Free Christian Curriculum Kindergarten through twelfth grade · free to download

Grade 12 · 15 units · 180 lessons · 1,800 questions

English Language Arts

A college-prep capstone: rhetorical analysis, the Toulmin model, research papers, tragedy through Tolkien, and reading for life.

About this course

Twelfth grade is written as a handoff to college rather than one more year of school English. Writing is organized around argument as a structure rather than a format: your student learns the difference between analysis and summary (moving from what to so what), how a thesis actually gets built from a topic, how to select evidence without quote-stacking, and then works through the Toulmin model, which names the claim, grounds, warrant, backing, qualifier, and rebuttal underneath any real argument and explains why an unstated warrant is usually where an argument actually fails. From there come rhetorical analysis, writing the same message for different readers, literary analysis treated as argument, framing introductions and conclusions, and revision reordered so that structural work comes before sentence polishing. Grammar is a diagnostic and style course: revising a choppy paragraph, the who's-doing-this test for modifiers, tense in conditionals and reported speech, the different jobs of the dash, hyphen, and bracket, cutting what the reader does not need, and building a personal prose style through periodic and cumulative sentence shapes.

Literature covers what literature is for, character arc, narrative perspective, symbol, allegory and biblical type, theme beneath topic, Greek tragedy and its machinery, Shakespeare including stagecraft and the First Folio, the nineteenth-century novel, Hawthorne and Melville, the Psalms and the architecture of Hebrew verse, and a substantial lesson on the Inklings that covers Tolkien's philology and invented languages, the 1931 Addison's Walk conversation about myth and truth that preceded Lewis's conversion, and Lewis's argument from joy. The reading strand is equally practical: technical and data-driven texts, case law and historical legal documents, scansion beyond iambic pentameter, Shakespeare's false friends and soliloquies, SQ3R for retention, a lesson tracing everyday English idioms back to the King James Bible along with chiasm and typology, and a closing lesson on reading triage, deciding what to skim, read, or study, reading academic articles out of their printed order, and keeping a commonplace book.

The course is 180 lessons across 15 units, twelve per unit, one per school day, at about 55 minutes each, ending with a ten-question quiz that grades itself. Units 1 through 8 cover word study, vocabulary, comprehension, grammar, writing, literature, research, and communication; units 9 through 15 revisit seven of those strands, and unlike some earlier grades the second pass here is genuinely new and harder material rather than review, which is where the Toulmin model, the Inklings, propaganda analysis, and sentence architecture live. Research runs a complete paper with an annotated bibliography, database and citation-trail strategy, MLA formatting explained by its logic rather than as rules to copy, the ethics of quotation, and adapting the finished argument for the ear in an oral presentation. Communication ends with a lesson on giving testimony and speaking about faith. Coming in, your student should be reading dense prose and writing cited analytical essays without scaffolding; the lessons run 500 to 650 words and assume that level.

What the course covers

What your student will be able to do

Scope and sequence

All 15 units of English Language Arts for Grade 12, in the order they are taught.

UnitCoversLessonsQuestions
Unit 1Phonics and Reading12120Lessons
Unit 2Vocabulary Building12120Lessons
Unit 3Reading Comprehension12120Lessons
Unit 4Grammar Foundations12120Lessons
Unit 5Writing Skills12120Lessons
Unit 6Literature Study12120Lessons
Unit 7Research and Reports12120Lessons
Unit 8Communication12120Lessons
Unit 9Phonics and Reading12120Lessons
Unit 10Vocabulary Building12120Lessons
Unit 11Reading Comprehension12120Lessons
Unit 12Grammar Foundations12120Lessons
Unit 13Writing Skills12120Lessons
Unit 14Literature Study12120Lessons
Unit 15Research and Reports12120Lessons

Every lesson, by title

All 180 lesson titles are listed here — nothing is withheld until you download. Open a unit to read its contents.

