wayne Au, Bill Bigelow, Stan Karp) 

Instructor:​ Ms. Newport ​enewport@woodburnsd.org​ ​Website:​ ​readwriteresist.weebly.com/  
 
Course Description 
IB Literature HL year one is the first part of a two year course wherein you will examine and 
critically study a variety of texts. The vision of IB curriculum is to move students past interaction with a 
story into the realm of textual analysis and engagement with a classic or even contemporary work. After 
students discover literary meaning, students will explore how authors worked to create that historical and 
social context through non-fictional investigation. Writing will be created and composed in all genres, as 
well as response journaling in a writer’s notebook. Collaborative projects will also be undertaken. Reading 
will begin with an investigation of literary elements. In conjunction with this investigation, students will 
perform and present an internally assessed oral presentation of 10-15 minutes. One major writing 
requirement will be addressed: an extended literary analysis essay. This essay will eventually be externally 
assessed.  
 
Standards Addressed 
Semester 1 

Critical Standard:  Learning Targets supporting the Critical 

Time and Space  Standard: 
1. How important is cultural or historical context  1. Demonstrate knowledge and 
to the production and reception of a literary  understanding of individual literary 
text?  works as representatives of their genre 
2. How do we approach literary texts from  and period, and the relationships 
different times and cultures to our own?  between them 
3. To what extent do literary texts offer insight  2. Demonstrate an understanding of the 
into another culture?  ways in which cultural values are 
4. How does the meaning and impact of a literary  expressed in literature 
text change over time?  3. Demonstrate awareness of the 
5. How do literary texts reflect, represent or form  significance of the context in which a 
a part of cultural practices?  work is written and received 
6. How does language represent social distinctions  4. Substantiate and justify ideas with 
and identities?  relevant examples 

Critical Standard:  Learning Targets supporting the Critical 

Readers, Writers, Texts  Standard: 
1. Why and how do we study literature?  1. Analyze how audience and purpose affect 
2. Why do people write? Why do people work on  the structure and content of texts. 
perfecting their grammar and vocabulary?  2. -Analyze the impact of language changes. 
3. What kind of power is there in communication?  3. -Demonstrate an awareness of how 
 4. How malleable is language and what are the  language and meaning are shaped by 
benefits and drawbacks to this?  culture and context.  
5. What do we mean by literature? 
6. In what ways is the use of language an art   
form/method of communication/power in   
society/a way to marginalize people? 
   

Critical Standard:  Learning Targets supporting the Critical 

Intertextuality:   Standard: 
● How do texts adhere to and deviate from   
conventions associated with literary forms or  1. Analyze how audience and purpose 
text types?  affect the structure and content of texts. 
● How do conventions and systems of reference  2. Analyze the impact of language changes. 
evolve over time?  3. Demonstrate an awareness of how 
● In what ways can diverse texts share points of  language and meaning are shaped by 
similarity?  culture and context.  
● How valid is the notion of a classic text? 
● How can texts offer multiple perspectives of a   
single issue, topic or theme? 
● In what ways can comparison and 
interpretation be transformative? 

 
 
Reading Expectations 
You will be expected to keep up with the assigned reading. In addition, you will keep a guided journal to 
help them develop and practice your literary analysis skills. We will read a variety of texts including: 
prose, poetry, drama, and non-fiction. For this course, you will likely read the following texts: ​The 
Handmaid’s Tale, Men We Reaped, Night Sky with Exit Wounds, Woman at Point Zero, Kitchen, The House 
of Bernarda Alba,​ and an Assortment of Poems from Gwendolyn Brooks.  
 
Grading Policy/ Retakes 
Your grade in this course will be based on the proficiency model. You will be responsible for 
demonstrating proficiency in a number of Learning Targets/Standards. With most assessments (excluding 
the IOP and 2​nd​ semester IB Written Assignments) you will have the opportunity to revise until you either 
meet proficiency or exceed. To qualify for re-taking an assessment, you must have all of your work turned 
in (even if it is exempt from the gradebook.)  
 
IB Assessments:  
Internal: Oral Presentation, Literary Analysis (7 Total) 
External: High Level Essay Essay 
 
Assessments will be graded on IB  
 
Academic Dishonesty 
Academic Dishonesty including plagiarism or cheating will be handled in the following manner: 
● The student(s) will receive a discipline referral and receive school-based consequences per the 
student management policy. 
● The student(s) will have their guardians notified. 
● The student(s) will be required to complete an alternative assessment or reassess on the same Critical 
Standard or Learning Target. Teachers may determine the process this reassessment is administered. 
● Teachers can mark the original assessment with an Incomplete, until the reassessment is completed. 
 

Controversial Materials: 

My ultimate goal is to help you realize your potential for being an active and engaged citizen in our 
ever-growing globalized world. As technology continues to expand, it will be essential for you to be literate 
in understanding world literature, international politics, and a multitude of cultures. This is a lofty goal, 
and I hope that we can be partners on this challenging journey. Sometimes this requires the study of 
controversial issues and materials with the class curriculum. 

Controversial materials will be selected according to the Woodburn School Board Policy relating to the 
“Studying Controversial Issues” policy, which is as follows: 

The presentation and discussion of controversial issues will be informative. The development of ability to 
meet issues without prejudice and to withhold judgments while facts are being collected, assembled and 
weighed, and to see relationships before drawing inferences or conclusions, are among the most valuable 
outcomes of a free educational system. Teachers will present both sides of controversial issues and will 
guard against giving personal opinions.