English


Welcome to the English Department!



The English Department at Fallbrook High School is dedicated to offering students courses that prepare them for life after high school.  We believe that all students are able to achieve at high levels.  Through four years of study, students will gain valuable skills necessary to succeed after high school, including: reading and comprehending rigorous texts, communicating effectively both in writing and orally, critical thinking and problem solving, and collaboration.  It is our goal to prepare students to be successful participants in the world outside of high school.

English 9

College Prep English 9

English 9 is a year-long course designed to involve students in the study and practice of language, literature, writing, listening, and speaking. Students will be introduced to classical and contemporary examples of literary genres: short story, autobiography, the novel, drama, poetry, and the essay. Vocabulary, literary terms, writing conventions, and essay writing are taught within this literature-based program. More emphasis is placed on analysis and writing skills. Students will build upon and improve skills learned in their middle school language arts courses and will work toward becoming better communicators on a variety of levels.

A few examples of core texts that students can expect to read are:

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
The Odyssey by Homer

Honors English 9

Honors English 9 is a rigorous course designed for the top-level freshmen who anticipate taking advanced placement classes in their junior and senior years. The year-long course includes an on-going study of vocabulary and grammar usage, with in-depth units on the short story, the novel, poetry, mythology, and drama. Extensive outside reading is required, as well as high-level analysis in writing.

English 10

College Prep English 10

English 10 is a college preparatory course that will prepare students for college and career readiness. In this course, students will be expected to actively engage in a curriculum that is aligned with the Common Core State Standards. Students will read fiction and nonfiction, engage in short and long-term projects, learn the fundamentals of research-based writing, and improve their vocabulary, grammar, writing, communication, and literary analysis skills.

 A few examples of core texts that students can expect to read are:

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

Honors English 10

Honors English 10 is an advanced survey course in world literature, designed for top-level sophomores who anticipate taking advanced placement classes in their junior and senior years. In addition to the required reading, students will work on improving analytical and evaluative writing skills through a series of composition assignments, including on-demand essays. This course also includes extensive SAT vocabulary development, grammar units, oral reports, and outside reading.

English 11

College Prep English 11

English 11 is a chronological and thematic study of American Literature from Native American to contemporary times. Students will study representative works from each major literary period in relation to corresponding social and political issues. Elements of the humanities are included to provide further insight into each era. This course also includes components of vocabulary, the writing process, and research skills.

A few examples of core texts that students can expect to read are:

The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

IB English Language and Literature 

(AP English Language Embedded)

The IB English Language and Literature course aligns to an introductory college-level rhetoric and writing curriculum, which requires students to develop evidence-based analytic and argumentative essays that proceed through several stages or drafts. Students evaluate, synthesize, and cite research to support their arguments.

Throughout the course, students develop a personal style by making appropriate grammatical choices. Additionally, students read and analyze the rhetorical elements and their effects in non-fiction texts, including graphic images as forms of text, from many disciplines and historical periods. 

This is a weighted course.

English 12

Expository Reading and Writing Course (ERWC)

ERWC was developed by the California State University in order to prepare college-bound seniors for the literacy demands of higher education. Through a sequence of instructional modules, students in a yearlong, rhetoric-based course develop advanced proficiencies in expository, analytical, and argumentative reading and writing. Upon completion of the course, students will have increased their awareness of the rhetorical strategies employed by authors and will be able to apply those strategies in their own writing.

Mythology (Counts as a College Prep Elective)

The curriculum of the Mythology course includes studying Greek and Roman myths, viewing film clips, writing original myths, and participating in literary research. In preparation for classes at the college level, students will also study pertinent grammatical areas that improve content and style of essays. Subject matter for essays will be generated from reading short stories and applying them to everyday issues.


Students with 11th grade CAASPP scores indicating college readiness may enroll in Mythology as their core English class for 12th grade. All other students may enroll in Mythology as an elective in addition to their core English class or ERWC, AP Literature, or IB Language & Literature.

AP Literature and Composition

The AP English Literature and Composition course aligns to an introductory college-level literary analysis course. The course engages students in the close reading and critical analysis of imaginative literature to deepen their understanding of the ways writers use language to provide both meaning and pleasure. As they read, students consider a work’s structure, style, and themes, as well as its use of figurative language, imagery, symbolism, and tone. Writing assignments include expository, analytical, and argumentative essays that require students to analyze and interpret literary works. 

This is a weighted course

IB English Language and Literature (Year 2)

The IB English Language and Literature course aligns to an introductory college-level literature curriculum, which requires students to develop literary analysis-based essays that proceed through several stages or drafts. Students evaluate, synthesize, and cite text to support their analysis.

At the conclusion of the course, students will complete the IB Language & Literature Exam.

This is a weighted course.