Learning Language Arts Through Literature: The Gold Books

The curriculum uses appropriately complex texts for high school students, including challenging classics and canonical works from various literary periods.

Students read complex works like 'The Odyssey,' 'Frankenstein,' 'The Trial by Franz Kafka,' and 'The Count of Monte Cristo,' which are appropriate for college preparation

The curriculum includes substantial writing instruction, particularly in the Literary Criticism course which teaches essay structure, research skills, and MLA citation. However, it assumes students already have basic composition skills.

Literary Criticism course requires 'twelve five-paragraph essays, three five-page essays, and one ten-page essay' with 'detailed instruction walks students through the writing process,' but courses assume 'student already knows how to write compositions'

This curriculum strongly emphasizes reading complete works rather than excerpts. Students read entire novels, poetry collections, and plays, with only occasional use of excerpted material.

Review states 'Students read entire poems and books most of the time, although they sometimes read excerpts' and lists complete works like The Red Badge of Courage, Emma, The Odyssey, and Macbeth

The curriculum builds literary and cultural knowledge through exposure to classic works from different periods and regions. However, it appears more focused on literary analysis skills than systematic domain knowledge building.

Courses are organized by historical periods like 'Medieval-Renaissance, Enlightenment-Romanticism' and include works 'from around the world and from different time periods,' but emphasis seems primarily on literary analysis rather than broader cultural knowledge

The curriculum provides teacher support materials including answer keys, plot summaries, and suggested answers, but limited professional development for understanding literary instruction principles.

Books include 'Teacher Section' with 'suggested answers, summaries of literary works' and optional 'Course Notes and Test Booklet,' but 'summaries are unlikely to provide sufficient familiarity for in-depth discussions'

The curriculum provides structured daily lesson plans with detailed instructions for students to follow independently. However, much learning appears to occur through reading and discussion rather than explicit teacher-led instruction.

Lessons have 'detailed, daily lesson plans that are written for students to follow' and are organized in numbered sections, but 'students can work independently through most of the course work'

The curriculum does not appear to incorporate systematic retrieval practice or spaced review of previously learned material.

No mention of review exercises, quizzes, or retrieval practice activities in the curriculum description

This criterion is not applicable as this is a high school literature curriculum that assumes students already have foundational reading skills.

The curriculum is designed for high school students and focuses on literary analysis rather than foundational reading instruction

The curriculum does not appear to include explicit vocabulary instruction, focusing instead on literary analysis and writing skills.

No mention of vocabulary building activities or explicit word study in the detailed review of curriculum components and lesson structure