High School English

English 1 - General Literature (College Prep with Honors option)

Betsy Montgomery, Instructor

*Mrs. Montgomery will conduct a skills assessment session over the summer with each student registering for her classes for the first time. The cost for the 90 minute session is $25. The fee will be paid directly to Mrs. Montgomery at the beginning of the skills assessment session. Both the student and a parent should plan to attend.

Primarily designed for ninth graders, but suitable for advanced eighth graders, English I will cover all key elements of a high school language arts course:  vocabulary, grammar, composition and literature.  Some emphasis will be placed on handwriting and narrative expression. Critical thinking will be an integral part of the curriculum. Students will be expected to have keyboarding experience, so they can type their own papers, and access to a word processor and printing supplies. This course will be taught at the Honors English level, although additional work will be required of those who want to receive the credit for an honors course.  Parents must contact the instructor prior to the end of the first nine weeks for individual student accommodations if honors credit is not desired.

Texts/Resources

1) Vocabulary Workshop, Level E, Sadlier-Oxford, 2012. (The teacher will order these in bulk along with the quiz/test booklets and an SAT/ACT supplement.  Price for consumable books is $30.00. )

2) Reading Detective RX:  Using Higher Order Thinking to Improve Reading Comprehension, The Critical Thinking Company, 2002.  (Parents will be asked to supply a $15 photocopying fee for the pages of this text.  See book order form.  Do not buy the book.)

3) Adventures in Reading, Athena edition, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1996. Includes: Romeo and Juliet and The Odyssey. ISBN #0-03-098632-X (The teacher will supply a classroom copy of this out-of-print book for a rental fee of $10 per year at parent request.  See book order form.)  Students will also need a copy of the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and a full version of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.

4) Rules of the Game, Books 1 and 2, Educators Publishing Service.  (The teacher will order these grammar books in bulk from the publisher at a cost of $18 each per text.)

*5) Jensen’s Format Writing, Frode Jensen, Master Books, 2016 edition. ISBN-13:  978-0890519929.  Available at Christianbook.com and other home school book distributors for about $25.00.

*6) Super Study Skills: The Ultimate Guide to Tests and Studying (Scholastic Guides), Laurie Rozakis, Ph. D., Scholastic Reference, 2002. ISBN:  0-439-21607-9. (This book is currently out of print, but can be purchased used for about $5 on Amazon.com.)

*Starred texts must be purchased by the parents; others will be ordered in bulk by the teacher. Additional books needed for Honors credit may be acquired at the public library or local bookseller.

English 2 - World Literature (College Prep with Honors option)

Betsy Montgomery, Instructor

*Mrs. Montgomery will conduct a skills assessment session over the summer with each student registering for her classes for the first time. The cost for the 90 minute session is $25. The fee will be paid directly to Mrs. Montgomery at the beginning of the skills assessment session. Both the student and a parent should plan to attend.

Primarily designed for tenth graders, English II is also suitable for advanced ninth graders, or eleventh graders needing review in literary theory and/or expository writing skills. This class will cover all key elements of a high school English course: vocabulary, grammar, composition and literature. Some emphasis will be placed on handwriting and narrative expression. Critical thinking will be an integral part of the curriculum. Students will be expected to have keyboarding experience, so they can type their own papers, and access to a word processor and printing supplies.

English I or its academic equivalent is required. Students must have a confident grasp of basic grammar and composition principles. A placement test may be required of students who have not completed English I previously. This course will be taught at the Honors English level, although additional work will be required of those who want to receive the credit for an honors course. Parents must contact the instructor prior to the end of the first nine weeks for individual student accommodations if honors credit is not desired.

Texts/ Resources

1) Vocabulary Workshop, Level F, Sadlier-Oxford, 2012.  (The teacher will order these in bulk along with the quiz/test booklets and an SAT/ACT supplement.  Price for consumable books is $30.00.)

2) Reading Detective B1, The Critical Thinking Company, 2015 (Parents will be asked to supply a $15 photocopying fee for the pages of this text.  See book order form.  Do not buy the book.)

3) Adventures in Appreciation, Athena Edition, Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1996. Text includes: short stories, poetry, essays, Antigone, Julius Caesar, Arthurian Legend, and The Pearl.  ISBN #978003098634.  (Available used online, most for under $20; check www.campusi.com.  The teacher will supply a limited number of copies of this out-of-print book for a rental fee of $10 per year.  See book order form to request a copy for your student.) The student will also need copies of the books Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas (an abridged version is fine).

4) Rules of the Game, Book 3, Educators Publishing Service.  (The teacher will order these books in bulk from the publisher at a cost of $18 per text.)

*5) Jensen’s Format Writing, Frode Jensen, Master Books, 2016 edition. ISBN-13:  978-0890519929.  Available at Christianbook.com and other home school book distributors for about $25.00.

6) Writing a Research Paper: A Step-by-Step Approach by Phyllis Goldenberg, Sadlier-Oxford, 2010 edition.  ISBN #978-0-8215-8180-3. (The teacher will order new books in bulk at a cost of $22.00.)

*7) The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr., and E. B. White, 4th Edition, 1999. The entire class will read and summarize this book as an exercise in study skills, note-taking and outlining, as well as further review of grammar and writing style.

*Starred texts must be purchased by the parents. 

Additional books needed for Honors credit may be acquired at the public library or local bookseller.

English 3 - American Literature (College Prep with Honors option)

Betsy Montgomery, Instructor

*Mrs. Montgomery will conduct a skills assessment session over the summer with each student registering for her classes for the first time. The cost for the 90 minute session is $25. The fee will be paid directly to Mrs. Montgomery at the beginning of the skills assessment session. Both the student and a parent should plan to attend.

