English Electives Engage and Challenge
As part of the Upper School’s curricular transformation in recent years, teachers have repeatedly seen the benefits of offering students choice in their coursework.
“We’ve been convinced that when students are given more choice in what they study, their interest goes up, and engagement and investment seem to be higher,” observes Katie MacDonald (C’05), Upper School English Department chair.
These experiences—as well as professional development exchanges with peers in the St. Louis area—encouraged MacDonald and her colleagues to introduce a menu of spring semester electives this academic year:
- Students in English 1 and 2 (freshmen and sophomores, respectively) chose from three elective areas—Shakespeare Studies, Project-Based Writing, and Visual Literacy.
- Students in English 3 and 4 (juniors and seniors) chose from Advanced Storytelling, Drama Studies, Marginalized Voices, and Poetry Studies.
Juniors and seniors taking AP English courses will continue in their yearlong curriculum prescribed by the AP system. However, some of those whose schedules allow it have chosen to add an English elective to their AP course load.
“As a senior looking to study humanities and language in college,” says Callie Strelow (US’19), “the addition of electives that cater to my passions and stretch my comprehension has been incredibly enriching.” She says she chose the Marginalized Voices elective—which introduces students to writers outside of the traditional canon—in addition to her AP coursework to “broaden my exposure to rhetoric and writing. . . and because my time on [the Upper School] Diversity Council has sparked an interest in inclusion.”
Callie appreciates that her elective is “inherently flexible and affords students the space to think creatively and independently of what can sometimes feel like a rigid AP curriculum.”
The flexibility does not detract from the electives’ rigor, however. As Alicia Sorensen, who teaches Project-Based Writing and Shakespeare Studies, explains, “Students still have to develop key comprehension and written communication skills, building on the foundation work done during the fall semester, and there are final exams for each class.”
The difference, Sorensen notes, is that the format of the electives is designed to help students develop confidence as readers and writers in genres that they are drawn to. In her Project-Based Writing class, the choice of mentor texts and writing topics alongside peer review and critique combine to “build confidence as well as critical thinking, collaboration, a willingness to listen to others, and empathy.”