Grade 12 English Curriculum

Family-facing version of the grade 12 English curriculum

Quarterly Overview of Grade 12 English

The objectives and outcomes for each unit are common across FCPS and based on the Virginia Standards of Learning.

Grade 12 English Language Arts teachers are expected to plan using Concept-Based Curriculum (CBC). Teachers are provided sample units and assessments for this course; this information reflects those samples.

Each school and teacher teams have autonomy over which CBC units they might use from the information below. Some schools have elected to write their own.

Families are encouraged to communicate with schools and teachers to receive accurate planning and pacing guides.

Units and Details

Why Stories Matter

Students will: 

  • Select and effectively use multimodal tools to design and develop presentation content.
  • Credit information sources.
  • Evaluate the various techniques used to construct arguments in multimodal presentations.
  • Use a variety of strategies to listen actively and speak using appropriate discussion rules with awareness of verbal and nonverbal cues.
  • Critique effectiveness of multimodal presentations.
  • Describe possible cause and effect relationships between mass media coverage and public opinion trends.
  • Evaluate media sources for relationships between intent and factual content.
  • Evaluate the motives (e.g., social, commercial, political) behind media presentation(s).
  • Examine how values and viewpoints are included or excluded and how the media can influence beliefs, behaviors, and interpretations.
  • Manage, analyze, and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information.
  • Demonstrate ethical use of the Internet when evaluating or producing creative or informational media messages.
  • Use structural analysis of roots, affixes, synonyms, and antonyms, to understand complex words. 
  • Use context, structure, and connotations to determine meanings of words and phrases.
  • Discriminate between connotative and denotative meanings and interpret the connotation.
  • Extend general and cross-curricular vocabulary through speaking, listening, reading, and writing.
  • Analyze how authors use key literary elements to contribute to meaning and interpret how themes are connected across texts.
  • Compare/contrast details in literary and informational nonfiction texts.
  • Interpret how the sound and imagery of poetry support the subject, mood, and theme, and appeal to the reader’s senses.
  • Compare and contrast traditional and contemporary poems from many cultures.
  • Evaluate how specific word choices, syntax, tone, and voice support the author’s purpose.
  • Use critical thinking to generate and respond logically to literal, inferential, and evaluative questions about the text(s).
  • Identify and synthesize resources to make decisions, complete tasks, and solve specific problems.
  • Analyze multiple texts addressing the same topic to determine how authors reach similar or different conclusions.
  • Apply components of a recursive writing process for multiple purposes to create a focused, organized, and coherent piece of writing to address a specific audience and purpose.
  • Produce arguments in writing that develop a thesis to demonstrate knowledgeable judgments, address counterclaims, and provide effective conclusions.
  • Use a variety of rhetorical strategies to clarify and defend a position organizing claims, counterclaims, and evidence in a sustained and logical sequence.
  • Blend multiple forms of writing including embedding a narrative to produce effective essays.
  • Adapt evidence, vocabulary, voice, and tone to audience, purpose, and situation.
  • Use words, phrases, clauses, and varied syntax to connect all parts of the argument creating cohesion from the information presented.
  • Revise writing for clarity of content, depth of information, and technique of presentation.
  • Write and revise to a standard acceptable both in the workplace and in postsecondary education.
  • Write to clearly describe personal qualifications for potential occupational or educational opportunities.
  • Use complex sentence structure to infuse sentence variety in writing.
  • Edit, proofread, and prepare writing for intended audience and purpose.
  • Use a style manual, such as that of the Modern Language Association (MLA) or the American Psychological Association (APA), to apply rules for punctuation and formatting of direct quotations.
  • Critically evaluate the accuracy, quality, and validity of the information.