Unit 1: Phonics and Reading 12 lessons
  1. 1Etymology: Greek and Latin Roots10 q
  2. 2Phonics and Reading - Lesson 210 q
  3. 3Phonics and Reading - Lesson 310 q
  4. 4Phonics and Reading - Lesson 410 q
  5. 5Phonics and Reading - Lesson 510 q
  6. 6Phonics and Reading - Lesson 610 q
  7. 7Phonics and Reading - Lesson 710 q
  8. 8Phonics and Reading - Lesson 810 q
  9. 9Phonics and Reading - Lesson 910 q
  10. 10Phonics and Reading - Lesson 1010 q
  11. 11Phonics and Reading - Lesson 1110 q
  12. 12Phonics and Reading - Lesson 1210 q
Unit 2: Vocabulary Building 12 lessons
  1. 1Vocabulary Building - Lesson 110 q
  2. 2Vocabulary Building - Lesson 210 q
  3. 3Vocabulary Building - Lesson 310 q
  4. 4Vocabulary Building - Lesson 410 q
  5. 5Vocabulary Building - Lesson 510 q
  6. 6Vocabulary Building - Lesson 610 q
  7. 7Vocabulary Building - Lesson 710 q
  8. 8Vocabulary Building - Lesson 810 q
  9. 9Vocabulary Building - Lesson 910 q
  10. 10Vocabulary Building - Lesson 1010 q
  11. 11Vocabulary Building - Lesson 1110 q
  12. 12Vocabulary Building - Lesson 1210 q
Unit 3: Reading Comprehension 12 lessons
  1. 1Reading Comprehension - Lesson 110 q
  2. 2Reading Comprehension - Lesson 210 q
  3. 3Reading Comprehension - Lesson 310 q
  4. 4Reading Comprehension - Lesson 410 q
  5. 5Reading Comprehension - Lesson 510 q
  6. 6Reading Comprehension - Lesson 610 q
  7. 7Reading Comprehension - Lesson 710 q
  8. 8Reading Comprehension - Lesson 810 q
  9. 9Reading Comprehension - Lesson 910 q
  10. 10Reading Comprehension - Lesson 1010 q
  11. 11Reading Comprehension - Lesson 1110 q
  12. 12Reading Comprehension - Lesson 1210 q
Unit 4: Grammar Foundations 12 lessons
  1. 1Grammar Foundations - Lesson 110 q
  2. 2Grammar Foundations - Lesson 210 q
  3. 3Grammar Foundations - Lesson 310 q
  4. 4Grammar Foundations - Lesson 410 q
  5. 5Grammar Foundations - Lesson 510 q
  6. 6Grammar Foundations - Lesson 610 q
  7. 7Grammar Foundations - Lesson 710 q
  8. 8Grammar Foundations - Lesson 810 q
  9. 9Grammar Foundations - Lesson 910 q
  10. 10Grammar Foundations - Lesson 1010 q
  11. 11Grammar Foundations - Lesson 1110 q
  12. 12Grammar Foundations - Lesson 1210 q
Unit 5: Writing Skills 12 lessons
  1. 1Writing Skills - Lesson 110 q
  2. 2Writing Skills - Lesson 210 q
  3. 3Writing Skills - Lesson 310 q
  4. 4Writing Skills - Lesson 410 q
  5. 5Writing Skills - Lesson 510 q
  6. 6Writing Skills - Lesson 610 q
  7. 7Writing Skills - Lesson 710 q
  8. 8Writing Skills - Lesson 810 q
  9. 9Writing Skills - Lesson 910 q
  10. 10Writing Skills - Lesson 1010 q
  11. 11Writing Skills - Lesson 1110 q
  12. 12Writing Skills - Lesson 1210 q
Unit 6: Literature Study 12 lessons
  1. 1Literature Study - Lesson 110 q
  2. 2Literature Study - Lesson 210 q
  3. 3Literature Study - Lesson 310 q
  4. 4Literature Study - Lesson 410 q
  5. 5Literature Study - Lesson 510 q
  6. 6Literature Study - Lesson 610 q
  7. 7Literature Study - Lesson 710 q
  8. 8Literature Study - Lesson 810 q
  9. 9Literature Study - Lesson 910 q
  10. 10Literature Study - Lesson 1010 q
  11. 11Literature Study - Lesson 1110 q
  12. 12Literature Study - Lesson 1210 q
Unit 7: Research and Reports 12 lessons
  1. 1Research and Reports - Lesson 110 q
  2. 2Research and Reports - Lesson 210 q
  3. 3Research and Reports - Lesson 310 q
  4. 4Research and Reports - Lesson 410 q
  5. 5Research and Reports - Lesson 510 q
  6. 6Research and Reports - Lesson 610 q
  7. 7Research and Reports - Lesson 710 q
  8. 8Research and Reports - Lesson 810 q
  9. 9Research and Reports - Lesson 910 q
  10. 10Research and Reports - Lesson 1010 q
  11. 11Research and Reports - Lesson 1110 q
  12. 12Research and Reports - Lesson 1210 q
Unit 8: Communication 12 lessons
  1. 1Communication - Lesson 110 q
  2. 2Communication - Lesson 210 q
  3. 3Communication - Lesson 310 q
  4. 4Communication - Lesson 410 q
  5. 5Communication - Lesson 510 q
  6. 6Communication - Lesson 610 q
