IB English Curriculum vs “Honors English”

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know about the key differences here? It seems regular / honors English has turned into something of a joke in MCPS. Is IB way better? If you think so, please elaborate.

(Really hoping some hs English teachers respond!)

[Anonymous]

I’m an IB English teacher. I love the program and placed my own children in it.

IB English is rigorous and extremely writing focused. There’s a curriculum change on the horizon, but currently students:
- read 13 texts over 2 years (Many units end with essays to prep for the course-end assessments)
- complete the Higher Level essay, which is literary analysis assessed by IB
- complete the Individual Oral, which is a 15 minute oral assessment. (This is a tricky task. Students are only allowed ten bullet points and they must speak for a sustained ten minutes.)
- sit for the Paper 1 and Paper 2 exams at the end of senior year

The course develops strong writers and critical thinkers. I highly recommend it.

[Anonymous]

IB English is in 11th and 12th grades only.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m an IB English teacher. I love the program and placed my own children in it.

IB English is rigorous and extremely writing focused. There’s a curriculum change on the horizon, but currently students:
- read 13 texts over 2 years (Many units end with essays to prep for the course-end assessments)
- complete the Higher Level essay, which is literary analysis assessed by IB
- complete the Individual Oral, which is a 15 minute oral assessment. (This is a tricky task. Students are only allowed ten bullet points and they must speak for a sustained ten minutes.)
- sit for the Paper 1 and Paper 2 exams at the end of senior year

The course develops strong writers and critical thinkers. I highly recommend it.

+1 my child has grown tremendously as a writer and analytical thinker from these classes. There's no comparison with Honors English, but that would be better for a kid who dislikes writing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m an IB English teacher. I love the program and placed my own children in it.

IB English is rigorous and extremely writing focused. There’s a curriculum change on the horizon, but currently students:
- read 13 texts over 2 years (Many units end with essays to prep for the course-end assessments)
- complete the Higher Level essay, which is literary analysis assessed by IB
- complete the Individual Oral, which is a 15 minute oral assessment. (This is a tricky task. Students are only allowed ten bullet points and they must speak for a sustained ten minutes.)
- sit for the Paper 1 and Paper 2 exams at the end of senior year

The course develops strong writers and critical thinkers. I highly recommend it.

+1 my child has grown tremendously as a writer and analytical thinker from these classes. There's no comparison with Honors English, but that would be better for a kid who dislikes writing.

There's a little bit of confusion about terminology here. IB English is only available in 11th and 12th grades. If a school does not have an IB program, the advanced 11th and 12th graders would be taking AP Composition and AP Literature, not Honors English.

Now, the only exception is if you are in an IB magnet, in which case you are in pre-IB English in 9th and 10th. But that's only possible at RMIB and the regional IB magnet programs, not at a school like B-CC or Einstein that just happens to host an IB program in 11th and 12th grades.

Bottom line: enrichment is available in 11th and 12th regardless of whether your school has an IB program. Enrichment is only available in 9th and 10th if you are in a magnet, either IB or Humanities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m an IB English teacher. I love the program and placed my own children in it.

IB English is rigorous and extremely writing focused. There’s a curriculum change on the horizon, but currently students:
- read 13 texts over 2 years (Many units end with essays to prep for the course-end assessments)
- complete the Higher Level essay, which is literary analysis assessed by IB
- complete the Individual Oral, which is a 15 minute oral assessment. (This is a tricky task. Students are only allowed ten bullet points and they must speak for a sustained ten minutes.)
- sit for the Paper 1 and Paper 2 exams at the end of senior year

The course develops strong writers and critical thinkers. I highly recommend it.

Thank you! Can you talk about what curriculum changes to expect moving forward?

[Anonymous]

Like everything else, need to supplement yourself.
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1225951.page#28280573

[Anonymous]

My kid was in the IBDP. They are actually a math-y kid, but we thought it would be good for them to focus on their weakness, writing.

They became excellent writers, even though they are a dual STEM major.

Honors is a joke. My younger kid didn't want to do IB, so they are in AP English.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m an IB English teacher. I love the program and placed my own children in it.

IB English is rigorous and extremely writing focused. There’s a curriculum change on the horizon, but currently students:
- read 13 texts over 2 years (Many units end with essays to prep for the course-end assessments)
- complete the Higher Level essay, which is literary analysis assessed by IB
- complete the Individual Oral, which is a 15 minute oral assessment. (This is a tricky task. Students are only allowed ten bullet points and they must speak for a sustained ten minutes.)
- sit for the Paper 1 and Paper 2 exams at the end of senior year

The course develops strong writers and critical thinkers. I highly recommend it.