Maps & Journals

Students will: 

  • Select and effectively use multimodal tools to design and develop presentation content.
  • Demonstrate the ability to work collaboratively with diverse teams.
  • Anticipate and address alternative or opposing perspectives and counterclaims. 
  • Evaluate the various techniques used to construct arguments in multimodal presentations.
  • Use a variety of strategies to listen actively and speak using appropriate discussion rules with awareness of verbal and nonverbal cues.
  • Describe possible cause and effect relationships between mass media coverage and public opinion trends.
  • Evaluate media sources for relationships between intent and factual content.
  • Examine how values and viewpoints are included or excluded and how the media can influence beliefs, behaviors, and interpretations.
  • Manage, analyze, and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information.
  • Use context, structure, and connotations to determine meanings of words and phrases.
  • Discriminate between connotative and denotative meanings and interpret the connotation.
  • Explain the meaning of common idioms, and literary and classical allusions in text.
  • Extend general and cross-curricular vocabulary through speaking, listening, reading, and writing.
  • Compare and contrast the development of British literature in its historical context.
  • Analyze how authors use key literary elements to contribute to meaning and interpret how themes are connected across texts.
  • Compare/contrast details in literary and informational nonfiction texts.
  • Interpret the social and cultural function of British literature.
  • Interpret how the sound and imagery of poetry support the subject, mood, and theme, and appeal to the reader’s senses.
  • Evaluate how dramatic conventions contribute to the theme and effect of plays from American, British, and other cultures.
  • Evaluate how specific word choices, syntax, tone, and voice support the author’s purpose.
  • Use critical thinking to generate and respond logically to literal, inferential, and evaluative questions about the text(s).
  • Identify and synthesize resources to make decisions, complete tasks, and solve specific problems.
  • Recognize and analyze use of ambiguity, contradiction, paradox, irony, overstatement, and understatement in text.
  • Draw conclusions and make inferences on explicit and implied information using textual support.e) Analyze false premises claims, counterclaims, and other evidence in persuasive writing.
  • Apply components of a recursive writing process for multiple purposes to create a focused, organized, and coherent piece of writing to address a specific audience and purpose.
  • Blend multiple forms of writing including embedding a narrative to produce effective essays.
  • Adapt evidence, vocabulary, voice, and tone to audience, purpose, and situation.
  • Revise writing for clarity of content, depth of information, and technique of presentation.
  • Write and revise to a standard acceptable both in the workplace and in postsecondary education.
  • Write to clearly describe personal qualifications for potential occupational or educational opportunities.
  • Use complex sentence structure to infuse sentence variety in writing.
  • Edit, proofread, and prepare writing for intended audience and purpose.
  • Use a style manual, such as that of the Modern Language Association (MLA) or the American Psychological Association (APA), to apply rules for punctuation and formatting of direct quotations.
  • Frame, analyze, and synthesize information to solve problems, answer questions, and generate new knowledge.
  • Critically evaluate the accuracy, quality, and validity of the information.
  • Define the meaning and consequences of plagiarism and follow ethical and legal guidelines for gathering and using information.
  • Demonstrate ethical use of the Internet.

Wellness

Students will: 

  • Select and effectively use multimodal tools to design and develop presentation content.
  • Examine how values and viewpoints are included or excluded and how the media can influence beliefs, behaviors, and interpretations.
  • Use context, structure, and connotations to determine meanings of words and phrases.
  • Extend general and cross-curricular vocabulary through speaking, listening, reading, and writing.
  • Analyze how authors use key literary elements to contribute to meaning and interpret how themes are connected across texts.
  • Evaluate how specific word choices, syntax, tone, and voice support the author’s purpose.
  • Use critical thinking to generate and respond logically to literal, inferential, and evaluative questions about the text(s).
  • Apply components of a recursive writing process for multiple purposes to create a focused, organized, and coherent piece of writing to address a specific audience and purpose.
  • Use a variety of rhetorical strategies to clarify and defend a position organizing claims, counterclaims, and evidence in a sustained and logical sequence.
  • Frame, analyze, and synthesize information to solve problems, answer questions, and generate new knowledge.

