The grade 11 Expository Reading and Writing Course (ERWC) engages
students in the discovery of who they are as persons, the realization of the ways in which they
can participate in society, and their development as critical consumers and effective
communicators within society. Teachers and schools build and personalize the yearlong course
by selecting from approximately 35 modules (instructional units) to meet rigorous, collegepreparatory learning goals in reading, writing, listening, and speaking for all students while
promoting student interest and motivation. Employing a rhetorical, inquiry-based approach that
fosters critical thinking, student agency, and metacognition, the course includes six full-length
modules drawn from five categories: 1) American foundational documents; 2) American drama;
3) full-length books; 4) research; and 5) contemporary issues (two modules). In addition, the
course includes five concept mini-modules that address transferable skills applicable to
conceptual development and practice across all modules, e.g., genre awareness, goal setting and
self-assessment, rhetorical situation, Aristotelian appeals. The core structure of all the modules—
the Assignment Template—progresses along an “arc” from reading rhetorically (preparing to
read, reading purposefully, and questioning the text) to preparing to respond (discovering what
you think) to writing rhetorically (composing a draft, revising rhetorically, and editing). By the
end of the course, students will have read a range of literary and nonfiction text genres and
produced 10-12 culminating projects, including academic essays, research reports, creative
writing and performances, and multimedia presentations, from initial draft to final revision and
editing