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The Secondary English Department at the Colegio Bolívar is an important
element of the Bilingual Program at the school, continuing the progress made
by the Preprimary and Primary faculty in the instruction of English. A
mixture of North American and local teachers, all combining a wide variety
of educational backgrounds and experience, the Secondary English Department
is chaired by Robin Perskie, the 6th grade English teacher. The other
current members of the department are Nira Penn in grade seven; Angie
Armstrong
in grade eight; Octavio Aristizabal in grade nine; Regan Ashker in grade
ten + two sections of psychology; Kristy Whittall in grade eleven; Sarah Marslender in grade twelve
+ two sections of grade ten; and Tom Rompf teaching the AP English
Literature and Composition course. Although the student base at the Colegio Bolívar is
predominantly Colombian (up to 98%), the level of English at the school is
considered very high, and, in fact, as many as 40% of our graduating seniors
will attend colleges and universities in North America, a real credit to the
fine work done by these teachers as well as the Primary and Preprimary
programs and staff.
The English program for grades six through twelve offers a wide variety of
materials and methodologies, always with an eye on our students' inherent
struggles with English as a second language. Grade levels six through nine focus primarily on a genre-based approach to literature. Reviewing,
exploring, and identifying the devices used to analyze prose, poetry and drama,
these students are preparing themselves for work in the upper levels. In
addition, the fundamentals of grammar, writing and research are presented and
reinforced throughout the lower levels in Secondary. Tenth grade offers the
students a writing course in order to help them hone their writing
skills and explore their own opinions and ideas, using popular fiction and
non-fiction as the platform from which they can spring into their own creations.
Grades eleven and twelve take a humanities approach to the teaching of English
and American literatures, respectively, using the tools previously mastered for
analysis and focusing on the ideas and archetypes that form the inspiration and
canon of Western thought and letters. As well, the school offers an AP English
Literature and Composition class for seniors, an advanced English program for US
bound seniors focusing on World Literature. In addition to the obligatory
textbooks at each level, students are also exposed to a wide variety of novels,
including many classics, multicultural works, and recent fiction and
non-fiction, cumulatively reading as many as 4-5 novels a year, both as a class
and independently. Rounding out the program are projects and independent
research at all levels, taking the form of debates, video work, interviews,
publication writing, poetry festivals, plays, etc. Finally, study skills and
good work habits are emphasized throughout the curriculum from K through
twelve. Overall, the English program at the Colegio Bolívar is quite extensive
and thorough in its work preparing these bilingual students for a future in
either Colombia or North America.
For fun, the English Department, in an effort to whet its own skills and
talents, has met on a regular basis during the last 19 years for literature
discussion groups called Tertulias—loosely defined as "When a group of
individuals come together and share their ideas, talents and anecdotes in the
spirit of interpreting life, when there is song and poetry and when there is wit
in conversation, then we say that a Tertulia! has formed." An
opportunity to share literature from all over the world, both current and
classic, these discussions provide an excellent opportunity for the department
to relax, have a good meal, and share their own thoughts and feelings about that
subject which they love best.
Finally, the Secondary English Department is consistently involved with
professional development, offering mini-workshops to each other and to other
departments at the school, attending offerings by local universities, and
participating in the professional development offered by the school.
The Colegio Bolivar English Department – It just doesn’t get any better!
Links to our curriculum, book inventory and other department documents follows.
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The English Department Book Inventory.
This is a list of all the materials we use at the school, both required
“class” texts as well as book sets for outside reading.
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The Holistic Scales for Colegio Bolivar
writing. This is a rubric the
department is using to provide consistent marking across the grade levels
AND as a basis for our anchor papers at each level.
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Our Document and Handout for Plagiarism.
This is the handout we give to students at the beginning of the year to
clarify what plagiarism is and what the consequences are for students who
decide to plagiarize. The department and library are committed to dealing
with the problems of plagiarism.
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The Essay Writing Handout.
This document, again given to students, clarifies our requirements for
formal essays, including structure and content.
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