  7. 7Communication - Lesson 710 q
  8. 8Communication - Lesson 810 q
  9. 9Communication - Lesson 910 q
  10. 10Communication - Lesson 1010 q
  11. 11Communication - Lesson 1110 q
  12. 12Communication - Lesson 1210 q
Unit 9: Phonics and Reading 12 lessons
  1. 1Phonics and Reading - Lesson 110 q
  2. 2Phonics and Reading - Lesson 210 q
  3. 3Phonics and Reading - Lesson 310 q
  4. 4Phonics and Reading - Lesson 410 q
  5. 5Phonics and Reading - Lesson 510 q
  6. 6Phonics and Reading - Lesson 610 q
  7. 7Phonics and Reading - Lesson 710 q
  8. 8Phonics and Reading - Lesson 810 q
  9. 9Phonics and Reading - Lesson 910 q
  10. 10Phonics and Reading - Lesson 1010 q
  11. 11Phonics and Reading - Lesson 1110 q
  12. 12Phonics and Reading - Lesson 1210 q
Unit 10: Vocabulary Building 12 lessons
  1. 1Vocabulary Building - Lesson 110 q
  2. 2Vocabulary Building - Lesson 210 q
  3. 3Vocabulary Building - Lesson 310 q
  4. 4Vocabulary Building - Lesson 410 q
  5. 5Vocabulary Building - Lesson 510 q
  6. 6Vocabulary Building - Lesson 610 q
  7. 7Vocabulary Building - Lesson 710 q
  8. 8Vocabulary Building - Lesson 810 q
  9. 9Vocabulary Building - Lesson 910 q
  10. 10Vocabulary Building - Lesson 1010 q
  11. 11Vocabulary Building - Lesson 1110 q
  12. 12Vocabulary Building - Lesson 1210 q
Unit 11: Reading Comprehension 12 lessons
  1. 1Reading Comprehension - Lesson 110 q
  2. 2Reading Comprehension - Lesson 210 q
  3. 3Reading Comprehension - Lesson 310 q
  4. 4Reading Comprehension - Lesson 410 q
  5. 5Reading Comprehension - Lesson 510 q
  6. 6Reading Comprehension - Lesson 610 q
  7. 7Reading Comprehension - Lesson 710 q
  8. 8Reading Comprehension - Lesson 810 q
  9. 9Reading Comprehension - Lesson 910 q
  10. 10Reading Comprehension - Lesson 1010 q
  11. 11Reading Comprehension - Lesson 1110 q
  12. 12Reading Comprehension - Lesson 1210 q
Unit 12: Grammar Foundations 12 lessons
  1. 1Grammar Foundations - Lesson 110 q
  2. 2Grammar Foundations - Lesson 210 q
  3. 3Grammar Foundations - Lesson 310 q
  4. 4Grammar Foundations - Lesson 410 q
  5. 5Grammar Foundations - Lesson 510 q
  6. 6Grammar Foundations - Lesson 610 q
  7. 7Grammar Foundations - Lesson 710 q
  8. 8Grammar Foundations - Lesson 810 q
  9. 9Grammar Foundations - Lesson 910 q
  10. 10Grammar Foundations - Lesson 1010 q
  11. 11Grammar Foundations - Lesson 1110 q
  12. 12Grammar Foundations - Lesson 1210 q
Unit 13: Writing Skills 12 lessons
  1. 1Writing Skills - Lesson 110 q
  2. 2Writing Skills - Lesson 210 q
  3. 3Writing Skills - Lesson 310 q
  4. 4Writing Skills - Lesson 410 q
  5. 5Writing Skills - Lesson 510 q
  6. 6Writing Skills - Lesson 610 q
  7. 7Writing Skills - Lesson 710 q
  8. 8Writing Skills - Lesson 810 q
  9. 9Writing Skills - Lesson 910 q
  10. 10Writing Skills - Lesson 1010 q
  11. 11Writing Skills - Lesson 1110 q
  12. 12Writing Skills - Lesson 1210 q
Unit 14: Literature Study 12 lessons
  1. 1Literature Study - Lesson 110 q
  2. 2Literature Study - Lesson 210 q
  3. 3Literature Study - Lesson 310 q
  4. 4Literature Study - Lesson 410 q
  5. 5Literature Study - Lesson 510 q
  6. 6Literature Study - Lesson 610 q
  7. 7Literature Study - Lesson 710 q
  8. 8Literature Study - Lesson 810 q
  9. 9Literature Study - Lesson 910 q
  10. 10Literature Study - Lesson 1010 q
  11. 11Literature Study - Lesson 1110 q
  12. 12Literature Study - Lesson 1210 q
Unit 15: Research and Reports 12 lessons
  1. 1Research and Reports - Lesson 110 q
  2. 2Research and Reports - Lesson 210 q
  3. 3Research and Reports - Lesson 310 q
  4. 4Research and Reports - Lesson 410 q
  5. 5Research and Reports - Lesson 510 q
  6. 6Research and Reports - Lesson 610 q
  7. 7Research and Reports - Lesson 710 q
  8. 8Research and Reports - Lesson 810 q
  9. 9Research and Reports - Lesson 910 q
  10. 10Research and Reports - Lesson 1010 q
  11. 11Research and Reports - Lesson 1110 q
  12. 12Research and Reports - Lesson 1210 q

