English III Course Overview

English III continues to build on the sequential development and integration of communication skills in four major
areas—reading, writing, speaking, and listening. It most specifically focuses on deepening and furthering students'
understanding in the following ways:

• Reading–reinforces reading comprehension skills by teaching students comprehension techniques for literary
fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama; discusses common literary devices; shows students how to analyze,
evaluate, and interpret a text; reinforces awareness of the elements and structure of narrative and expository
prose; guides students through readings of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town (play) and Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird
as well as selections of and excerpts from well-known poetry and nonfiction pieces.

• Writing–develops students’ writing skills by teaching about clauses and phrases in sentence structures;
reviews common sentence construction errors and methods for avoiding them; provides practice in standard
and nonstandard English, as well as specialized language use; teaches Greek and Latin roots and prefixes to
enhance vocabulary and spelling skills; expands students’ abilities to write cohesive and coherent expository
prose; gives students the opportunity to develop their abilities in writing literary critiques, personal essays,
poetry, and research papers.

• Special Topics–incorporates research skills, including internet, library, and reference material use, throughout
the curriculum.