I'm also an IB English teacher, and must note that you are describing English A: Literature. English A: Lang & Lit is the other (and more common) option, with fewer literary texts, but "non-literary" works included. OP needs to establish if her kid has the option of DP Lit or DP Lang & Lit, and make a decision according to her child's interests and abilities.

(There's also MYP Lang & Lit for middle school, which I hate but don't think is an option at most schools anyway).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m an IB English teacher. I love the program and placed my own children in it.

IB English is rigorous and extremely writing focused. There’s a curriculum change on the horizon, but currently students:
- read 13 texts over 2 years (Many units end with essays to prep for the course-end assessments)
- complete the Higher Level essay, which is literary analysis assessed by IB
- complete the Individual Oral, which is a 15 minute oral assessment. (This is a tricky task. Students are only allowed ten bullet points and they must speak for a sustained ten minutes.)
- sit for the Paper 1 and Paper 2 exams at the end of senior year

The course develops strong writers and critical thinkers. I highly recommend it.

I'm also an IB English teacher, and must note that you are describing English A: Literature. English A: Lang & Lit is the other (and more common) option, with fewer literary texts, but "non-literary" works included. OP needs to establish if her kid has the option of DP Lit or DP Lang & Lit, and make a decision according to her child's interests and abilities.

(There's also MYP Lang & Lit for middle school, which I hate but don't think is an option at most schools anyway).

DP. How many books (fiction and nonfiction) do they read in language & lit? I think that is the one they offer at my school. TIA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m an IB English teacher. I love the program and placed my own children in it.

IB English is rigorous and extremely writing focused. There’s a curriculum change on the horizon, but currently students:
- read 13 texts over 2 years (Many units end with essays to prep for the course-end assessments)
- complete the Higher Level essay, which is literary analysis assessed by IB
- complete the Individual Oral, which is a 15 minute oral assessment. (This is a tricky task. Students are only allowed ten bullet points and they must speak for a sustained ten minutes.)
- sit for the Paper 1 and Paper 2 exams at the end of senior year

The course develops strong writers and critical thinkers. I highly recommend it.

I'm also an IB English teacher, and must note that you are describing English A: Literature. English A: Lang & Lit is the other (and more common) option, with fewer literary texts, but "non-literary" works included. OP needs to establish if her kid has the option of DP Lit or DP Lang & Lit, and make a decision according to her child's interests and abilities.

(There's also MYP Lang & Lit for middle school, which I hate but don't think is an option at most schools anyway).

DP. How many books (fiction and nonfiction) do they read in language & lit? I think that is the one they offer at my school. TIA.

In DP L&L, Standard Level kids read four literary works over two years, and Higher Level read six. A literary work can be a novel, play, group of short stories by the same author, or poems by the same author. In addition, they read multiple non-literary bodies of work; a non-literary body of work can be a group of speeches by the same person/organization, a group of ads by the same organization, a documentary, a group of articles by the same person/organization. There is a balance of literary and non-literary study in Lang & Lit, but the assessments are the same as for Lit: higher level essay, individual oral, paper 1 & paper 2 exams.

I've taught both Lit and Lang & Lit for the past 10 years, and I enjoy them both. However, in schools that offer both, kids who truly enjoy reading tend to gravitate (or are pushed by teachers) toward Lit. At my current school, my DP Lit class is a group of 8 kids who are voracious readers and love discussing literature; my DP Lang & Lit class is larger, and contains a lot of kids who may be smart, but who do not enjoy reading and do not read for pleasure at all. In the past, I've worked at a school where only Lang & Lit was offered, and there was a nice mix of readers and non-readers in the sections.

Like most experienced DP teachers, I despise the IB MYP (middle years program) course for middle schoolers, but that is another story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m an IB English teacher. I love the program and placed my own children in it.

IB English is rigorous and extremely writing focused. There’s a curriculum change on the horizon, but currently students:
- read 13 texts over 2 years (Many units end with essays to prep for the course-end assessments)
- complete the Higher Level essay, which is literary analysis assessed by IB
- complete the Individual Oral, which is a 15 minute oral assessment. (This is a tricky task. Students are only allowed ten bullet points and they must speak for a sustained ten minutes.)
- sit for the Paper 1 and Paper 2 exams at the end of senior year

The course develops strong writers and critical thinkers. I highly recommend it.