One whole lesson, exactly as it comes

This is a real lesson taken from the middle of the course — the teaching text, the practice, the homework, and the first three quiz questions with their answers. It is not a marketing excerpt.

Unit 8: Communication · Lesson 7

Communication - Lesson 7

55 minutesPencilPaperEraser

What this lesson is for

  • Students will practice reading skills related to Communication - Lesson 7
  • Students will develop writing and language skills

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:6

Listening Actively and Critically

Listening is the communication skill most used and least taught. Research suggests people retain only about 25% of what they hear — not because they lack intelligence, but because they have not been trained to listen actively.

Active listening is a deliberate practice: you are not waiting for your turn to speak. You are processing, evaluating, and connecting what the speaker is saying. Techniques include:

  • Note-taking while listening: Write down main claims and key evidence, not every word. Use symbols (? for questions, ! for surprising points, * for major ideas).
  • Tracking argument structure: What is the speaker's main claim? What evidence supports it? Has a counterargument been addressed?
  • Paraphrasing back: After a speaker finishes a point, mentally restate it in your own words. If you cannot, you did not follow it.

Critical listening goes further: evaluate the quality of the reasoning. Are the claims backed by evidence? Is the evidence credible and sufficient? Are there logical fallacies? Is there a hidden assumption the speaker is not acknowledging?

Follow-up questions reveal your engagement. A good question shows you heard the argument and want to probe it deeper: "You said X, but what happens when Y occurs?" or "How does your evidence account for Z?"

"Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath." — James 1:19

Apply: In your next family conversation, sermon, or lecture, practice active note-taking for ten minutes. Write down the speaker's three main points and one question you would ask if given the chance.

Homework

Complete the reading response or writing assignment for Communication - Lesson 7.

Note for the parent

Today's lesson covers Communication - Lesson 7. Estimated time: 55 minutes. Encourage independent work but be available for questions.

The first three of this lesson's 10 questions

Research cited in this lesson suggests that people typically retain approximately what percentage of what they hear?

  1. 75%
  2. 50%
  3. 25%
  4. 10%
Show the answer

Answer: 25%

According to the lesson, the main reason people fail to retain what they hear is not a lack of intelligence but rather what?

  1. Inadequate note-taking supplies
  2. Listening to too many speakers at one time
  3. Speaking too quickly for the listener to follow
  4. A failure to have been trained to listen actively
Show the answer

Answer: A failure to have been trained to listen actively

When note-taking while listening, the lesson recommends using symbols such as the question mark primarily to indicate what?

  1. A major idea that is especially important
  2. A surprising or unexpected point
  3. A question you want to investigate later
  4. A fallacy in the speaker's argument
Show the answer

Answer: A question you want to investigate later

Another 7 questions follow in the lesson itself, each one graded the moment it is answered.