Counterculture

Students will:

  • Select and effectively use multimodal tools to design and develop presentation content.
  • Credit information sources.
  • Demonstrate the ability to work collaboratively with diverse teams.
  • Evaluate the various techniques used to construct arguments in multimodal presentations.
  • Critique effectiveness of multimodal presentations.
  • Manage, analyze, and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information.
  • Demonstrate ethical use of the Internet when evaluating or producing creative or informational media messages.
  • Use structural analysis of roots, affixes, synonyms, and antonyms, to understand complex words. 
  • Use context, structure, and connotations to determine meanings of words and phrases.
  • Discriminate between connotative and denotative meanings and interpret the connotation.
  • Explain the meaning of common idioms, and literary and classical allusions in text.
  • Extend general and cross-curricular vocabulary through speaking, listening, reading, and writing.
  • Compare and contrast the development of British literature in its historical context.
  • Analyze how authors use key literary elements to contribute to meaning and interpret how themes are connected across texts.
  • Compare/contrast details in literary and informational nonfiction texts.
  • Interpret the social and cultural function of British literature.
  • Evaluate how dramatic conventions contribute to the theme and effect of plays from American, British, and other cultures.
  • Evaluate how specific word choices, syntax, tone, and voice support the author’s purpose.
  • Use critical thinking to generate and respond logically to literal, inferential, and evaluative questions about the text(s).
  • Identify and synthesize resources to make decisions, complete tasks, and solve specific problems.
  • Analyze multiple texts addressing the same topic to determine how authors reach similar or different conclusions.
  • Draw conclusions and make inferences on explicit and implied information using textual support.
  • Analyze false premises claims, counterclaims, and other evidence in persuasive writing.
  • Apply components of a recursive writing process for multiple purposes to create a focused, organized, and coherent piece of writing to address a specific audience and purpose.
  • Produce arguments in writing that develop a thesis to demonstrate knowledgeable judgments, address counterclaims, and provide effective conclusions.
  • Blend multiple forms of writing including embedding a narrative to produce effective essays.
  • Adapt evidence, vocabulary, voice, and tone to audience, purpose, and situation.

Change & Transition

Students will: 

  • Select and effectively use multimodal tools to design and develop presentation content.
  • Anticipate and address alternative or opposing perspectives and counterclaims. 
  • Use a variety of strategies to listen actively and speak using appropriate discussion rules with awareness of verbal and nonverbal cues.
  • Describe possible cause and effect relationships between mass media coverage and public opinion trends.
  • Evaluate media sources for relationships between intent and factual content.
  • Evaluate the motives (e.g., social, commercial, political) behind media presentation(s).
  • Evaluate sources including advertisements, editorials, political cartoons, and feature stories for relationships between intent and factual content.
  • Demonstrate ethical use of the Internet when evaluating or producing creative or informational media messages.
  • Use context, structure, and connotations to determine meanings of words and phrases.
  • Discriminate between connotative and denotative meanings and interpret the connotation.
  • Extend general and cross-curricular vocabulary through speaking, listening, reading, and writing.
  • Compare and contrast the development of British literature in its historical context.
  • Interpret how the sound and imagery of poetry support the subject, mood, and theme, and appeal to the reader’s senses.
  • Compare and contrast traditional and contemporary poems from many cultures.
  • Use critical thinking to generate and respond logically to literal, inferential, and evaluative questions about the text(s).
  • Analyze multiple texts addressing the same topic to determine how authors reach similar or different conclusions.
  • Recognize and analyze use of ambiguity, contradiction, paradox, irony, overstatement, and understatement in text.
  • Draw conclusions and make inferences on explicit and implied information using textual support.e) Analyze false premises claims, counterclaims, and other evidence in persuasive writing.
  • Apply components of a recursive writing process for multiple purposes to create a focused, organized, and coherent piece of writing to address a specific audience and purpose.
  • Produce arguments in writing that develop a thesis to demonstrate knowledgeable judgments, address counterclaims, and provide effective conclusions.
  • Blend multiple forms of writing including embedding a narrative to produce effective essays.
  • Use words, phrases, clauses, and varied syntax to connect all parts of the argument creating cohesion from the information presented.
  • Revise writing for clarity of content, depth of information, and technique of presentation.
  • Write to clearly describe personal qualifications for potential occupational or educational opportunities.
  • Use complex sentence structure to infuse sentence variety in writing.
  • Edit, proofread, and prepare writing for intended audience and purpose.
  • Use a style manual, such as that of the Modern Language Association (MLA) or the American Psychological Association (APA), to apply rules for punctuation and formatting of direct quotations.
  • Frame, analyze, and synthesize information to solve problems, answer questions, and generate new knowledge.
  • Critically evaluate the accuracy, quality, and validity of the information.
  • Cite sources for both quoted and paraphrased ideas using a standard method of documentation, such as that of the Modern Language Association (MLA) or the American Psychological Association (APA).
  • Define the meaning and consequences of plagiarism and follow ethical and legal guidelines for gathering and using information.
  • Demonstrate ethical use of the Internet.

