MONROE - Monroe students will have a variety of new English courses to choose from next year, including two that will count for credit at Blackhawk Technical College, and an Advanced Placement course.
Among the new classes are honors courses for seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th grades. Eighth-graders also can choose Explorations in Writing as an elective. Writing is an area the district has identified as needing improvement, said Jennifer Thayer, director of curriculum and instruction.
High school juniors and seniors can receive credit for Oral Communications, a required course that replaces Speech, and Written Communications, an elective that is a new offering, if they continue their education at BTC, Thayer said.
Other new elective classes will be a media class; Multicultural Literature, which replaces Literature of Minorities; and an additional semester of American Literature; World Literature, which will incorporate Brit Lit; and AP Literature and Composition, the school's first AP English offering.
Thayer said the English department has been working on the new courses for three years.
Some courses may be canceled if enrollment numbers are low, she said. The existing teaching staff can handle the additional courses, although there may be some shifting of teaching duties to accommodate students' interest.
The Monroe school board approved the new course offerings Monday, along with some other course changes.
Physics will become more rigorous as it expands from two different semester classes to a year-long class. Thayer said too much time had to be spent repeating curriculum in its current format. In addition, the course now will have Advanced Algebra as a prerequisite or co-requisite to ensure students have the math skills required for the course.
Algebra Extended and Geometry Extended will be replaced with Algebra Block and Geometry Block courses next year. Instead of Extended courses, which meet for three semesters, the Block courses will meet for two hours per day. One math and one elective credit will be given for each class. The format will allow students needing extra help to get it, Thayer said.
The district also will add Hospitality, Lodging and Tourism and Manufacturing to the Youth Apprenticeship program. Thayer said the program incorporates training and working in the field. Credit at BTC also is available with the Youth Apprenticeship courses.
There will be no additional cost to the district for the course revisions, Thayer said.
Among the new classes are honors courses for seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th grades. Eighth-graders also can choose Explorations in Writing as an elective. Writing is an area the district has identified as needing improvement, said Jennifer Thayer, director of curriculum and instruction.
High school juniors and seniors can receive credit for Oral Communications, a required course that replaces Speech, and Written Communications, an elective that is a new offering, if they continue their education at BTC, Thayer said.
Other new elective classes will be a media class; Multicultural Literature, which replaces Literature of Minorities; and an additional semester of American Literature; World Literature, which will incorporate Brit Lit; and AP Literature and Composition, the school's first AP English offering.
Thayer said the English department has been working on the new courses for three years.
Some courses may be canceled if enrollment numbers are low, she said. The existing teaching staff can handle the additional courses, although there may be some shifting of teaching duties to accommodate students' interest.
The Monroe school board approved the new course offerings Monday, along with some other course changes.
Physics will become more rigorous as it expands from two different semester classes to a year-long class. Thayer said too much time had to be spent repeating curriculum in its current format. In addition, the course now will have Advanced Algebra as a prerequisite or co-requisite to ensure students have the math skills required for the course.
Algebra Extended and Geometry Extended will be replaced with Algebra Block and Geometry Block courses next year. Instead of Extended courses, which meet for three semesters, the Block courses will meet for two hours per day. One math and one elective credit will be given for each class. The format will allow students needing extra help to get it, Thayer said.
The district also will add Hospitality, Lodging and Tourism and Manufacturing to the Youth Apprenticeship program. Thayer said the program incorporates training and working in the field. Credit at BTC also is available with the Youth Apprenticeship courses.
There will be no additional cost to the district for the course revisions, Thayer said.