What comes with the download

180 full lessons

Across 15 units, each with objectives, a teaching passage written to be read aloud, guided practice, and homework.

1,800 quiz questions

Graded the instant they are answered, each with the explanation of why that answer is right.

A gradebook that works

Every score kept, a running average maintained, and a breakdown unit by unit — all in the file itself, nothing sent anywhere.

Progress and attendance

Tick lessons off as they are finished, watch the completion bar fill, and mark days present, absent, or excused.

Report card and certificate

Both printable, with your student's name, the grades, and the dates already filled in.

Backup you control

Export every record to a file you keep, and read it back later. A lost browser cache cannot take the year with it.

An answer key

Hidden from the student by default, there for the parent marking the work.

Nothing that phones home

No ads, no affiliate links, no analytics, no fonts fetched from elsewhere. Unplug the network cable and every one of these files still works.

What you will need

Drawn from the materials named across all 180 lessons of this course. Most families already own most of it.

Download English Language Arts — Grade 12

Free, and free of everything else. 19 files, 25.6 MB in total. No account, no email address, no payment. What you download carries no advertising, no affiliate links and no tracking of any kind.

Use it on a screen

Open any of these straight from a folder or a USB stick. They run in the browser with the network cable unplugged, and nothing is ever sent anywhere.

HTMLInteractive ClassroomThe whole course as a working school: quizzes that grade themselves, a gradebook with a running average, a progress bar, attendance, a printable report card, and a certificate of completion.grade-12-ela-classroom.html 3.6 MBHTMLFlashcard AppEvery quiz question turned into a self-testing card, with shuffle and review-the-missed-ones.grade-12-ela-flashcards-app.html 1.2 MBHTMLRead-Aloud EditionLarge type, one lesson per screen, laid out for a parent reading aloud to a younger student.grade-12-ela-readaloud.html 1.1 MBHTMLLesson PlannerThe course spread across teaching days, with a box to tick as each lesson is finished.grade-12-ela-planner.html 76 KB

Print it

Page-numbered and laid out for paper. Print the whole year at once, or one unit the night before you teach it.

PDFPrintable LessonsEvery lesson, in teaching order, formatted for reading and printing.grade-12-ela-print.pdf 3.1 MBPDFFillable WorkbookType answers on screen and save, or print blank pages to write on by hand.grade-12-ela-workbook.pdf 1.5 MBPDFAnswer KeyEvery question answered, for the parent or teacher marking the work.grade-12-ela-answer-key.pdf 550 KBPDFCopywork PagesHandwriting practice drawn from this course's own Scripture and sentences.grade-12-ela-copywork.pdf 75 KBPDFPrintable FlashcardsCut-apart cards with fronts and backs aligned for double-sided printing.grade-12-ela-flashcards-print.pdf 5.9 MBPDFPrintable PlannerThe day-by-day plan on paper, for a binder or the refrigerator door.grade-12-ela-planner.pdf 157 KB

Edit it, or read it your own way

The same course in open, ordinary file formats. Rewrite a lesson, drop a unit you do not need, or load it on an e-reader.

DOCXMicrosoft WordFully editable. Change wording, add your own notes, delete what does not fit your family.grade-12-ela.docx 563 KBRTFWord ProcessorOpens in Word, LibreOffice, Pages, or Google Docs.grade-12-ela.rtf 2.7 MBEPUBE-Reader EditionFor a Kindle, Kobo, tablet, or phone reading app.grade-12-ela.epub 507 KBMDMarkdownPlain-text source with the headings intact, for note-taking apps and static site tools.grade-12-ela.md 1.5 MBTXTPlain TextThe whole course as unformatted text — the most portable copy there is.grade-12-ela.txt 1.5 MBCSVFlashcards (CSV)Import into Anki, Quizlet, or a spreadsheet.grade-12-ela-flashcards.csv 429 KBTSVFlashcards (TSV)Tab-separated, for importers that prefer it that way.grade-12-ela-flashcards.tsv 417 KBHTMLCopywork (HTML)The copywork sheets as a browser page you can print from.grade-12-ela-copywork.html 5 KBHTMLFlashcards (HTML)The cut-apart cards as a browser page you can print from.grade-12-ela-flashcards-print.html 782 KB

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English Language Arts in other grades

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