English II with Ms. Phillips
Welcome to English II
Welcome to English II at South Gibson County High School. As a teacher, it is my delight to join students as they learn and grow academically and personally. Please use this website as a resource for assignments and information regarding the class.
-Caitlin Phillips
-Caitlin Phillips
Course Overview
English II is a survey course covering the different genres of literature, including short stories, novels, drama, poetry, and epics. Intensive grammar study is a key element of the course. In addition to literary studies, students create several written pieces following different modes (narrative, persuasive, expository, etc). Other elements of communication are incorporated into the course of study, including group dynamics, interpreting different media and informational texts, as well as analysis of logic and methods of persuasion.
What Happens in Ms. Phillips’s Room
English class is a challenging and exciting experience. We cover the works of many diverse authors and genres. Students will create various pieces of their own after exploring these works. While students are expected to put in an effort and perform at their best, classes are geared towards students’ diverse learning styles and needs. Students engage in some unusual and unexpected learning opportunities. Look below for some of our past adventures.
Murder in the Library
A Duke holds a dinner party and is murdered by the end of the evening. Students were called in to work as teams of investigators, looking through sources and interviewing the butler in order to discover the Duke’s murderer. After creating preliminary investigation reports, students had hands-on experience evaluating sources and using their reasoning skills to deduce who the guilty party was. The murder investigation was the kick-off to our unit on research.
Poetry in the Parking Lot
Poetry comes in all shapes and sizes. It captures the highest and lowest peaks in human experiences. Poetry also captures with words the beauty of nature. As a class, we wrote poems that used sound to capture the wonder of nature. After writing our poems, we went to the parking lot and used chalk to write and illustrate the poems. The brisk fall weather added the perfect environment for our excursion.
The FANBOYS: Grammar like You’ve Never Seen it Before
Grammar can cause many a weary groan. In our class, we try to avoid reaching the point of “grammar indigestion” by taking a slightly different approach. In fact, when learning about grammar, it’s not unusual that a costume is involved. Several students even dressed up as the FANBOYS (an acronym for the coordination conjunctions otherwise known as for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so).
A Few Snaps of Julius Caesar's Assassination
