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Dear Colleagues:

Welcome to Foundations of Language & Literature, a textbook designed specifically for
ninth grade English courses. The following Guided Tour of the book will introduce you to
its structure and features.
The key word in the title of this textbook is foundations. Our purpose in writing the
book is to provide opportunities for students to practice the most essential skills they
will need in order to be successful in ninth grade, and to lay the groundwork for their
®
path to AP English. We know that our ninth graders come to high school with a wide
range of middle school experiences; their level of preparation in reading, writing, critical
thinking, and speaking skills may vary widely. This is why the ninth-grade year is so
vital: it is a time to ensure that all students can have the opportunity to learn and prac-
tice vital academic skills in safe, engaging, and developmentally appropriate ways. Here
students will find a wide range of texts — short stories, poems, essays, plays, myths,
and images — and activities designed to build those skills and then push them further.
The research is pretty straightforward: students who have a successful ninth grade
year tend to graduate high school on time and have more success in college. We truly
feel that this book will play a large role in that success. By focusing on the most
important genres and modes that students will encounter in high school — narrative,
fiction, argument, poetry, exposition, drama, and mythology — we can ensure that ninth
graders will leave our classrooms fully prepared for the expectations that follow.
Since this is the second edition of Foundations of Language & Literature, we are
fortunate to have had years of student and teacher feedback as we were revising. Not
only did we include more texts by authors with diverse backgrounds and pieces that
focus on contemporary issues relevant to our students’ lives, but we also wanted to
streamline the instructional focus for teachers to be able to address more genres and
modes while not sacrificing quality or depth. We also included more extension
opportunities for teachers to expand their students’ experiences through creative
writing, public speaking, and inquiry.
We hope that Foundations of Language & Literature helps teachers to create
supportive yet challenging courses and helps students feel confident in making their
voices heard and ready for the challenges they will face going forward.

Renée H. Shea John Golden Tracy Scholz

Uncorrected proofs have been used in this sample.
Copyright © Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
For review purposes only. Not for redistribution.

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