I'm also an IB English teacher, and must note that you are describing English A: Literature. English A: Lang & Lit is the other (and more common) option, with fewer literary texts, but "non-literary" works included. OP needs to establish if her kid has the option of DP Lit or DP Lang & Lit, and make a decision according to her child's interests and abilities.

(There's also MYP Lang & Lit for middle school, which I hate but don't think is an option at most schools anyway).

DP. How many books (fiction and nonfiction) do they read in language & lit? I think that is the one they offer at my school. TIA.

In DP L&L, Standard Level kids read four literary works over two years, and Higher Level read six. A literary work can be a novel, play, group of short stories by the same author, or poems by the same author. In addition, they read multiple non-literary bodies of work; a non-literary body of work can be a group of speeches by the same person/organization, a group of ads by the same organization, a documentary, a group of articles by the same person/organization. There is a balance of literary and non-literary study in Lang & Lit, but the assessments are the same as for Lit: higher level essay, individual oral, paper 1 & paper 2 exams.

I've taught both Lit and Lang & Lit for the past 10 years, and I enjoy them both. However, in schools that offer both, kids who truly enjoy reading tend to gravitate (or are pushed by teachers) toward Lit. At my current school, my DP Lit class is a group of 8 kids who are voracious readers and love discussing literature; my DP Lang & Lit class is larger, and contains a lot of kids who may be smart, but who do not enjoy reading and do not read for pleasure at all. In the past, I've worked at a school where only Lang & Lit was offered, and there was a nice mix of readers and non-readers in the sections.

Like most experienced DP teachers, I despise the IB MYP (middle years program) course for middle schoolers, but that is another story.

Have yet to understand what is so unique about MYP in MCPS MS. Please someone break this down for our family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m an IB English teacher. I love the program and placed my own children in it.

IB English is rigorous and extremely writing focused. There’s a curriculum change on the horizon, but currently students:
- read 13 texts over 2 years (Many units end with essays to prep for the course-end assessments)
- complete the Higher Level essay, which is literary analysis assessed by IB
- complete the Individual Oral, which is a 15 minute oral assessment. (This is a tricky task. Students are only allowed ten bullet points and they must speak for a sustained ten minutes.)
- sit for the Paper 1 and Paper 2 exams at the end of senior year

The course develops strong writers and critical thinkers. I highly recommend it.

I'm also an IB English teacher, and must note that you are describing English A: Literature. English A: Lang & Lit is the other (and more common) option, with fewer literary texts, but "non-literary" works included. OP needs to establish if her kid has the option of DP Lit or DP Lang & Lit, and make a decision according to her child's interests and abilities.

(There's also MYP Lang & Lit for middle school, which I hate but don't think is an option at most schools anyway).

DP. How many books (fiction and nonfiction) do they read in language & lit? I think that is the one they offer at my school. TIA.

In DP L&L, Standard Level kids read four literary works over two years, and Higher Level read six. A literary work can be a novel, play, group of short stories by the same author, or poems by the same author. In addition, they read multiple non-literary bodies of work; a non-literary body of work can be a group of speeches by the same person/organization, a group of ads by the same organization, a documentary, a group of articles by the same person/organization. There is a balance of literary and non-literary study in Lang & Lit, but the assessments are the same as for Lit: higher level essay, individual oral, paper 1 & paper 2 exams.

I've taught both Lit and Lang & Lit for the past 10 years, and I enjoy them both. However, in schools that offer both, kids who truly enjoy reading tend to gravitate (or are pushed by teachers) toward Lit. At my current school, my DP Lit class is a group of 8 kids who are voracious readers and love discussing literature; my DP Lang & Lit class is larger, and contains a lot of kids who may be smart, but who do not enjoy reading and do not read for pleasure at all. In the past, I've worked at a school where only Lang & Lit was offered, and there was a nice mix of readers and non-readers in the sections.

Like most experienced DP teachers, I despise the IB MYP (middle years program) course for middle schoolers, but that is another story.

Thank you for this info!

We are at an IB MS, and as far as I can tell there is no coursework specific to IB. I think in 8th grade there is an optional project but it is outside of class.

[Anonymous]

OP here - I realize that IB is not usually in 9th and 10th grade. I am concerned that "honors English" is a joke, and would like to get my child into a more challenging English curriculum in 9th and 10th grade. Not sure what my options are really.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - I realize that IB is not usually in 9th and 10th grade. I am concerned that "honors English" is a joke, and would like to get my child into a more challenging English curriculum in 9th and 10th grade. Not sure what my options are really.

Only the magnet programs have challenging English curriculum in 9th and 10th.