Sophomores publicize their work
English is one of the most crucial classes in New York City's education system. English teacher Mr. Cross takes his job very seriously and prepares his students for the English Regents coming up in June. He gives them test prep work and has them read novels such as 1984 and Othello. Photo taken by Lizbeth Loarca
by Jasmine Tejada, staff reporter
New York State city schools are required to provide their students with an English class every year from elementary school to high school. To see how students performed in these classes students must take a state exam to show proficiency. For the high schoolers, they are required to take the regents.
In preparation for the regents, students occupy their time in and outside of school reading. For Mr. Cross’ English 10 class, students are expected to answer at least one of the given prompts for homework on the class website based on their reading called postings.
“We are reading 1984 by George Orwell, and comparing and contrasting the books. We then see how they can somewhat relate between the plot, setting, and characters,” sophomore Adriana Loh said.
When answering any of the given prompts students use a writing format known as SEE, a strategy that makes writing paragraphs more organized. The “S” stands for statement, “E” for evidence from the text, and the last “E” stands for explanation of said text evidence.
“The objective [with posting] is to make students have a better understanding of the text and further their knowledge,” sophomore Naomi Parris said.
At the end of every novel, students must take a test based on the characters, setting, matching quotes with people, explaining quotes, vocabulary, and true or false statements of events that happened. Mr. Cross has this method so students feel more comfortable when taking the part two of the Regents; where the essay must agree or disagree with a quote given in the prompt, and explain why by using different texts.
“[For the following months we’re going] to read other good books published and complete other assignments, such as thematic essays,” sophomore Christopher Flores said.
The novels, and play read are only classics and students have to learn how to read even the works they don’t enjoy. The same way they would two years from now in college.