Reflection

Students will: 

  • Select and effectively use multimodal tools to design and develop presentation content.
  • Anticipate and address alternative or opposing perspectives and counterclaims. 
  • Use a variety of strategies to listen actively and speak using appropriate discussion rules with awareness of verbal and nonverbal cues.
  • Describe possible cause and effect relationships between mass media coverage and public opinion trends.
  • Evaluate media sources for relationships between intent and factual content.
  • Evaluate the motives (e.g., social, commercial, political) behind media presentation(s).
  • Evaluate sources including advertisements, editorials, political cartoons, and feature stories for relationships between intent and factual content.
  • Demonstrate ethical use of the Internet when evaluating or producing creative or informational media messages.
  • Use context, structure, and connotations to determine meanings of words and phrases.
  • Discriminate between connotative and denotative meanings and interpret the connotation.
  • Extend general and cross-curricular vocabulary through speaking, listening, reading, and writing.
  • Compare and contrast the development of British literature in its historical context.
  • Interpret how the sound and imagery of poetry support the subject, mood, and theme, and appeal to the reader’s senses.
  • Compare and contrast traditional and contemporary poems from many cultures.
  • Use critical thinking to generate and respond logically to literal, inferential, and evaluative questions about the text(s).
  • Analyze multiple texts addressing the same topic to determine how authors reach similar or different conclusions.
  • Recognize and analyze use of ambiguity, contradiction, paradox, irony, overstatement, and understatement in text.
  • Draw conclusions and make inferences on explicit and implied information using textual support.e) Analyze false premises claims, counterclaims, and other evidence in persuasive writing.
  • Apply components of a recursive writing process for multiple purposes to create a focused, organized, and coherent piece of writing to address a specific audience and purpose.
  • Produce arguments in writing that develop a thesis to demonstrate knowledgeable judgments, address counterclaims, and provide effective conclusions.
  • Blend multiple forms of writing including embedding a narrative to produce effective essays.
  • Use words, phrases, clauses, and varied syntax to connect all parts of the argument creating cohesion from the information presented.
  • Revise writing for clarity of content, depth of information, and technique of presentation.
  • Write to clearly describe personal qualifications for potential occupational or educational opportunities.
  • Use complex sentence structure to infuse sentence variety in writing.
  • Edit, proofread, and prepare writing for intended audience and purpose.
  • Use a style manual, such as that of the Modern Language Association (MLA) or the American Psychological Association (APA), to apply rules for punctuation and formatting of direct quotations.
  • Frame, analyze, and synthesize information to solve problems, answer questions, and generate new knowledge.
  • Critically evaluate the accuracy, quality, and validity of the information.
  • Cite sources for both quoted and paraphrased ideas using a standard method of documentation, such as that of the Modern Language Association (MLA) or the American Psychological Association (APA).
  • Define the meaning and consequences of plagiarism and follow ethical and legal guidelines for gathering and using information.
  • Demonstrate ethical use of the Internet.

Virginia Department of Education Resources

Assessments

Student assessments are part of the teaching and learning process.

  • Teachers give assessments to students on an ongoing basis to
    • Check for understanding.
    • Gather information about students' knowledge or skills.
  • Assessments provide information about a child's development of knowledge and skills that can help families and teachers better plan for the next steps in instruction.

For testing questions or additional information about how schools and teachers use test results to support student success, families can contact their children's schools.

In Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), 12th grade tests focus on measuring content knowledge and skill development.

Other High School Information