Designed primarily for eleventh graders, but suitable for advanced tenth graders, this academically rigorous course will cover all key elements of a high school English course: vocabulary, grammar, composition and literature. Some emphasis will be placed on handwriting and narrative expression. Critical thinking will be an integral part of the curriculum.

Students must have a confident grasp of basic grammar and expository composition principles, as well as a working knowledge of literary terminology and MLA standards.  Students will be expected to have keyboarding experience, so they can type their own papers, and access to a word processor and printing supplies.  English II or its academic equivalent is required.  A placement test may be required of students who have not completed English I or II previously.

This course will be taught at the Honors English level, although additional work will be required of those who want to receive the credit for an honors course.  Parents must contact the instructor prior to the end of the first nine weeks for individual student accommodations if honors credit is not desired.

Texts/ Resources:

1) Vocabulary Workshop, Level G, Sadlier-Oxford, 2012.   (The teacher will order these in bulk along with the quiz/test booklets and an SAT/ACT supplement exercises booklet.  Price for consumable books is $30.00.)

2) Adventures in American Literature, Holt, Rinehart and Wilson, 1996.   ISBN # 0-03-098636-2.  (The teacher will supply a limited number of copies of this out-of-print book for a rental fee of $10 per year.  Please request a copy for your student on the book order form.)  Also required in any edition: The Scarlet Letter, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Great Gatsby, and A Raisin in the Sun. 

3) Grammar for Writing, Level Green, Sadlier-Oxford, 2014.  ISBN-13:  978-4217-1121-8.  (The teacher will order these in bulk.  Price for this consumable book and T/Q packet is $30.)

4) Rhetorical Devices:  A Handbook with Activities for Student Writers. Brendan McGuigan.  Perfect Paperback.  ISBN-10: 1580497659.  (The teacher will order these books in bulk from the publisher at a cost of $20 per text.)

5) Advanced Placement Writing 1:  Strategies for Honors, Gifted, and AP Students, The Center for Learning 2000, (Do not purchase this textbook!  The instructor will provide students with photocopied assignments of this out of publication text. $5)

6) Writing a Research Paper: A Step-by-Step Approach by Phyllis Goldenberg, Sadlier-Oxford, 2010 edition.  ISBN #978-0-8215-8180-3. Teacher will order books in bulk at a cost of $22.00.  (Students who took English 2 should have used this book previously.  It is fine for those students who did a research paper in English 2 to have a copy that has the exercises already completed. This book is a resource only—will not be used in class.)

English 4 - British Literature (College Prep with Honors option)

Betsy Montgomery, Instructor

(On hiatus for 2024-25.)

*Mrs. Montgomery will conduct a skills assessment session over the summer with each student registering for her classes for the first time. The cost for the 90 minute session is $25. The fee will be paid directly to Mrs. Montgomery at the beginning of the skills assessment session. Both the student and a parent should plan to attend.

Designed primarily for twelfth graders, but suitable for advanced eleventh graders, this college preparatory course will cover all key elements of a high school English course:  vocabulary, grammar, composition and literature. Some emphasis will be placed on handwriting and narrative expression. Critical thinking will be an integral part of the curriculum.  Students will be expected to have keyboarding experience, so they can type their own papers, and access to a word processor and printing supplies.

English 3 or its academic equivalent is required.  Students must have a confident grasp of grammar, literary terminology and theory, and advanced composition principles.  A placement test may be required of students who have not completed an English course with Mrs. Montgomery previously. This course will be taught at the Honors English level, although independent reading will be required of those who want to receive the credit for an honors course.  Parents must contact the instructor prior to the end of the first nine weeks for individual student accommodations if honors credit is not desired.

A systematic study of advanced vocabulary as well as a thorough review of grammar will be completed.  Written work should demonstrate student ability to employ college-level word choices and a variety of correctly crafted sentence structures.

Appreciation and analysis of short stories, poetry, plays, essays and novels from British literary tradition, as well as investigation of author background and historical influence on literature will require higher level critical thinking skills. A review of creative, persuasive and analytical writing principles, as well as poetry and journalism, will be covered in the composition portion of the course. Research paper writing skills will be assumed.

 Texts/Resources:

1) Vocabulary Workshop, Level H, Sadlier-Oxford, 2012.  (The teacher will order these in bulk along with the quiz/test booklets.  Price for both consumable books is $22.00.)

2) Adventures in English Literature, Athena Ed., Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1996. ISBN #0-03-098638-9.  Text includes selections from Beowulf, The Canterbury Tales, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Macbeth, Paradise Lost, Gulliver’s Travels, Pride and Prejudice, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Pygmalion. (Purchase this used text online; you should be able to find it for less than $20.  Instructor has copies available for lease at a fee of $10 per year.  Please see book order form to reserve a copy for your student.)  Also required in any edition: Life of Pi, Frankenstein, Lord of the Flies, and Animal Farm.

3) How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines by Thomas C. Foster. Please be sure to get the most recent edition. The entire class will read and summarize this book as an exercise in study skills, note-taking and outlining, as well as gleaning important literary analysis information.

4) Essential Literary Terms with Exercises Sharon Hamilton—NEWEST VERSION. ISBN-13:  978-0393283891.  (You may find this used online, or you can order a new text through the teacher for $36.)

5) Grammar for Writing, Level Gold, Grade 12.  Sadlier-Oxford, 2014.  ISBN:  978-1-4217-1122-5. (The teacher will order these in bulk.  Price for this consumable book and its accompanying test booklet is $30.)

6) On Writing Well, The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction, William Zinsser, Quill/HarperCollins, 2006, ISBN: 9780060891541. Available at Amazon.com or local bookstores.