META24 CORE · PROJECT-BASED · ENGLISH · UPPER SCHOOL · GRADE 10 · 1 CREDIT · CCSS ELA
English 10 · The Writers’ Room
A year in the writers’ room: the sequel written from evidence, the source read against its rival, the song and the story held to the same devices, the seminar as a rehearsal for a life of argument.
THE MIX · HOW MUCH OF EACH CORE SUBJECT THIS COURSE CARRIES · IN ORDER
READING & WRITINGHISTORY, GEOGRAPHY & HUMANITIESART & DESIGNTECHNOLOGY & TRADES
The squares are a picture of a course — how much of each core subject its own rooms carry, read from the rooms’ text — never a score of a student. Every course in a lab is graded to the core across the board; the squares say which columns it feeds most.
WHAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO DO
- Write a sequel scene from the evidence of the original, in its voice, with its beats held
- Read two primary sources against each other and judge which carries the claim
- Analyse a lyric and a story with the same device vocabulary
- Lead a seminar: frame the question, hold the room to the text, write the paper
AT A GLANCE · 36 WEEKS
Q1 MZUZI · the sequel from evidence — Story 2 · Scene 1, produced
Q2 The Record · Rebels, and the sources against each other — THE CASE · the rival sources
Q3 The lyric and the story — The device essay
Q4 Lead the Seminar — The seminar you led, written up
Semester 1
WEEKS 1–18 · QUARTERS 1 AND 2MZUZI · the sequel from evidence
WEEKS 1–9 · IN THIS OFFERINGTHE WEEKS · THE ROOMS EACH ONE OPENS
WK 1–3MZUZI & The Box
The origin story read as a text with claims.
WK 4–7The writers’ room
Predict from evidence, cast, seven beats, Scene 1 in Mzuzi’s voice.
WK 8–9Story Forge
The sequel’s panels prompted.
THE PROJECT · WHAT THE QUARTER IS FOR
Story 2 · Scene 1, produced
The question. What must happen next — and what in Story 1 proves it?
The make. Scene 1 of Story 2 written and paneled, every beat tied to a line in Story 1
The evidence. The scene and the evidence sheet, handed in through the writers’ room
RL.9-10.1RL.9-10.3RL.9-10.5W.9-10.3W.9-10.9
The Record · Rebels, and the sources against each other
WEEKS 10–18 · IN THIS OFFERINGTHE WEEKS · THE ROOMS EACH ONE OPENS
WK 10–13Rebels in History
The sources in order; the ledger worked.
WK 14–16Sugar · the rival reading
Two units, one question: who gets to write the record?
WK 17–18The Scramble · class
The Record’s game run as a class; every entry cited.
THE PROJECT · WHAT THE QUARTER IS FOR
THE CASE · the rival sources
The question. When two sources disagree, which one carries the claim — and how do you know?
The make. A written case judging two rival sources, with the method stated and the losing source read fairly
The evidence. THE CASE, handed in through The Record
RI.9-10.1RI.9-10.6RI.9-10.8RI.9-10.9W.9-10.1
Semester 2
WEEKS 19–36 · QUARTERS 3 AND 4The lyric and the story
WEEKS 19–27 · IN THIS OFFERINGTHE WEEKS · THE ROOMS EACH ONE OPENS
WK 19–21The Lyric Lab
The devices in a song about not quitting, then in the song that gets you through.
WK 22–25The Last Good Batch
Four hundred candles; the story of making, read for its turns.
WK 26–27The Hook, again
Openings judged with a year’s vocabulary.
THE PROJECT · WHAT THE QUARTER IS FOR
The device essay
The question. Do a lyric and a short story use the same tools — and which one uses them better?
The make. A comparative analysis of one song and one story, three devices each, with lines cited
The evidence. The essay, handed in through the Lyric Lab and kept in My Work
RL.9-10.2RL.9-10.4RL.9-10.7W.9-10.2W.9-10.9
Lead the Seminar
WEEKS 28–36 · IN THIS OFFERINGTHE WEEKS · THE ROOMS EACH ONE OPENS
WK 28–29Sparks
Framing a question so it has two honest sides.
WK 30–34The Seminar · you lead one
Four seminars; you frame and lead one; the split counted.
WK 35–36The portfolio
The year read back.
THE PROJECT · WHAT THE QUARTER IS FOR
The seminar you led, written up
The question. What question did you frame, how did the room split — and what did the text decide?
The make. The seminar framed, led and written up, with the position paper and the portfolio defense
The evidence. The write-up and the paper, handed in through the Seminar and My Work
SL.9-10.1SL.9-10.3SL.9-10.4W.9-10.1W.9-10.5
A course is a quarter, a semester or a year — nine, eighteen or thirty-six weeks — a project a quarter. Offered as the year, a semester or a quarter, it is the same course seen through a window. A lab is a family: its year, each of its tracks as a course, and its rooms. The evidence is what a student hands in through the room; the Report reads it from there. Nothing in the catalog is a grade.
THE PASS · THIS COURSE AND EVERY OTHER ONE
One pass includes English 10 · The Writers’ Room and every course in the catalog. Pick a pass, or enter a school code; checkout stays on this page.