Agenda

1. Agenda • Attendance • Collect Syllabus/Interest Inventory/Folder • Finish Notecard Activity • Jumpstart: Why We’re Here • Lesson: The Importance of Language • Activity: Stories

2. Why are we here? • Take out a blank piece of paper. Write your name and class period in the top right-hand margin. • Why do you think adults decided that language should be a mandatory class for EVERY year in high school? • How can being skilled with language help you? • How will you use language in your future career/life plans?

3. Why Does Language Matter?

4. “Political language…is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidarity to pure wind.” • Oscar Wilde

5. “Language…has created the word loneliness’ to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the world ‘solitude’ to express the glory of being alone.” • Paul Tillich

7. “Sometimes someone says something really small, and it just fits into this empty place in your heart.” • -My So-Called Life

8. “By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth” • George Carlin

9. English In Your Lives Professional Personal

10. Lexiles/Reading Level • Freshmen:1100- 1250 • Juniors:1300-1400 • The level of reading you will encounter in college will be staggering and intense. • High vocabulary and complex sentences • Complicated connections and relations between concepts

12. Illiteracy • The study, the most comprehensive study of literacy ever commissioned by the U.S. government, was released in April 2002 and reapplied in 2003 giving trend data. It involved lengthy interviews of over 90,700 adults statistically balanced for age, gender, ethnicity, education level, and location (urban, suburban, or rural) in 12 states across the U.S. and was designed to represent the U.S. population as a whole. This government study showed that 21% to 23% of adult Americans were not "able to locate information in text", could not "make low-level inferences using printed materials", and were unable to "integrate easily identifiable pieces of information." Further, this study showed that 41% to 44% of U.S. adults in the lowest level on the literacy scale (literacy rate of 35 or below) were living in poverty • Take-Away: A large percentage of those living in poverty struggle with reading and writing.

13. Illiteracy • Functionally Illiterate- Unable to get information from basic sources, such as warning signs, directions, etc. • The study identifies a class of adults who, although not meeting criteria for functional illiteracy, face reduced job opportunities and life prospects due to inadequate literacy levels relative to the requirements of contemporary society. • Only 15% of the U.S. population have the highest rate of literacy. How sad. • Take-Away: A low level of reading skills will give you reduced opportunities, both professionally and personally.

14. Where U.S. Students Are • 1. New Zealand • 2. Finland • 3. Denmark • 4. Australia • 5. Cuba • 6. Canada • 7. Norway • 8. Republic of Korea • 9. Ireland • 10. Netherlands • 11. Greece • 12. Iceland • 13. United States

15. CONFIDENCE! We do have the NUMBER 1 RANK for something else though! American students are more confident in their academic abilities than any other country!

16. Things to Keep in Mind • A future employer will read your writing before ever meeting you. • Regardless of your career, language will be involved. Where there are people, there is language. • Everything you write online will be there forever. Pictures included. No matter the privacy, no matter when it was deleted. • Language can help you convince someone to give you a job, give you a raise, go to prom, etc. In fact, language WILL be an integral part of how you get these things in life. • Language is the tool you will use to begin, develop, and maintain healthy and happy relationships.

17. Jumpstart: Stories On a blank piece of paper (to be collected), list your three favorite “stories” of all time. Ex. Jurassic Park Harry Potter book series V for Vendetta

18. Next… • Which story had the most dynamic, thrilling character? Write a short description of the character, and why they are so fun to read/watch. (4-5 sentences, lots of details) • Ex. The “terrorist” V is probably the most thrilling character I’ve ever encountered. He is a scarred man whose past was torn away from him when a political party secretly used him (and thousands of others) to create a deadly virus and a cure for it. After unleashing the epidemic on the public, and thousands of deaths, this party comes into complete power, selling the cure and making billions. V is now living in a totalitarian government police-state, and is determined to remind citizens what they gave up when they elected these leaders into power. V is incredibly cunning, and is able to use deceit and disguise to help the average man uncover the government’s lies. His passion for justice and freedom drives the entire country to demand both once again. • Genres: Thriller, Action, Conspiracy

20. And then… • Which of your three stories had the most interesting PLOT? Write a short description explaining why that plot was so captivating, and why it is a favorite of yours. • The best plot of my selected stories would definitely have to be Jurassic Park. In this film, a wealthy man has created a theme park using genetic engineering to create dinosaurs. To get his park approved, he invites a few “experts” to spend a weekend there. Naturally, everything goes wrong, the dinosaurs escape and wreak havoc on the humans. I really enjoy this plotline because the science fiction element makes it more believable to me. I have always been fascinated with dinosaurs, and it was very exciting to see them in action! • Genre: Science Fiction, Action, Mystery

21. Finally… • Out of your stories, which one has the SETTING you would most like to visit or be part of? Explain in detail. • The world of Harry Potter would definitely be the world I want to live in. I love that Harry Potter is set in the real world, but a hidden, magical world within the real world. It makes me feel like it would be possible to go there; in fact, as a twelve-year-old reading this book, I really hoped that I would get my own letter from an owl, telling me I have been chosen to attend Hogwarts. The idea of being able to use magic in a world filled with the fantastic beasts of lore is thrilling to me. I would love to have my own magic wand, and begin swishing and flicking my problems away! • Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

22. Reading this Semester You will read one novel by the end of October. We will be reading in class for 30 minutes every Friday. You WILL read a book. It is SO important that you begin to help yourself with your reading comprehension. I, unfortunately, cannot wave a magic wand and make you a proficient reader. It depends entirely on YOU. Freshmen: 150 pages Juniors: 200 pages Starting tomorrow, I will introduce a couple novels at the beginning of class. If it captures your interest, check it out!